- Author
-
Brode, H. L.
|
Small, R. D.
- Title
- Fire Damage and Strategic Targeting.
- Coporate
- Pacific-Sierra Research Corp., Los Angeles, CA
- Sponsor
- Defense Nuclear Agency, Washington, DC
- Report
-
PSR Note 567,
June 1983,
59 p.
- Contract
- DNA-001-82-C-0046
- Keywords
-
nuclear weapons
|
fire damage
|
blasts
|
nuclear explosions
|
thermal radiation
|
ignition
|
fire spread
|
civil defense
|
radiation ignition
- Identifiers
- structural damage; fire-damage-range curves; thermal-radiation-induced ignitions; blast-induced ignitions; initial fire starts - combined ignition distribution; combined-parameter variations; vulnerabilities of real cities
- Abstract
- The blast wave and the thermal, electromagnetic, and nuclear radiations from a nuclear explosion can all contribute to target damage. Current strategic targeting considers structural damage from the blast wave only. Although fire damage can be more intensive and can occur at greater ranges, it is treated as a bonus effect and thus not included in targetng or damage assessments. Since the variables controlling fire damage have been considered too uncertain to allow reliable fire damage predictions, there has been little impetus to modify targeting strategies to account for this added effect. This report relates the probability of fire damage to blast-induced ignitions and those due to thermal radiation. Modifying influences such as weather conditions, target structure, and countermeasures are included. Since fires continue to develop long after the explosion, additional effects such as fire spread and fire-wind damage are also considered. The methods may be extended to calculate probable damage ranges for a specific target, and may be made compatible with current targeting algorithms [the Defense Intelligency Agency (DIA) vulnerability number methodology]. "Reasonable" parameter values lead to fire damage ranges that extend into low overpressure regions. Less conservative - though still reasonable - values result in damage ranges exceeding comparable blast damage ranges. These results could help justify enlarging the scope of current targeting strategies to include fire effects. This study identifies those aspects of urban fires from nuclear attach that are most influential in determining the exent of fire damage and are still uncertain. These factors are proper candidates for further Defense Nuclear Agency research.