Title: Titan II Fallout Presentation

Fireball

[Image: Map showing the fireball radius. The radius extends approximately 2.4 miles from the city of Damascus]

Stage 1: Fireball

In the event of a nuclear blast, there are several stages or parts of the nuclear explosion. The first stage mimics the way the sun creates energy.

People outside or near windows will notice a bright flash of light, which is followed by a massive fireball that evaporates and ignites everything immediately around it. Temperatures at the center of the explosion’s fireball would rise to several million degrees. A blast wave rushing out from the center would fan fires, increasing the chances of death by smoke inhalation or heat exposure. Survivability of the blast increases the farther away from the center you are.

If the warhead had detonated in Damascus, the fireball could have reached up to 2.4 miles out from the blast center.

Shock Wave

[Image: Map showing the shock waves. At 200 PSI most buildings completely destroyed. At 20 PSI most buildings are gone, all injured, most dead. At 5 PSI most houses gone, all injured, many dead. At 1 PSI most glass broken, many injured]

Stage 2: Shock Wave

The amount of a blast’s overpressure, or a rise in normal atmospheric pressure, is measured in pounds per square inch (PSI). Bombs create differences depending on if it exploded on the ground, in the air, under water, or under the ground.

The pressure shock wave created by a nuclear blast accounts for around 50% of the released energy. 5 PSI is enough to destroy a residential brick house, 10 PSI knocks down commercial brick buildings, and at 20 PSI reinforced commercial buildings are gone.

The Titan II Missile could have created around 200 PSI for about a mile out from the blast center, 20 PSI almost 3 miles out, and 5 PSI almost 6 miles out. Any PSI over 12 results in a death rate of 98% of the population in that zone.

Radiation

[Image: Map showing the areas affected by the different levels of rem exposure]

Stage 3: Radiation

Those far enough from the blast to survive the thermal radiation and blast overpressure shockwaves have to deal with radiation exposure. Radiation exposure to humans is measured in Roentgen equivalent man (rem). 100-200 rem is enough to cause death in 10% of those exposed for less than 3 hours within months,  200-500 rem causes death in 90% of those exposed for 1 to 2 hours within weeks, and anything past 500 rem causes death in 90% of those exposed for anything longer than 30 minutes within weeks.

The Titan II missile could have caused 100 rem for a little over 2 miles from the center of the blast, and around 5,000 rem for around 1.5 miles from the center. (Differences in the rate of fatalities in this explanation and the maps stem from differences in exposure times)

Fallout

[Image: Map showing the nuclear fallout zone. The zone covers all of Arkansas and parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky]

Stage 4: Fallout

A rad is the measurement for the amount of radiation that a single gram of matter can absorb. Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) can develop with doses as small as 30 rads.100-200 rads induce radiation sickness. 300-400 rads cause intense radiation sickness, intestine decay, and bone marrow destruction. Anything past 400 rads causes early death to those exposed, and those in the 1000 rad zone will not survive past a few days from exposure.

The fallout from the missile could have killed most of the people in central and north Arkansas and affected people across the southern United States with ARS, causing hair loss (200+ rems), Gastrointestinal tract damage (200+ rems), a reduced ability to fight infections for up to 10 years due to a damaged blood system (100+ rems), and heart failure (1000+ rems).

Disclaimer

[Image: Map showing the first three stages: the fireball, shockwave, and radiation. These stages affect parts of Faulkner, Van Buren, Conway, and Cleburne counties]

Disclaimer

Predicting and displaying what could happen if a nuclear missile was detonated is complicated. Different variables, such as weather and topography, can change the direction of the radioactive fallout and exposure as well as the extent of damage and injuries. These maps present one possible prediction.