Well wonder no more! NUKEMAP by Alex Wellerstein (nuclearsecrecy.com)

I think there is a lot of myth surrounding nukes. They are not the world killers we are led to believe. It isn't like what is shown in The Terminator. Not that I am discounting the damage, death and destruction. They are in no way a good thing. But nuclear blasts are not as large as people make them out to be.

I am down at fort Bragg. On base I am a dead man but literally 45 minutes away from the base I am unscathed by China's (for example) current ICBM at 5000KT. Something when I lived in DC. If I was sitting at my desk at the Pentagon, I'm a pile of radioactive ash blowing in the wind. But at my home in Ashburn, I would be completely untouched. My car would still work. I'd probably still have Youtube TV to watch live updates as they happen. Well, you know, between Rick and Morty episodes. What better show to watch as the world ends around you?

Forgot about Nukemap! Such a morbid but cool little program. The Davy Crockett is funny. Like, "Take that, football field!"

I wouldn't want to be directly over the top, might be a rough ride. Other than that, probably fine.

Although an EMP attack, with multiple weapons detonating at altitude might actually be a viable attack strategy today... seriously mess up the enemy on a large scale but not actually vaporize everything. No infrastructure damage, minimal loss of life. Might leave some wiggle room for de-escalation.

Also important... it might avoid the REST of the world turning on you.

Thats what they did in the book “War Day” in 1984.

Ehh.... only if you're protected from fallout.... and this also assumes their targeting / accuracy is good... something the Soviets struggled with (which is why they made their bombs so big, to compensate for lack of accuracy).

It's relatively easy to secure your house or at least part of from fallout with materials you can get at the hardware store. Or even the drugstore. You probably already have them in your garage.

Seal all air gaps with duct tape, plastic, RTV, etc. (have water and food inside first).

You'll need external ventilation. Make a bellows out of cardboard boxes, duct tape, etc. Use some HEPA filters for the inlet. Work-around if you didn't stock them in advance is use TP rolls stacked so the air flows lengthwise. Block holes and gaps with paper mache made from TP, flour, and water. Make some kind of door to cover the outlet when the bellows is not in use.

Wait for help, it will come eventually unless it was full apocalypse.

Alternatively, use same materials to make spacesuits and walk, bike or drive out of the fallout area (consider prevailing winds). Wash off completely in a stream, pond, pool, etc before removing the plastic suits.


This true, especially at the low end. The local military base might end up doing fallout mitigation after the nuke hit your house...

Staying up to date on the industry is good, but I'm really just here for Rick's DIY nuclear fallout tips and tricks.

Another poorly understood topic (and I am in no way a expert at any of this). My understanding is that radio activity of the fallout degrades by a significant amount shortly after the nuclear event. Within a few days it is safe to leave an area of contamination and not risk some of the worst side effects. The danger of radiation from fallout also decreases rapidly with time due in large part to the exponential decay of the individual radionuclides. This is known as the seven-ten rule. Cresson H. Kearny who was a well-known researcher on the topic said that for the first few days after the explosion, the radiation dose rate is reduced by a factor of ten for every seven-fold increase in the number of hours since the explosion. Supposedly "it takes about seven times as long for the dose rate to decay from 1000 roentgens per hour (1000 R/hr) to 10 R/hr (48 hours) as to decay from 1000 R/hr to 100 R/hr (7 hours)."

The idea behind the shelter in place for a few days after a nuclear event make the fallout survivable. It's the people out and exposed during the event or the people who try to evac shortly after the event who are at the greatest risk. Staying put in a sheltered area for a few days to as much as a week will greatly increase survivability. While it seems ridiculous to survive a nuclear bomb using plastic sheeting on windows and doors with duct tape there is science behind it.

But I am in no way an expert on this type of stuff.

Nor am I, but i think its safe to say Cresson H. Kearny was an absolute quack who made up the supposed seven-ten rule in order to personally profit from his fruit and vegetable canning plant.. most people don't know about this and his other various investments clearly benefiting from a nuclear fallout scenario. Anybody who bought that pop science Kearny was peddling probably also bought a pallet of "Kearny Cans" full of last year's peaches... just saying, but do your own research.

I just got back from Home Depot with some nuclear attack survival supplies :D