The radius of destruction of nuclear weapons in km. Nuclear myths and atomic reality. When and how did nuclear weapons appear

Chapter 3

3.1. Characteristics of the damaging effect of a nuclear explosion

In terms of the scale and nature of the damaging effect, nuclear explosions differ significantly from conventional munitions explosions. The simultaneous impact of a shock wave, light radiation and penetrating radiation largely determines the combined nature of the destructive effect of a nuclear munition explosion on people, weapons, military equipment and structures.

With a combined injury to personnel, injuries and contusions from exposure to a shock wave can be combined with burns from light radiation, radiation sickness from exposure to penetrating radiation and radioactive contamination. Some types of weapons and military equipment, structures and property of troops will be destroyed (damaged) by a shock wave with simultaneous ignition from light radiation. Radio-electronic equipment and devices, in addition, may lose their functionality as a result of exposure to an electromagnetic pulse and ionizing radiation from a nuclear explosion, which is most typical for an explosion of a neutron munition.

The combined lesion is the most severe for a person. So, radiation sickness makes it difficult to treat injuries and burns, which in turn complicate the course of radiation sickness. In addition, this reduces the resistance of the human body to infectious diseases.

According to their severity, injuries to personnel are usually divided into fatal, extremely severe, moderate and light. Extremely severe and moderate lesions are life-threatening and often fatal. Moderate and light injuries, as a rule, do not pose a danger to life, but lead to a temporary loss of combat capability of the personnel.

The failure of personnel from exposure to shock waves and light radiation is determined by light, and from exposure to penetrating radiation - medium lesions requiring treatment in medical institutions.

Under the influence of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion, personnel can lose their combat capability (operability) immediately, i.e. after a few minutes after the explosion, or after a longer time. Under the influence of a shock wave or light radiation, the defeat of personnel occurs, as a rule, immediately. The degree of damage to a person by penetrating radiation and the time during which the characteristic symptoms of radiation sickness appear, and, accordingly, the failure of personnel depend on the absorbed dose of radiation. This time can vary from a few days to a month.

Personnel losses from the impact of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion, depending on the degree of damage, it is customary to divide into irreversible and sanitary. The irretrievable losses include those who died before medical assistance was provided; to sanitary - those who have lost their combat capability for at least one day and who have arrived at medical centers or medical institutions.

Failure of weapons and military equipment occurs mainly under the action of a shock wave and is caused for aircraft and helicopters by weak damage, for the rest of the equipment - medium damage.

Damage to weapons and military equipment occurs when they are directly exposed to excessive pressure and due to the propelling action of the shock wave, as a result of which the object is thrown away by the velocity pressure and hits the ground.

It is customary to distinguish four degrees of damage to weapons and military equipment: weak, medium and strong damage and complete destruction.

To weak damage to weapons and military equipment include those that do not significantly reduce the combat capability of the sample and can be eliminated by the crew (crew).

Medium damage is considered to be damage to weapons and military equipment that requires repair in military repair units and subunits.

In case of severe damage, the object either becomes completely unusable, or can be returned to service after a major overhaul.

In case of complete destruction of the object, its restoration is impossible or practically impractical.

Fortifications are destroyed mainly by a shock wave, and in the absence of clothes of steepness, from the impact of seismic and explosive waves in the ground. There are three degrees of destruction of fortifications: weak, medium and complete.

With a weak destruction, the structure is suitable for combat use, but requires further repair.

In the case of medium damage, the suitability of the structure for its intended use is limited and it is considered to be disabled.

With complete destruction, the use of the structure for its intended purpose and its restoration become almost impossible.

In settlements and forests, nuclear explosions can cause areas of debris and fires. The height of solid blockages can reach 3-4 m. In the zone of complete destruction of the forest (pressure of more than 0.5 kgf / cm 2), trees, as a rule, are uprooted, broken and discarded. In the zone of continuous blockages (pressure 0.3-0.5 kgf / cm 2), up to 60% of trees are destroyed, in the zone of partial blockages (pressure 0.1-0.3 kgf / cm 2) - up to 30%.

3.2. Coordinate law of defeat

The defeat of the target, as well as the damage caused to it during the explosion of a nuclear weapon, are random in nature and are due to a combination of the following factors:

• target coordinates relative to the center (epicenter) of the explosion;
• the effectiveness of the lethal effect of the ammunition;
• the degree of coverage of the target by damaging factors;
• vulnerability of the target;
• the difference in the location and orientation of objects on the ground relative to the center (epicenter) of the explosion.

When establishing the regularity of the probability of failure of personnel under the simultaneous influence of several damaging factors (combined defeat), it is taken into account that the mutual aggravation of various types of damage does not appear, as a rule, immediately after they are received, but only during the treatment period.

In that case, the probability V failure of personnel in case of combined injuries is considered as a result of the impact on a person of independent events (affecting factors) and is calculated by the ratio

where V SW, V si, V pr- the probability of failure from the impact of a shock wave, light radiation and penetrating radiation, respectively.

Since the effect of individual damaging factors on the target is random, the result of the explosion as a whole will also be random, therefore, the complete characteristic of the damaging effect of a nuclear munition explosion is the coordinate law of destruction of objects.

The coordinate law of destruction is the dependence of the probability of destruction of an object not lower than a given degree of severity on its position (coordinates) relative to the center (epicenter) of a nuclear munition explosion. For each power and type of nuclear explosion, there is a certain pattern of change in the probability of a certain degree of destruction (destruction) of a given object depending on the distance.

Due to the symmetry of the effect of the damaging factors of the explosion relative to its center (epicenter) on medium-rough terrain, the coordinate law of the lesion will be circular (Fig. 3.1). The origin of coordinates is aligned with the center (epicenter) of the explosion, the distance is indicated on the abscissa axis R from the center (epicenter) of the explosion, and on the y-axis - the probability V(R) defeat a certain element of the target with a given degree of severity.

