China research finds flaws in US nuclear blast equation to protect shelters
- Chinese scientists use computer simulation to update understanding of impacts on bombproof underground sites
- Depending on distance from blast, bunkers could be subject to two waves of destruction, study finds
A nuclear blast equation used by the US military for decades to guide the construction of bombproof shelters is not always accurate, according to a new study by Chinese researchers.
The equation estimates the impact on the ground following a nuclear weapon explosion, but computer simulations found the results could be unreliable if the blast occurred close by, potentially making the underground structure vulnerable.
“The larger the explosion, the smaller the distance or depth, the greater the error,” according to the team, led by Professor Rong Jili from the Beijing Institute of Technology, in a paper published in the Journal of China Ordnance on Monday.
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The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the country’s largest developer of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Rong and his colleagues simulated the blast of a small nuclear bomb – equivalent to 500 tonnes of TNT – with the latest mathematical model on a computer. The results matched very well with the US military’s equation most of the time, but deviated sharply in areas close to the epicentre.
The same thing happened when they compared the equation’s estimates to real-life data from an experiment conducted by the US military themselves.
The results showed that higher-than-expected distortions in soils and rocks generated by the nuclear blast could lead to structural failure in underground facilities, according to the researchers.