Articles about nuclear weapons
Background reading for the simulator: how the weapons work, what each ring on the map means, and what happened the few times these weapons were tested and used.
How the weapons work
How Nuclear Weapons Work
Fission, fusion and staged thermonuclear designs explained in plain language: from Little Boy to modern MIRV warheads.
Hydrogen Bomb vs Atomic Bomb: the Difference Explained
Fission or fusion: how atomic and hydrogen bombs work, why an H-bomb needs an A-bomb inside, and how far apart their yields are.
Neutron Bomb: How It Works and Why It Was Built
The enhanced radiation weapon: why it was designed to stop tanks, the myth about sparing buildings, and the political storm of the 1970s.
Dirty Bomb vs Nuclear Bomb: What a Dirty Bomb Really Does
What a radiological dispersal device is, how much harm it would do, the Goiânia accident, and what to do if one goes off.
How a Nuclear Weapon Would Be Delivered
Missiles, submarines, bombers and tactical systems: how nuclear weapons would actually reach a target, and what that changes on the blast map.
What an explosion does
Effects of a Nuclear Explosion
What actually happens in a nuclear explosion: fireball, blast wave, thermal radiation, ionizing radiation, EMP and radioactive fallout.
Nuclear Blast Radius: How Far Does a Nuke Reach?
Blast, burn and radiation radius for nuclear weapons from 20 tons to 50 megatons, with a table, charts and what each ring means.
Nuclear Fallout: What It Is and How Long It Lasts
Where radioactive fallout comes from, the 7:10 rule of decay, how much shelter helps, and which isotopes linger for decades.
Nuclear Winter: How a Nuclear War Could Cool the Planet
How smoke from burning cities could block sunlight, what climate models predict for regional and global wars, and the open debate.
How to Survive a Nuclear Attack: What to Do, Minute by Minute
What to do after a nuclear explosion: the flash, the blast wave, getting inside, staying for 24 hours and following instructions.
History and arsenals
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: the Only Nuclear Attacks in History
What happened on 6 and 9 August 1945, why the two bombs behaved differently, and what modern weapons would do in comparison.
Tsar Bomba: the Most Powerful Bomb Ever Detonated
The 50-megaton Soviet Tsar Bomba test of 1961: how it worked, what it destroyed, and why nothing bigger was ever built.
History of Nuclear Testing: from Trinity to the Test Ban
Over 2,000 nuclear tests in 50 years: Trinity, Bikini Atoll, Novaya Zemlya, underground testing and the treaties that ended it.
Nuclear Arsenals of the World Today
Which countries have nuclear weapons, how many warheads exist, and how today's arsenals compare with the Cold War peak.
About the simulator
Methodology: How the Simulator Calculates Nuclear Effects
The models, equations and sources behind the nuclear blast simulator: overpressure, thermal radiation, ionizing radiation and fallout.
About NukeSimulator
What NukeSimulator is, who made it possible, and what the interactive nuclear blast map can and cannot tell you.