On this page are links to interactive maps simulating the effects of nuclear weapons, from blast damage, thermal and firestorm damage and radioactive fallout, as well as a description of typical effects on a populated city and outskirts from a single nuclear weapon.

Is this daily threat ok with YOU?

The High-Yield Detonation Effects Simulator

New York City example

An experiment based on public data and showing the destructive zones of large explosions. 

'Ground Zero' maps showing thermal damage from a select range of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear firestorm simulator

This simulator from nucleardarkness.org shows the size and spread of a fireball and firestorm from nuclear detonations of various yields (explosive force) over populated cities.

See the simulator here.

Interactive fallout calculator

This calculator from the Federation of American Scientists shows radioactive fallout distribution by wind from nuclear bomb blasts of various yields (explosive force). Coloured contours depict the calculated radiation doses 96 hours after a nuclear bomb's detonation (assuming constant "unit-time dose rate" and wind speed).

Select location, wind direction, wind speed and yield. See the fallout calculator here.

(Requires Java, which you can download here).

Typical effects of a 1 Megaton weapon on a populated city (approximately 70 times more powerful than the bomb which destroyed Hiroshima).

Imagine you live within:

3km: Immediate fatalities are 100% due to blast waves, ground temperatures of thousands of degrees Celsius and lethal doses of X-rays.

5km: Acute radiation sickness begins rapidly and is usually fatal. Immediate symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, bleeding from nose and mouth, low blood pressure, stroke and cardiovascular shock.

8km: Immediate fatalities are 50%. All exposed skin is severely burnt and symptoms above appear soon after.

20km: Blast waves are felt - windows may shatter, causing injury. Acute radiation sickness may lead to severe gastrointestinal symptoms, bleeding, immunosuppression and heightened risk of leukemia, lymphoma, thyroid and bone cancer.

80km: The bomb flash blinds everyone for up to an hour. Those looking at the blast will have permanent visual deficit.

Later: Psychological trauma, panic, devastation of economy, disruption of food, water, sewage and medical facilities, and mass evacuation cause widespread disruption.