What Would Be the Death Toll in China If Three Gorges Dam was destroyed?

Discussion in 'Warfare / Military' started by Dayton3, Oct 12, 2020.

  1. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    I was reading an article in a science magazine about the danger to Three Gorges Dam in China. It said that as many as 400 million people could be at risk though that sounds excessive.

    But it estimated that if Three Gorges Dam was breached that it would killed millions, contaminate a huge area with radioactivity as flood waters destroyed nuclear power plants downstream, and that many more would die of famine and disease.

    It suggested that as little as a 20 lb. explosive device might be able to cause a breach. If a 20lb. demolition charge could do that then most certainly a 2,000 lb. general purpose bomb could do the same.
     
  2. Aleksander Ulyanov

    Aleksander Ulyanov Well-Known Member

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    Then one of these bouncing bombs from "The Dam Busters" would work really well.

    Are we at war with China now?
     
  3. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    Not yet. But I see no reason not to wargame future eventualities.

    The "bouncing bombs" were built and used on the dams in Germany because the German dams were protected upstream by torpedo netting. I doubt the lake behind Three Gorges Dam has those features. Modern smart munitions could probably be programmed so that they impact the upstream face of the dam and explode some depth down. I don't doubt destroying Three Gorges couldn't be done easily enough.

    Thanks for asking. Now, about that death toll...
     
  4. ArmySoldier

    ArmySoldier Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Are we at war with Russia now? Think carefully before answering. After all, it's what your lady Hillary wrote in her book. Hah, kinda funny that you guys chose Biden of all people to be the next candidate, seeing as though he's a Russian/Chinese asset.
     
  5. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    I can't get much in the way of any solid estimates so I'm sticking with mine of 5 million fatalities and plugged them into my World War 3 scenario.
     
  6. DaveBN

    DaveBN Well-Known Member

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    Assuming we did go to war with China, why would we aim to attack a non-military target that would result in such heavy civilian casualties?
     
  7. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    I was looking for a way the U.S. could respond to a nuclear attack with a nonnuclear response that would cause fatalities on the scale of a nuclear attack.
     
  8. DaveBN

    DaveBN Well-Known Member

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    I can’t picture the US responding to a nuclear attack with anything less than a nuclear attack. Creative thinking I suppose.
     
  9. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    Because from an international politics, international relations perspective if the U.S. or its allies suffer a nuclear attack and the U.S. DOES NOT respond with nuclear weapons of its own then politically the U.S. can do whatever it wants to the Chinese without any disapproval or sanction whatsoever.
     
  10. Dayton3

    Dayton3 Well-Known Member

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    Perhaps it wouldn't be necessary to attack Three Gorges Dam directly anyway. Would it be possible to deliver large enough bombloads into the reservoir to duplicate the Vajont Dam disaster on a larger scale in China?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajont_Dam
     
  11. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It's off-topic, but look at how many people the building of the dam displaced, after it raised the water levels and flooded farmland.
     

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