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    Forums    MythBusters    Science and Myth Questions.    Surviving a Nuclear Bomb in a Refrigerator

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Junior Member
Registered: 06-02-09
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In the movie Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Indiana goes into a lead plated refrigerator to survive a nuclear explosion. The refrigerator is thrown through the air and crashes to the ground, but Indiana gets out and walks away perfectly fine. Is this even remotely possible?
Junior Member
Registered: 06-02-09
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I'm not sure if the lead plated refrigerator actually did anything, but I dought Indiana could have survived a fall like that. But it would be interesting to find out if the refrigerator would have saved his life from the radiation and the initial blast that would normally have disintegrated his body.
Senior Member
Registered: 07-27-08
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If you try using find before posting, you'll find the answer and eliminate duplicate myths.

Short answer: There are no commercially produced lead lined fridges as shown, and yeah, the force shown in the film would likely kill him.
Senior Member
Registered: 02-28-09
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Loki is correct: If Jones is close enough to the blast to get caught in the blast wave, he'll likely be killed, either by the overpressure wave itself or the impact when he lands. The reefer would likely protect him from particle radiation (alpha/beta) and would give him limited protection from gamma rays and x-rays. In short, he would suffocate to death (assuming he survived the blast, thermal pulse and impact of landing) before it would be even remotely safe for him to get out of it. Since he does not want to die in this ignominious fashion, he gets out and dies of radiation poisoning.
Senior Member
Registered: 01-02-08
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Why. We all know that Indy is much tougher than Buster since Indy also survived jumping out of an airplane using a raft - Buster couldn't.
Senior Member
Registered: 11-06-08
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quote:
We all know that Indy is much tougher than Buster since Indy also survived jumping out of an airplane using a raft - Buster couldn't.


Well sure, but he had the directors girlfriend with him. What better way to ensure your survival?
Senior Member
Registered: 04-28-09
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In that scene he was also relatively close to the ground and hit a slope, not a flat surface.
Junior Member
Registered: 06-30-09
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I am under the impression that lead will shield from radiation, but thats it. The initial blast and shockwave should have screwed Indy. Indiana Jones is one of the most buggy movies in history.
Senior Member
Registered: 11-06-08
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quote:
I am under the impression that lead will shield from radiation


What lead? As previously pointed out, there's never been such a thing as a commercially produced, lead-lined fridge for the home.

quote:
Indiana Jones is one of the most buggy movies in history


This one ruined the franchise.
Junior Member
Registered: 06-30-09
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quote:
Originally posted by Preserved K:
quote:
I am under the impression that lead will shield from radiation


What lead? As previously pointed out, there's never been such a thing as a commercially produced, lead-lined fridge for the home.

quote:
Indiana Jones is one of the most buggy movies in history


This one ruined the franchise.


Well.. there were aliens and interdimensional portals.. and it is indiana jones... so anything can happen. Maybe the military was doing tests about the resistance of lead to radiation i dont know.
Senior Member
Registered: 04-09-09
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Are you above the age of Sesame Street and Captain Kangaroo? Don't be ridiculous, there are way too many holes in that scene to even begin to say why it was impossible.
Senior Member
Registered: 11-06-08
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quote:
Maybe the military was doing tests about the resistance of lead to radiation i dont know.


And then went to the trouble to put a factory tag on the thing that said "lead-lined"? And why test lead-lined fridges in the first place? So after the holocaust, the food is still fresh?
Senior Member
Registered: 06-24-09
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Having avoided the movie all I can go by is what I heard from others, which was he was in a testing zone with a direct hit.

Have you ever seen photos of ground zero hiroshima? The fridge would have been melted no matter what it was made of.

Check out the damage done on wikipedia. http://tiny.cc/cpHff No one is going to survive a direct blast like that without being in a bomb shelter.
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