menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Scientists Recreated Nuclear Fallout in a Lab. Here’s What Happened Next.

19 0
13.06.2026

Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

Scientists Recreated Nuclear Fallout in a Lab. Here’s What Happened Next.

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

Nobody wants a nuclear event to occur, other than those prepper weirdos who secretly need one to happen to justify the small fortune they spent on a fallout shelter. But just in case one does happen, it’s probably smart to keep studying the science of nuclear fallout so we can mitigate as much of the damage as possible.

According to new research from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published in the journal Analytical Chemistry and reported by ScienceAlert, scientists have learned quite a bit about what happened inside the radioactive cloud that forms after a nuclear explosion.

And they didn’t even have to set off a nuke to do it.

Instead, the researchers used a plasma flow reactor, a one-meter-long device that can reach temperatures of 5,000 degrees Kelvin. It can recreate some of the extreme conditions........

© Vice