They were dirty bombs that used a large amount of uranium
and or plutonium, only a small part was actually fisioned,
but it was all part of the high energy fallout. The bombs
were large and as you said, were air burst at about 2,000
AGL.
A ground penetration bomb was not possible at the time and
an air burst maximized the destructive radius. Today we can
make a bomb that will detonate several hundred feet
underground with minimal ejection of debris.

I would expect that only a few such bombs would be used,
most bombs would be conventional. Oil fields and terminals
would not likely be targeted.



--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Cub Driver" usenet AT danford DOT net wrote in message
...
| On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 04:30:24 -0500, "Jim Macklin"
| wrote:
|
| Japan has two cities that were bombed with very dirty
bombs
| [because they were so inefficient and large].
|
| Not entirely true, Jim. They were air-burst bombs *in
order that*
| there would be a minimum of radioactive debris.
|
| Had Little Boy and Fat Man burst at ground level, the
situation in
| Hiroshima and Nagasaki would not have been nearly so mild.
|
| - all the best, Dan Ford
|
| Wikipedia: the belief that 10,000 monkeys playing at
| 10,000 keyboards can create a reference work