megaton

unit of measurement

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nuclear weapon yields

  • Nuclear weapon
    In nuclear weapon

    …words kiloton (1,000 tons) and megaton (1,000,000 tons) to describe their blast energy in equivalent weights of the conventional chemical explosive TNT. For example, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, containing only about 64 kg (140 pounds) of highly enriched uranium, released energy equaling about 15 kilotons…

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  • thermonuclear bomb
    In thermonuclear bomb

    …contrast, is frequently expressed in megatons, each unit of which equals the explosive force of 1,000,000 tons of TNT. Hydrogen bombs of more than 50 megatons have been detonated, but the explosive power of the weapons mounted on strategic missiles usually ranges from 100 kilotons to 1.5 megatons. Thermonuclear bombs…

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rem, unit of radiation dosage (such as from X rays) applied to humans. Derived from the phrase Roentgen equivalent man, the rem is now defined as the dosage in rads that will cause the same amount of biological injury as one rad of X rays or gamma rays. Formerly poorly defined, the rem was redefined in 1962 to clarify the usage of the term relative biological effectiveness (RBE) in both radiobiology and radiation protection.

A rem is equal to 0.01 sievert in the International System of Units (SI).

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