- Author
-
Brode, H. L.
|
Small, R. D.
- Title
- Nuclear Weapon Effect Research at PSR-1982. Volume 13. Fire Damage and Strategic Targeting. Technical Report.
- Coporate
- Pacific-Sierra Research Corp., Los Angeles, CA
- Sponsor
- Defense Nuclear Agency, Washington, DC
- Report
-
DNA-TR-82-179-V13; PSR Report 1317,
June 1, 1983,
60 p.
- Contract
- DNA-001-82-C-0046
- Keywords
-
nuclear weapons
|
thermal radiation
|
fire spread
|
civil defense
|
nuclear explosions
- Abstract
- The combined effects of thermal and blast from a nuclear explosion will result in large numbers of fires in urban areas. This report estimates the damage due to the resulting large area fires. Vulnerabilities to fire damage are considered. Damage-range relations are developed for the initial fire starts and for the subsequent fire spread. Variables that reflect uncertainties (such as weather conditions, atmospheric transmission, effectiveness of civil defense, building construction and contents ignition susceptibilities) are examined. Variations of these parameters are explored, and fire distributions predicted for 50 KT and 1 MT yield explosions. The results, expressed as damage-versus-range curves with bracketing uncertainties (±1 sigma and ±2 sigma standard deviation curves), show fire damage ranges comparable with or exceeding ranges for blast damage. Extensions of this initial model are discussed.