§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate of the radius and depth of the crater that would be created by a 1 megaton device blasted on the ground.
§ Mr. GoodhartFor representative geology, it is estimated that a one megaton explosion at ground level would produce a crater approximately 900 ft in diameter and 200 ft deep.
§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Defence what are the radioactive half-lives of the principal components in nuclear blast fall-out.
§ Mr. GoodhartNuclear fall-out contains many radioactive isotopes. Most of these have half-lives of less than one day. Of the longer lived isotopes, three of the most important biologically are iodine-131, strontium-90 and caesium-137 whose half-lives are eight days, 27.7 years and 30.0 years respectively.
§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate of the destructive force of a 1 megaton nuclear device upon buildings within a 5-mile radius from the centre of the blast.
§ Mr. GoodhartFor a 1 megaton surface burst, in typical atmospheric conditions, reinforced concrete buildings would be destroyed to a radius of about 1 mile and severely damaged to about 1½ miles, brick buildings would be destroyed and severely damaged to radii of about 3 and 4 miles respectively.
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§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate of (a) blast deaths and (b) severe casualties in the following radii from the centre of a 1 megaton nuclear device (i) 2 miles and (ii) 5 miles.
§ Mr. GoodhartIt is estimated that up to 90 per cent. of the population would be killed within 2 miles of a 1 megaton surface burst and a further 5 per cent. would be severely injured; at distances between 2 and 5 miles, up to 40 per cent. would be killed and 20 per cent. severely injured.
§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate of the wind speeds that would be induced within a 5-mile radius from the centre of a 1 megaton nuclear device.
§ Mr. GoodhartA 1 megaton surface burst in typical atmospheric conditions would produce maximum wind velocities of about 200 and 60 miles per hour at 2 and 5 miles respectively, although the winds would decrease to small fractions of these speeds in a few seconds.