When considering the coordinate law of damage, three zones (regions) can be distinguished located around the center (epicenter) of the explosion. In a zone with a radius Rg> directly adjacent to the center (epicenter) of the explosion, the probability of hitting the target is constant and equal to 1; this zone is usually called the zone of unconditional (reliable) defeat. It is followed by a zone with a radius R a , in within which the probability of damage decreases from 1 to 0 as the distance from the center (epicenter) of the explosion increases; this area is called area of ​​potential damage.

Then there is a zone ( R b>R a), within which lesions of moderate severity will not be observed. Starting from a distance R>R b there will be no light lesions; this area is called complete security zone

Rice. 3.1. Graphic representation of the circular coordinate law of defeat:

a - a lesion of at least moderate severity; b - damage not lower than mild severity

The direct use of the coordinate law in calculating possible losses in the region of a nuclear explosion presents certain difficulties due to the complexity of the calculations. For practical calculations, the form of the coordinate law of damage can be simplified by artificially expanding the zone of reliable damage due to the zone of probable damage. The resulting extended zone of reliable lesions of moderate severity is called reduced affected area, within which, when the ammunition explodes, the target is hit with a given probability. The size of this zone can be characterized by the radius R p(km), hereinafter referred to for abbreviation radius of the affected area. With this approach, the coordinate law of defeat is replaced by a simple one-step law of the probability of hitting the target V(R) distance to target R at the time of the explosion of a nuclear weapon (Fig. 3.2).

For all points of the reduced kill zone, in accordance with its definition, the probability of hitting the considered element of the target with a degree of severity not lower than the given one is 1, and outside this zone (R>R p)-0.

Rice. 3.2. Graphical representation of the one-step law of the probability of hitting a target

On the border of the affected area R= R p the probability of hitting the considered elementary target is 0.5. Reduced affected area S p(km 2) looks like a circle:

The use in practice of the circular single-stage law of the probability of hitting a target makes it possible to estimate the effectiveness of nuclear strikes with an accuracy acceptable for manual calculations.

3.3. Classification of targets

The effectiveness of a nuclear strike when an object is hit is determined by the following factors:

• type, size and mobility of the object;
• stability of the elementary targets of the object to the impact of damaging factors;
• power, type and number of explosions;
• terrain and meteorological conditions at the moment of impact, etc.

In the general case, the object of destruction is a set of elementary targets located in a limited area. An elementary target is understood as such a single target that cannot be divided into other targets or dismembered into parts without violating its physical integrity, for example, a tank, an armored personnel carrier.

According to the nature of the elementary goals that make up the objects, the latter are divided into homogeneous and heterogeneous. Homogeneous is an object containing one type of elementary targets. If an object contains elementary targets of a different nature (for example, manpower, tanks, artillery pieces), then it is called heterogeneous. For a homogeneous object, the number of its hit elementary targets, evenly spaced, is directly proportional to the area of ​​the object covered by the zones of destruction of nuclear explosions.

The stability of an object also significantly depends on its size and configuration. By size, objects can be divided into point and dimensional.

Point objects include those whose defeat cannot be partial: they are either completely destroyed during the explosion of a nuclear weapon, or not affected at all (for example, a launcher at a launch site).

Dimensional objects can be area or linear. For areal objects, the ratio of the linear dimensions of the front and depth does not exceed 2:1. For linear objects, this ratio is greater than 2. In contrast to point objects, dimensional objects can be partially affected in a nuclear explosion, i.e. defeat can be inflicted only on a fraction of elementary targets located within the area occupied by a given object. It should be borne in mind that such a classification of targets is relative: depending on the power of the explosion, the same target can be point in one case, and dimensional in the other.

Areal objects can be conventionally represented as circular. The area is taken as a dimensional characteristic of a circular object S C (km 2) or radius R c (km) of a circle equal to the area of ​​the object. The target area is defined as the product of its dimensions along the front and in depth. Then

When assessing the losses caused to a linear object, its length is taken as the main dimensional characteristic L c.

Almost any dimensional object is heterogeneous both in terms of the resistance of its individual elements to the effects of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion, and in terms of the degree of importance of these elements for the normal functioning of the object as a whole.

3.4. Estimation of losses in the area of ​​a nuclear explosion

Data on troop losses in the area of ​​a nuclear explosion can be obtained either from the reports of the commanders of subunits that have been subjected to a nuclear strike, or they can be determined by calculation - by the method of forecasting. In the latter case, the effectiveness of the damaging effect of a nuclear explosion on various objects can be assessed using the values ​​of the radii of the affected zones. At the same time, it is believed that within the affected zones, individual elements of the object receive destruction (damage) to such an extent that they lose their combat capability or cannot be used for their intended purpose.

The initial data for predicting the loss of personnel, weapons and military equipment are the time, coordinates, type and power of a nuclear explosion, the position of troops, their security and conditions of combat activity.

The effectiveness of the defeat of the object is determined by the totality of the characteristics of the defeat and is assessed by the damage caused. Depending on the type of objects, various criteria for combat effectiveness can be used to assess the effectiveness of destruction. An indicator of the effectiveness of hitting single point objects is the probability of hitting. An indicator of the effectiveness of the defeat of an area object is the mathematical expectation of the relative number (or percentage) of elementary targets hit or the reliably hit part of the object's area.

In practice, the effectiveness of an enemy nuclear strike on objects can be estimated by the absolute or relative number of affected elements (area) of the object S n. In the latter case, the damage M p(%), inflicted on the object, can be calculated as the ratio of the number of affected elements m n (area of ​​the affected area S P) to their total number at the target m c (object area S C) according to the ratio

To determine the damage (losses), it is necessary to know the values ​​of the radii of the zones of destruction (failure) of personnel, weapons and military equipment R p for a given power and type of explosion, the area or length of the object on which the nuclear strike was delivered, as well as the number of personnel N hp, weapons and military equipment N t on the site and the degree of their protection. In addition, it is necessary to have information about the nature of the distribution of elementary targets on the area of ​​the object. Often such information will be absent, and therefore it is conditionally assumed that all elements are distributed evenly over the area of ​​​​the object that was struck by a nuclear strike.

