Military expert Oleh Zhdanov gave a short lecture on how to behave during the use of nuclear weapons and, in particular, told whether a missile with a nuclear warhead shot down by an air defense system explodes in the air.

He spoke about this on Sunday, January 22, in his video blog.

The expert reminded that any nuclear charge consists of two elements and only when they are connected to each other, a chain reaction occurs, a critical mass occurs, which causes the appearance of huge kinetic energy, which leads to a nuclear explosion. 

According to him, in order for this process to take place, the appropriate mechanism must work.

"If a rocket with a nuclear charge in the main part crashes, this mechanism is destroyed. Therefore, the connection of the two hemispheres does not take place. In this case, the fragments of the rocket with radioactive elements, plutonium 238 or uranium 239, scatter over the area and are then searched for with the help of detectors. Then the reclamation of the territory where they fell is carried out - the soil is removed and taken to special burial grounds," explained Zhdanov.

If the missile with a nuclear charge was not shot down and the explosion did occur, then, according to the expert, the decrease in radiation begins immediately after the end of the chain reaction, but it must be taken into account that different components have different half-lives.

At the same time, alpha and beta radiation decreases several times over several hours, and gamma radiation in the case of uranium will last for 160 years.

However, the danger immediately after the explosion is not only radiation.

"In the first hours after the explosion, it is impossible to get out of the bunkers, because there is a fall of radioactive ash and parts of dust raised by the explosion. A nuclear mushroom is dust, ash and smoke. Part of the mushroom falls in the form of radioactive dust and ash, which when it gets on the skin gives a large dose of radiation, and the other part turns into a nuclear cloud and goes wherever the wind drives it," Zhdanov explained.

He recalled that in 1986, after the explosion at the Chornobyl NPP, a cloud was brought to the Netherlands, where radioactive rain fell in the morning. 

We will remind you that Bellingcat experts believe that Putin can use nuclear weapons if he has no other way out.

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