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Nuclear bomb possibly found (Unarmed Device dropped in ocean off Georgia during Cold War)
CNN ^
| 9/13/04
| CNN
Posted on 09/13/2004 7:15:02 PM PDT by gutshot
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To: fightu4it
The Savannah nuclear plant is about 180 miles from Tybee Island. What's your point?
201
posted on
09/14/2004 7:31:22 AM PDT
by
gutshot
To: Jonah Hex
there was a bit of experimenting back then wasn't there? ... I've often wondered with the advent of other minaturized nukes what they (we) might have done.
the possibilities are mind-boggling.
To: ko_kyi
Alpha's can't even penetrate the dead skin cell's on your hand. (The alpha particle hits the dead skin cells, the energy gets absorbed in the layer of dead cells, and nothing happens. The cells are already dead.) In other words, you can hold a handful of alpha-emitting material in your hand, and not get irradiated by the alpha particles.
(However: each time an apha particle is created by radioactive decay, some gamma rays are also emitted. Gamma energy varies from very little, to medium, to high. Depends on the isotope. The alpha particles can't touch you, but the gamma's that are also coming out of the material will penetrate your hand. Of course, if they penetrate your hand, they have come out the other side, and so they haven't hurt either!)
BUT - Big BUT - if an alpho-emitting piece of material (even something smaller than a grain of pollen!) gets in the air, then you "might" breathe it in if you are not wearing a dust mask.
IF you breathe in these little particles, THEN, when they decay, ALL of the energy is deposited in the very small area around the very small particle inside your lungs or bones. THAT deposits a lot of energy in the living cells close to the particle, which DOES lead to cancer.
203
posted on
09/14/2004 7:45:22 AM PDT
by
Robert A Cook PE
(I can only donate monthly, but Kerry's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
To: RadioAstronomer
Thank you. Your insight is very reassuring!
204
posted on
09/14/2004 7:47:40 AM PDT
by
Calpernia
(NUTCRACKER IN CHIEF.)
To: dread78645
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 13 and 22 Kiloton respectively. This puppy is around 3 Megaton. Yes I know. See my first post in this thread. The device I was talking about being the same as Trinity and Nagasaki was the one used in shot Crossroads-Baker. That reply (post #111) was in response to one of the pictures in post #103.
205
posted on
09/14/2004 7:54:46 AM PDT
by
COEXERJ145
(Hannity Was Right, FReepers Tend To Eat Their Own)
To: RadioAstronomer
Cerenkov radiation
To: gutshot
I'd rather blow it in place...it would be kewel to watch! :)
207
posted on
09/14/2004 9:01:42 AM PDT
by
RaceBannon
(KERRY FLED . . . WHILE GOOD MEN BLED!!)
To: Constitution Day
Unless you're fishing with a tunnel boring machine, I doubt it! Let's go!
208
posted on
09/14/2004 9:16:58 AM PDT
by
Cooter
To: Leatherneck_MT
Kinda scary to think now tho that it's emitting radiation. Not really. Water is an excellent radiation shield. I think the only thing better is lead.
If that thing detonates, you can probably say goodbye to Savannah and most of the GA coast.
Depends on how deep the water is. Itd have to be relatively shallow water to be much of a threat. Thats why theyre more likely to leave it where it is. Bringing it to the surface will negate all the protection the water offers.
209
posted on
09/14/2004 9:34:11 AM PDT
by
Jotmo
("Voon", said the mattress.)
To: Jotmo
The problem is, the point at which it was dropped is in approx. 30 feet of water. That's not a whole lot of shielding against either a blast or radiation.
I definately wouldn't want to fish anywhere near that.
210
posted on
09/14/2004 9:38:15 AM PDT
by
Leatherneck_MT
(Goodnight Chesty, wherever you may be.)
To: Leatherneck_MT
Actually, that's plenty of shielding, but no blast protection. You'd have to don SCUBA gear and hug the thing to a bad dose of radiation.
211
posted on
09/14/2004 9:51:50 AM PDT
by
Jotmo
("Voon", said the mattress.)
To: blackdog
I've heard that a little U235 spices up most anything :^)
212
posted on
09/14/2004 10:50:17 AM PDT
by
Blood of Tyrants
(God is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
To: DJ Macaroni
You are correct. I misread the article. I am no nuclear physics expert, but if I would have to guess, I would estimate the amount of HEU to be between 15 and 25 kilos.
213
posted on
09/14/2004 10:55:09 AM PDT
by
Blood of Tyrants
(God is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
To: Leatherneck_MT
"Well you and I are in the same boat as far as that goes. But I would have to argue that it's a Bomb and Bombs are designed to explode."
***
Whether you're talking about a plain old general purpose high explosive gravity bomb or a nuclear warhead, if the bomb is not armed, it is physically impossible for it to explode. Like a bow and arrow (since "broken arrow" is the theme), if the bow has no rope/line (or whatever it's called that you pull the arrow back on), you can't shoot the arrow.
A nuclear detonation is also a very precise, complicated, multi-stage process and if anything is even slightly out of alignment, you get a "fizzle", meaning an extremely low yield. In other words, a pile of weapons grade uranium or plutonium laying around will never result in a nuclear detonation. It has to be arranged in a series of explosions that trigger other explosions that gives you the full yield.
The main danger from this bomb is radiation leakage.
Having said all that, though, it is a creepy feeling knowing there's a 3.8 megaton bomb sitting in the mud off the coast of Georgia.
214
posted on
09/14/2004 10:55:16 AM PDT
by
Zhangliqun
(Liberals love America the way teenagers love an unlocked liquor cabinet...)
To: gutshot
215
posted on
09/14/2004 12:36:28 PM PDT
by
DTA
To: Cooter
LOL, I wouldn't want to be the one operating it.
216
posted on
09/14/2004 12:37:10 PM PDT
by
Constitution Day
(What did Rather know and when did he know it?)
To: Blood of Tyrants
Whilst I know nothing of the design for this weapon, my expectation is no HEU on board at all. Why waste HEU when you've got a Pu core? The U in use as a tamper is essentially "inert" so far as the reaction goes - it's just used to hold the core together during assembly.
To: Calpernia
...(according to the report, its removing from ocean would last 5 years and would cost to US budget 23 million dollars). The bomb reposes under 6-metre thickness of water, buried in sand at a depth of 5 metres. Is it just me, or does this not quite sound right. 6 meters of water and 5 meters of sand sure doesn't seem all that difficult to get to.
Why would this take 5 years and 23 million bucks?
To: RadioAstronomer
Thank you RA .. I knew somebody with more smarts than me would be able to tell me what was really going on.
I have to trust ya on this one, because it would make me very nervous to live in GA and know a nuke is right out my window in the ocean.
Because it isn't armed .. what kind of danger is there it would explode ..??
219
posted on
09/14/2004 1:52:59 PM PDT
by
CyberAnt
(Sen.Miller said, "Bush is a God-fearing man with a good heart and a spine of tempered steel")
To: Recovering Hermit
If I remember what I read correctly, the one in South Carolina is still there too. I think they continuously do soil tests to check on it.
220
posted on
09/14/2004 1:55:27 PM PDT
by
Calpernia
(NUTCRACKER IN CHIEF.)
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