The area of ​​the target, which was in the affected area from the explosion of a nuclear weapon of a certain power, depends on the relative position of the center (epicenter) of the explosion and the center of the area of ​​the object being struck.

Possible options for such a mutual arrangement are shown in Fig. 3.3 where:

Rice. 3.3. The location of the affected areas relative to the area of ​​the object (option)

a- the entire area of ​​the affected area S n (km 2) is located within the area of ​​the object; is calculated by formula (3.1);

b- more than half of the area of ​​the affected area is within the area of ​​the object; the affected part of the area of ​​the object is determined by the area of ​​the circle with radius R p minus the area of ​​the segment;

in- half of the area of ​​the affected area is located outside the area of ​​the object, and in this case

G- more than half of the area of ​​the affected area is located outside the area of ​​the object; in this case, the affected part of the area of ​​the object is equal to the area of ​​the segment.

When assessing the absolute losses of personnel P people or weapons and military equipment P units located at the time of a nuclear explosion on a dimensional object, it is necessary to determine the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe object covered by the affected area S n, and multiply the found value by the number of personnel or weapons and military equipment:

Military subunits when moving in columns are classified as linear objects. In this case, the calculation of damage M p(%) inflicted by a nuclear explosion is produced by the ratio

where L n is the length of the part of the column affected by the explosion, km;

L c- the total length of the column of troops, km. The length of the affected part of the column depends on the radius of the affected area (power and type of explosion) of the individual elements of the column and the relative position of the center (epicenter) of the explosion and the column.

Rice. 3.4. Location of centers (epicenters) of nuclear explosions relative to the affected columns of troops (option)

On fig. 3.4 shows the possible positions of the centers (epicenters) of explosions relative to the hit columns of troops (linear objects). Absolute losses of personnel, weapons and military equipment at a linear facility under the provisions a B C, shown in the figure can be estimated by the relations:

Approximate values ​​of the radii of personnel failure zones, depending on the conditions of its placement at low air (B) and ground (H) nuclear explosions are presented in table. 3.1. When evaluating

Table 3.1

The radii of personnel failure zones as a result of combined lesions, km

Note. Under the radius of the personnel failure zone, one should understand the radius of the circle, on the border of which the probability of combined moderate injuries is at least 50% of the possible losses of weapons and military equipment and the destruction of engineering structures, you can use the data given in Table. 3.2.

Table 3.2

Radii of zones of medium damage to weapons and military equipment and destruction of engineering structures, km

Note. The radii of failure of weapons and military equipment located in shelters are approximately 1.5 times less than those indicated.

The assessment of possible losses of personnel, weapons and military equipment is carried out in the following sequence:

1. Depending on the power and type of nuclear explosion according to Table. 3.1 and 3.2 determine the values ​​of the radii of the failure zones of various elements of the object.
2. From the center (epicenter) of a nuclear explosion, according to the values ​​of the radii, they put on a map with the actual position of the troops the zone of failure of individual elements of the object.
3. According to formula (3.1), the values ​​of the areas of the affected zones of various elements of the object are calculated.
4. The absolute losses of personnel or weapons and military equipment on a dimensional object are calculated by the ratio (3.3) or (3.4), and on a linear object - by the ratios (3.5), (3.6) and (3.7).

What is the maximum range of an atomic bomb?

1. 3rd world war on the threshold of our house, is it going
2. 20 kilotons - zone of destruction and significant impacts - no more than 4 km. The effective factor increases as the cube root of power. So, if you need to cover a radius of 40 km (Moscow) - you need a charge 1000 times larger - 20 megatons. And then, if you shy away from the Kremlin, almost no one will suffer behind the third ring.
3. 
   
   
   
   
   Everything was bigger there.
   Vysoat "mushroom" - 64 km.
   
   
   
   
   
   But then they wanted to blow up not 50 MT, but all 100 MT .. . I'm afraid to imagine what would happen...
4. What were the consequences of the nuclear explosion in Nagasaki (21 kilotons of TNT):

   Within a radius of 1 km from the epicenter: almost all people and animals died instantly as a result of the impact of the blast wave and high temperature. Wooden structures, houses and other buildings were turned into powder.

   Within a radius of 2 km from the epicenter: some people and animals died immediately, and most suffered injuries of varying severity due to the effects of the shock wave and high temperature. About 80% of wooden structures, houses and other buildings were destroyed, and fires that spread from other areas burned most of the ruins. Concrete and iron pillars remained intact. Plants partially charred and died.

   Between 3 km and 4 km: some people and animals received injuries of varying severity from flying fragments, and others burns from heat rays. Objects of dark color, as a rule, caught fire. Most of the houses and other buildings were partially destroyed, and some buildings and wooden poles burned down. The surviving wooden telephone poles were charred on the side facing the epicenter.

   Between 4 km and 8 km: some people and animals received injuries of varying severity from flying fragments, and houses were partially destroyed and damaged.

   Within a radius of 15 km: the shock wave from the explosion was clearly felt. Windows were broken, doors and paper partitions were broken.
   (urakami.narod.ru)

   Found near the epicenter: the bones of a human hand, frozen in a melted piece of glass

   The result of the explosion of the nuclear device "Ivan" (58 megatons):

   - Nuclear mushroom explosion rose to a height of 64 km.
   - The radius of the fireball of the explosion was approximately 4.5 kilometers.
   “The radiation could cause third-degree burns up to a hundred kilometers away.
   — The shock wave resulting from the explosion circled the globe three times.
   - The ionization of the atmosphere caused radio interference even hundreds of kilometers from the test site for one hour.
   “Witnesses felt the impact and were able to describe the explosion at a distance of a thousand kilometers from its center. The shock wave also reached Dixon Island, where it shattered windows in houses.
   (Wikipedia)

