Kashmir, up in smoke....
May 28, 2002

What would happen if India and Pakistan exchanged a few nukes over the disputed Kahmir region? A lot, says this article fromNew Scientist.

From the article:

The US and Asian nuclear researchers investigated the impact of 10 explosions similar to that detonated by the US over the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945. They assume that five 15-kilotonne bombs explode 600 metres above Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and New Delhi in India, while another five explode above Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi in Pakistan.

They conclude that hundreds of thousands of people would be killed or badly injured in every city, amounting to 2.6 million in India and 1.8 million in Pakistan. The prospect is credible and devastating, warns M V Ramana one of the researchers from Princeton University, New Jersey and an expert on nuclear policy in India.

The Institute for Science and International Security in Washington DC suggests that India has about 65 warheads made from 310 kilograms of plutonium, while Pakistan has around 40 made from 690 kilograms of uranium.

Most of the weapons are likely to be around the 15-kilotonne range and some of them may not work

If bombs explode on the ground instead of in the air, the resulting radioactive dust could kill people across hundreds of square kilometres, Albright points out. And because the prevailing winds are from the west, India is more likely to become the victim of its own fall-out than Pakistan.

Shudder.

Posted by Jody at May 28, 2002 04:12 PM

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