The results wouldn’t be drastically different from just a regular nuke being set off anywhere because the nuke destroys the power plant and its contents almost completely. The key difference though is there would be more nuclear fallout, the irradiated debris that are shot up into the sky and then fall back down dispersing the radiation over a larger area, because the nuclear fuel and nuclear waste are not vaporized in the bombing.
Same thing as what would happen if a nuclear bomb was detonated on a giant steam engine that happened to be housing a deposit of uranium. Nuke goes off, and whatever was keeping the uranium from irradiating the immediate vicinity (in the case of a nuclear power plant, just a bunch of water) gets vaporized, exposing the uranium. The nuke will have vaporized anything close enough for the uranium to be damaged by the radiation it gives off (the additional radiation would be negligible compared to the fallout from the nuke except at a relatively close distance), so not much would change from a nuke exploding anywhere else. They’d have to put some sort of shielding around the uranium and/or transport it away before any cleanup could take place post-detonation, but that’s about it.
On would be an issue but inside the containment building much less of an issue.
But nuclear power plants are heavily guarded (including I believe airspace) and certain data is heavily protected … so it’s so unlikely that it’s not really worth worrying about.
If you’re worried about the nuclear plant making the nuclear bomb stronger, then no worries. You need a much denser version of uranium than the stuff they use for the plants. If a power plant has 12% purity, then a nuclear bomb needs like 95%. The numbers in using aren’t exact but it’s ballpark close
I feel like the premise of the question assumes that nuclear plants explode like nuclear bombs do when they go supercritical and fail. That is not what they do at all. If they explode, it’s a regular ol’ steam/oil/etc explosion, NOT a nuclear bomb explosion. For a proper nuclear explosion, you need to have the nuclear material be detonated in a veeeery precise way after also being enriched more than what a nuclear power plant would want. All you’ll get if you detonate a nuclear bomb on a nuclear plant is just the explosion of one single nuclear bomb, plus a whole bunch of scattered nuclear power plant fuel all over the place (which would also spread a lot of radiation everywhere but will NOT explode).
The reaction is halted and there would technically be additional fall out from the reactor as it’s contents are dispersed in addition to that from the nuclear bomb. I don’t think it would make a noticeable difference in the background radiation compared to if they just nuked any other sort of structure.
What if what? It would be a nuclear bomb explosion, which is bad where-ever it happens. Happening over a nuclear power plant doesn’t do much to change that, if that’s what you’re asking.
I recently read Nuclear War: A Scenario, by Anne Jacobson. In the book, a 1 megaton missile hits Diego Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The plant has a bunch of spent fuel rods in storage. Here are the Cliff’s Notes on the effect. If you want your butt truly puckered, this is the book for you. 🙂
If spent nuclear fuel stored in pools or dry casks were directly hit by a nuclear bomb, the blast and heat would likely cause the fragmentation and vaporization of the fuel, leading to a massive release of radioactive materials into the environment, potentially rendering large areas uninhabitable.
Here’s a more detailed explanation:
Destruction of Containment:
Nuclear explosions, even relatively small ones, would likely shatter the concrete and steel containment structures designed to hold spent fuel, whether in pools or dry casks.
Radioactive Release:
The blast and intense heat would cause the fuel rods to break apart and the radioactive materials within them to be released into the atmosphere as particles and vapor.
Specific Concerns:
Cesium-137: A significant amount of Cesium-137, a highly radioactive isotope, could be released, leading to widespread contamination and health risks.
Zirconium Fires: In the case of spent fuel pools, a zirconium fire, a type of fire that can occur when the cladding of the fuel rods is exposed to air, could release even more radioactive materials, including Cesium-137, than the Chernobyl accident.
Environmental Impact:
Contamination: Radioactive particles would be transported by wind and deposited on surfaces, in water, and in food, causing widespread contamination.
Health Effects: Exposure to these radioactive materials could lead to increased risks of cancer and other health problems.
Uninhabitable Areas: Large areas could become uninhabitable due to the high levels of radiation.
International Law:
While Additional Protocols I and II to the 1949 Geneva Conventions contain specific provisions dealing with attacks on nuclear power plants, they do not explicitly cover other types of nuclear facilities, such as spent-fuel interim-storage sites, spent-fuel-reprocessing plants, high-level-waste repositories, and research reactors.
Comments
A very big mess.
They’d cancel each other out and we’d all be fine
Probably something like the Chernobyl disaster, but much worse as there would be no way to contain the massive radiation fallout.
