There are photos from Hiroshima and Nagasaki showing eerie silhouettes of people cast against a flat surface, such as a wall or floor. What would really happen with a nuclear bomb that detonates in New York City? Chances are the electricity will be out, so the refrigerator and other kitchen appliances will be dead. This story published in 2018 explores what might happen if even a homemade nuclear bomb were to explode in the heart of New York City. The radiation released instantaneously by an explosion is only a prelude to a much more insidious and long-lived threat. ", "So if we're talking about this disarming strike, then maybe think about adopting the best practices of our American partners and their ideas for ensuring their security," he added. If the cell phone network and internet dies, which is likely, how are you going to get any news or information about what is going on? This is what it would look like within a half-mile of Times Square: Few buildings would remain standing. Right-wing board to clamp down on woke ideology in cartoons. Rockefeller Center would be an unrecognizable snarl of steel and concrete, its titanic statue of Prometheus eight tons of bronze and plaster clad in gold completely incinerated. In his efforts to Make America Great Again, Donald Trump has succeeded in reviving at least one aspect of Americas past: the fear of nuclear war. Photos: Rare Snow in Lamorinda and the Tri-Valley, 8 Fun Rainy Day Activities in the East Bay, Rare Hail Falls in Lafayette, California During Winter Storm, Eggs Prices Soaring in San Francisco? But this is just the toll from a bomb that is puny compared to modern nuclear missiles. Designed by the Soviet Union, the Tsar Bomba could be detonated via a nuclear-powered underwater vehicle called the Poseidon, triggering a 1,600-foot-high radioactive tsunami that would devastate the coastline. The U.S. Is Choosing Child Labor Over More Immigration. Russia and the United States control 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. The smallest and lightest specks of radioactive debris would meanwhile rise high into the atmosphere, circling the Earth many times before returning to the ground in rain or snow. The goal is to try to stay away from this radioactive dust. Consider one example: A ten-kiloton nuclear bomb detonated on the ground in Times Square would explode with a white flash brighter than the sun. But today, from the White House to NATOs headquarters in Brussels, a recognition has set in that Russia may turn to the most powerful weapons in its arsenal to bail itself out of a military stalemate. The UN secretary-general said that nuclear war is "back within the realm of possibility" following Russia's warning earlier this year it was putting its nuclear forces on alert amid its war in Ukraine, which threatens to draw NATO into direct combat with Russia. If that happens, all bets are off. Editors note:Marshall Brain futurist, inventor, NCSU professor, writer and creator of How Stuff Works is acontributorto WRAL TechWire. Anyone standing near a window would be killed by a hurricane of glass shards. Mr. Reed said radiation from a nuclear weapon, for instance, could waft into a neighboring NATO country and be considered an attack on a NATO member. Those taking the subway would be killed when the entire station collapses. These can create giant tsunamis for coastal cities like New York. Trump made the same pledge in 2016, then said he wouldnt honor it. Experts warn that it would be relatively easy for terrorists to build an improvised nuclear bomb and smuggle it into America. Russia may continue to exchange information with the United States on issues related to their nuclear forces even after Moscow suspended its participation in the last remaining arms control pact between the two countries, a senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday. The current team was established in a memo signed by Jake Sullivan, Mr. Bidens national security adviser, on Feb. 28, four days after the invasion began, according to the officials involved in the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive planning. Near the center of the blast, the suffering and devastation most closely conform to the fictional apocalypse of our imaginations. Once the container ship reached a port like Newark, terrorists would have no trouble loading the concealed bomb into the back of an unassuming white van and driving it through the Lincoln Tunnel directly into Times Square. The citys water system is likely to fail, so you need at least a half-gallon (2 liters) of water per person per day. If you watch the video, you can see that it offers several pieces of quick advice: The video ends with a cheery, All right? As West Coasters, we are physically closer to Russia than any other place in the continental United States. If you would like to try different scenarios yourself, the tool called NUKEMAPcan be useful. Youve got this. A million people are dead, much of the city is rubble, there is radioactive dust everywhere, but youve got this! Russia's nuclear-powered nuke able to reach New York in 12 minutes and unleash 'DOOMSDAY' (Image: GETTY) This is unheard of and no one has this system in the world." (Image: GETTY) At that. Assuming that the city is not completely obliterated in the blast, and assuming that there are still buildings standing, and assuming that the infrastructure is intact so that showers and internet and electricity still operate, then the advice is reasonable. Despite witnessing the immediate and enduring horror of those attacks despite decades of technological advances in nuclear warfare the U.S. remains shockingly unprepared for a similar assault on its own soil. New YorkMagazine. Have defenses evolved to counter the evolving long-range weapons that could threaten our region and the rest of the US? But if you happen to live next to an ICBM silo, fear not. Russia has put its nuclear forces on high alert after invading Ukraine. Instead of taking Russia's word for it when it comes to nuclear targets, Insider got an expert opinion on where Moscow would likely try to strike. RNC Loyalty Test Only Punishes Honest Candidates, Not Trump. Within a day, some survivors exposed to the dust would begin to experience itching and burning sensations; within two to three weeks, lesions would begin to appear. Subscribe now If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the June 11, 2018, issue of The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source. Mountains