What a Nuclear Attack in New York Would Look Like

New York Magazine ^ | 06-12-2018 | Ferris Jabr etc.

[heights]

As long as about ten Congressman and maybe one or two Senators, along with the President and family are safely outside Washington D.C., then a Nuke attack would be beautiful fireworks.

[Blogatron]

Came in my shorts.

[ifinnegan]

Actually, no. Radiation syndrome is a matter of days, weeks and months, depending on the dose of radiation and which organs affected.

That’s what I’m wondering about. How many will be exposed or potentially have been exposed to high doses of ionizing radiation?

Do you know if there are any estimates?

[I want the USA back]

Yup. That’s what you had to worry about with Bammy’s gift to Iran. Don’t have to worry now, New York, Trump is in charge.

I know you wrote that to scare people because you want them to fear Trump.

[EQAndyBuzz]

As long as they blow it up in the lobby of the NY Times Building I’m good.

[VeniVidiVici]

.But the current state of dread, while entirely understandable, has overshadowed two crucial realities about the threat of a nuclear calamity. First, a nuclear attack on the United States could well come not from the skies but from the streets. Experts warn that it would be relatively easy for terrorists to build an “improvised nuclear bomb” and smuggle it into America. Building a ten-kiloton bomb nearly as destructive as the one dropped on Hiroshima would require little more than some technical expertise and 46 kilograms of highly enriched uranium — a quantity about the size of a bowling ball. The second reality we have failed to understand is what a nuclear detonation and its aftermath would actually look like. In our imaginations, fueled by apocalyptic fictions like The Road and The Day After, the scale and speed of nuclear annihilation seem too vast and horrific to contemplate. If nuclear war is considered “unthinkable,” that is in no small part because of our refusal to think about it with any clarity or specificity. In the long run, the best deterrent to nuclear war may be to understand what a single nuclear bomb is capable of doing to, say, a city like New York — and to accept that the reality would be even worse than our fears.

Yah, and these idiots have been "theorizing" this since Reagan was president. Strange how it doesn't come up during a Democrat.

[fso301]

While a WW-II sized nuke detonated at ground level in Manhattan would cause tremendous damage, the actual damage would be considerable less that the scenario painted by the author who knows very little about blast effects.

[rmlew]

It’s even more fun in zone 3

[Vermont Lt]

Go and input the variables...

http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/classic/

[SERE_DOC]

Detroit?

[OldMissileer]

Unless you think coming up with 46 kilograms of highly enriched uranium is a piece of cake.

It's actually easier to make Plutonium.

[SuperLuminal]

What would it look like?

The appropriate level of deportation of non-Americans...

[NoLibZone]

Who cares?

No more red blood for Blue cities.

[sergeantdave]

What a Nuclear Attack in New York Would Look Like - a great improvement.

[Thud]

“Only” 100 pounds of 98 - 99% pure U-235?

[SoCal Pubbie]

There was a Japanese guy who survived the bombing of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[null and void]

Yeah. Imagine how he felt after the second one!

[SoCal Pubbie]

Tsutomu Yamaguchi (山口 彊 Yamaguchi Tsutomu) (March 16, 1916 – January 4, 2010) was a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings during World War II. Although at least 70 people are known to have been affected by both bombings,[1] he is the only person to have been officially recognized by the government of Japan as surviving both explosions.[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Yamaguchi

[SoCal Pubbie]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Yamaguchi

[publius911]

If a nuclear attack against NYC happened, I wonder if the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists would advance the doomsday clock.

Only if they can find it.