Chapter 22 - The effects of nuclear explosions

Abstract

This chapter is primarily concerned with the effects of nuclear explosions. The effects of the explosion of nuclear weapons are primarily concerned with the safety of nuclear installations. Thermonuclear fission–fusion bombs with an energy output of up to many tens of megatons can vary from case-to-case. Scaling laws can be used to evaluate the consequences of the energies. In fusion bombs, the rapid compression of the fusion material can be obtained by conventional explosives. The neutron bombs are always clean and those based on fission-fusion are “dirty”. Initial nuclear radiation can be emitted by the nuclear reaction in the first minute after the explosion. It essentially comprises gamma and neutron radiation, and propagates at velocities equal or close to the velocity of light. The destructive shock wave can be caused by the blast and by its reflections on solid walls. It is the highest proportion with reference to the others such as nuclear radiation energy and thermal energy. The propagation velocity is slightly higher than the velocity of sound.