User Panel
Posted: 4/27/2022 7:06:42 PM EDT
Say it kicks off. Russia sends nukes. One is aimed at Houston but fails to detonate. It impacts the ground inside the loop. I assume the impact would leave a crater with some resultant damage. What would be the results of the fragmented nuclear material? How big of a radius would be contaminated?
|
|
I guess it would depend on how it failed. Was it an air burst with a partial explosion or did it auger into the dirt at full speed? Would probably make a significant difference.
|
|
If they make it to the ground.. they tend to bury themselves pretty deep down into the ground in one piece if they or any part of a charge does not go off.
|
|
Depends on the failure mechanism. Failures span the gamut of the thing just not doing anything and impacting, to a failed detonation sequence, to failure of the initiating sources, et cetera.
|
|
Quoted: Say it kicks off. Russia sends nukes. One is aimed at Houston but fails to detonate. It impacts the ground inside the loop. I assume the impact would leave a crater with some resultant damage. What would be the results of the fragmented nuclear material? How big of a radius would be contaminated? View Quote Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? |
|
Quoted: I guess it would depend on how it failed. Was it an air burst with a partial explosion or did it auger into the dirt at full speed? Would probably make a significant difference. View Quote Let’s say the nuclear device totally failed and the missile angered into the earth at full speed. |
|
Quoted: Let’s say the nuclear device totally failed and the missile angered into the earth at full speed. View Quote There was an accidental few dropped in the US in the past by our own planes.. one from a bomber went so deep into the ground in a swap here in the US they just left it there as all efforts to get to it failed. Another one they had to dig a pretty deep hole so the bomb tech could disarm it completely. I think some had drag chutes even. |
|
Quoted: Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Say it kicks off. Russia sends nukes. One is aimed at Houston but fails to detonate. It impacts the ground inside the loop. I assume the impact would leave a crater with some resultant damage. What would be the results of the fragmented nuclear material? How big of a radius would be contaminated? Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? All the target maps show Houston as a target. Probably because it is a population center and a significant part of the US infrastructure. |
|
Quoted: Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Say it kicks off. Russia sends nukes. One is aimed at Houston but fails to detonate. It impacts the ground inside the loop. I assume the impact would leave a crater with some resultant damage. What would be the results of the fragmented nuclear material? How big of a radius would be contaminated? Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? Who DOESN'T want to nuke downtown Houston??? |
|
Quoted: Let’s say the nuclear device totally failed and the missile angered into the earth at full speed. View Quote If you are wondering if it would become a "dirty bomb", probably not. If the HE components failed to detonate, then the plutonium core will most likely remain intact. It is encased in a thick high strength stainless steel shell. Assuming it penetrated 20+ feet (depending on whether it hit soil, sand, pavement) the warhead will be pretty harmless until things settled down enough to dig it out. That is assuming a gravity bomb of some sort. If a MIRV warhead came in cold, it would be so deep you would never recover it. By being that deep, even if the plutonium shell was compromised, it would not be any short term threat. |
|
Quoted: If you are wondering if it would become a "dirty bomb", probably not. If the HE components failed to detonate, then the plutonium core will most likely remain intact. It is encased in a thick high strength stainless steel shell. Assuming it penetrated 20+ feet (depending on whether it hit soil, sand, pavement) the warhead will be pretty harmless until things settled down enough to dig it out. View Quote The response would most likely be more impactful than the weapon itself. |
|
|
Quoted: Has a nuke EVER failed to go off? View Quote There have been a few "fizzles" back when we did live tests. These mainly involved partial detonation of the explosives, or a defect in the incredibly precise timing involved. A partial explosive detonation would be the equivalent of a "dirty bomb" spreading radioactive material. |
|
