Re: Re:Nukes

Derek Fulton wrote:

>I'll have to go look this up to get the specifics but in general it
was 
>originally thought that nuclear explosions in space would have less
effect 
>than one within the atmosphere because of a lack of atmosphere to
>transmit the shockwave, what has been found is that the explosion
>propagates (this is the part I would have to go look up, for what type
of >radiation it was) radiation.

Just about every type of radiation (alpha, beta, gamma, IR, neutrons...
not sure neutrons are usually thought of as "radiation", but they're
there), though the proportions vary with the design of the warhead.

>This radiation upon colliding with a object released it's energy as
kinetic >energy, in effect a shock wave.

It does, and at short distances from a nuke you get that effect in an
atmosphere as well. However, according to my nuclear physicist
acquaintancies this radiation-induced shock wave is very much weaker
than the mostly heat-induced shock wave you get in an atmosphere.

Regards,

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Hen3ry