Nuke facts and prices

Nuke Prices and facts

Summary- A nuke costs $17,874.99 plus $4 million for the plutonium and $1.98 for the battery so if you want to go to the store and buy a nuke you need that money. It doesn’t have much to do with science but the costs of plutonium are pointless because there’s not much of a use for it if you don’t have the other parts.

Critique- Thought it was cool that it costs that much and in 1998 we made approximately 115,000. And I find it’s funny how you don’t need an expensive battery to start it.

Impact- None on me but definitely on our economy.

Reference- http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jmoilane/nuclear/Fallout.html

Random facts

Below 100 rems

No obvious sickness occurs. There might be a fluctuation in white blood cell count, and may cause temporary male sterility.

100-200 rems
Mild symptoms occur. Mild nausea and vomiting might occur. Loss of appetite, fatigue might last up to 4 weeks.

200-400 rems
Illness becomes increasingly severe, and significant mortality sets in. Onsets of initial symptoms occur 1-6 hours and last 1-2 days. Nausea is universal and vomiting is 50% at 280 rems. After this a 7-14 day latency period sets in. Initial symptoms reoccur and also might include hair loss, fatigue, hemorrhage of the mouth, kidney. Susceptibility to infection is serious. At 300 rems the possibility of mortality without medical treatment increases to 10%. Recovery takes around a month.

400-600 rems
Mortality rises steeply, from around 50% at 450 rems to 90% at 600 unless there is medical intervention. The symptoms listed for 200-400 rems increase in occurrence and severity, reaching 100% occurrence at 600 rems. When death occurs, it is usually 2-12 weeks after exposure and results from infection and hemorrhage. Recovery takes several months to a year, blood cell counts may take even longer to return to normal.

600-1000 rems
Survival depends on stringent medical intervention. Bone marrow is almost completely destroyed and will require a transfusion of the bone marrow. Death usually follows 1-4 weeks from infection and internal bleeding. The recovery might never completely happen and if it does will take years.

Above 1000 will cause severe intestinal and metabolic problems which include severe diarrhea, intestinal bleeding, and loss of fluids. Death will follow in a few hours from circulatory collapse.

1000-5000 rems

The onset time drops from 30 minutes to 5 minutes. Following the initial severe nausea a period of apparent well-being will last a few hours to a few days often called the walking ghost phase. The terminal phase will last 2-10 days. In rapid succession prostration, diarrhea, anorexia, and fever follow. Death is certain, often preceded by delirium and coma. Medical treatment is only to relieve suffering.
Above 5000 rems metabolic disruption is severe enough to interfere with the nervous system. Immediate disorientation and coma will result; onset is within seconds to minutes. Convulsions occur which may be controlled with sedation. Victim may linger for up to 48 hours before dying.
The U.S. military assumes that 8000 rads of fast neutron radiation (from a neutron bomb) will immediately and permanently incapacitate a person. 

Half-lives
Radionuclide	Half-Life		Products of Fission	Half-Life
Uranium-233	158,000 yrs		Iodine-131	8 days
Uranium-235	704 Million yrs		Krypton-85	10.8 yrs
Uranium-238	4.47 Billion yrs		Tritium	12.3 yrs
Thorium-232	14 Billion		Strontium-90	28 yrs
Plutonium-239	24,400 yrs		Cesium-137	30 yrs