Dr. Kennedy turned to face his two scientists, “Please stop me at any time if I get this wrong.”
Dr. Kennedy sat back on the couch. He appeared at ease discussing the after effects of a nuclear bombing, which the President found odd, “Remember, Mister President, that nuclear weapons have two aspects to them. They cause a huge explosion but that can also be achieved chemically with no lingering after affects, once you put out the fire, and clean up the rubble. Load enough high explosive in one place and you can accomplish the same exact level of destruction that happened to us, especially with today’s military grade explosive compounds. We have tested a device known as a MOAB with a similar yield to that of the Hiroshima device we dropped during World War 2. It was fabricated out of nothing but conventional munitions.”
“The second, less ordinary result, is radiation. This is unique to nuclear devices, both nuclear explosive devices and the so-called “dirty bomb.” These radiation effects fall into a couple of categories shown on page three of the report,” he said.
The man spoke without looking at the data package to even see if he was giving out the correct page number. The President found it impressive given the complexity of the issue. Perhaps this was basic stuff for someone in this man’s profession.
Everyone except Dr. Kennedy turned to the appropriate page to follow along, “First, there is what is referred to as prompt radiation effects. These occur as the bomb detonates. It consists of radiation in three forms, neutron, gamma, and beta radiation. The largest concern of these from a health perspective is neutron radiation. I will spare you the gory details of that because all I know is the worst case scenario, and refer you to your Surgeon General for any questions, as they are beyond my area of expertise.”
The President nodded as Dr. Kennedy continued. He was glad to have someone admit they didn’t know something. In the politician’s experience, some people with enough letters after their name just liked to answer questions no matter their level of expertise in the subject matter. He was glad that wasn’t true in this case.
“After these prompt radiation effects pass comes the infamous nuclear fallout. This starts roughly an hour after detonation and may continue for days, or even weeks. I can now report to you that it has finally ceased falling. If this portion is explained as part of the press release, we can avoid some that trust issue with the Press Corps,” Doctor Kennedy said.
“That sounds suspiciously like good news,” said the President.
“Yes Mr. President it is. It means that now, in both locations, we can give you an accurate accounting of how bad the situation is, radiologically speaking,” said Dr. Kennedy.
“First, what causes fallout?” asked the President. “My Press Secretary got beat up about that one, and justifiably I think. He didn’t have any kind of intelligent answer.”
“That is a good question, Mr. President. If you look at page seven we have a graphic for you,” they all flipped their packets to the appropriate page, except Dr. Kennedy who continued to speak without the aid of notes.
“Fallout is caused by the way these devices work. When the nuclear explosion occurs nowhere remotely close to the entire core of radioactive material is reacted. In short, Mister President the nuclear material that doesn’t take place in the reaction is thrown into the air. It is thrown in all directions at a high rate of speed. Some of it will be sent so high into the atmosphere it floats around for a long time. The fallout consists of this ejected nuclear material coming back to Earth over time,” the scientist explained.
The President rubbed his forehead, “Dr. Kennedy please tell me that if Israel falls, or someone here has enough time, that this material can’t be collected up and used to build yet another one of these weapons.”
“No chance at all Mister President. It is far too diffuse. That doesn’t stop the radiation effects from being harmful. In fact, it makes the health hazard from these devices even worse,” he said.
“Ok, well that is half of a good news story. So now for the big two, can we clean it up well enough for people to move back in, and if that’s possible, how long will that take?” asked the President.
“Mr. President some of the fringe areas might be able to be cleaned up, but the evacuation area we discussed should remain evacuated for years, perhaps decades. I am sorry to have to be the one to inform you of this, but that is the reality of the situation,” he said.
There was a moment of unintended silence in the room, “That is bad. If I understand this correctly we have hundreds of thousands of citizens we have to tell to permanently move?” asked the Chief of Staff.
“I am afraid so,” said Dr. Kennedy.
The President stood, “Gentlemen I hate to cut this short but you three now have some work to do. I want you to go see my Press Secretary, Scott Waits, who is a very nice man with an absolutely thankless job. Someone from my staff will show you the way. I want you to work with him on an immediate press release.
“Then Dr. Kennedy you will make yourself available to answer questions from the press, for this I apologize. You can use the pressroom here in the White House after Scott gives out the overview.
“Once that is complete, you must go see the leadership in both the House and the Senate. We will set up those meetings. I am sure they will have questions. Once you are done with them, we will speak again.
“We will get that extended evacuation order moving immediately. Hopefully FEMA has the resources left to help.”
“Thank you for your time Mr. President,” the three scientists were ushered out by the President’s personal aid.
“Les, who is up next?” asked President Press. He knew the pace of the day must continue without a break if the schedule was to be kept.
“The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense are waiting for you Mr. President. They have a briefing on the ground strength moving toward Israel and details on what we might be able to do to deal with it,” answered the Chief of Staff.
“Show them in,” he knew he was in for a long day.
He thought to himself that no matter how complex the situation in front of him that solving problems one at a time until no more problems existed was the best approach. Start with the worst, most time sensitive one on the list, and work to the not as large issues. No single human had the capacity to solve hugely complex problems alone. The President prided himself on his ability to break down complicated problems into a series of more simple, solvable ones. It was one of the few things he remembered from his days as an Engineering student in college.
He hated to micromanage his people and he trusted those around him to do their assigned tasks. Today, sitting here in the Oval Office, he had a series of problems and he hoped his macro-management techniques would serve him well in reaching solutions.
The door opened before the President had a chance to stand up.
“Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary, the three of us must find a way to spend less time together, or our wives are going to suspect we are up to no good. Please, sit,” the President motioned to the couch.
The Secretary opened the discussion. He wasted no time on small talk, “Mr. President we have been examining the troop movements in the Middle East. We have studied with great care the various capabilities of the numerous militaries now on the move. There is, to put it mildly, a lot of hardware involved. The Chairman, along with all of the Joint Chiefs, agrees upon what we have said before, and now want to state without equivocation. We do not have enough ground forces to get in the middle of this.”
“You mean forces in the region?” asked the President.