As international tensions rise over the war in Ukraine, the world remains tense and fears of a possible escalation that could draw the world into nuclear war are returning to the public debate. Putin has raised the nuclear alert level since the first week of the war, and Poland’s Joe Biden on March 25 announced the possibility of a US nuclear response even in the event of conventional attacks, albeit only in “extreme situations.”
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but what happens when a nuclear bomb explodes and what effects can it have in the long term? At what distance can you consider yourself safe? The chances of survival depend not only on the distance to the explosion, but also on the type of device that exploded and the ability to repair itself.
The effects of an atomic bomb
All nuclear explosions have common characteristic effects: a flash of light, a fireball, a pulse of nuclear radiation, a shock wave, a heat wave, radioactive fallout. L’heat wave it can last several seconds and cause severe burns miles from the explosion site. Me too’shock wave It stretches for miles and deals the most damage, collapsing vehicles, buildings, and debris. the radioactive fallout (Fallout) instead arrive last 15 minutes after the explosion and represent the actual “atomic” effect of the bomb as it can produce itradiation poisoning. The range of the bombs depends on the type of device dropped: the most devastating effects are concentrated within a 2 km radius (where the chances of surviving are practically nil). Instead of this, over 30km from the location of the explosion, the risk of radiation is zero.
What is the range of a nuclear bomb?
the area of action where the effects of an atomic bomb can be felt depends on the device type which is ignited. In the arsenals of the main world powers there are bombs of different sizes: from Hiroshima bomb of 15 kilotons, which can extend their range to up to 4.52 km W76in use by the crews of the USA and Great Britain, which instead has a force of 100 kilotons and whose direct effects can even be felt 10km from the explosion site. The largest atomic bomb ever built is in the Russian arsenal the tsar bomb (also called Big Ivan). It’s a 100megaton warhead, three thousand times more powerful than Little Boy, and its effects can be felt up to 91km away. In practice, if you burst in the middle Rome The radius of thermal radiation (causing potentially fatal thirddegree burns) would reach up to Viterbo and Latina and the shock wave would do great damage as far as Tivoli, Palestrina and Velletri. In L’Aquila, too, the windows would burst due to the pressure wave.
The Hiroshima Bomb, the American W76 and the Tsar Bomb: Rays and Radiation
there Hiroshima bombCalled Little Boy, at 15 kilotons is one of the smaller in circulation. Despite this, its explosion, which took place 580 meters above the ground, killed between 70,000 and 80,000 people with a single shot. It is estimated that a similar bomb has one Action radius of up to 4.52 km (covering an area of 64.1 km²). Within this area, the direct effects of the explosion are manifold: within a 180 meter radius of the explosion everything is vaporized by the fireball, while the blast wave destroys all buildings within a 340 meter radius (area of the “heavy explosion damage” of 20 psi ). However, in the absence of a nuclear shelter, it is convenient impossible to save if you are within 2 km of the explosion site, due to the heat wave with lifethreatening thirddegree burns. In addition up to 1.2 km from the explosion the dose of ionizing radiation is about 5000 millisieverts: absorbing this amount of radiation in a short time means dying within a month. However, 15% of survivors have a high probability of dying from cancer. Above 340 meters and up to 4.5 km from the point of explosion, “light blast damage” (e.g. blowing out panes of glass) is recorded.
The atomic bomb W76, used by US and UK crews, has a capacity of 100 kilotons. Its direct effects extend about 10 km from the explosion site: the fireball is about 380 meters in size, the radius of lethal radiation is 1.11 km, while the radius of thermal radiation (3rd degree burns) is 4.38 km ( 60.3 km²). Beyond 5 km there is a greater chance of survival, despite the effects of the shock wave and radioactive fallout. The burst of a tsar bomb would instead vaporize everything instantly Radius of 6 km (fireball), while the moderate shock wave (which can collapse most buildings) would extend over 32 km.
What to do in case of a nuclear explosion?
It’s best to escape insidein a nuclear buker o underground (subways, basements) to protect yourself from the blast wave and not go outside for the next 12 hours to avoid the effects of the radioactive material that appears as a result of the explosion. It is equally important to avoid consume contaminated food or water (Therefore water supplies, at least 4 liters per person per day and nonperishable food are required). The administration recommends taking iodine to counteract the effects of radioactivity on the thyroid gland. Finally, it will be important to have a connection to the outside world telephone or television to keep abreast of authorities’ leads and evacuation plans.
Radiation Risk Over Time: Why Hiroshima Is Still Inhabited
In the case of Hiroshima, most casualties from nuclear explosions were due to the shock wave caused by the large amount of energy released, rather than the effects of radioactive contamination of the soil and water. American bombs fired in the air a few kilos of radioactive material, in contrast to the Chernobyl accident, which released dozens of tons of radioactive elements. This explains why in Chernobyl the effects of contamination will render the area uninhabitable for the next 20,000 years, but Hiroshima and Nagasaki are now inhabited again and there are no abnormal rates of cancer in the population.
The risk of contamination is related not only to the amount of radioactive material in the bombs, but also to theheight at which they explode: The closer the explosion is to the ground, the larger the crater and the amount of earth that is sucked up, thrown into the air and turned into radioactive material that falls back to the ground. It is estimated that the fallout of hydrogen bombs (like the Tsar Bomb) or largescale nuclear bombs sucking up vast amounts of earth contaminate the ground to lethal levels for humans within a radius of hundreds of kilometers from the site of the explosion.