Nuclear weapon effects
Acute Radiation Syndrome
The constellation of medical symptoms following a high dose of ionizing radiation, including nausea, immune-system failure, hemorrhage, and death.
ARS occurs at whole-body doses above about 0.7 gray. About half of exposed people die within 60 days at roughly 2.5 to 5 gray, and survival is extremely unlikely above about 10 gray. [1] Symptoms progress through prodromal, latent, manifest illness, and either recovery or death.
Sources
Related terms
Fallout
Radioactive material thrown into the atmosphere by a surface-burst nuclear detonation, which then settles back to earth over hours to weeks.
Sievert (Sv)
The SI unit of equivalent dose of ionizing radiation, accounting for biological effect; natural background averages about 2.4 millisieverts per year worldwide.
Gamma Radiation
High-energy electromagnetic radiation emitted by nuclear processes, capable of penetrating most materials and damaging living tissue.