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This is a big boi cargo ship we're talking about, the kind so large that it can't "blast off" - it has to be built in space and stay there. It is definitely not death-star sized. Let's say it's as big as a star destroyer.

Unfortunately, in this scenario, space pirates or an enemy force or a natural disaster cause its engines to be damaged but not its cargo, and it begins to fall into the Earth-like planet around which it was orbiting.

This ship's cargo happens to be nuclear weapons.

Do the weapons go off when it hits the ground, and if so, what kind of damage do they do compared to if the same amount of weapons had been launched in an attack?

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  • $\begingroup$ Hello and Welcome to worldbuilding Rootj. I sounds like you have a great idea but have done little to no research in how this would world. While we here at worldbuilding can answer specific questions, we do not create a story or world for you. Can you please adjust your question and limit it to One Specific Question. (also its not going to create a miniature star. Its actually using the opposite reaction a star does). $\endgroup$
    – Shadowzee
    Oct 4, 2019 at 5:13
  • $\begingroup$ Welcome to Worldbuilding Rootj. Please understand that you've asked what we call a high concept question. Such questions are too broad and primarily opinion based, violating the basic SE formula of one-specific-question/one-best-answer. SE is not a discussion forum, but these questions are basically invitations to a discussion. Do you have one, specific question about the rules or systems of your world we can help you with? Until clarified, VTC as too broad. (Hint: use only one question mark.) $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Oct 4, 2019 at 5:18
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    $\begingroup$ As an aside, a ship that's in a proper orbit won't fall out of orbit simply due to engine failure. (Well, it will eventually, over the course of hundreds or thousands of years. But not in time for the end of the book.) It will have to be pushed out of its current orbit, and with a fair amount of force, in order to actually hit the planet. $\endgroup$
    – Cadence
    Oct 4, 2019 at 6:09
  • $\begingroup$ I agree that the question is too broad. You provide too few details (which kind of nuclear weapon? Is it supposed to trigger on impact, or via deliberate detonation? Does the cargo hold have some kind of shock-absorber? Where is it in relation to the ship? Will it deform upon impact?) that are all of critical importance when trying to decide whether they go off. If they do go off, they would do the same damage as if launched as an attack, but who would launch 200 warheads at the same spot instead of spreading them out? $\endgroup$
    – subrunner
    Oct 4, 2019 at 8:05
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    $\begingroup$ To the commenters, can we have a little realism, please folks? There have been accidents where aircraft have crashed that carried nuclear weapons. A reasonable person could easily extrapolate the probable consequences from those incidents. $\endgroup$
    – a4android
    Oct 4, 2019 at 9:01

1 Answer 1

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No.

Unless the weapon designers were careless. Making a nuclear explosion is difficult. Implosion-based fission weapons rely on the exact compression of a lump of fissionable material (the right isotopes of plutonium or uranium) by the blast wave of a carefully timed and shaped conventional explosion. Fusion bombs are usually triggered by fission bombs.

The exception are gun-type fission weapons, which is one reason why they are not built any more.

What you get is a giant dirty bomb. The uncontrolled explosion of the chemical explosives will destroy the fissionable pit and spread the unexploded, radioactive, heavy metal. Plutonim or uranium would be unhealthy even if it was not radioactive, and the radiation comes on top of that. For a giant ship, think of the result of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, or Fukushima anywhere a big chunk came down.

Hint: If your characters ever face a nuclear weapon with a ticking timer, they should just shoot it. The resulting dirty bomb will be bad, but not as bad as waiting for the countdown to reach zero.

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  • $\begingroup$ Also, if the ship hits the ground traveling at orbital velocity, it'll almost certainly be obliterated with enough force to send particles of plutonium and who knows what else into the atmosphere. Very much like Chernobyl, in that sense. $\endgroup$
    – Cadence
    Oct 4, 2019 at 6:08
  • $\begingroup$ "I'm glad our city wasn't blown up in a nuclear explosion when that cargo ship crash landed!" $\endgroup$
    – Rootj
    Oct 4, 2019 at 6:40
  • $\begingroup$ Not just careless, but actively malicious. A carelessly made bomb isn't any more likely to detonate in a perfectly synchronised manner than a well made one. Your last point, incidentally, arises at the end of The Atrocity Archive, by Charles Stross. $\endgroup$ Oct 4, 2019 at 8:12

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