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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Probabilistic assessment of tornado-borne missile speeds. Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6307557

A procedure was developed for estimating speeds with which postulated missiles hit any given set of targets in a nuclear power plant or similar installation. Hit speeds corresponding to probabilities of occurrence of .0000001 were calculated for a given nuclear power plant under various assumptions concerning the magnitude of the force opposing missile take-off, direction of tornado axis of translation, number and location of missiles, and size of target area. The results of the calculations are shown to depend upon the parameters: CDA/m, where CD = drag coefficient, A = projected area, m = mass of missiles, and the ratio, k, between the minimum aerodynamic force required to cause missile take-off, and the weight of the missile.

Research Organization:
National Engineering Lab. (NBS), Washington, DC (USA)
OSTI ID:
6307557
Report Number(s):
PB-81-120883
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English