This page shows a simulation of the Topol (SS-25) (currently in Russian arsenal) (800 kt) nuclear bomb (800 kt) detonated over Boston, MA, USA. The map displays the estimated fireball, the zones of heavy, moderate and light blast damage, thermal radiation and ionizing radiation. Click «What does that mean?» for a detailed legend, or run your own detonation on the main page.
The 800-kiloton warhead of the Topol (SS-25) is the kind of weapon a strategic missile actually carries today — about 50 Hiroshimas, delivered in roughly 30 minutes. On this map it is an airburst, the height chosen to maximise the area of heavy blast damage. The fireball is about 1.8 km across; total destruction (20 psi) reaches roughly 2.6 km, residential collapse (5 psi) about 6.5 km, third-degree burns on exposed skin about 11.5 km, and broken windows with flying-glass injuries (1 psi) about 20 km.
What that means in Boston
Centred on downtown Boston, the 2.6 km zone of total destruction covers the Financial District, Beacon Hill, the North End, Boston Common and the Charles River basin up to MIT's eastern edge. The 6.5 km collapse ring takes in Cambridge as far as Harvard Square, Charlestown, South Boston, Back Bay and the Fenway; burns to 11.5 km reach Brookline, Somerville, Logan Airport, Dorchester and Allston. The 20 km ring of broken windows extends to Newton, Medford, Quincy, Revere, Milton and Waltham — the whole Route 128 belt.
Greater Boston has about 4.9 million residents and the outer ring contains most of the dense inner suburbs. The harbour to the east means part of the blast energy falls on water; the terrain is otherwise flat. For scale, the 100-megaton version would reach from Providence to the New Hampshire line.
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