Besides nukes, what kind of explosive creates a 2.5 mile mushroom cloud?

[robertpaulsen]

I was wondering if anyone here on DU has a knowledge of explosives. I'm not sure if I buy that cover story about the demolition of a mountain for a power plant in North Korea. What type of explosive does North Korea have that demolishes mountains? A MOAB? Has there been any reports back from the inspection team that North Korea allowed to the site?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/09/13/nkorea.blast/

[dave123williams]

1. 20,000 tons of TNT will do it.

[robertpaulsen]

8. I'm not too knowledgable with explosives, but...

isn't that a lot? I just found a source on the MOAB that says its only 13 tons.

http://www.fact-index.com/m/ma/massive_ordnance_air_blast_bomb.html

I'm just not sure what North Korea is capable of.

[DrWeird]

11. The MOAB's a single bomb.

This was a controlled demolition. Lots of "bombs" placed all over the mountainside.

This isn't exactly rocket science.

[robertpaulsen]

14. What's your source on that regarding North Korea?

[dave123williams]

13. MOAB is just one bomb...

I would imagine a 13000 ton stack of tnt would work just as well.

We're talking about explosive yield, in terms of nukes.

This is measured in the equivilant ammount of TNT it would take to yield the same result.

So, a 20 killoton nuclear device (small device) has the same explosive yield as 20,000 tons of dynamite.

A 20 MEGAton device (H-Bomb sized) has the same explosive yield as 20 million tons of dynamite.

Got it? :)

[robertpaulsen]

15. Got it. Thanks dave!

:nuke:

[dave123williams]

17. My pleasure :)

[DrWeird]

2. Several tons of TNT.

Any kind of explosion can cause a "mushroom cloud". A tank of gas can cause a "mushroom cloud."

[Kierkegaard]

3. Could have been the annual chili cook-off.

[gratuitous]

4. We're talking about Korea, remember

Kim chee cook-off.

[BrotherBuzz]

5. LOL, that be the MOAB

Mother of all bombs!

[politicat]

6. anything big enough.

Rocks thrown from the moon would create flashes and mushroom clouds.

TNT, plastique, diesel and fertilizer... if you get enough of it in one place...

Pcat

[oneighty]

7. Largest man made explosion

prior to nukes was a mountain leveled in the USofA. Majority of power came from nitrate fertilizer. (From my ancient memory) of Dupont's 'Blaster's Hand Book'. If you ever come across a copy of that please PM me!

[jukes]

9. fuel/air

explosion wd be likely. possible to form accidentally, too.

[Eugene]

10. Natural cloud formation?

Your article is more than a week old.
A USA Today has a more recent one.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-09-19-north-korea-blast_x.htm

The leading theories are a construction blast or
a natural cloud formation (no blast).

Nuclear or conventional, a large blast should
have set off seismographs around the world.
Mining and construction blasts have distinct
seismic signatures. Someone on the ground
should have detected something.

Meanwhile North Korea eagerly showed outsiders
a site where construction was going on.
Their story may not completely add up,
but the mushroom cloud is probably
a false alarm. Satellite images
have been wrong before.

[robertpaulsen]

12. Thanks JP! So, we still don't have 100% confirmation.

I was waiting to hear back from the inspection team that North Korea was going to allow. Probably wasn't nuclear, according to them. But even El Baradei is not 100%

"I am leaving the door open," he said. "I think I would like to go there. ... If North Korea would like to exclude that possibility completely, they would be well advised to allow us and other experts to go and inspect that. As long as we are not there, I cannot exclude that possibility 100%."

[Bandit]

16. We used a MOAB in Vietnam to blow an LZ

It was called LZ Jane in I Corp. We dropped a fifteen thousand pound bomb from a Sky Crane from 3200 feet and it created a Mushroom cloud that could be seen for over fifteen miles and the dust lasted for almost a full day. It cleared away enough terrain to establish a Major new LZ.

[jmowreader]

18. One good kimchi fart will do it

Seriously, guys, a SHITLOAD of ANFO, which is easy to make with common industrial equipment--in one of Tom Clancy's books, two freepers mixed up a big batch of ANFO in the back of a concrete truck--will take the top right off a mountain. This would create a 2.5-mile mushroom cloud.

I know there are nuclear-activity sensors pointed at the DPRK all the time to watch for bomb tests. If one would have happened, we'd know it.

I'm giving the North Koreans the benefit of the doubt on this one:

* they have the capability to blow off the top of a mountain--anyone who uses explosives does
* they have the need for the rock to make concrete for construction projects
* there was no nuclear activity reported

[stavka]

19. Grain Silo? (NT)