GRcade

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

KK wrote:

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

Return_of_the_STAR wrote:

KK wrote:

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

What’s interesting about the last bit is specifically the US and Australia. I thought one of the option was sail to an allied port. Personally if I was captain of a sub I would be going to Australia.

lex-man wrote:

Return_of_the_STAR wrote:

KK wrote:

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

What’s interesting about the last bit is specifically the US and Australia. I thought one of the option was sail to an allied port. Personally if I was captain of a sub I would be going to Australia.

What about Russia's super powerful nukes. I thought they had stuff that could totally destroy the UK?

Return_of_the_STAR wrote:

lex-man wrote:

Return_of_the_STAR wrote:

KK wrote:

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

What’s interesting about the last bit is specifically the US and Australia. I thought one of the option was sail to an allied port. Personally if I was captain of a sub I would be going to Australia.

What about Russia's super powerful nukes. I thought they had stuff that could totally destroy the UK?

Just a handful of their most powerful would render the whole of the uk uninhabitable. The one used in that illustration is tiny by comparison.

Vermilion wrote:Four RAF Tornado jets were involved, though thanks to the cuts that was probably the maximum limit of our military capability anyways.

I still believe it was the wrong decision to launch these strikes though.

Alvin Flummux wrote:

Return_of_the_STAR wrote:

lex-man wrote:

Return_of_the_STAR wrote:

KK wrote:

What would happen if a 150kt bomb was dropped on London?



Estimates predict that there would be approximately 334,290 casualties as a result of the blast, along with 1,088,503 injuries. The results don't take into account the effects of nuclear fallout, nor the fact that the city is more heavily populated at certain times of day.

The innermost orange circle is the most severe, with a fireball radius of 450m. Within this area, a nuclear fireball would obliterate the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a decent chunk of Whitehall. There would be no survivors. The green ring, with a radiation radius of 1km, represents the area within which we can expect a 50-90% mortality rate, and the blue ring, air blast radius 3.74km, represents the area within which the resulting pressure would cause most residential buildings to collapse, with widespread fatalities. The outermost ring, a thermal radiation radius of 5.26km, would still result in third degree burns causing severe scarring and disablement.

The UK's nuclear command chain dictates that if the sitting prime minister were to authorise a retaliatory nuclear strike, the order will go to the person below the prime minister on a dual-track basis (meaning two persons are required to authenticate at each stage of the process), until it eventually reaches our nuclear submarine fleet. The fleet will carry out a strike on the coordinates given, though they will not necessarily know what the target is.

A strike that completely wiped out Westminster and the prime minister means that there would have to be an alternative means of response. To cover for such an eventuality, every prime minister will have written a letter of last resort upon taking office, seen by their eyes only, and stored securely within the safes of each of the UK's four nuclear submarines. The letter instructs the submarine commander of what action to take should Her Majesty's Government be completely wiped out. Before following through with the orders, the commander will have to assess whether the government has fallen, by trying to make contact with Naval Command and infamously checking if BBC Radio 4 is still broadcasting. The aforementioned letters are destroyed unopened whenever a new prime minister takes office, and while nobody knows for sure what options have been tabled, there are thought to be four key responses: launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, don't launch a retaliatory nuclear strike, allow the commander to use their own judgement, or offer the fleet to the United States and Australian Navies.

Good to know.

What’s interesting about the last bit is specifically the US and Australia. I thought one of the option was sail to an allied port. Personally if I was captain of a sub I would be going to Australia.

What about Russia's super powerful nukes. I thought they had stuff that could totally destroy the UK?

Just a handful of their most powerful would render the whole of the uk uninhabitable. The one used in that illustration is tiny by comparison.

You know the Tsar Bomba was never put into mass production, right?

twitter.com/dmreporter/status/985105667127234560

Return_of_the_STAR wrote:Just a handful of their most powerful would render the whole of the uk uninhabitable. The one used in that illustration is tiny by comparison.