double flash

Noun

double flash (plural double flashes)

1. The characteristic visual phenomenon produced by the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear weapon, consisting of a very brief, bright flash of light which dims rapidly, followed by a second, gradually brightening flash.
   • On 22 September 1979 at about 1 a.m. GMT, a US Vela satellite passing over the South Atlantic detected a double flash of light in the vicinity of Prince Edward Island.2010 May, Norman Dombey, “Double Flash”, in London Review of Books (blog), London: LRB Limited
   • One of the sensors on satellites in the U.S. Nuclear Detonation System uses a relatively simple device to detect the “double flash” of a nuclear detonation anywhere on earth.2015 July, Eileen Patterson, “The Double Flash Meets the Bhangmeter”, in Clay Dillingham, editor, National Security Science, Los Alamos National Laboratory, archived from the original on 01 Nov 2020...
2. A system using two flash separators to separate phases of a working fluid.
   • Dipippo, in 2008, reported that the double-flash plant increased power output by 15-25% compared to a single flash plant under the same geothermal fluid conditions [9, 10].2018, A Rachmat, Nasruddin, A S Wibowo, A Surachman, “Exergoeconomic analysis and optimization of a combined double flash–binary cycle for Ulubelu geothermal power plant in Indonesia”, in IOP...