If Yellowstone were to erupt....

would that knock our nuclear force on its ass?

I think not a lot. A good part of our nuclear force is submarine based, and the land based sites are pretty well protected and designed to withstand most anything. However any sites within 2-300 km might have a long term problem, either from pyroclastic flows or severe ashfall.

Sheriff Yoda wrote:would that knock our nuclear force on its ass?

Really? Your concerned about Nuclear Weapons (I'm assuming) then how the nation would be effected and how we would need to survive. That's the last thing we need to worry about. If you meant Nuclear Power then ok I understand that's legit.

Most nuclear power plants are protected from things like that but sometimes mother nature is just too much.

Sheriff Yoda wrote:would that knock our nuclear force on its ass?

I think that would be fairly low on the chart of things to worry about.

IIRC they found a meter deep layer of ash in Kansas from one of the last eruptions. Food production is going to be much more important.

Thirdbase wrote:

Sheriff Yoda wrote:would that knock our nuclear force on its ass?

I think that would be fairly low on the chart of things to worry about.

IIRC they found a meter deep layer of ash in Kansas from one of the last eruptions. Food production is going to be much more important.

All of this is true, but its a plot point on a story I'm working on which is why I'm asking specifically about that. Obviously after this happens in the story the nation is going to be worried about those other concerns over the state of our nuclear readiness.

My thinking is ash fall keeping them in their silos. Also if the ash in the upper atmosphere would affect their flight characteristics.

Sheriff Yoda wrote:

Thirdbase wrote:

Sheriff Yoda wrote:would that knock our nuclear force on its ass?

I think that would be fairly low on the chart of things to worry about.

IIRC they found a meter deep layer of ash in Kansas from one of the last eruptions. Food production is going to be much more important.

All of this is true, but its a plot point on a story I'm working on which is why I'm asking specifically about that. Obviously after this happens in the story the nation is going to be worried about those other concerns over the state of our nuclear readiness.

My thinking is ash fall keeping them in their silos. Also if the ash in the upper atmosphere would affect their flight characteristics.

Cruise missiles will have serious problems with the ash. I am unsure about the ICBMs, or the warheads on re-entry.

ICBM rocket motors would not be affected, and they can get to target by inertial navigation. In the broad sense, they would remain operational. The only operational land based U.S. ICBM's are Minuteman III's. I believe that they use star sightings for mid-course flight profile checks to reduce C.E.P., but they can get to target without it. For hardened targets, you might have to assign more missiles to the same targets. If the yield is adjustable and not already at maximum, dialing up the yield would give limited compensation for decreased accuracy. Most or all of the three warhead MIRV buses were replaced with single warhead buses. I think at least some of those warheads had variable yields so you could supposedly take out an al Qaeda dirty bomb facility with somewhat less damage to the host countryside. Not sure anyone would be very impressed by the "restraint", but you do what you can to win hearts and minds.

Sheriff Yoda wrote:All of this is true, but its a plot point on a story I'm working on which is why I'm asking specifically about that. Obviously after this happens in the story the nation is going to be worried about those other concerns over the state of our nuclear readiness.

My thinking is ash fall keeping them in their silos. Also if the ash in the upper atmosphere would affect their flight characteristics.

I think ash is fairly light and fluffy, as rock dust goes. Until it get's rained on, then it turns into cement.

And yeah, Yellowstone burping would probably do it for the US, a major eruption will end civilization and would be a potential end for humanity as a whole.

Andor wrote:

Sheriff Yoda wrote:All of this is true, but its a plot point on a story I'm working on which is why I'm asking specifically about that. Obviously after this happens in the story the nation is going to be worried about those other concerns over the state of our nuclear readiness.

My thinking is ash fall keeping them in their silos. Also if the ash in the upper atmosphere would affect their flight characteristics.

I think ash is fairly light and fluffy, as rock dust goes. Until it get's rained on, then it turns into cement.

And yeah, Yellowstone burping would probably do it for the US, a major eruption will end civilization and would be a potential end for humanity as a whole.

Maybe not "end humanity" but it would certainly knock civilization on its collective ass. Transportation would quickly degenerate to the horse and sledge era (if we're lucky and horses survive.) Food production would be shot to hell, I think our world population would quickly drop from 6.5 (or so) billion to something between 100 to 500 million.

Think "Lucifer's Hammer" on steriods.

There was a very good and well-researched made for tv film about this subject a few years ago. It was done in a documentary style, and posited a nuclear winter scenario around the entire northern hemisphere. Given the size of the magma chamber under Yellowstone, such an outcome would be a distinct possibility.
Volcanic ash is very abrasive and is very hard on delicate machinery like turbines on aircraft. Some of the jets flying through the Pinotubo eruption in the Philippines were damaged to the point of uselessness. There was some heavy irony in the film, likw videos of Federales turning back American refugees at the Rio Grande. The film was called Super Volcano I believe.