Whatever happened to the Neutron bomb?
Discussion
I was watching a very old episode of The Simpsons the other day. Mayor Quimby so enraged the French nation with his “frogs legs” comment, that France launched a Neutron bomb missile strike on Springfield. As luck would have it the Simpsons survived, whereas pretty much everyone else was killed and the town itself remained in tact.
Anyway I had forgotten all about the Neutron bomb. As a kid in the Cold War it was talked about quite a lot in the media. The idea of leaving the buildings still standing but killing everyone inside with radiation was pretty weird. I suppose it was like an industrial scale Dirty Bomb.
Oh and who can forget the cast of Grease? John Revolver and Olivia Neutron Bomb...
Anyway I had forgotten all about the Neutron bomb. As a kid in the Cold War it was talked about quite a lot in the media. The idea of leaving the buildings still standing but killing everyone inside with radiation was pretty weird. I suppose it was like an industrial scale Dirty Bomb.
Oh and who can forget the cast of Grease? John Revolver and Olivia Neutron Bomb...
Neutron bomb is just an enhanced radiation version of an existing nuclear warhead
Main reason for the US designing these was to incapacitate russian tank crews and personel in armoured vehicles in a battle on West German soil - they were tactical weapons that are designed to give a massive amount of neutron radiation with a limited blast effect compared to larger nuclear weapons that rely on blast and heat effects that are designed to decimate cities or larger targets
Main reason for the US designing these was to incapacitate russian tank crews and personel in armoured vehicles in a battle on West German soil - they were tactical weapons that are designed to give a massive amount of neutron radiation with a limited blast effect compared to larger nuclear weapons that rely on blast and heat effects that are designed to decimate cities or larger targets
They were regarded in some circles as a particularly immoral type of weapon, probably because they would have been effective against Soviet tanks.
If a hostile force were planning to 'take out' the city I lived in and were trying to decide between (lots of) conventional bombs, an H bomb, or a Neutron bomb, the way I'd see it would be:
Conventional bombs.
Severe risk of blast injuries killing me immediately or causing me to die shortly afterwards. Possibly left with permanent injuries and the city is basically flattened.
Hydrogen bomb.
Pretty much the same but part of the city left dangerously radioactive for a while as well as being flattened. If a ground burst the complication of fallout downwind.
Neutron bomb.
Severe risk of radiation killing me immediately or causing me to die shortly afterwards. If I can survive a few weeks should recover all the way except for an increased risk of cancer in later life. Meanwhile my house still stands, the hospitals still stand, there's still water in the taps.
I think I'd go for neutron given the choice.
If a hostile force were planning to 'take out' the city I lived in and were trying to decide between (lots of) conventional bombs, an H bomb, or a Neutron bomb, the way I'd see it would be:
Conventional bombs.
Severe risk of blast injuries killing me immediately or causing me to die shortly afterwards. Possibly left with permanent injuries and the city is basically flattened.
Hydrogen bomb.
Pretty much the same but part of the city left dangerously radioactive for a while as well as being flattened. If a ground burst the complication of fallout downwind.
Neutron bomb.
Severe risk of radiation killing me immediately or causing me to die shortly afterwards. If I can survive a few weeks should recover all the way except for an increased risk of cancer in later life. Meanwhile my house still stands, the hospitals still stand, there's still water in the taps.
I think I'd go for neutron given the choice.
Dr Jekyll said:
I think I'd go for neutron given the choice.
From what we've learnt post Cold-War of the Soviet plans for attack on the UK in a full on exchange - we'd have been the subject of a cocktail of strategic and tactical nuclear attacks as well as viral, bacterial and chemical attacks.There wouldn't have been a choice - they would have thrown everything they had at us (and us at them).
I think the H bomb was bad enough, when you consider that what was actually happening was that a very small star was being created.
The thought of anything even more powerful is fairly mind numbing.
Watch slow mo footage of the American H bomb and it is literally like looking at the Suns surface for a few tenths of a second.
The thought of anything even more powerful is fairly mind numbing.
Watch slow mo footage of the American H bomb and it is literally like looking at the Suns surface for a few tenths of a second.
LukeBrown66 said:
I think the H bomb was bad enough, when you consider that what was actually happening was that a very small star was being created.
The thought of anything even more powerful is fairly mind numbing.
Watch slow mo footage of the American H bomb and it is literally like looking at the Suns surface for a few tenths of a second.
Neutron bombs were relatively low powered, around the 10KT mark.The thought of anything even more powerful is fairly mind numbing.
Watch slow mo footage of the American H bomb and it is literally like looking at the Suns surface for a few tenths of a second.
LotusOmega375D said:
Would the cities have been habitable though? Or would we end up with a Chernobyl type situation, whereby they would have to be left abandoned for decades or more?
Neutron bombs were quite a small yield compared to "normal" nukes which reduced fallout, then the amount of gamma released by a Neutron bomb is around 30-40% less than an equivalent nuke, so further reducing fallout. Then we have the Neutrons themselves which have a tiny half-life compared to Alpha, Beta and Gamma radiation so the idea is that everything living dies of massive radiation poisoning and a few weeks later you can take over with minimal radiation clean-up required, far less than any reactor accident or even a normal nuke.
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