"Fred J. McCall" wrote in message
...
"Carey Sublette" wrote:

:In Stalin's day of course he would have grown radioactive wheat and fed
it
:to the population.

Note that this is what they are doing right now with produce from the
Chernobyl area.

:It would have saved them from starvation and immediate
:death, but given them a lifespan much reduced from normal.

People grossly overestimate the effects of radiation. Not so much
reduced at all. A few years lower on average, at most.

I believe you underestimate how radioactive the wheat would have been in
fields downwind from a few hundred 400 kt ground bursts. This would be
1000-10,000 times more contaminated than any from Chernobyl. Of course, by
mixing this with wheat grown elsewhere the individual exposure could be
considerably reduced b distributing over a large population (Russia and
Ukraine are doing this with Chernobyl wheat also).