IABU as I can't grasp it, but can someone explain very simply how nuclear bombs work?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

I know it's to do with fission and fusion, I know it's like a big fireball thing and then there's stuff called radioactive waste that poisons you if you come into contact with it. That's it.

Might sound silly but I don't want to just google as that throws up a lot of pretty terrifying articles, and that inflames my anxiety. I just want to learn the basics of how it works, in simple terms, via a conversation, as I find that less anxiety provoking than an article where there is no interaction.

Is the initial nuclear blast pretty much like a giant petrol explosion - in terms of a huge ball of fire and energy that also generates a wind that flattens buildings etc?

What exactly is radioactive waste/ nuclear fallout? My understanding is that it's very tiny particles of something that enters your body through skin and damages cell structure, so creates cancers? But what does it look like? Does it feel like hot ash?

And some of this damage can be "less bad" in that the level of cell destruction doesn't kill you, but might for example destroy your reproductive organs?

How does it happen that children born a couple of generations later can suffer from birth defects, if their parents didn't die?

Can you breathe in radioactive particles and not know?

How does it poison the land and the water - I mean, would you know by looking?

Sorry for my childish questions. I know I should probably be able to just google GCSE science or something and find out there, but like I say, I find discussions easier for learning about this kind of thing. And I do want to learn the basics!

[Tobolsk]

As already discussed a nuclear bomb is the splitting of an atom.

A bomb won't just land anywhere there will be a specific target like a military base, power station etc.

A modern nuclear weapon does much less damage than at the height of the Cold War. They release less radiation too. You only need shelter for a few weeks now

People survived less than 300m from the blast in Hiroshima.

It is expected that the British Government would surrender after 3 bombs detonated

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Trifle, I think you are mistakenly equating a lot of questions with uncontrollable anxiety? Thank you for your kind and well meant thoughts though

I'm really not crumbling into anxiety over this. You think I sound edgy - well I'm not, but I'm a bit narked and impatient with myself for not knowing and wish I paid more attention at school and bloody learned stuff then.

Majorly frustrated by my lack of knowledge on this area, and impatient to get up to speed.

My anxiety is far more concerned with a number of more personal issues at the moment! But because I am protective of my mental health, and like I keep saying I find it easier to assimilate information by discussion when the subject matter is potentially upsetting, I started a thread.

[Tobolsk]

You should check out this very interesting website

nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Really interesting information, thank you!

RedDogsBeg - cheers for explaining the concept of nuclear winter, didn't know it was all the soot/ debris from the fires clogging up atmosphere that did this. I wasn't sure what it was - thought it was a more chemical thing more to do with the nuclear atom things themselves.

Tobolsk - that's interesting that modern ones do less damage? Is the thinking behind that that developers don't want to totally fuck the environment and render it completely unhabitable? While still doing lots of initial damage like toppling buildings, etc?

[Justanothernameonthepage]

The atomic bomb, one of the most destructive weapons ever produced by humankind, is actually surprisingly simple. It is composed of a dense case designed to contain and shape the explosion. Inside the bomb is a sphere of high explosives that are directed (similar to a shaped charge) to create an implosion wave towards the center of the bomb. Inside of this sphere of explosives is a small metal sphere designed to even out the implosion wave as it approaches the core. Inside of that is a much denser sphere, usually made out of a metal like uranium or tungsten, which contains the nuclear reaction and reflects neutrons back into the core. Inside of this is the fissile core of the bomb, a small sphere of uranium or plutonium that, when sufficiently compressed, starts a chain reaction of nuclear fission.

When the bomb explodes, the high explosives are detonated simultaneously, crushing both the small sphere and the dense sphere. The immense pressure squeezes the uranium or plutonium so tightly that the atoms begin to split, spitting out neutrons that cause other atoms to split, in an ever-expanding chain reaction. This reaction releases a huge amount of energy stored in the bonds holding the atoms together, and that release of energy is what causes the explosion.

[Justanothernameonthepage]

Taken from explainlikeimfive/comments/2rp4b3/eli5simpleatomicbombexplanation

[Tobolsk]

AbsentmindedWoman

Yes pretty much.

Added to that they are expensive and after the Cold War with budget cuts th smaller cheaper ones were kept.

[RedDogsBeg]

It is an interesting discussion AbsentmindedWoman, I don't understand the physics of it but I can grasp the mechanics of it.

[Spam88]

OP, I think people have covered how bombs work pretty thoroughly so I'll talk about the effects of radiation.

You can't see, smell or taste radiation (the particles are smaller than an atom or sometimes it's waves, like when you get an X-ray). We do have instruments that can detect it though.

In terms of the harm radiation causes, there are two different types of effects called stochastic and deterministic.

Stochastic effects are chance effects, and pretty much just refers to cancer. The more radiation you're exposed to, the more likely you are to get cancer, but there's no point at which you will definitely get cancer if that makes sense. You might or you might not.

Deterministic effects are things that will definitely happen if you're exposed to a certain amount of radiation. This ranges from things like skin redding and temporary hairless, through to sterilisation, and ultimately to death. The amounts of radiation required to cause death are HUGE though and even in a nuclear bomb blast the numbers getting this much radiation would be minuscule.

In terms of baby's being born with birth defects, there isn't actually any human evidence that proves that if someone is exposed to radiation and later goes on to have children that the child will suffer any effects. There are some animal studies where some effects are seen in offspring though, so to be cautious we make the assumption that the same might happen in humans.

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Yes, I find it very difficult to visualize all these scientific processes taking place - I don't think physics is one of my strengths, putting it lightly!

Even the concept of the 'energy' involved. I know what energy is, but only really in theory. When I apply it to this situation, my brain struggles to grapple with what the reality of that actually looks like. It's very much an abstract to me.

[AbsentmindedWoman]

Spam88, thank you for that - again very helpful and informative.

[BonnieF]

Energy comes in many different forms and good way to understand it is to think about a practical example, eg a car.

A car is a device which performs a useful function (ie moving itself and its passengers from A to B) by means of changing energy from one form to another.

It starts with energy stored in the form of a tank of fuel. That 'stored energy' is then changed into 'heat energy' by means of combustion in the car's engine. When the fuel burns, the explosion inside the cylinder forces the piston to move, which turns the crankshaft. The crankshaft is connected, via the transmission, to the driven wheels and that is what moves the car. This moving energy is called 'kinetic energy'.

Not all of the stored energy in the fuel is turned into useful kinetic energy. Some of the heat energy produced by burning the fuel is wasted as hot exhaust gasses, and some is wasted as 'sound energy', ie the noise of the engine.

Apologies to any physicists for the over-simplification!

[gleegeek]

I love this thread! Thank you OP for starting it - it's one of those subjects I know a little about but that's it. Really nice to hear it explained in laymen's terms for those non-physicists like me!

[klondikecookie]

Does anyone else suspect the OP might be Donald Trump?

[RedDogsBeg]

That was a great explanation Bonnie F.

Why was splitting the atom such a holy grail for scientists?

[NotDavidTennant]

The sudden increase in energy that occurs in explosives (including nuclear devices) causes the explosive material to heat up and expand very quickly which creates a powerful pressure wave that spreads outwards from the explosion.

[thelikelylass]

And then read 'The Road' for the full apocalyptic experience!