of rubble would soar as high as 30 feet. Whats their motivation for telling us? This story published in 2018 explores what might happen if even a homemade nuclear bomb were to explode in the heart of. Watch on After the United States dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima, it took only four days to repair water pumps and get some streetcar and railway lines up and running. to support our journalism and get unlimited access to our coverage. Is there a reason why New York Citys Emergency Management office might feel compelled to release a video like this? | Terms and Conditions, Workers pay keeps climbing but not matching rising inflation, Layoffs hit Sanford: Automotive company is closing facility, laying off 47 workers, The Doomsday Book: The Science Behind Humanitys Greatest Threats., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-5d7V4Sbqk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIQurbSjl9s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lChLpK8kQr4, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3RzNEzJyzo&t=39s, https://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2014/08/14/the-most-influential-cities-in-the-world/?sh=16b78e687ad0, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_based_in_New_York_City, https://thehill.com/opinion/international/3557326-wmd-in-ukraine-a-planetary-near-death-experience/, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/29/why-world-is-so-worried-about-russias-tactical-nuclear-weapons/, https://nypost.com/2022/06/22/vladimir-putin-warns-satan-2-nuclear-missiles-could-be-deployed-in-months/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHM9UuUCimA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPmEE9ufRK4, https://www.livescience.com/how-deadly-satan-2-missile, https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/03/russias-new-poseidon-super-weapon-what-you-need-to-know/, https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/doomsday-weapon-russia-has-nuclear-torpedoes-create-radioactive-tsunamis-184328, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT-xXoIAAnM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VG2aJyIFrA, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_winter, https://eos.org/articles/nuclear-winter-may-bring-a-decade-of-destruction, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA6lrH3V18E, Go inside a building immediately not a car, a building, Close the windows and doors of the building, Move to either the interior of the building (away from windows) or to the basement, If you were wearing clothes that may have gotten contaminated with radioactive dust/ash, you are supposed to take off and bag the clothes, then take a shower, Now you are supposed to stay inside the building, Listen to the media wait until you are officially told you can go outside. The Empire State Building would look like a charred tree trunk after a forest fire. And then there is the fallout the radioactive dust and ash that the bomb creates. Not so much. Though the words sound incommensurate with the horror and devastation of a nuclear explosion, the smartest thing to do directly before or after a nuclear blast is to surround yourself with as much solid material as possible, to provide a physical barrier against the heat, pressure, and fallout released by the detonation. Could Russias offensive nuclear weapons reach us in the unlikely event of actual nuclear aggression? Then there is the terrorist threat of a suitcase nuclear bomb. Official Pentagon policy states that its system is only designed to protect the nation from nuclear missiles fired by a rogue state like North Korea. And insiders at military compounds sometimes steal radioactive material and sell it on the black market. You can go to a place like Costco and buy the 40-bottle package of bottled water. Farther out from the blast only 1.5 miles away the scene would resemble the aftermath of a strong storm: broken windows, stalled and crashed cars, litter and rubble, minor injuries. Within weeks of the blast, up to 90 percent of the survivors within this range would die from the bombs initial burst of radiation. This is why the PSA video says to get inside. Thats 20 liters or 5 gallons. If something got through us, then there would be no families.. Is this good advice? The only good news is that strategically, a strike would be more likely to target nuclearmilitary installationsthan civilian population centers. The 9M730 Burevestnik, or Skyfall as NATO dubbed it, will be able to reach any corner of the globe as astonishing speeds. Once terrorists obtained the uranium, they would need only a small team of sympathetic engineers and physicists to build what is known as a gun-type nuclear bomb, like the one dropped on Hiroshima. Could Russian Nuclear Weapons Reach the Bay Area? If a Soviet raid was detected, crews stationed at sites like SF-88 would havefired their missiles in a counterattack, directed by radar installed on top of Mount Tamalpais. By David E. Sanger,Eric Schmitt,Helene Cooper and Julian E. Barnes. Its going to be a very difficult call, but its a call that not just the president but the entire NATO Council will have to make, Mr. Reed told reporters, referring to the governing body of the Western alliance. It would snap utility poles like toothpicks and rip through trees, fling people through the air, and turn brick, glass, wood, and metal into deadly projectiles. A previous iteration had worked for months, behind the scenes, to prepare the U.S. government for the likelihood of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. In truth, the physical destruction inflicted by a nuclear explosion resembles that of a combined hurricane and firestorm of unprecedented proportion. One reason would be the fact that Russia is actively and specifically talking about nuking major Western cities like New York and London right now. The survivors who fared best would be those who heeded the governments official advice in the event of a nuclear attack: Get inside, stay inside, stay tuned. We dont have many of those in California, so our risk is reduced somewhat. A more likely nuclear threat in the short term is mismanagement of the Chernobyl site, whichRussia now controls. Do the sources know the information? Lets imagine that World War III starts, with Russia and the United States launching 100+ nuclear missiles at each other. 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