Nova Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Is it possible to break the ozone layer by letting nuclear waste explode in the upper atmosphere. I am just asking because i watched a anime where the antagonist slowly broke the ozone layer of the earth by letting thousand of barrels of nuclear waste explode in the atmosphere. I am just asking. I mean some things are possible in RL. But its not like i want to destroy the life on earth baka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxon Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 We already know how to destroy Ozone; release CFCs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_depletion I don't know whether detonating nuclear weapons would actually have any effect on ozone at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Doggo Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 12 minutes ago, Nova said: Is it possible to break the ozone layer by letting nuclear waste explode in the upper atmosphere. I know that the US and the Soviets tested nukes by exploding them high up in the air and nothing like that happened, so maybe not sometimes I wonder if it will ever be practical to just put all our dangerous waste products on the moon or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxon Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 1 minute ago, Sir Gibby said: I know that the US and the Soviets tested nukes by exploding them high up in the air and nothing like that happened, so maybe not Did they check what impact the detonations had on O3 concentration, out of interest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Doggo Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 1 minute ago, Saxon said: Did they check what impact the detonations had on O3 concentration, out of interest? dunno, maybe I wish I knew what resource I could point you to, but it was definitely in the cold war era that they got whatever info they could and I'm not sure if they bother testing nukes these days, though IIRC the North Koreans have been testing their toys out but I think that's mostly for the missile itself minus the warhead. Dunno if that's any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossa Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 5 minutes ago, Sir Gibby said: sometimes I wonder if it will ever be practical to just put all our dangerous waste products on the moon or something OMG, we can put Trump on the moon! This solves many things. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxon Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 3 minutes ago, Sir Gibby said: dunno, maybe I wish I knew what resource I could point you to, but it was definitely in the cold war era that they got whatever info they could and I'm not sure if they bother testing nukes these days, though IIRC the North Koreans have been testing their toys out but I think that's mostly for the missile itself minus the warhead. Dunno if that's any help. I just did some googling and nuclear detonations in the troposphere cause ozone depletion in the stratosphere, because the thermal pulse causes Nitrogen to combine with Oxygen to produce NO2, which is the leading chemical species that destroys Ozone in a catalytic reaction. http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royptb/367/1593/1256.full.pdf So yeah, OP is right; Nuclear detonations are pretty bad for the Ozone layer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osrik Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 54 minutes ago, Saxon said: So yeah, OP is right; Nuclear detonations are pretty bad for the Ozone layer. However, the OP is referring to nuclear waste, not weapons, so it would not, as nuclear waste is not explosive, just radioactive. Even nuclear weapons are unusually not explosive unless specifically detonated; a nuclear stockpile can burn (one even burnt in my state, the area is still capped in many feet of concrete) and will release large amounts of radiation, but will not explode. I find it surprising that so many people are under the impression that everything nuclear explodes, but I guess that is due in part to the success of the often untruthful anti-nuclear movement (financed, of course, by coal and oil) while my knowledge is partially due to my proximity to a nuclear power station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazerMaster5 Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 If anything, we would be more concerned about fallout from such a detonation. Such a nuclear winter would have catastrophic effects on the environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxon Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 9 hours ago, Osrik said: However, the OP is referring to nuclear waste, not weapons, so it would not, as nuclear waste is not explosive, just radioactive. Even nuclear weapons are unusually not explosive unless specifically detonated; a nuclear stockpile can burn (one even burnt in my state, the area is still capped in many feet of concrete) and will release large amounts of radiation, but will not explode. I find it surprising that so many people are under the impression that everything nuclear explodes, but I guess that is due in part to the success of the often untruthful anti-nuclear movement (financed, of course, by coal and oil) while my knowledge is partially due to my proximity to a nuclear power station. Honestly, since the OP was talking about exploding, I just assumed they meant bombs. One could complain that animé characters don't exist in real life if you want to be picky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.