4 ms·

I have a somewhat off-topic question: I know there are very few sites that are actually doomsday-proof, but could this lab, being 2400 meters deep in the ground

I have a somewhat off-topic question: I know there are very few sites that are actually doomsday-proof, but could this lab, being 2400 meters deep in the ground, survive a direct hit from a ICBM (e.g. LGM-30 Minuteman) with a megaton yield?

p1mrx 3y ago
Nice try, Chinese military.
lstodd 3y ago
About a hundred feet plus shock absorbers will suffice.
LargoLasskhyfv 3y ago
the TL;DR would be: There is no place to hide anymore (nowadays). A single hit? Probably. But now imagine a series of bunker-busting MIRVs from a single ICBM arriving in sequence behind each other. Each one carving out a nice crater, for the next one to go even deeper. A thermo-nuclear jackhammer. With that jackhammering a few hundred kilotons per MIRV/hit would be sufficient, I guess. More would be wasted. Goes just up in the air. Each ICBM carrying anything from a hand full, to a dozen(maybe even 20?) of such MIRVs. Now, how many ICBMs would be needed? 2? 3? 5? 10? Let's try! BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM... Yeee Haa! That aside, this location has 2400m of mountain over it, but the access-ways are probably on the sides, way lower, not necessarily in some steep gorges. Probably simpler to use them as starting point for the 'jackhammer', if only for the shockwaves of hot plasma to propagate more easily into the deeper structures along them, and wreaking havoc.
maxglute 3y ago
It's 4x deeper than Cheyenne Complex designed to survive direct hits from much more high yield Soviet nukes (to compensate for accuracy). I don't remember the course details, but US nuke modernization efforts is trying to improve detenation timing/penetration (not yield) for more effective bunker busting. IIRC there was some rough numbers attached to improved effective depth, but it was measured in 100s of feet.

4 ms·

I have a somewhat off-topic question: I know there are very few sites that are actually doomsday-proof, but could this lab, being 2400 meters deep in the ground

by tutfbhuf 3y ago

p1mrx 3y ago
Nice try, Chinese military.
lstodd 3y ago
About a hundred feet plus shock absorbers will suffice.
LargoLasskhyfv 3y ago
the TL;DR would be: There is no place to hide anymore (nowadays). A single hit? Probably. But now imagine a series of bunker-busting MIRVs from a single ICBM arriving in sequence behind each other. Each one carving out a nice crater, for the next one to go even deeper. A thermo-nuclear jackhammer. With that jackhammering a few hundred kilotons per MIRV/hit would be sufficient, I guess. More would be wasted. Goes just up in the air. Each ICBM carrying anything from a hand full, to a dozen(maybe even 20?) of such MIRVs. Now, how many ICBMs would be needed? 2? 3? 5? 10? Let's try! BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM... Yeee Haa! That aside, this location has 2400m of mountain over it, but the access-ways are probably on the sides, way lower, not necessarily in some steep gorges. Probably simpler to use them as starting point for the 'jackhammer', if only for the shockwaves of hot plasma to propagate more easily into the deeper structures along them, and wreaking havoc.
maxglute 3y ago
It's 4x deeper than Cheyenne Complex designed to survive direct hits from much more high yield Soviet nukes (to compensate for accuracy). I don't remember the course details, but US nuke modernization efforts is trying to improve detenation timing/penetration (not yield) for more effective bunker busting. IIRC there was some rough numbers attached to improved effective depth, but it was measured in 100s of feet.