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> Uh, fallout is only deadly for a few weeks or so even after thousands of nuclear weapons are used on a country. From Command and Control by Eric Schlosser:

by dghf 10y ago

> Uh, fallout is only deadly for a few weeks or so even after thousands of nuclear weapons are used on a country. From Command and Control by Eric Schlosser: "Strontium-90 is a soft metal, much like lead, with a radioactive half-life of 29.1 years. It is usually present in the fallout released by thermonuclear explosions. When strontium-90 enters the soil, it's absorbed by plants grown in that soil--and by the animals that eat those plants. Once inside the human body, strontium-90 mimics calcium, accumulates in bone, and continues to emit radiation, often causing leukemia or bone cancer.... Along with cesium-137, a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 30 years, it may contaminate agricultural land for generations." Is that incorrect?

08-15 10y ago
> Is that incorrect? Yes. The Sr-90 from a nuclear explosion will immediately oxidize in the atmosphere, so it is not a soft metal much like lead, but a brittle ceramic much like lime. It also has a half life of 28.8 years, not 29.1. Not that these details matter, but I'd still like to draw attention to Schlosser's tactics: By dumping these irrelevant facts that are only approximately right on you he seems a lot more knowledgeable than he really is. Back to the matter at hand... > Is that incorrect? Maybe, maybe not, but it surely is irrelevant. The radioactivity of fallout is dominated by very short lived fission products and by activation products that form when neutrons interact with vaporized soil. Most of these have half lives of hours to days. The radiation from something that short lived is intense and will kill humans quickly. A fallout shelter is intended to prevent exposure to that kind of radiation. By comparison, long lived fission products like Sr-90 don't matter. In a nuclear war, you worry about surviving the next few weeks. You don't worry about dying from leukemia 30 years later. (It also appears the link between Sr-90 and bone cancer or leukemia is merely a plausible assumption, not an actual observation.)

by dghf 10y ago

08-15 10y ago

> Is that incorrect? Yes. The Sr-90 from a nuclear explosion will immediately oxidize in the atmosphere, so it is not a soft metal much like lead, but a brittle ceramic much like lime. It also has a half life of 28.8 years, not 29.1. Not that these details matter, but I'd still like to draw attention to Schlosser's tactics: By dumping these irrelevant facts that are only approximately right on you he seems a lot more knowledgeable than he really is. Back to the matter at hand... > Is that incorrect? Maybe, maybe not, but it surely is irrelevant. The radioactivity of fallout is dominated by very short lived fission products and by activation products that form when neutrons interact with vaporized soil. Most of these have half lives of hours to days. The radiation from something that short lived is intense and will kill humans quickly. A fallout shelter is intended to prevent exposure to that kind of radiation. By comparison, long lived fission products like Sr-90 don't matter. In a nuclear war, you worry about surviving the next few weeks. You don't worry about dying from leukemia 30 years later. (It also appears the link between Sr-90 and bone cancer or leukemia is merely a plausible assumption, not an actual observation.)