Non-motoring > 2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate?	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Lygonos	Replies: 18

New Tue 4 Aug 20 22:26   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - Lygonos

Beirut earlier... www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-53656220 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 4 Aug 20 22:44   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - Manatee

Incredible that it should be kept there. It's a ready made bomb. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 4 Aug 20 23:16   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - Zero

Fertizilor? thats the big bang theory? Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 01:36   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - zippy

If it had a "flash" it would have looked like a small nuke! Hopefully the fire gave some people warning enough to leg it. On of my clients ships this stuff to farmers. Says it has to go in approved secure stores. I can see why now. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 08:49   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - R.P.

Irish terrorists were very fond of it once upon a time. I believe that it's still considered a precursor chemical when bought in quantities... Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 08:53   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - Zero

>> Irish terrorists were very fond of it once upon a time. I believe that it's >> still considered a precursor chemical when bought in quantities... Yer, it was easy to get in bulk from tame Irish farmers, safe and easy to handle and transport around, easy to pack, and didn't need much Semtex as a trigger. Largest IRA bomb was 1500 kilos packed into a Ford Cargo Last edited by: Zero on Wed 5 Aug 20 at 08:57 Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 09:00   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - Zero

>> Largest IRA bomb was 1500 kilos packed into a Ford Cargo Edit, so that's 1.5 tonnes. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 10:06   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - Manatee

They used quite a bit of it in WW1, for the mines under the German trenches. But tens of tons, not nearly 3,000. When we were in Cyprus in 1989, there was shelling going on in Beirut that was just audible. They apparently heard this one well enough - and it's well over 100 miles away. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 11:19   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - Falkirk Bairn

I was in Beirut several times roughly 50 years ago. The first time was an overnight stay due to the plane leaving London late. Early flight the next day so found myself walking along the front after breakfast - it seemed like a really nice place - all quiet, lovely shops, sunshine / roughly 70 degrees - a marked change from a cold wet & drab UK. That was before the Lebanese civil war & all the trials & tribulations since. IIRC it was some 7 Lebanese pounds to the £ - today it is 2,000+ to the pound. Today - Grinding poverty, failed health systems, poor electricity / roads, water supply going back to decades of problems. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 11:24   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - Zero

>> They used quite a bit of it in WW1, for the mines under the German >> trenches. But tens of tons, not nearly 3,000. 454 tonnes of ammonal and gun cotton under messines ridge, the largest man made explosion till the atom bomb came along Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 12:48   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - CGNorwich

When the SS Mont Blanc exploded in Halifax NS Harbour in 1917 she was carrying 2,925 metric tons of explosive. The city was flattened. An incident now largely unknown outside Canada. www.britannica.com/event/Halifax-explosion Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 11:24   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - R.P.

I was wondering about the WW1 mines. At least one is still described as the larget conventional explosions in history. I guess this one has dwarfed that. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 11:25   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - R.P.

Zero answers the question. This will have been massive then. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 11:29   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - Zero

Think it s bigger than the Pepcon explosion en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEPCON_disaster www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KuGizBjDXo Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 12:34   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - bathtub tom

I presume the water filled hole (crater) in front of the damaged side of the grain silos is the explosion site. Seems to be no trace of any building there now. I wonder if those silos acted as a blast wall and help reduce damage. I'm surprised they're still standing. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 13:03   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - zippy

Some large explosions - accidents... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_disaster en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Fauld_explosion Some here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_industrial_disasters The Hirsoshima bomb was equivalent to 15kt of TNT. The Mail is suggesting that 2,750 tonnes of TNT, roughly a fifth the power of the Hiroshima bomb. That's doesn't seem right, the explosive equivalency of Ammonium Nitrate to TNT is about 42% so I estimate about a 12th the power, still a lucky escape as if this were city centre, the disaster would have been unimaginable. Can't help feeling the Lebanon has enough troubles, they could have done without this. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 13:13   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - zippy

There are 1,400 tonnes of TNT here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery slowly rotting since WW2. Reply to this message | Report message

New Wed 5 Aug 20 18:07   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - Duncan

Report on condition of the hull. Those who find this sort of thing interesting, may find this interesting. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/488870/MCA_Summary_Report_2013.pdf Reply to this message | Report message

New Thu 6 Aug 20 07:22   2750 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate? - sooty123

I see the UK have search teams, a survey ship and aircraft to move people and supplies. I see there's something approaching 250k people homeless, must be an enormous amount of aid to help get them up and running. Reply to this message | Report message