The Effects of Nuclear War

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF EFFECTS

The energy of a nuclear explosion is released in a number of different ways:

• an explosive blast, which is qualitatively similar to the blast from ordinary chemical explosions, but which has somewhat different effects because it is typically so much larger;
• direct nuclear radiation;
• direct thermal radiation, most of which takes the form of visible light;
• pulses of electrical and magnetic energy, called electromagnetic pulse (EMP); and the creation of a variety of radioactive particles, which are thrown up into the air by the force of the blast, and are called radioactive fallout when they return to Earth.

The distribution of the bomb’s energy among these effects depends on its size and on the details of its design, but a general description is possible.

---