The following information contains adaptations and excerpts from the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM) Tech Guide 244, The Medical NBC Battlebook.

The thermal radiation emitted by a nuclear detonation causes burns in two ways: by direct absorption of the thermal energy through exposed surfaces (flash burns); or by the indirect action of fires in the environment (flame burns). Indirect flame burns can easily outnumber all other types of injury.

Flash Burns. Thermal radiation travels outward from the fireball in a straight line; therefore, the thermal intensity available to cause flash burns decreases rapidly with distance. Close to the fireball, all objects will be incinerated.

Flame Burns. Indirect or flame burns result from the exposure to fires caused by the thermal effects in the environment, particularly from ignition of clothing. This could be the predominant cause of burns depending on the number of and characteristics of flammable objects in an environment. This is particularly true for the large yield weapons, which can cause firestorms over extensive areas.

Eye Injuries. The initial thermal pulse can cause eye injuries in the forms of flash blindness and retinal scarring. The initial brilliant flash of light produced by the detonation causes flash blindness. During daylight hours, this temporary effect may last for about 2 minutes. At night, flash blindness will affect personnel at greater ranges and for greater duration. Partial recovery can be expected in 7 minutes, though it may require 30 minutes for full night adaptation recovery. Retinal scarring is the permanent damage from a retinal burn. It will occur only when the fireball is actually in the individual field of view and should be relatively uncommon injury. The retinal burn safe separation distance is approximately 20-km during the day and 50-km at night.

Back to Top