Per my comment below: this google earth site gives you a hint of how many underground tests that bled material into the atmosphere happened in Nevada. Look at all the 'little' pockmarks south of the big one. Only 80 airline miles from the Las Vegas Strip.
When I googled this question, their AI response was that while there would be radioactive contamination, experts think that it would be contained locally and not spread far and wide. I don’t know how credible this AI response is.
Not a nuclear scientist, but have some basic understanding of the field. The purpose of a 'dirty bomb' is to deny use of the affected area due to residual radiation. This is most effective in an urban setting. Similar to 'salting the earth' to make future farming fruitless.
The facility being targeted is not that dissimilar to the Nevada test site, where underground nuclear explosions (and air bursts) took place for a number of years.
As it is remote, while there were downstream effects to our nuclear testing (google 'cancer' and 'The Conqueror', this would MAINLY serve as a deterrent to Iran's further use of the area, rather than a direct civilian impact.
Per my comment below: this google earth site gives you a hint of how many underground tests that bled material into the atmosphere happened in Nevada. Look at all the 'little' pockmarks south of the big one. Only 80 airline miles from the Las Vegas Strip.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sedan+Crater/@37.1210018,-116.055842,16741m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x80b86d343941c21d:0x9a5aa296cb797225!8m2!3d37.1768273!4d-116.046396!16s%2Fm%2F04q007m?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDYxNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
When I googled this question, their AI response was that while there would be radioactive contamination, experts think that it would be contained locally and not spread far and wide. I don’t know how credible this AI response is.
And everyone should eat their daily three rocks to protect themselves.
Not a nuclear scientist, but have some basic understanding of the field. The purpose of a 'dirty bomb' is to deny use of the affected area due to residual radiation. This is most effective in an urban setting. Similar to 'salting the earth' to make future farming fruitless.
The facility being targeted is not that dissimilar to the Nevada test site, where underground nuclear explosions (and air bursts) took place for a number of years.
As it is remote, while there were downstream effects to our nuclear testing (google 'cancer' and 'The Conqueror', this would MAINLY serve as a deterrent to Iran's further use of the area, rather than a direct civilian impact.
Just my uninformed 2 cents.
If Homer Simpson can survive a nuclear meltdown, so can they.