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Depends on conditions:

  • A typical airburst the area can usually be reentered almost immediately, if you have radiation monitors with you to look for hot spots first.
  • A surface or subsurface burst produces high levels of contamination and the area should not be entered at all until radiation monitors indicate levels are safe.

In either case you will probably require respirators to prevent inhaling alpha emitters and not eat or drink in the area to avoid ingesting alpha emitters. If you bring in outside clean water and are skilled at drinking without touching the mouth of the container with your lips that is probably OK.

See "Radiological Defense" (4 vol. set) AFSWP, 1948

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How long do nuclear bombs last?

The usable life span of a nuclear bomb depends on various factors such as the type of warhead, storage conditions, and maintenance. Typically, the components of a nuclear bomb can last for several decades, but regular maintenance and replacement of certain parts may be necessary to ensure their reliability.


How long do the effects of a nuclear bomb last?

That depends on yield, height/depth of burst, distance from burst, and amount and type of fallout at the location. Without knowing all these parameters and performing a complicated and approximate calculation, no estimates can be given.


How long does it take for a nuclear bomb to clear up?

That is complicated:Depends on yield and height/depth of burst.Depends on several features of bomb design.Depends on halflives of radiological contaminants produced.Depends on decontamination effort attempted and degree of success.Depends on weather.


A nuclear bomb is more dangerous than an equivalent TNT bomb because?

Nuclear weapons arvastly more danerous than regular TNT because not only do they emit high levels of deadly radiation, which can last for decades, but even the most simple of atomic weapons, such as those used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki have a yield equivilant to twenty thousand tons of TNT (20 kilotons). Also, if used enmasse, nuclear weapons could cause a "nuclear winter", which would be the result of the dust and smoke created by nuclear blasts, which would fill the atmosphere and block out sunlight, plunging the earth into a long-lasting (I'm not sure exactly how long, but it would be more than years for sure, maybe even more than decades), radioactie winter.


Can an improperly operated nuclear power plant explode like a nuclear weapon?

Nuclear reactors can not explode like a nuclear bomb. A lot of bad things can happen, but that is not one of them. Nonnuclear Explosion: First, it is useful to distinguish "normal" explosion from nuclear bomb. (We'll get to the bomb part shortly.) Explosions of many kinds can occur and they can occur at nuclear power plants and reactors just as anywhere else. It is not odd to have a steam powered explosion at a power plant whether it is nuclear or coal or gas because all of these types of power plants are converting heat into mechnical energy through a trubine or similar machine and the turbine generates electricity. The heat creates steam at high pressure and a mechanical failure can result in an explosion. An explosion of the sort caused by excess heat or mechanical failure counts as one resulting from mismanagement. Explosions can be caused by humans too. A human can place a regular bomb at a nuclear power plant or a human can fire a missile at a power plant and then the power plant, nuclear or not, explodes. Nuclear Bomb Explosions: The principle behind a nuclear bomb is the idea of the chain reaction. Nuclear fission is the process of a large nucleus, like uranium, breaking apart into smaller pieces and releasing energy in the process. When one nucleus decays, it causes other nuclei to decay and they in turn cause more. Such is a chain reaction, it feeds itself and the process grows and results in an explosion as long as there is enough fuel. That last part is the key because you can't make a nuclear bomb explode (or any bomb) if you run out of fuel. Now, we get to the part about "weapons grade" nuclear material. A nuclear weapon requires a high concentration of fissionable material of the proper type and enough of it and a way to keep it in place long enough for the chain reaction to produce enough energy to be a bomb. Nuclear reactors are not built with weapons grade material. That is essential. Further, the elaborate process of containment to hold the bomb material in place requires special engineering and that is not in a nuclear reactor. The quantity of material required for a bomb is very very large unless it is highly purified and it is not so purified in nuclear reactors. No mismanaged nuclear plant, no nuclear plant accident of any kind, can cause a massive nuclear explosion like the blast of a nuclear weapon. Nuclear Powered (non-bomb) Explosions: Though a reactor can't explode like a nuclear bomb, the explosions that can occur are extremely dangerous and can spew radioactive materials widely, they are just not nuclear bomb explosions. Usually the explosions allow the radioactive core of reacting material to overheat and the radioactive material from several separate areas may combine and further heat, enhancing the ongoing nuclear chain reactions. It is not possible to go through explanations of the various scenarios, but under the worst conditions, the heated material explodes like a regular bomb and spreads itself over a large area destroying everything nearby. It is not nearly as large as a true nuclear bomb which can level a city. What is does do is spead a lot of radioactive material around. The process does not even have to explode to do that, it can just heat up enough to vaporize radioactive materials that are then released. All of the examples of nuclear reactor disasters fall into the category on non-bomb disasters. All were and will be the type that creates and disperses harmful radioactive material and that is the core of the problem. Final Note: Though no sane design of a nuclear reactor could explode like a nuclear bomb, the process of making the materials the reactor uses is a process that could potentially make weapons grade material. Further, the used fuel can serve as a starting material for bomb making. In that case, it is not the reactor but the treatment of material before or after that can be directed towards a weapon. The subject gets very complicated and this little description could not provide a person with enough information to say they understand it. More reading is recommended.

Related Questions

What is the positive and negative effects of the atomic bomb?

Positive- The target will be destroyed. Negative- The contamination will last for at least 50 years.


How long do nuclear bombs last?

The usable life span of a nuclear bomb depends on various factors such as the type of warhead, storage conditions, and maintenance. Typically, the components of a nuclear bomb can last for several decades, but regular maintenance and replacement of certain parts may be necessary to ensure their reliability.


When was last US nuclear bomb test?

1945


When was the last US nuclear bomb set off?

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How long do the effects of a nuclear bomb last?

That depends on yield, height/depth of burst, distance from burst, and amount and type of fallout at the location. Without knowing all these parameters and performing a complicated and approximate calculation, no estimates can be given.


Who set off the last nuclear bomb?

We won't know that for several years, if ever.


Why used nuclear bombs at war time?

They're very destructive and last for a long time, In other words, once you've blown up a nuclear bomb somewhere, it will still be dangerous after the initial explosion has taken place. When a nuclear bomb is used there would be nuclear radiation that would still be present where the bomb hit for quite a while


How long does it take for a nuclear bomb to clear up?

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When was the last underground nuclear bomb test?

North Korea was said to have done one earlier this year or late last year (2017-2018).


What desroyed nagaski in world war2?

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What happened in Nagasaki that involved Americans?

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Why did the US drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima August 6 1945is significant?

The nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were the last attack in World War Two. After that Japan surrendered. It also brought us into the nuclear age.