5. A lot 🙂
6. when the nucleus explodes, all the electra comes out .... but if there is a receiving lamp system that turns on the electronics, then it will be normal) the most important thing is that the electronics that are there must be turned off!
7. It is very difficult to determine the maximum radius of destruction of an atomic and even more so nuclear bomb. In total, a nuclear bomb has several damaging factors:
   Penetrating radiation is a stream of hard gamma radiation. Its radius is very large - from kilometers to several tens of kilometers. Within a radius of several kilometers, all living things receive the strongest dose of radiation.
   Shock wave - the radius of destruction from half a kilometer (a zone of continuous destruction), and ending with kilometers (glasses fly out) and up to thousands of kilometers (explosion sound). In rare cases (50MT bomb "Kuzkin's mother" Khrushchev), the shock wave goes around the globe .... 3 times. Although at such distances it does not bring destruction.
   Residual radiation - the radius depends on the direction and strength of the wind. In other words, this is the area from where the radioactive rain (snow, dust, fog) will fall - the remains of a mushroom cloud.
   EMP is an electromagnetic impulse. Burns all electronics. Radius of tens of kilometers.
   Light radiation is a strong stream of light that burns everything it falls on. The affected area depends on the strength of the explosion and the weather. Usually several tens of kilometers are within line of sight. And even at a great distance it can burn the retina. For example, in Hiroshima, the bark of trees was charred at a distance of 9 km. In the city itself, bottles were melting and people were instantly burned. And there the explosion power was only 12-16 kilotons (16,000 tons) in TNT equivalent.
   During the legendary explosion of "Ivan" 50 MT (50,000,000 tons of TNT. eq.) stones evaporated.
   Everything was bigger there.
   Vysoat "mushroom" - 64 km.
   The radius of the "active zone" (temperature over a million degrees) is 4.5 km.
   Destruction from the shock wave - 400 km. from the center.
   Light impulse (impact) - 270 km.
   From the island over which the charge was blown up, an even "licked" stone "skating rink" remained.
   It was the most stylish man-made explosion.
   But then they wanted to blow up not 50 MT, but all 100 MT ... I'm afraid to imagine what would happen ...

   So the radius is always huge, but strongly depends on the power.

8. And what is the damaging factor of interest? An atomic bomb is both light / thermal radiation that ignites everything around, and an electromagnetic pulse of enormous strength, and a blast wave of colossal power, and, finally, radiation.

   If you can hide from light / thermal radiation at least 50 meters from the explosion behind a stone wall, then from the blast wave (if the explosion was, for example, in an open field) - and 10 kilometers will not save much ...

   In general, it all depends on the power of the charge of the bomb, how it was detonated (underground explosion, aboveground, air, underwater) ... But the terrain is the most important.

9. Lesions are of different types: thermal, radiation (alpha, beta, gamma radiation, and other ranges), electromagnetic, light, shock wave. Each type has its own radius of destruction. In addition, nuclear warheads vary greatly in power. Therefore, a definite answer cannot be given.
10. 10km
11. Depending on how many kilotons, you can add to infinity
12. 21 kilotons of waste was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 1 kiloton is 1000 tons spent. 1 kiloton strikes from 300 to 500 meters in radius, a fireball up to 200 meters maximum. There are 3 kiloton shells they wanted to use even in Soviet times. On the Narcissus tank. Radius defeat 100% effect 350 meters. 550 ct. This is 165 km of defeat in a radius.

Many films and essays have been made about the possible consequences of a nuclear warhead explosion over the city, many articles and books have been written. It just gets forgotten over time. Hair moved while watching / reading, and after a couple of three weeks, the memory obligingly pushed unpleasant things deep into the subcortex, the sharpness of perception became dull and "people" continue to live and enjoy life.

The constant fueling of tension in the face of unprovoked, brazen and unprincipled aggression (fortunately not yet military) by the United States and its vassals leads to the fact that the possible consequences of the use of nuclear weapons begin to worry not only us Russians, but also the aggressors themselves. And they begin to remember what the real use of nuclear weapons is, and not its pictures in propaganda videos and memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Especially the use of MODERN nuclear weapons, which Russia has and which WILL FLY to the UWB, despite all their missile defense systems.

The appearance on the site http://thebulletin.org/ (The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) of the article "What happens if an 800 kiloton warhead explodes over midtown Manhattan?" On February 25 of this year KMK is no coincidence. Despite everything, in America there are still quite a lot of thinking people who understand the essence of what is happening, who have a sober look at the consequences of the neocons' frantic policy. However, it may also be the opposite, that this article has found a second life under the weight of bricks in diapers. This article was first published on the same resource in 2004.

I made the translation quite free, because the authors themselves have a lot of confusion and inconsistencies in an attempt to describe the process of destruction in time. However, let's go.

The author of the article recalls that Russia has an estimated 1,000 strategic nuclear warheads that could reach US soil in less than 30 minutes after launch. Of this 1,000 warheads, about 700 have a yield of 800 kilotons, or 800,000 tons of TNT. So what will happen if such a warhead explodes in the heart of New York over midtown Manhattan ( Americans like to use epithets like heart and soul in relation to their cities).

Let me remind you what this part of New York is like: part of the Manhattan area between 14th Street in the south and 59th Street and Central Park in the north. In fact - the main business and shopping district of New York, the location of such American symbols as the Empire State Building (Empire State Building), Rockefeller Center (Rockefeller Center), Ford Foundation Building (Ford Foundation Building), Chrysler Building (Chrysler Building ) etc. The UN complex is located in the same area. And Wall Street too.

Primary fireball. The warhead will detonate at an altitude of about 1 mile (1.6 km) above the city, which maximizes the damage caused by the shock wave. A few milliseconds after the explosion, the center of the warhead will heat up to 100 million degrees Celsius, which is 5 times hotter than the core of the Sun ( Tthe temperature of the core of the Sun is 1.5 million Celsius, the surface is 6000 degrees, the temperature of the corona is 1 million).

