-----Original Message----- From: Robin in reply to Terry's message: >Do we know the nature of the detector alarms? What they were sensing?
RvS: My guess would be the gamma rays generated by the lightning bolts (Particles accelerated fast enough by high voltage and a high current squeezed by the magnetic field into a thin filament must produce some fusion gammas &/or bremsstrahlung x-rays). Yes, this is probably the major component of radiation from lightning - but neutrons could travel far enough to be detected, as well. Deuterium is present in thunderstorms so neutrons are produced. On average at least 10^15 deuterium atoms per cubic centimeter are available in natural H2O. In lightning, billions of deuterons can potentially react though either fusion or the stripping reaction (Oppenheimer-Phillips). Neutrons from fusion have 2.45 MeV of mass-energy, but can only exist a few tenths of a second in air on average. Yet - that energy is immense and converted to net propagation distance (in a 'random walk') this is sufficient for neutrons to travel a distance of a few kilometers from the strike - and the port of Oakland physically adjoins the Bay Bridge, so many neutrons would be detected in rad meters designed for that purpose.
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