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From: david@fisher.UUCP (David Rubin)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Strategic Arms (reply to Tim Sevener) and Apologia
Message-ID: <312@fisher.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 18-Sep-84 10:15:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: fisher.312
Posted: Tue Sep 18 10:15:08 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 03:18:28 EDT
References: <204@tekigm.UUCP>, <1822@ucbvax.ARPA> <493@tty3b.UUCP> <1889@ucbvax.ARPA>, <222@whuxl.UUCP> <1983@randvax.UUCP>
Organization: Princeton Univ. Statistics
Lines: 15

A factual error was made in the referenced article, in which it was
stated that six to twenty 40 kiloton bombs were necessary to destroy a
large Soviet city. It takes six bombs, exploded on the same spot, to
produce the same destruction as a single 250 kiloton weapon, which
will level any city. However, one 40 kiloton bomb will end any city's
economic and military usefullness. Two 40 kiloton bombs, placed at
opposite ends of town, can do more damage than a single 250 kiloton
bomb (though admittedly would not produce as much fallout). Finally,
most medium and smaller cities could be eliminated with a single 40
kiloton warhead. Thus, it is apporpriate to divide the number of
Poseiden warheads by two rather than six to twenty in calculating how
many cities would be destroyed.

					David Rubin
			{allegra|astrovax|princeton}!fisher!david