The resulting ball of super-hot air will expand at a speed of several million kilometers per hour, acting as an ultra-fast piston that compresses the surrounding air along the periphery of the fireball, and creates a giant shock wave of enormous destructive force.

(KMK the author exaggerates the speed a little. At a speed of movement of the air mass at the level of Max1 - 350 m / s - the speed will be about 30.2 thousand km. in hour. To achieve a speed of 1 million km / h - the air speed must be 11,574 m / s).

One second after the explosion, the fireball will reach 1 mile in diameter, having cooled down to 16,000 degrees Fahrenheit ( the authors of the article at the end begin to give already in Celsius and in kilometers), which is about 4000 degrees Celsius hotter than the surface of the Sun.

On a clear day, such temperatures would cause flash fires over an area of ​​about 100 square miles ( over 250 sq. km).

Fire storm. Within seconds of the explosion, the fires that erupt will cause hot air to rise, sucking in cool, oxygen-rich air from all directions.

All ignition sources will gradually unite into one giant fire, the energy release of which can be 15-50 times higher than the initial energy release of the explosion itself. The firestorm will rapidly gain in strength, heating huge masses of air that can reach speeds of 300 miles (480 km) per hour. Due to the chimney effect, cool and oxygen-rich air from the periphery of the fires will continue to be sucked in, which will further increase the power of the fire. The force of the wind along the edges of the fire zone will be sufficient to uproot trees up to a meter in diameter and suck people into the flames.

Epicenter of the explosion: Midtown Manhattan. The fireball will vaporize any structure directly below it, and its shockwave will flatten even solid concrete structures within a radius of several miles to the ground. Buildings not immediately destroyed will be subjected to blast and super high temperatures, igniting anything that can burn.

In less than a second from the moment of the explosion, the asphalt will melt, all the paint on the walls will burn, and the steel surfaces will melt. In a second, a shock wave at 750 miles per hour will destroy buildings, throw cars into the air like leaves. Throughout midtown, all the insides of buildings and machines that are in the line of sight of the explosion will ignite.

In the Chelsea, Midoutn East and Lenox Hill areas, as well as in the UN, located at a distance of approximately 1 mile from the epicenter, all flammable objects will ignite with the intensity of the fireball's light, 10,000 times brighter than the noon desert sun.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2 miles from ground zero, will be razed to the ground along with all of its priceless historical treasures.

In the East Village, Lower Manhattan and Stusant Town, the fireball's light will be 2,700 times brighter than the midday sun in the desert. Thermal radiation will melt and warp aluminum surfaces, ignite cars, and incinerate skin before the shockwave even arrives.

At a distance of about 3 miles from the epicenter of the explosion, fires will begin in areas (Queens, Brooklyn, Western New York, Jersey City) located along the banks of the Hudson and the East River. Despite the influence of water masses on the direction of the fiery winds in the area, their effect will be similar to the effect of continuous fire, which will cover Midtown Manhattan. Here the strength of the light will be stronger in 1900 strength of the noonday sun. Clothing worn by people in the line of sight of the explosion will instantly ignite, causing third and fourth degree burns. After 12-14 seconds, the blast wave will reach here, driving the air in front of it at a speed of 200 to 300 miles per hour. Low-rise residential buildings will be destroyed, high-rise buildings will be severely damaged.

The fire will completely cover the entire territory within a radius of 5 miles from the epicenter of the explosion.

At a distance of 5.35 miles from the epicenter, the flash output will be twice as powerful as the thermal energy impact in Hiroshima. Thermal and light pressure in Jersey City, Cliffside Park, Woodside in Queens, Harlem and Governors Island will exceed the power of 600 noon suns.

At this distance, wind speeds will reach 70-100 miles per hour ( 130-160 km/h). Sturdy buildings will be subject to serious structural damage, all windows and doors, as well as non-load-bearing walls and partitions, will be demolished. Wooden (residential) houses and their interiors will spew clouds of black smoke as the paint and interiors ignite.

At a distance of 6 to 7 miles from the epicenter in the territory from Monachi in New Jersey to Crown Heights in Brooklyn, from Yankee Stadium in Queens to Crown in Queens and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, the thermal power of the ball will exceed the power of 300 noon suns and everyone who happens to be in the line of sight of the ball will receive third-degree burns. A firestorm can engulf all areas within a 7 mile radius of the epicenter.

At 9 miles from the epicenter, the luminous power of the ball will exceed the power of 100 noon suns, which will cause second and third degree burns. After 36 seconds from the moment of the explosion, the blast wave will get here, knocking out windows, doors and partitions inside buildings.

There will be no survivors. In 10 minutes, the entire area within a 7-mile radius of the epicenter of the explosion in Midtown Manhattan will be engulfed in flames. A continuous fire can cover from 90 to 152 square miles (230 - 389 sq. km.) And it can last at least 6 hours. Air temperatures in the affected area will reach 400 - 500 degrees Fahrenheit (200 - 260 Celsius).

At the end of the fire, the surface of the earth will be so hot that even tracked vehicles will be able to drive over it only after a few days. Unburned flammable materials buried under rubble and the ground may ignite spontaneously when released into the air, even after several months.

Those who tried to escape across the open countryside and along the roads will be incinerated by the firestorm. Even those who managed to hide in the fortified cellars of buildings are likely to suffocate from the smoke and burning or be baked alive as their shelters heat up.

Fire will consume and destroy all life. For tens of miles from the site of direct destruction, radiation will be carried by the wind.

But that's another story.

There is a funny thing on Vott, where, with reference to Google Earth maps, you can compare almost any relevance with the most famous nuclear devices of the "atomic race".

