Dangers of NK Atmospheric Hydrogen Bomb Test

There is talk about preparations in the northwest U.S. for nuclear fallout or a blast from North Korea's nuclear missiles. N.K. has proposed an atmospheric hydrogen bomb test that is sure to have political consequences, but what about other consequences like fallout and an EMP?

Apparently there are the possibilities of something going wrong and the bomb exploding anywhere from the launch pad to the surface of the Pacific Ocean. In many of these cases the consequences are far more dangerous than a high altitude atmospheric explosion. The effects range from serious particulate fallout and high death rates to an EMP that knocks out communications. Here is some excerpts from a CBC article I just read.

Should Kim make good on his threat to target Guam with a nuclear bomb the size of the Sept. 3 test, it would generate a fireball covering an area of 1.6 square kilometres and result in close to 100 per cent loss of life within six square kilometres, Lam says. Most residential buildings within 26 square kilometres would collapse, and prevailing winds would carry residual radioactive material about 270 kilometres northeast of the island.

An atmospheric nuclear test would be far more dangerous than detonations in controlled underground environments, because of the force of the blast and unrestrained release of radioactive materials that could spread out over large areas. Such a launch would potentially endanger aircraft and ships because it's highly unlikely the North would give prior warnings or send naval vessels to the area to control sea traffic.

Electromagnetic pulse . . . "Even the GPS systems in automobiles, airplanes depend on these satellites. Our communications, both commercial and military, depend on these satellites," says Pry, who has served on several congressional committees on EMP and other aspects of defense. That means, not only would your cellphone network be down at home, military who normally perform high-tech targeted missions wouldn't have the satellite data they rely upon to do so.

Here's what could happen if . . .

Concerning any fallout, the jet air stream over the Pacific will carry fallout over Washington, Oregon and California first where it will likely fallout with the rains over the Rocky Mountains and states west. From there is will loop south over the mid-west states and then back north over and around the Great Lakes and north-east coast states. It tends to start raining again over the Great Lakes region so that would likely dump leftover fallout in that area.

NOAA Jet Steam Map

ETA: Considering that a test like this has never been performed before and that this type of test has been banned worldwide, I'm sure the U.S. has a team on notice ready to rush out into the Pacific to do tests while the North Koreans play with their new fireworks.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck


Just an FYI, the United States performed over 200 atmospheric tests from the Pacific islands to the desert south west. The Soviets did somewhere over 100. Even the French did 50.

Just irradiated food for thought.

I doubt they have an H Bomb.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Did they ever do an atmospheric test with a hydrogen bomb during that time? Curious to know what happened if they did.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
Did they ever do an atmospheric test with a hydrogen bomb during that time? Curious to know what happened if they did.

Plenty and most of them larger than what North Korea is suspected of possessing.

Bikini Atoll test in 1954 was a hydrogen bomb, and there were something like 70 such tests by the US alone- many others by the Soviet Union.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I've done some research on the EMPs associated with atmospheric testing, but never any of the other effects. I'll have to look at that subject again - thanks.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck


No worries. Some of the video taken was pretty extraordinary, should be able to track down all types of high altitude footage and results.

originally posted by: SR1TX
I doubt they have an H Bomb.

Whether it ends up being a fusion or fission device, dropping one in the Pacific is much more serious than testing underground. I'm not sure if it was officially confirmed that the last test was a hydrogen bomb or not . But the detonation force was well within the range to have been one.

originally posted by: SR1TX
I doubt they have an H Bomb.

They might. They recently tested something that was either a big nuke or a small H-bomb.

Remember, H-bombs were invented in the 1950's. There's nothing even remotely cutting-edge about them.

originally posted by: AndyFromMichigan
Remember, H-bombs were invented in the 1950's. There's nothing even remotely cutting-edge about them.

And the concept dates back to 1941 with Teller and Fermi. The Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombs were originally hoped to be two stage devise but the process wasn't perfected until the early 1950's.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Did they ever do an atmospheric test with a hydrogen bomb during that time? Curious to know what happened if they did.

Yes.

This one is pretty notable.

Though it doesn't even hold a candle to this bad boy

originally posted by: SR1TX
I doubt they have an H Bomb.

They're not particularly complicated pieces of engineering. Very easy to manufacture if you have the materials required, which the DPRK does.

The delivery systems are far more complex than the actual weapons themselves. Building a missile is hard. But they're pretty good at doing that too.

a reply to: Ohanka

Here is some fallout and EMP information from your Wikipedia links.

Castle Bravo Test

The fallout spread traces of radioactive material as far as Australia, India and Japan, and even the United States and parts of Europe. Though organized as a secret test, Castle Bravo quickly became an international incident, prompting calls for a ban on the atmospheric testing of thermonuclear devices.[34] A worldwide network of gummed film stations was established to monitor fallout following Operation Castle. Although meteorological data was poor, a general connection of tropospheric flow patterns with observed fallout was evident. There was a tendency for fallout/debris to remain in tropical latitudes, with incursions into the temperate regions associated with meteorological disturbances of the predominantly zonal flow. Outside of the tropics, the Southwestern United States received the greatest total fallout, about five times that received in Japan.[35]

Tsar Bomba Test

radio communications were interrupted for almost one hour.

a reply to: joeraynor

originally posted by: joeraynor
Bikini Atoll test in 1954 was a hydrogen bomb, and there were something like 70 such tests by the US alone- many others by the Soviet Union.

Thats sad that they would endanger all the people of that region. I'm pretty sure a bunch more people died or suffered from the after effects.

Hiroshima was only 15 kilotons. This bomb was 1000 times stronger!