# What would it be like to be nuked? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854 "2002-10-11T18:40:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GKW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@GKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GKW)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/1 "2002-10-11T18:40:08Z")
I had a vivid dream last night that I was in a city that had been bombed (must be all this talk of war with Iraq). There was a flash of bright light and then the sky became dark. It was warm and windy. Tornadoes formed and the sky had flashes of orange and red in it. We ran to a building and hid in a stairwell. So how close to the real thing was my dream? How far away do you have to be from where the bomb goes off to survive? ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/2 "2002-10-11T19:06:40Z")
Here’s an [eyewitness account](http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/abomb/mp25.htm) of the atomic explosion over Hiroshima. Regarding how far from the explosion you’d have to be - [here’s](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/sfeature/mapablast.html) a sight that lets you display on a map of your town, the damage at various distances from an explosion of given size. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/3 "2002-10-11T19:08:03Z")
Depends on how close you are to the detonation. [Click here](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/sfeature/mapablast.html) to try out a nuclear-blast simulator that provides rough estimates of survival rates and damage based on distance from ground zero. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/4 "2002-10-11T19:09:07Z")
And of course I’m beaten to posting the exact same link. Damn Google! Search faster! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/5 "2002-10-12T01:22:53Z")
There’s a book called [_Unforgettable Fire_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0394748239/qid=1034376811/sr=8-7/ref=sr_8_7/103-7359007-9795059?v=glance&n=507846) that was published in the early 80s, that you might find useful. I was able to find it at my local library with no trouble. Anyway, it’s a collection of artwork and recollections by Hiroshima survivors (And I think a few Nagasaki survivors, but I can’t recall), describing the bombing. It’s a facinating read. One thing that I recall is that a quite few people described the color of the nuclear “flash” as being a sort of blueish-red color. Then of course, there’s the Japanese animated film [_Barefoot Gen_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305339724/qid%3D1034377068/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-7359007-9795059), which is about Hiroshima. The bombing itself is somewhat stylized, but the aftermash scenes are about right, from what I understand. Well, 'hope I’ve been of some help, Ranchoth ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/6 "2002-10-12T07:37:45Z")
Possible spoilers In Tom Clancy’s _The Sum of All Fears_, there’s actually a couple of chapters about the detonation of a nuclear bomb–how it works, and what happens close by. What takes quite a lot of pages in the book takes milliseconds in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/7 "2002-10-12T10:32:22Z")
I always found the film _Threads_ to be a fairly horrendous reproduction (along with the US take on it, the name of which escapes me, annoyingly). ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/8 "2002-10-12T12:17:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*I always found the film _Threads_ to be a fairly horrendous reproduction (along with the US take on it, the name of which escapes me, annoyingly). \*\* Is that _The Day After_? I thought _Threads_ did a better job of it. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/9 "2002-10-12T12:55:15Z")
Me too, **Lsura** ; the US version was still chilling, and had much better special effects (unsurprisingly, since _Threads_ was a 1980s British TV movie, IIRC), but I thought _Threads_ handled the human suffering and long-term nightmare much more scarily. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/10 "2002-10-12T13:59:58Z")
I wrote a report on the effects of a one ton nuclear blast on my city, there was a web site that would draw you the maps but I forgot where it was. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/11 "2002-10-12T15:21:39Z")
**Handy** , I genuinely mean no offence, but what was the point of that? You once wrote a paper, but you have nothing more to say than that (any quotes? conclusions? I’m sure there was some good stuff in there), and then you vaguely try to recall a link that _someone has already posted in this thread_. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/12 "2002-10-12T15:36:24Z")
My carefully considered opinion is that it would definitely suck. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/13 "2002-10-12T16:23:35Z")
> [@](#): > > what was the point of that? To maintain reign as the most prolific SDMB poster. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/14 "2002-10-13T06:24:33Z")
Well, it’s gonna suck obviously. At the same time the aftermath depends on how big of a nuke it is and where it is set off. My Dad had the job for a while, during the old Cold War days, of figuring out where and what the U.S.S.R would drop on the U.S. and what the effects would be. I asked him once what would happen if the U.S.S.R. nuked Kirkland AFB. His answer was that our house at the time, about 20 miles away and hidden by a couple hills, would still be standing with all the windows broken but had a good chance of catching fire. He also said that most of the people in our area would survive the original attack but would die in the aftermath. He also said that if it ever happened driving west would help alot because you could, possibly, get out of the radiation area by going west. Note, he was talking about a limited attack on Kirkland and not a full on nuclear war. Slee ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/15 "2002-10-13T15:39:50Z")
Dear Crusoe, because I made a possible map & description of what would happen, if by chance, such a thing happened: [http://www.pacificgrove.com/localnew/blast2001.html](http://www.pacificgrove.com/localnew/blast2001.html) ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/16 "2002-10-13T15:43:12Z")
Thank you. I was wondering why you didn’t post that in the first place instead of just mentioning that you’d done it and lost it. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/17 "2002-10-13T17:01:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*Me too, **Lsura** ; the US version was still chilling, and had much better special effects (unsurprisingly, since _Threads_ was a 1980s British TV movie, IIRC),. \*\* \*The Day After \* was a **1980’s US made for tv movie** and the special effects were pretty crappy, plus the science shown in the story was downright ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-it-be-like-to-be-nuked/131854/18 "2002-10-13T18:09:44Z")
Yes, I’ve seen it several times. It’s still better effects-wise than _Threads_.