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All nuclear weapons up to about 10 kilotons in yield have prompt neutron radiation [2] as their furthest-reaching lethal component. For standard weapons above about 10 kilotons of yield, the lethal blast and thermal effects radius begins to exceed the lethal ionizing radiation radius.
Radiological warfare is any form of warfare involving deliberate radiation poisoning or contamination of an area with radiological sources.. Radiological weapons are normally classified as weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), [1] although radiological weapons can also be specific in whom they target, such as the radiation poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko by the Russian FSB, using radioactive ...
A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei.It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically shorter than those of X-rays.
Intense thermal radiation at the hypocenter forms a nuclear fireball which, if the explosion is low enough in altitude, is often associated with a mushroom cloud. In a high-altitude burst where the density of the atmosphere is low, more energy is released as ionizing gamma radiation and X-rays than as an atmosphere-displacing shockwave.
The medical effects of the atomic bomb upon humans can be put into the four categories below, with the effects of larger thermonuclear weapons producing blast and thermal effects so large that there would be a negligible number of survivors close enough to the center of the blast who would experience prompt/acute radiation effects, which were observed after the 16 kiloton yield Hiroshima bomb ...
Since the E1 component of nuclear EMP depends on the prompt gamma-ray output, which was only 0.1% of yield in Starfish Prime but can be 0.5% of yield in low-yield pure nuclear fission weapons, a 10 kt (42 TJ) bomb can easily be 5 * 8%= 40% as powerful as the 1.44 Mt (6.0 PJ) Starfish Prime at producing EMP.
As the nuclear energy sector continues to grow, the international rhetoric surrounding nuclear warfare intensifies, and the ever-present threat of radioactive materials falling into the hands of dangerous people persists, many scientists are working hard to find the best way to protect human organs from the harmful effects of high energy radiation.
Sub-MeV radiation from a nuclear explosion may be more important in (empty) space. Given this realization, during the 1960s [3] the U.S. military began to investigate whether military systems could be tested for their response to nuclear-weapon generated pulsed x-rays with flash x-ray machines. At the time these were fairly small, primarily ...