Quote:
Originally Posted by Pursuivant
ize.
The damage estimates for heat damage for nuclear bombs in High Tech might be a bit low for objects close to the blast, because the intense burst of ionizing radiation would also heat the victim.
A.
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Only a little.
It's a basic of fission reactions that 2.4% of the total energy is in the form of neutrons, 3.6% in gamma rays and 94% in charged particles.
The charged particles react most efficintly with air molecules and rapidly form the heat part of the explosion (which in turn leads to the concussion part).
Then there's also the issue that not all of the ionizing radiation will interact with human targets. Most will zip right through.