Quoted: If you are wondering if it would become a "dirty bomb", probably not. If the HE components failed to detonate, then the plutonium core will most likely remain intact. It is encased in a thick high strength stainless steel shell. Assuming it penetrated 20+ feet (depending on whether it hit soil, sand, pavement) the warhead will be pretty harmless until things settled down enough to dig it out. That is assuming a gravity bomb of some sort. If a MIRV warhead came in cold, it would be so deep you would never recover it. By being that deep, even if the plutonium shell was compromised, it would not be any short term threat. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Let’s say the nuclear device totally failed and the missile angered into the earth at full speed. If you are wondering if it would become a "dirty bomb", probably not. If the HE components failed to detonate, then the plutonium core will most likely remain intact. It is encased in a thick high strength stainless steel shell. Assuming it penetrated 20+ feet (depending on whether it hit soil, sand, pavement) the warhead will be pretty harmless until things settled down enough to dig it out. That is assuming a gravity bomb of some sort. If a MIRV warhead came in cold, it would be so deep you would never recover it. By being that deep, even if the plutonium shell was compromised, it would not be any short term threat. So the only damage would be from the impact crater? |
|
|
Quoted: So the only damage would be from the impact crater? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Let’s say the nuclear device totally failed and the missile angered into the earth at full speed. If you are wondering if it would become a "dirty bomb", probably not. If the HE components failed to detonate, then the plutonium core will most likely remain intact. It is encased in a thick high strength stainless steel shell. Assuming it penetrated 20+ feet (depending on whether it hit soil, sand, pavement) the warhead will be pretty harmless until things settled down enough to dig it out. That is assuming a gravity bomb of some sort. If a MIRV warhead came in cold, it would be so deep you would never recover it. By being that deep, even if the plutonium shell was compromised, it would not be any short term threat. So the only damage would be from the impact crater? Given your scenario, yes. Of course a dud MIRV coming in would create much more kinetic damage than a dud gravity bomb. |
|
|
Parts of Houston are so shitty it would hard to tell if one detonated.
|
|
the MIRV from the ICBM would make a big hole in the ground since it was going Mach 15 to 20, more likely to bury itself than splatter.
there would be some uranium and more plutonium. the plutonium would be more concerning. plutonium 239 has a half-life of 24,400 years. 0.001 milligram is enough to cause serious health hazards including bone and lung cancer. View Quote |
|
Let see if the explosives charge does not detenate the nuclear core. How much radiation may get released when the warhead slams into the ground.
|
|
I don't know that it matters, because I assume they will be sending more than just one...and will be launching at plenty of other locations nearby.
Im kinda curious about what places are NOT even on the target list. Id think there are places in northern Alaska, central Africa, Southern South America, etc that have no human population and aren't even targets. Seems like a great time to take a vacation to Tierra Del Fuego |
|
Russian nukes are blocks of wood.
The real nukes got sold to some terrorist. |
|
|
Quoted: Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Say it kicks off. Russia sends nukes. One is aimed at Houston but fails to detonate. It impacts the ground inside the loop. I assume the impact would leave a crater with some resultant damage. What would be the results of the fragmented nuclear material? How big of a radius would be contaminated? Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? To Demoralize & Defeat America by Taking Out America's team... The Awesome "Houston Texans" ... Duh!! Bigger_Hammer |
|
Quoted: Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Say it kicks off. Russia sends nukes. One is aimed at Houston but fails to detonate. It impacts the ground inside the loop. I assume the impact would leave a crater with some resultant damage. What would be the results of the fragmented nuclear material? How big of a radius would be contaminated? Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? I’m guessing you’ve never visited Houston. So many reasons |
|
Depends on the "failure".
If the Warhead just slammed into the earth without the External explosives activating (to crush the core to start the chain reaction) then you'd just get a deep pit with plutonium deep at the bottom. You wouldn't want to climb down in there (given Houston's water table it might be covered in swampy water from the near surface water table or broken water mains) The Worst result would be if it were in a bomber that crashed & burned. The Burning would release a radioactive smoke trail scatting contamination over a wider area (See "Thule Greenland B-52 Crash") BIGGER_HAMMER |
|
If it hits the ground and doesnt go off, walk up to it and hit it with a big hammer.
|
|
Complete dud, it'll be found decades later like the bombs constantly being found in other countries.
