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I was wondering a few things about nuclear weapons for a game I'm writing up.

I'm aiming for a "Raiders of the Lost Arc" with some "Final Fantasy VI" feel.

Anywho, the questions are:

How long would the casing of a nuclear weapon last, underground, in a moist cave?

Related to the first question: how would the area be affected by the radiation leaking from the nuke?

And, would magic or psionics affect radiation sickness, in the responder's opinion?

Using "game physics," would the radiation leaking cause more stuff like mutant animals or superpowers?

Gazirra wrote:I was wondering a few things about nuclear weapons for a game I'm writing up.

I'm aiming for a "Raiders of the Lost Arc" with some "Final Fantasy VI" feel.

Anywho, the questions are:

How long would the casing of a nuclear weapon last, underground, in a moist cave?

Indefinitely as long as the casing isn't cracked. They don't spend billions of dollars building nukes just to house them in a paper tiger.

Gazirra wrote:Related to the first question: how would the area be affected by the radiation leaking from the nuke?

Radiation kills. The area around a leaking nuclear device would be devoid of life, and lifeless objects would either burn up or melt (depending on how strong the device is). As this relates to a nuclear bomb, what you can expect is that plant-life would slowly wither and die (over the course of months), and that people would get sick or feel ill if they lingered in the area too long (like nausea sick). Prolonged exposure (ie: year(s)) will eventually kill a human-sized being. Off-and-on prolonged exposure would result in a slow and painful death as muscles, veins, and organs slowly wither and die. Also, cancer. For more information, look here.

Gazirra wrote:And, would magic or psionics affect radiation sickness, in the responder's opinion?

Sure. After all, it's magic/psionics!

Gazirra wrote:Using "game physics," would the radiation leaking cause more stuff like mutant animals or superpowers?

This is entirely up to the GM. If you want it to cause more mutants/super-powered beings, then it will. As far as I'm concerned, radiation will only cause this kind of thing if it's convenient for a story-line. Otherwise it's Cancer-city.

I'm not a nuclear physicist or weapons expert, but my understanding is as follows:

A nuke's casing would last decades, if not longer, even under those conditions. The shields inside would last even longer. The instability we hear about in old nukes isn't from the cases breaking apart and radiation leaking out, it's more about the conventional explosives being unstable after a long time. Radiation wouldn't be leaking out and affecting the surrounding environment at all, unless something major had happened to compromise the several layers of shielding.

In the event of a significant breach of the shielding, what you're going to be dealing with primarily is gamma radiation. Alpha and Beta particles will be blocked by other materials in the area (a piece of paper will block Alpha, aluminum foil will block Beta), but Gamma is quite capable of causing damage on its own. In high sudden doses, the body can respond and fight back, but heightened lower doses over long periods of time break down DNA and cause permanent damage, increasing health risks.

Radiation Sickness is something rough to treat, as it is the result of the actual cells of the body being broken down, including bone marrow and other vital internals. Further Adventures in the Northern Wilderness touches on which spells and powers (a very very few) will help with Radiation Sickness.

In Game Physics, if you have a breached nuclear source irradiating an area over a long period during which a person or animal grew up there, yeah, you could get away with using it as a reason for more powers. It's a bit cheesy, perhaps, cause all it normally would do is kill everything, but if you're in a sort of bombastic cartoon superhero game, who's to say no?

Gazirra wrote:I was wondering a few things about nuclear weapons for a game I'm writing up.

I'm aiming for a "Raiders of the Lost Arc" with some "Final Fantasy VI" feel.

Anywho, the questions are:

How long would the casing of a nuclear weapon last, underground, in a moist cave?

a long, long time. Metal dosn't degrade quickly.

Related to the first question: how would the area be affected by the radiation leaking from the nuke?

Slowly growing more and more devoid of life, baring only very scrawny plants and fungi similar to those found around Chernobyl

And, would magic or psionics affect radiation sickness, in the responder's opinion?

Of course.

Using "game physics," would the radiation leaking cause more stuff like mutant animals or superpowers?

Yes, Radiation leaks are a listed cause of mutant animals and superpowers.

As opposed to just having your hair fall out and die

Nekira Sudacne wrote:

Related to the first question: how would the area be affected by the radiation leaking from the nuke?

Slowly growing more and more devoid of life, baring only very scrawny plants and fungi similar to those found around Chernobyl

Actually, I should point out that the ecosystem around Chernobyl is absolutely thriving, even in areas where the levels of radioactivity are unsafe for humans. Life is pesky and very adaptable, though some of it around the reactor is a little bit... weird.

Qev wrote:

Nekira Sudacne wrote:

Related to the first question: how would the area be affected by the radiation leaking from the nuke?

Slowly growing more and more devoid of life, baring only very scrawny plants and fungi similar to those found around Chernobyl

Actually, I should point out that the ecosystem around Chernobyl is absolutely thriving, even in areas where the levels of radioactivity are unsafe for humans. Life is pesky and very adaptable, though some of it around the reactor is a little bit... weird.

I ment in the immediate aftermath. Chernobyl is a lot better now than it was.

How about thousands of years after the nukes were placed down underground, with only some natural caverns and old mines to get there?

Gazirra wrote:How about thousands of years after the nukes were placed down underground, with only some natural caverns and old mines to get there?

Then it depends on the type of nuclear fuel it uses. Some are still hot, others might be negligable.