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Source: The National Academies and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Representation of the general patterns of damage from a 10-Kt nuclear explosion on the ground.
- The destruction from the initial effects—shockwaves, thermal (heat) energy, and initial radiation—expands in a circular pattern.
- Severe shockwave damage could extend to about a half mile.
- Severe thermal damage would extend out about a mile.
- Flying debris could extend up to a few miles.
- Initial (prompt) nuclear radiation for a 10-Kt blast could expose unprotected people within about 3/4 mile of the explosion site to lethal radiation dose.
- Radioactive fallout occurs in an irregular elliptical pattern in the direction the wind blows; lethal radiation could extend up to 6 miles.
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