Low order det. at low attitude and it's a dirty bomb. |
|
Quoted: I’m guessing you’ve never visited Houston. So many reasons View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Say it kicks off. Russia sends nukes. One is aimed at Houston but fails to detonate. It impacts the ground inside the loop. I assume the impact would leave a crater with some resultant damage. What would be the results of the fragmented nuclear material? How big of a radius would be contaminated? Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? I’m guessing you’ve never visited Houston. So many reasons "The stars at night are big and bright" (points microphone at Astrodome Rodeo crowd...) |
|
The US dropped 2 in NC. 1 was recovered, the other went balls deep in a swamp and was never found.
|
|
|
The Full Story of Megaton & the People Who Live There - Fallout 3 Lore |
|
Quoted: the MIRV from the ICBM would make a big hole in the ground since it was going Mach 15 to 20, more likely to bury itself than splatter. there would be some uranium and more plutonium. the plutonium would be more concerning. View Quote The impacts seem to be less spectacular than one would imagine. Peacekeeper ICBM Re-Entry Vehicle Impacts at Kwajalein Atoll (Transfer from original film) Minuteman III Missile Testing - From California To Kwajalein Atoll |
|
|
I know they have tested devices, but dont know that there has been a test of a functional RV falling to earth from space and purposely not detonating, so who knows what it might do? Lots of energy in a 500 pound projectile falling white hot at 20,000 mph.
|
|
|
Quoted: The impacts seem to be less spectacular than one would imagine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh96NdcgE2Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWyV6dgbOeE View Quote Damn. No " big bada boom." |
|
|
Quoted: The impacts seem to be less spectacular than one would imagine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh96NdcgE2Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWyV6dgbOeE View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: the MIRV from the ICBM would make a big hole in the ground since it was going Mach 15 to 20, more likely to bury itself than splatter. there would be some uranium and more plutonium. the plutonium would be more concerning. The impacts seem to be less spectacular than one would imagine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh96NdcgE2Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWyV6dgbOeE Holy shit, first video at 53 seconds that second RV went in the same damn crater. |
|
Quoted: They've dropped a few that partially blew up, some in BC Canada, scattered uranium all over on nov. 10 1950 and another was dropped by accident in s. Carolina in 58 when somebody released it manually by accident, explosives went of when it hit the ground....ETA.... Just had the uranium, did not have the "pit" in it https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/498772/image-2364213.jpg View Quote BoomersDidThis.jpg |
|
Quoted: Say it kicks off. Russia sends nukes. One is aimed at Houston but fails to detonate. It impacts the ground inside the loop. I assume the impact would leave a crater with some resultant damage. What would be the results of the fragmented nuclear material? How big of a radius would be contaminated? View Quote It would likely be set to air burst anyways. The initiating charge would scatter most of the warhead and if it didn’t go critical there would probably be some localized radiation exposure like a dirty bomb. Just my non-expert opinion. |
|
Quoted: Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Say it kicks off. Russia sends nukes. One is aimed at Houston but fails to detonate. It impacts the ground inside the loop. I assume the impact would leave a crater with some resultant damage. What would be the results of the fragmented nuclear material? How big of a radius would be contaminated? Why would Russia want to nuke downtown Houston? |
|
If a Russian nuke failed to go off we could nuke it ourselves and easily blame Russia. Texas would be better off without Houston.
ETA: Maybe we could take out Austin too. |
|
Quoted: Every target map i have seen is flat out retarded View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: All the target maps show Houston as a target. Probably because it is a population center and a significant part of the US infrastructure. Every target map i have seen is flat out retarded At one point in time long ago, I ran a theater targeting program. You would be amazed all of the random targets we produced over the years after all of the easy targets were all validated. Just because it’s a target doesn’t mean it will ever have a munition allocated to it. |
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.