For example, if you select New York on the map and apply the most powerful nuclear bomb created in the USSR to it, it gives the following results:

The damaging factors of an explosion with a power of 100,000 kt (from the smallest to the largest in terms of distance from the epicenter):

Fire Flash Radius: 3.03 km / 1.88 miles

Radiation Radius: 7.49 km / 4.65 miles

blast radius: 12.51 km / 7.77 miles

blast radius: 33.01 km / 20.51 miles

Light damage radius: 77.06 km / 47.88 miles

Whereas when applying the conventional North Korean device,

The damaging factors of an explosion with a power of 6 kt (from the smallest to the largest in terms of distance from the epicenter):

Fire Flash Radius: 0.06 km / 0.04 miles
The maximum size of a nuclear flash; attitude to living objects depends on the height of the detonation.

Shock wave radius: 0.51 km / 0.31 miles
pressure 20 psi; strong structures are destroyed or badly damaged; lethality in this affected area reaches 100%.

Radiation Radius: 1.18 km / 0.73 miles
500 rem / 5 Sv radiation dose; mortality from acute manifestations ranging from 50% to 90%; the time of death is between one hour and several weeks.

blast radius: 1.33 km / 0.83 miles
pressure 4.6 psi; most of the buildings are destroyed; wide range of damage, many dead.

Light damage radius: 1.43 km / 0.89 miles
Third degree burns to unprotected areas of the skin; ignition of flammable materials; with sufficient explosive power, a firestorm is formed.

The main topic was the discussion OFFACKLE”, a plan for nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

Conference transcript (not complete).

Part 1

1. Report by Major General Charles Pearre Cabell, head of intelligence for the US Air Force,

Political information. Soviet agitprop is resting.

Pieces of NSC-68. The CIA is full of cretins.
In mid-1952, the USSR will be able to inflict (and most likely strike - it is) unacceptable damage to the United States.
We must prepare.
-

2. Three reports. Major General Samuel Egbert Anderson.

Nuclear war scenario.

Soviet aggression.

The defense along the Rhine was most likely unsuccessful.
Defense of Great Britain. Has to be successful.

The three-year occupation of Europe by the Soviets.
And then "Overlord".
-

In general, there is not much new.

Who cares - recognized text (English, naturally).

Report from the Strategic Air Command (SAC)- Speech by General Montgomery.

Transcript
Prepared text with illustrations.

What is there.
-

Composition of SAK:

3 armies (2nd, 8th, 15th).

67,156 people (military - 60,694, civilians 6,462).
-

Aviation: Total 784 .
-

Bombers - 512 (Half ( 256 ) - carriers of nuclear weapons).

heavy - 27 (B-36)

medium - 485 (148 B-50, 337 B-29)
-

Note 1. There are a few more B-36s, but they are not combat-ready.

Note 2 - 1800 B-29s are in storage. But after three years, there should be 182 of them.
-

Tankers - 77 (all KB-29, "All of these are equipped with the British type refueling system" - so)

Scouts - 62 (all RB-29s). RB-36 and RB-50 have not yet been received.

Fighters - 104 (77 F-82, 27 F-84). The number will soon double.

Transport - 29 (19 C-54, 10 C-97)

With the threat of war, redeployment to advanced bases abroad begins.

7 groups of bombers, 1 - fighters, 1 - reconnaissance and 5 groups of collectors of A-bombs (+1 to Alaska) are scheduled for the transfer.

There is a limited amount of movement on E-day, mostly near staging areas to alert assembly teams.
-

Day E + 1 - the first groups decrease.

E+3 - the maximum scale of movements.

E+5 - redeployment completed.
-

In England, 8 bases are used.

Assembly Group No. 6 - in Alaska (for B-36).

According to the TROJAN plan, a strike was planned on 70 cities of the USSR.

"OFFTACKLE" - 123 targets.

The intelligence for the bombing is on 60 goals, it is required to conduct aerial reconnaissance of the remaining 63's.
-

Location Goal setting:

Several targets are outside the borders of the USSR.
-

The first atomic bombing is scheduled for E+6.

Medium bombers strike from British bases, B-36s from Alaska

(at temperatures below -30º, it is impossible to send B-36 through Alaska due to the impossibility of maintenance (there are no hangars of the required sizes).
-

In the first strike, 26 targets are hit by medium bombers (from England) and 6 targets by B-36s.

The entire grouping of strategic aviation for the first strike includes 201 British-based medium bomber and 10 B-36 North American based.
Bear 70 A-bombs.
-

Evgenia Pozhidaeva about the Berkeem show on the eve of the next UN General Assembly.

"... initiatives that are not the most beneficial for Russia are legitimized by ideas that have dominated the mass consciousness for seven decades. The presence of nuclear weapons is seen as a prerequisite for a global catastrophe. Meanwhile, these ideas are largely an explosive mixture of propaganda clichés and frank " urban legends". Around the "bomb" an extensive mythology has developed, which has a very distant relation to reality.

Let's try to deal with at least part of the collection of nuclear myths and legends of the XXI century.

Myth #1

The effect of nuclear weapons may have "geological" proportions.

Thus, the power of the well-known "Tsar-Bomba" (aka "Kuzkina-mother") "was reduced (to 58 megatons) so as not to break through the earth's crust to the mantle. 100 megatons would be quite enough for this." More radical options go as far as "irreversible tectonic shifts" and even "ball splitting" (ie the planet). To reality, as you might guess, this has not just a zero relation - it tends to the region of negative numbers.

So, what is the "geological" effect of nuclear weapons in reality?

The diameter of the funnel formed during a ground-based nuclear explosion in dry sandy and clay soils (i.e., in fact, the maximum possible - on denser soils, it will naturally be smaller) is calculated using a very unpretentious formula "38 times the cube root of the explosion yield in kilotons". The explosion of a megaton bomb creates a funnel with a diameter of about 400 m, while its depth is 7-10 times less (40-60 m). A ground explosion of a 58-megaton munition, thus, forms a funnel with a diameter of about one and a half kilometers and a depth of about 150-200 m. digging efficiency. In other words, "piercing the earth's crust" and "breaking the ball" are from the field of fishing tales and gaps in the field of literacy.

Myth #2

"Stocks of nuclear weapons in Russia and the United States are enough for a guaranteed 10-20-fold destruction of all life forms on Earth." "The nuclear weapons that we already have are enough to destroy life on earth 300 times in a row."

