The Effects of Atomic Weapons: Prepared for the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Under the Direction of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

x, 456 pages. Illustration. Charts. Appendices. Index. Ex-library with usual library markings. Front and back covers separated but reattached with tape. Bottom edge has become wet and damp stains go from the bottom up about one inch. Some pages were stuck together at the bottom small tears on some pages when separated. Occasional small loss of text. Some pages may still be slightly stuck together. In 1948 the Weapons Effects Classification Board, a committee of military and civilian scientists serving as advisers to the Atomic Energy Commission recommended that a handbook on the effects of atomic weapons be prepared. This volume is the result. This presents a technical summary of the results to be expected from the detonation of atomic weapons (other than information that was kept secret at that time). The energy released from a nuclear weapon detonated in the troposphere can be divided into four basic categories: Blast-40-50% of total energy ; Thermal radiation-30-50% of total energy; Ionizing radiation-5% of total energy (more in a neutron bomb); Residual radiation-5-10% of total energy with the mass of the explosion. Depending on the design of the weapon and the environment in which it is detonated the energy distributed to these categories can be increased or decreased. The blast effect is created by the coupling of immense amounts of energy, spanning the electromagnetic spectrum, with the surroundings. Locations such as submarine, ground burst, air burst, or exo-atmospheric determine how much energy is produced as blast and how much as radiation. In general, denser media around the bomb, like water, absorb more energy, and create more powerful shockwaves while at the same time limiting the area of its effect. When an air burst occurs, lethal blast and thermal effects proportionally scale much more rapidly than lethal radiation effects, as higher and higher yield nuclear weapons are used. The physical-damage mechanisms of a nuclear explosive is millions of times more powerful than conventional explosives. …