ever wonder what would happen if the u.s. was nuked? while there are numerous factors to take into consideration in the event of a nuclear war on u.s. soil, we<u+2019>ve done our best to answer some of the most commonly asked questions, in the simplest and most understandable of terms.




which areas would be hit, and how far would the fallout reach? on the topic of which regions of the u.s. would be hit; part of it is left up to guess work, as we are unable to fully predict the aggressing nation<u+2019>s tactics, but then much of it is also based on logic. for example, any nation that strikes the u.s. will want to disable their nukes, so we can easily surmise that areas such as north dakota would be obliterated.




active nuclear energy plants would also make good targets, as the added nuclear energy from the reactors would maximize destruction. and then of course, there are the major government facilities that would be targeted, at least, those that are known of <u+2013> unfortunately, it<u+2019>s safe to assume an aggressing nation<u+2019>s intelligence would have a better idea of the u.s. government<u+2019>s <u+201c>soft spots<u+201d> than the average american citizen.




before we get too far ahead of ourselves, however, let<u+2019>s go with what we know; what kind of targets would the u.s. go for? in the case of hiroshima and nagasaki, numerous military personnel, politicians, and now historians claim that the first bomb was dropped to prove it could be done, and the second bomb was dropped to display the united states<u+2019> strength to joseph stalin in the soviet union, who was originally aligned with the u.s. and britain during wwii, but who the u.s. knew would become a problem once the war was over, (foner, 2014, p. 887-949).




while we are aware there are numerous citizens who, to this day, refuse to believe any other version of events than the original government narrative, the point is, we can<u+2019>t use the cases of hiroshima and nagasaki as an accurate indicator of the type of targets the u.s. would choose. fortunately though, we do have a detailed list of targets the u.s. created in 1956 <u+2013> in the event of war with the soviet union <u+2013> that was released through the national archives and records administration . the list includes major cities for <u+201c> systematic destruction ,<u+201d> including areas that contain <u+201c> agricultural equipment <u+201d> and <u+201c> transformers, heavy .<u+201d> most horridly though, was a target simply titled <u+201c> population .<u+201d>




yep. the almighty, all wise, glorious, wholesome and righteous, baseball-loving, apple pie-eating, land of the free, and home of the brave, planned to target large populations of innocent civilians, and it<u+2019>s with that in mind we can surmise that largely populated areas would be potential targets here in the states, as well.




provided below are two maps created by fema, the first of which is from 1990, and shows the presumed targets the soviets would have hit in the event of a nuclear attack. <u+201c>fallout,<u+201d> according to the university of notre dame , is described as the mixture of earth and/or water that has entered the rising fireball caused from the detonation of a nuclear bomb near the earth<u+2019>s surface. this mixes with the radioactive debris of the explosion at an early stage, and is then blown into the troposphere and lower stratosphere, creating fallout. the most lethal fallout is indicated by the darkest coloration, while the lesser lethal fallout is indicated with yellow:




source: fema




in this map, fema shows a sample fallout pattern we could expect in a nuclear attack:




source: fema




how long would the fallout last? after being blown into the troposphere and lower stratosphere, <u+201c> the material is then re-distributed over polar (3-12 months) or equatorial regions (8-24 months). fall-out removal times (defined in terms of half-life) ranges from 10 to 24 months depending upon seasonal conditions, most rapid during spring, slow in summer ,<u+201d> again, this is according to the university of notre dame, (source above).




where would government officials and the <u+201c>elite<u+201d> go in the event of a nuclear attack?
what would happen if the u.s. was nuked?
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