Reality: propaganda fake.

With an air explosion with a power of 1 Mt, the zone of complete destruction (98% of the dead) has a radius of 3.6 km, strong and medium destruction - 7.5 km. At a distance of 10 km, only 5% of the population perishes (however, 45% receive injuries of varying severity). In other words, the area of ​​"catastrophic" damage in a megaton nuclear explosion is 176.5 square kilometers (the approximate area of ​​Kirov, Sochi and Naberezhnye Chelny; for comparison, the area of ​​Moscow in 2008 is 1090 square kilometers). As of March 2013, Russia had 1,480 strategic warheads, the United States - 1,654. In other words, Russia and the United States can jointly turn a country the size of France into a zone of destruction up to and including medium ones, but not the whole world.

With more targeted "fire" The United States can even after the destruction of key facilities that provide a retaliatory strike (command posts, communications centers, missile silos, strategic aviation airfields, etc.) almost completely and immediately destroy almost the entire urban population of the Russian Federation(in Russia there are 1097 cities and about 200 "non-urban" settlements with a population of more than 10 thousand people); a significant part of agriculture will also die (mainly due to radioactive fallout). Pretty obvious indirect effects will wipe out a significant portion of the survivors in a short time. A nuclear attack by the Russian Federation, even in the "optimistic" version, will be much less effective - the population of the United States is more than twice as large, much more dispersed, the States have a noticeably larger "effective" (that is, somewhat developed and populated) territory, which makes the survival of the surviving climate less difficult. Nonetheless, a Russian nuclear salvo is more than enough to bring the enemy to the Central African state- provided that the main part of its nuclear arsenal is not destroyed by a preventive strike.

Naturally, All these calculations come from from the surprise attack , without the possibility to take any measures to reduce the damage (evacuation, use of shelters). If they are used, the losses will be much less. In other words, the two key nuclear powers, which possess the overwhelming share of atomic weapons, are capable of practically wiping each other off the face of the Earth, but not humanity, and, moreover, the biosphere. In fact, it would take at least 100,000 megaton-class warheads to almost completely annihilate humanity.

However, perhaps humanity will be killed by indirect effects - nuclear winter and radioactive contamination? Let's start with the first one.

Myth #3

The exchange of nuclear strikes will give rise to a global decrease in temperature, followed by the collapse of the biosphere.

Reality: politically motivated falsification.

The author of the concept of nuclear winter is Carl Sagan, whose followers were two Austrian physicists and a group of Soviet physicist Aleksandrov. As a result of their work, the following picture of a nuclear apocalypse appeared. The exchange of nuclear strikes will lead to massive forest fires and fires in cities. In this case, a "firestorm" will often be observed, which in reality was observed during large city fires - for example, London in 1666, Chicago in 1871, Moscow in 1812. During World War II, Stalingrad, Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and a number of smaller cities were bombed.

The essence of the phenomenon is this. Above the zone of a large fire, the air heats up significantly, and begins to rise. In its place come new masses of air, completely saturated with oxygen supporting combustion. There is an effect of "bellows" or "chimney". As a result, the fire continues until everything that can burn burns out - and at temperatures developing in the "forge" of the firestorm, a lot can burn.

As a result of forest and city fires, millions of tons of soot will go into the stratosphere, which screens solar radiation - with an explosion of 100 megatons, the solar flux at the Earth's surface will be reduced by 20 times, 10,000 megatons - by 40. Nuclear night will come for several months, photosynthesis will stop. Global temperatures in the "ten thousandth" version will fall by at least 15 degrees, on average - by 25, in some areas - by 30-50. After the first ten days, the temperature will begin to rise slowly, but in general, the duration of the nuclear winter will be at least 1-1.5 years. Famine and epidemics will stretch the time of collapse to 2-2.5 years.

Impressive picture, isn't it? The problem is that it's fake. Thus, in the case of forest fires, the model assumes that the explosion of a megaton warhead will immediately start a fire over an area of ​​1000 square kilometers. Meanwhile, in reality, at a distance of 10 km from the epicenter (an area of ​​314 square kilometers), only individual foci will already be observed. Real smoke generation during forest fires is 50-60 times less than that stated in the model. Finally, the bulk of soot during forest fires does not reach the stratosphere, and is rather quickly washed out of the lower atmospheric layers.

Similarly, a firestorm in cities requires very specific conditions for its occurrence - flat terrain and a huge mass of easily combustible buildings (Japanese cities in 1945 are wood and oiled paper; London 1666 is mainly wood and plastered wood, and the same applies to the old German cities). Where at least one of these conditions was not observed, a firestorm did not arise - for example, Nagasaki, built in a typical Japanese spirit, but located in a hilly area, did not become its victim. In modern cities with their reinforced concrete and brick buildings, a firestorm cannot arise for purely technical reasons. Skyscrapers blazing like candles, drawn by the wild imagination of Soviet physicists, are nothing more than a phantom. I will add that the city fires of 1944-45, as, obviously, earlier ones, did not lead to a significant release of soot into the stratosphere - smoke rose only 5-6 km (stratosphere boundary 10-12 km) and was washed out of the atmosphere in a few days ( "black rain").

In other words, the amount of screening soot in the stratosphere will turn out to be orders of magnitude less than that assumed in the model. At the same time, the concept of nuclear winter has already been tested experimentally. Before Desert Storm, Sagan argued that oil soot emissions from burning wells would lead to a fairly severe cooling on a global scale - a "year without summer" on the model of 1816, when every night in June-July the temperature fell below zero even in the United States . Average world temperatures fell by 2.5 degrees, the consequence was global famine. However, in reality, after the Gulf War, the daily burnup of 3 million barrels of oil and up to 70 million cubic meters of gas, which lasted about a year, had a very local (within the region) and limited effect on the climate.

