“You need to investigate the effects of a thermonuclear detonation.”
Fallout contamination decays rapidly (giving off > 80% of its energy in the first day, so early, gross decontamination (such as removing or changing outer layer of clothing) is far more effective than a delayed, if more thorough, wash down.
Additionally, did you miss the part of the article that said people were collecting the tritium and selling it for jewelry in Japan?
Your concern I suspect is about the gamma radiation which goes away fairly rapidly. The tritium is an alpha stage level waste and hold low levels of actual rads...
A good article on this is this:
https://remm.hhs.gov/nuclearfallout.htm#description
One hour after a surface burst, the radiation from fallout in the crater region is 30 grays per hour (Gy/h). Civilian dose rates in peacetime range from 30 to 100 µGy per year. Fallout radiation decays relatively quickly with time. Most areas become fairly safe for travel and decontamination after three to five weeks.
You’ve been reading that the area is a wasteland for a long time after nudet. That would only end up if the nuclear winter theory stands. Please read the articles I mentioned to get a better idea of what can happen.
wy69
That’s correct unless the bomb itself is made to scatter a large amount of long half-life isotopes.
(Sorry for the late replies - I’d left this thread open on this, one of my “alternate” computers, got busy, and just got back to it.)