Kaboom-boom
The results wouldn’t be drastically different from just a regular nuke being set off anywhere because the nuke destroys the power plant and its contents almost completely. The key difference though is there would be more nuclear fallout, the irradiated debris that are shot up into the sky and then fall back down dispersing the radiation over a larger area, because the nuclear fuel and nuclear waste are not vaporized in the bombing.
We’d be fucked. The end.
Unicorn explodes into the air and jesus,Santa,and Bigfoot set the world right. But really, my cats had something to do with it.
More fallout, yay!
Same thing as what would happen if a nuclear bomb was detonated on a giant steam engine that happened to be housing a deposit of uranium. Nuke goes off, and whatever was keeping the uranium from irradiating the immediate vicinity (in the case of a nuclear power plant, just a bunch of water) gets vaporized, exposing the uranium. The nuke will have vaporized anything close enough for the uranium to be damaged by the radiation it gives off (the additional radiation would be negligible compared to the fallout from the nuke except at a relatively close distance), so not much would change from a nuke exploding anywhere else. They’d have to put some sort of shielding around the uranium and/or transport it away before any cleanup could take place post-detonation, but that’s about it.
On would be an issue but inside the containment building much less of an issue.
But nuclear power plants are heavily guarded (including I believe airspace) and certain data is heavily protected … so it’s so unlikely that it’s not really worth worrying about.
They cancel each other out.
If you’re worried about the nuclear plant making the nuclear bomb stronger, then no worries. You need a much denser version of uranium than the stuff they use for the plants. If a power plant has 12% purity, then a nuclear bomb needs like 95%. The numbers in using aren’t exact but it’s ballpark close
I feel like the premise of the question assumes that nuclear plants explode like nuclear bombs do when they go supercritical and fail. That is not what they do at all. If they explode, it’s a regular ol’ steam/oil/etc explosion, NOT a nuclear bomb explosion. For a proper nuclear explosion, you need to have the nuclear material be detonated in a veeeery precise way after also being enriched more than what a nuclear power plant would want. All you’ll get if you detonate a nuclear bomb on a nuclear plant is just the explosion of one single nuclear bomb, plus a whole bunch of scattered nuclear power plant fuel all over the place (which would also spread a lot of radiation everywhere but will NOT explode).
Being cancelled out – would be the effect
The reaction is halted and there would technically be additional fall out from the reactor as it’s contents are dispersed in addition to that from the nuclear bomb. I don’t think it would make a noticeable difference in the background radiation compared to if they just nuked any other sort of structure.
What if what? It would be a nuclear bomb explosion, which is bad where-ever it happens. Happening over a nuclear power plant doesn’t do much to change that, if that’s what you’re asking.
Big bada boom
I recently read Nuclear War: A Scenario, by Anne Jacobson. In the book, a 1 megaton missile hits Diego Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The plant has a bunch of spent fuel rods in storage. Here are the Cliff’s Notes on the effect. If you want your butt truly puckered, this is the book for you. 🙂
If spent nuclear fuel stored in pools or dry casks were directly hit by a nuclear bomb, the blast and heat would likely cause the fragmentation and vaporization of the fuel, leading to a massive release of radioactive materials into the environment, potentially rendering large areas uninhabitable.
Here’s a more detailed explanation:
Destruction of Containment:
Nuclear explosions, even relatively small ones, would likely shatter the concrete and steel containment structures designed to hold spent fuel, whether in pools or dry casks.
Radioactive Release:
The blast and intense heat would cause the fuel rods to break apart and the radioactive materials within them to be released into the atmosphere as particles and vapor.
Specific Concerns:
Cesium-137: A significant amount of Cesium-137, a highly radioactive isotope, could be released, leading to widespread contamination and health risks.
Zirconium Fires: In the case of spent fuel pools, a zirconium fire, a type of fire that can occur when the cladding of the fuel rods is exposed to air, could release even more radioactive materials, including Cesium-137, than the Chernobyl accident.
Environmental Impact:
Contamination: Radioactive particles would be transported by wind and deposited on surfaces, in water, and in food, causing widespread contamination.
Health Effects: Exposure to these radioactive materials could lead to increased risks of cancer and other health problems.
Uninhabitable Areas: Large areas could become uninhabitable due to the high levels of radiation.
International Law:
While Additional Protocols I and II to the 1949 Geneva Conventions contain specific provisions dealing with attacks on nuclear power plants, they do not explicitly cover other types of nuclear facilities, such as spent-fuel interim-storage sites, spent-fuel-reprocessing plants, high-level-waste repositories, and research reactors.
Nuclear²
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