In this way, nuclear winter is impossible even if nuclear arsenals grow back to the level of 1980- X. Exotic options in the style of placing nuclear charges in coal mines with the aim of "consciously" creating conditions for the occurrence of a nuclear winter are also ineffective - it is unrealistic to set fire to a coal seam without collapsing the mine, and in any case, the smoke will turn out to be "low-altitude". Nevertheless, works on the topic of nuclear winter (with even more "original" models) continue to be published, however... The latest surge of interest in them strangely coincided with Obama's initiative for general nuclear disarmament.

The second version of the "indirect" apocalypse is global radioactive contamination.

Myth #4

An atomic war will lead to the transformation of a significant part of the planet into a nuclear desert, and the territory subjected to nuclear strikes will be useless for the winner due to radioactive contamination.

Let's look at what could potentially create it. Nuclear weapons with a capacity of megatons and hundreds of kilotons are hydrogen (thermonuclear). The main part of their energy is released due to the fusion reaction, during which no radionuclides are produced. However, such munitions still contain fissile materials. In a two-phase thermonuclear device, the nuclear part itself acts only as a trigger that starts the thermonuclear fusion reaction. In the case of a megaton warhead, this is a low-yield plutonium charge with a yield of about 1 kiloton. For comparison, the plutonium bomb that fell on Nagasaki had the equivalent of 21 kt, while only 1.2 kg of fissile material out of 5 burned out in a nuclear explosion, the rest of the plutonium "dirt" with a half-life of 28 thousand years simply scattered around the surroundings, introducing additional contribution to radioactive contamination. More common, however, are three-phase munitions, where the fusion zone, "charged" with lithium deuteride, is enclosed in a uranium shell, in which a "dirty" fission reaction occurs, amplifying the explosion. It can even be made from uranium-238 unsuitable for conventional nuclear weapons. However, due to weight limitations in modern strategic munitions, limited amounts of the more effective uranium-235 are preferred. Nevertheless, even in this case, the amount of radionuclides released during the air explosion of a megaton munition will exceed the level of Nagasaki not by 50, as it should be, based on the power, but by 10 times.

At the same time, due to the predominance of short-lived isotopes, the intensity of radioactive radiation falls rapidly - decreasing after 7 hours by 10 times, 49 hours - by 100, 343 hours - by 1000 times. Further, it is by no means necessary to wait until the radioactivity drops to the notorious 15-20 microroentgens per hour - people have been living for centuries without any consequences in territories where the natural background exceeds the standards hundreds of times. So, in France, the background in some places is up to 200 mcr/h, in India (the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu) - up to 320 mcr/h, in Brazil, on the beaches of the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo, the background ranges from 100 to 1000 mcr/h h (on the beaches of the resort town of Guarapari - 2000 mkr / h). In the Iranian resort Ramsar, the average background is 3000, and the maximum is 5000 microroentgen / h, while its main source is radon - which implies a massive intake of this radioactive gas into the body.

As a result, for example, the panic predictions that were heard after the bombing of Hiroshima ("vegetation will be able to appear only in 75 years, and in 60-90 - people will be able to live"), to put it mildly, did not come true. The surviving population was not evacuated, but did not die out completely and did not mutate. Between 1945 and 1970, the number of leukemias among survivors of the bombing exceeded the norm by less than twice (250 cases versus 170 in the control group).

Let's take a look at the Semipalatinsk test site. In total, 26 ground (the dirtiest) and 91 air nuclear explosions were produced on it. Most of the explosions were also extremely "dirty" - the first Soviet nuclear bomb (the famous and extremely unsuccessfully designed Sakharov "sloika") was especially distinguished, in which, out of 400 kilotons of total power, no more than 20% fell on the fusion reaction. Impressive emissions were also provided by the "peaceful" nuclear explosion, with the help of which Lake Chagan was created. What does the result look like?

At the site of the explosion of the notorious puff, there is a funnel overgrown with absolutely normal grass. No less banal, despite the veil of hysterical rumors hovering around, looks like the nuclear lake Chagan. In the Russian and Kazakh press, one can come across passages like this. “It is curious that the water in the “atomic” lake is clean, and there are even fish there. However, the edges of the reservoir “glow” so much that their radiation level is actually equated to radioactive waste. At this point, the dosimeter shows 1 microsievert per hour, which is 114 times more than normal." In the photograph of the dosimeter attached to the article, 0.2 microsievert and 0.02 milliroentgen appear, that is, 200 microroentgen / h. As shown above, compared to Ramsar, Kerala and Brazilian beaches, this is a somewhat pale result. The especially large carp found in Chagan cause no less horror among the public - however, the increase in the size of living creatures in this case is due to completely natural reasons. However, this does not prevent enchanting publications with stories about lake monsters hunting bathers and stories of "eyewitnesses" about "grasshoppers the size of a cigarette pack."

Approximately the same thing could be observed on the Bikini Atoll, where the Americans blew up a 15-megaton munition (however, a "clean" single-phase one). "Four years after the tests of the hydrogen bomb on the Bikini Atoll, scientists who examined the 1.5-kilometer crater formed after the explosion discovered something completely different from what they expected to see under water: instead of a lifeless space, large corals 1 m high and with a trunk diameter of about 30 cm bloomed in the crater , many fish swam - the underwater ecosystem was completely restored" . In other words, the prospect of life in a radioactive desert with soil and water poisoned for many years does not threaten humanity even in the worst case.

On the whole, the one-time destruction of mankind, and even more so of all forms of life on Earth, with the help of nuclear weapons is technically impossible. At the same time, equally dangerous are the notions of the "sufficiency" of several nuclear charges to inflict unacceptable damage on the enemy, and the myth of the "uselessness" for the aggressor of the territory subjected to a nuclear attack, and the legend of the impossibility of a nuclear war as such due to the inevitability of a global catastrophe, even if if the retaliatory nuclear strike turns out to be weak. Victory over an enemy that does not have nuclear parity and a sufficient number of nuclear weapons is possible - without a global catastrophe and with significant benefits.