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To: ecru
how much damage can a suitcase nuke do? Are we talking taking a whole city out? or a few blocks? I wonder how far radiation would spread...hmmm...

Total, WTC or Hiroshima-style destruction, and 75-100% casualties, perhaps a few blocks up to 1/2 mile.

Substantial (50-75%) building losses due to fire & structural damage (i.e., quite a few buildings may have to be condemned, torn down and rebuilt), and 50-75% casualties, perhaps a 1/2-1 mile radius.

Considerable (25-50%) building losses due to fire & structural damage (i.e., extensive repairs required to most buildings), and 25-50% casualties, perhaps a 1 - 2 mile radius.

Most buildings survive with only minor damage (windows), 5-20% casualties limited mostly to those caught out in the open, perhaps a 2-3 mile radius.

Minor structural damage and small percentage of casualties (many cases of eyesight damage or loss, for example) in a 3-10 mile radius.

Some people get sick, and a small but elevated percentage eventually die due to radiation sickness, cancer, etc., downwind of ground zero.

Remember that quite a few of the buildings nearby that are not demolished by the blast will be finished off by fire. No city has a sufficiently large fire department to respond to all the fires that will be set off by a nuclear detonation anywhere within its borders. This can include wood frame houses up to a mile or more from ground zero, although the fact that with terrorists it would almost surely be a ground burst works to limit this effect.

250 posted on 11/19/2001 8:58:45 AM PST by Stefan Stackhouse
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To: Stefan Stackhouse
This can include wood frame houses up to a mile or more from ground zero, although the fact that with terrorists it would almost surely be a ground burst works to limit this effect.

Funny you should say this. I was just outside taking a smoke break when I looked up and saw a small single engine plane making its way from our local commuter airport. I thought to myself. Wouln't it be easy to maximize the destruction by detonating a nuclear device above the intended target using a small plane? Espescially given these terrorist fascination with airplanes.

Out of curiosity what could we expect from a .5 - 2 kiloton AIRBURST over the intended target? Could we expect an electromagnetic pulse? If so how much damage would the pulse do and how far in every direction would it travel?

255 posted on 11/19/2001 9:25:56 AM PST by Smogger
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