Word: atomics
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Speaking on atom control as a private citizen for the first time, Lilitenthal is expected to discuss the advisability of building the hydrogen bomb. The lecture, the first in a series in various cities, is also expected to deal with the chances for halting the armament race and with the political problems posed by the un-clear muddle...
Built in 1936, the machine was one of this country's first atom-smashing devices and played a large part in making the atom bomb. It was currently, being used on a nuclear research project for the Office of Naval Research...
After 52 months of studying atom-bomb damage to buildings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Defense summed up their findings for the benefit of U.S. builders. They had little encouraging advice to offer. The report did not deal with the damage by radiation (heat, gamma rays, etc.), considered only the blast, which affects a much larger area than the radiation. But the blast effects it described were awesome enough...
Shock Wave. When an atom bomb explodes above the ground (as it did at Nagasaki and Hiroshima), the air around it is heated tremendously. Its push to expand creates a shock wave that roars outward in all directions with enormous speed. At 1,000 ft. from "zero," the point directly beneath the bomb, the wind whooshes out at 800 m.p.h., faster than the speed of sound. Two miles away, it is still blowing at 70 m.p.h...
...avoid being blown to rubble, the report suggests, U.S. buildings should be redesigned to meet the specifications of strict codes used in earthquake regions. At present most are designed to resist a wind pressure of 20 lbs. a sq. ft. To give reasonable security against an atom bomb explosion half a mile away, this should be raised to 90 lbs. a sq. ft. At times of atom danger, all windows should be made of wire-glass and lined with heavy wire mesh to catch large flying fragments...