Would you survive a nuclear onslaught?

[DaKardii]

Consider the following scenario.

China and the US go to war, and China launches a bunch of nukes. The nukes are targeted strictly at US military installations, and they all have a yield of 5 megatons (333.33 times the yield of the nuke dropped on Hiroshima).

At this stage of the war, whether you live or you die would depend solely on where you are at the moment of detonation(s). In the comments below, feel free to list any places you're curious about, and I will let you know if you would be safe there or not.

Have fun!

[DaKardii]

I'll start.

I live in South Florida. The closest military installation to both my house and my job is the US Southern Command, located in Doral.

If that installation were nuked, my house would be unaffected, although I would probably suffer some first degree burns if I were outdoors at the time.

As for my job, the building would be unaffected, although I would probably suffer some second degree burns if I were outdoors at the time.

[Tom Mazanec]

Twinsburg, Ohio.

[tim]

Why are the targets restricted to military only?

The only time this planet has seen nuclear war, the targets were not military but cities.

Just because you are outside the blast radius doesn't mean you're safe. Radioactive fallout will blow for miles.

If you don't have a place to shelter for a couple of weeks as the radiation drops along with a Geiger counter you're toast.

[FullMoon]

Considering the conditions of life afterwards, it's easy to understand why some would prefer to go with a flash. It's hard to imagine how we get through this crisis period without major demographic shifts and/or population reduction.nn

[DaKardii]

Twinsburg, Ohio.

You'd be unscathed.

[DaKardii]

Why are the targets restricted to military only?

The only time this planet has seen nuclear war, the targets were not military but cities.

Just because you are outside the blast radius doesn't mean you're safe. Radioactive fallout will blow for miles.

If you don't have a place to shelter for a couple of weeks as the radiation drops along with a Geiger counter you're toast.

There's a major factor that you're not taking into consideration in your analysis, and that's the detonation altitude.

A detonation close to the ground (or "surface burst") causes considerably less physical damage, but much more radioactive fallout. Conversely, a detonation high in the air (or "airburst") causes much more physical damage, but considerably less radioactive fallout.

In the event of nuclear war it's very likely that the CCP would use airbursts as opposed to surface bursts, for three reasons. First, their objective would be to cause as much damage to US military infrastructure as possible; the number of fatalities would be an afterthought. Second, using airbursts would reduce the window of time our missile defense systems would have to neutralize the bombs. And third, if the CCP intends on having the targeted areas be occupied by "Axis" troops at the end of the war, then it would be imperative for them to ensure the targeted areas are not too contaminated with radioactive fallout, if anything for the sake of the occupying troops.

Yes, there is the possibility that the CCP is psychopathic enough to wage nuclear war in a manner designed to cause more environmental damage than infrastructure damage. But that possibility is remote IMHO. We'll probably see that in the Fourth World War, though, per Navigator's book.

[James1961]

It's hard to tell, because it all depends where the missile would land. I always have something prepared for food or gold just in case. Same thing with weapons. It's not enough to survive the nuclear attack, but also the events after it, such stealing, killing etc. Everyone should be ready just in case.

[johnpaul]

Exactly how long you survive a nuclear attack is hard to say, but our best guess is that in most cases it would be anywhere from a few hours to about two days or so. The first and most obvious way to survive a nuclear attack is to get far away from where you are when the nukes start flying. Fallout is not as deadly as a direct hit, so if you were very lucky you could survive the initial blast and even the immediate radiation without any protection.

[Tom Mazanec]

Article
Open Access
Published: 15 August 2022
Global food insecurity and famine from reduced crop, marine fishery and livestock production due to climate disruption from nuclear war soot injection
Lili Xia, Alan Robock, Kim Scherrer, Cheryl S. Harrison, Benjamin Leon Bodirsky, Isabelle Weindl, Jonas Jägermeyr, Charles G. Bardeen, Owen B. Toon & Ryan Heneghan
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00573-0#Tab1