pogoda: Effects of nuclear explosions

Evidence: 44 • authority: 72

Nuclear fallout is residual radioisotope material that is created by the reactions producing a nuclear explosion. It is initially present in the radioactive cloud created by the explosion, and "falls out" of the cloud as it is moved by the atmosphere in the minutes, hours, and days after the explosion. The amount of fallout and its distribution is dependent on several factors, including the overall yield of the weapon, the fission yield of the weapon, the height of burst of the weapon, and meteorological conditions. Fission weapons and many thermonuclear weapons use a large mass of fissionable fuel (such as uranium or plutonium), so their fallout is primarily fission products, and some unfi…

Evidence: 33 • authority: 72

The Tunguska event was a large explosion that occurred on the morning of 30 June [O.S. 17 June] 1908, at around 7:14 KRAT (0:14 UT) in Central Siberia, then part of the Russian Empire. This cataclysm occurred in a remote and sparsely populated region of the taiga, near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River after which it is named. The shock wave knocked several witnesses to the ground, killed at least three people as well as numerous animals, and shattered windows within a 200 km (120 mi) radius. The blast was recorded by various Russian and German seismological stations with a magnitude close to 5 on the Richter scale, while atmospheric waves generated by the shock wave were detected worldwide.…

Evidence: 29 • authority: 72

Fusion power is a potential method of electric power generation from heat released by nuclear fusion reactions. In fusion, two light atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus and release energy. Devices that use this process are known as fusion reactors. Research on fusion reactors began in the 1940s. As of 2025, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the United States is the only laboratory to have demonstrated a fusion energy gain factor above one, but efficiencies orders of magnitude higher are required to reach engineering breakeven (a net electricity-producing plant) or economic breakeven (where the net electricity pays for the plant's whole-life cost). Thermonuclear fusion reac…

Evidence: 29 • authority: 72

Trinity was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, conducted by the United States Army at 5:29 a.m. Mountain War Time (11:29:21 GMT) on July 16, 1945, as part of the Manhattan Project. The test was of an implosion-design plutonium bomb, or "gadget" – the same design as the Fat Man bomb later detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945. Concerns about whether the complex Fat Man design would work led to a decision to conduct the first nuclear test. The code name "Trinity" was assigned by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory. The name was possibly inspired by the poetry of John Donne. Planned and directed by Kenneth Bainbridge, the test was conducted in th…

Evidence: 28 • authority: 72

Nuclear winter is a severe and prolonged global climatic cooling effect that is hypothesized to occur after widespread urban firestorms following a large-scale nuclear war. The hypothesis is based on the fact that such fires can inject soot into the stratosphere, where it can block some direct sunlight from reaching the surface of the Earth. It is speculated that the resulting cooling, typically lasting a decade, would lead to widespread crop failure, a global nuclear famine, and an animal mass extinction event. Climate researchers study nuclear winter via computer models and scenarios. Results are highly dependent on nuclear yields, how many cities are targeted, their flammable material co…

Evidence: 20 • authority: 92

Research on the Influence of Titanium Powder Particle Size on the Performance of the CO<sub>2</sub> Phase-Change Excitation Agent under Zero Oxygen Balance.. To study the influence of titanium powder particle size on the performance of the CO 2 phase-change excitation agent, the ignition reliability, pressure performance, thermal decomposition characteristics, safety performance, and temperature-resistance performance are studied by ignition tests, pressure tests, thermogravimetry, temperature-resistance performance tests, and theoretical calculations. The results indicate that after adding titanium powder with particle sizes of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 mesh, the excitat…

Evidence: 20 • authority: 72

Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nucleus. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the release or the absorption of energy. This difference in mass arises as a result of the difference in nuclear binding energy between the atomic nuclei before and after the fusion reaction. Active stellar cores are powered by fusion. Nucleosynthesis via fusion, in the Big Bang and in stars, creates all elements lighter than nickel (atomic number 28). Fusion typically occurs via thermonuclear fusion, an isotropic process requiring a triple product of very high temperature (in the kiloelectronvolt or hundred milli…

Evidence: — • authority: 65