How strong can an nuke be?

Question

I know the largest nuclear bomb ever exploded was the Tzar Bomba, that I believe was 50 megatons and could create 100 square miles or more of complete or near complete destruction. But lets say now, the USA or other superpower tried to create real strong nuke, theoritically, how strong could they make it, and how much destruction could it cause? Like for example, how large would the blast be?

I'm thinking we could make a much stronger bomb than Tzar Bomba, since it was made 50 years ago, and we must be more advanced now.

Answer 1

There is no limit. The volume and mass of the bomb would have to be increased in proportion to the yield, though. Also, there is little strategic advantage to a nuke that can only be delivered by barge, and four 1 megaton bombs does twice the damage as one 4 megaton bomb due to the blast radius scaling. The Tsar Bomb was just a stunt.

Answer 2

There isn't much of a theoretical limit to the size of a nuclear bomb (the Sun is a nuclear engine). There are practical , though. What are you trying to accomplish? An excessively large bomb will not leave anything worth taking over. Modern technology is focused on limited damaged and increased accuracy.

Answer 3

heres a link to a nuclear weapon effects calculator:
http://www.fas.org/main/content.jsp?formAction=297&contentId=367

there are a lot of factors, but the 50 megaton your talking about is a scaled down version of the real bomb.

the question is, what are you using it for?
i think there are enough bombs to kill everything, but one bomb might be all it takes...

there are ways of getting just the right explosion... from the shape and direction of the bomb itself to the weight of the atoms inside it to get more radiation or more blast or heat...

think of the new starwars deathstar ring explosion ...
only imagine the deathstar is spinning 200 times a second when it goes off...

or a 'blanket' of isotopes around a nuke that would send even more radiation once the fission got started.

but to answer your question, i think 1 giant nuke would be enough to basically ruin the atmosphere, and everthing around it, let alone the fallout factors...
pretty much short of throwing us out of orbit...

Answer 4

problem is that it wouldnt just be 1 blast because every country would then belive it to be a direct assult on them so "world war" would then commence.but i think if they wanted to they could create any size bomb due to the old saying"only your imagination holds you back"

Answer 5

Osama bin Laden promised to deliver a videotaped address in a couple of days.
Chances are the answer will be on that tape.

Answer 6

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-Xra9KznK8I&mode=related&search=