12 Sep 2022 9:14 pm
Note: the nuclear material in the warhead is either Plutonium or less likely Uranium. So why does it matter, it should be gone as it produces the blast. Well the thing is, nuclear detonations don't use the material very efficiently and only about 2-4% of the material is consumed in the blast. The rest hangs around slowly poisoning you as your food will inevitably contain trace amounts. 1 tablespoon of Plutonium evenly distributed would kill half of all Americans every 6 months. In other words you would be 50% likely to get cancer during any 6 month period if the 2 tablespoons were evenly distributed. Levels of ingestion shouldn't reach this level, but you will have high mortality rates nonetheless.
Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 are believed to be the most problematic as much of the radioactivity will derive from these two elements. Good thing is, your body doesn't prefer to absorb Strontium and Cesium. Strontium is in the same vertical column of the periodic table as Calcium (column 2). Cesium is in the same column as sodium and potassium (column 1). So if you get plenty of sodium, potassium and calcium in your diet then you can alleviate much of the issues (TUMS and Salts). Without calcium in your diet your body will substitute Strontium for Calcium in your bones and you'll develop bone cancers among others.
In summation, the first generation will be decimated, if not eradicated. Each generation will improve the death rate exponentially and by 10 Half-lifes the radiation will have diminished to 1/1000th of that experienced by generation 1. So the effects of Strontium will limit life spans to about 20 years initially falling off to more tolerable levels to perhaps 40 year lifespans in 29 X 10 = 290 years. Of course it is obvious that should we even survive as a species the impacts would be substantial as 20 years isn't long enough to pass on much knowledge to your offspring or possess any to pass on.
Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 are believed to be the most problematic as much of the radioactivity will derive from these two elements. Good thing is, your body doesn't prefer to absorb Strontium and Cesium. Strontium is in the same vertical column of the periodic table as Calcium (column 2). Cesium is in the same column as sodium and potassium (column 1). So if you get plenty of sodium, potassium and calcium in your diet then you can alleviate much of the issues (TUMS and Salts). Without calcium in your diet your body will substitute Strontium for Calcium in your bones and you'll develop bone cancers among others.
In summation, the first generation will be decimated, if not eradicated. Each generation will improve the death rate exponentially and by 10 Half-lifes the radiation will have diminished to 1/1000th of that experienced by generation 1. So the effects of Strontium will limit life spans to about 20 years initially falling off to more tolerable levels to perhaps 40 year lifespans in 29 X 10 = 290 years. Of course it is obvious that should we even survive as a species the impacts would be substantial as 20 years isn't long enough to pass on much knowledge to your offspring or possess any to pass on.