# NK nuke on west coast..affect on East Coast?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 13, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908 "2003-02-13T20:35:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![cedric45](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@cedric45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedric45)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/21 "2003-02-16T00:09:27Z")

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well, if they hit Hollywood, the east coast and the rest of the country would get a break from all that crap passing for movies and tv shows.

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**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/22 "2003-02-16T01:28:55Z")

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If we are just talking about the physical effects of a nuclear strike on one city, they would be minimal…you’d have to work hard even to detect the statistical increase in cancer rates. We detonated dozens and dozens of nuclear bombs in Nevada, and while they almost certainly caused an increase in cancer it took years and years to discover.

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**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/23 "2003-02-17T06:46:35Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by handy \*  
> \*\*What would happen if the US was able to detonate the missle from NK above the pacific ocean? I suppose that might make some pretty waves for us to surf? \*\*

Nope. It would most likely make a medium-sized “splash,” and not much more. You can be reasonably sure a successful intercept of a missile in flight will screw things up sufficiently that the weapon fails to fire at all. Nukes are always on the ragged edge of not working at all, and only go “bang” if _everything_ works _exactly_ right. Otherwise, you get, at worst, a “squib,” and more likely not even that.

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**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/24 "2003-02-17T23:48:47Z")

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Well, to be fair, the high explosives used in the warhead will probably cook off and scatter the radionuclides over a large or small area. Still much better than a nuclear explosion though.

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/25 "2003-02-18T00:00:56Z")

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Ummm…Fallout plotting link?

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