Can the wind carry radiation from a nuclear bomb drop?

Question

If a nuclear bomb was dropped in point A, and the wind was blowing towards a town in point B, would the people in the town receive any cancer or effects of the blast?

Answer 1

As someone else said this is called fallout. A nuclear detonation produces various direct effects: blast - this will knock down buildings and other things and of course can kill people; thermal radiation that produces burns and fires; and just other radiation, neutron, gamma, etc. Indirect effects can be caused by fallout which is just radioactive material produced by the detonation and carried by the wind and deposited at other locations. The amount of fallout produced by the bomb depends roughly on how much ground material is sucked up you might say. The more dirt and debris mixed into the fireball, etc the more fallout that will be produced. But generally nuclear weapons being used against soft targets would be detonated at altitude to maximize the effects of the blast, to cause appreciable damage over a much wider area. Exploded at ground level a nuke can produce large amounts of fallout but direct blast, thermal and radiation damage is minimized. Detonated above some upper limit and very little fallout would be produced. Also the weather will effect how much fallout is deposited and how far it is carried from the blast site. The classic work is of course Glasstone: The Effects of Nuclear Weapons. The quoted source will take you to an online version of the book.
If town B is close then the people might receive some blast and other direct effects. And this depends of course on the yield of the weapon. If you are really curious and want some technical detail I have a program I can let you have that will show you the effects on people.

Answer 2

Nuclear weapons work on the principle of essentially converting mass into energy. Basically when you split a heavy atom, it releases energy. On a more in-depth level, think of the atom as a Jenga set with a bunch of blocks removed. If you threw a marble at it, it would collapse because it is inherently unstable. This theory applies the weapons grade uranium and plutonium, with the added effect of when you throw the marble (a neutron) at the Jenga set (an atom), it releases energy several orders of magnitude more powerful than any conventional explosive. On the answer as two what happens if you put one in the ocean, essentially it creates a mini-tsunami due to the pressure shockwave and flash boils most of the water in the immediate vicinity of the bomb effectively cooking the marine life for miles. A nuclear bomb can blow up either a large area, or very little dependent on the yield (power of the weapon) and the weapon configuration itself. Nuclear fallout is also dependent on the weapon used in combination with variables such as wind patterns, type of nuclear fuel used and height at which the weapon detonates. Currently on North Korea actively tests nuclear weapons, although many countries maintain nuclear stockpiles. Among them are the USA, Russia, England, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and China.

Answer 3

Yes. The wind doesn't carry radiation exactly, but it does move radioactive contamination from point A that will then irradiate point B and give folks cancer.

If you want to use tac nukes in battle (or chemical weapons), you certainly want to make sure you know how the wind blows (and will blow) to maximize the impact on the enemy and minimize the effect on yourself.

Answer 4

the damage will be caused because the wind will take the radioactive dust with it wherever it goes. this dust will cause cancer & other harmful effects.

if you have heard of the chernobyl nuclear disaster. it was the wind that blew away the radioactive dust which was spewed out of the reactor core to far flung areas, causing long term ill effects.

Answer 5

I was watching but not paying attention to this special on the History channel the other day. so i can't say for sure though there would be significant damage in point B most likely radioactive particles would make it to the town but there would be no damaging purposes. I'm just rambling so i am not completely sure check wiki.

Answer 6

Yes - dust is hurled into the atmosphere from the explosion and is highly irradiated and becomes radioactive. The dust is then blown by the wind.

Answer 7

Yes, . . .. . its like a dust carried by the wind
so one nuclear fall out will spread almost world wide
every body suffer

Answer 8

It is particularly deadly for the first few weeks. They would be lucky to survive fallout.

Answer 9

yes, of course but it also depends on how far is town A to town B...if im not mistaken.

Answer 10

Oh yeah. More wind the farther it goes.