[ RadSafe ] Question regarding explosion characterization.

[Robert Bradley]

Just finished reading an article and viewing videos on "PhysOrg.com"
regarding a comet impacted by a smaller object.  Fascinating but puzzled by
one comment on the first video.  The impact of the smaller object on Comet
Scheila was characterized as equal to a "100kT nuclear bomb".  Have I
forgotten something, but I thought the nuclear bomb (NB) equivalents
referred to the equivalent amount of TNT for the NB explosion, so why the
need to state NB here?  Wouldn't 100kT TNT be correct?.  Disappointing if
this is in error because it was produced by NASA and is the result of
analysis of data from Hubble and Swift.

-    -  RPB
Health Canada, retired