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Nukemap

NUKEMAP is a free web-based application developed by historian Alex Wellerstein in February 2012 for simulating the physical and human effects of nuclear weapon detonations.^[1]^[2] Users specify variables including explosive yield in kilotons or megatons, detonation altitude, and geographic location to generate visualizations of blast overpressure rings, thermal radiation extents, initial nuclear radiation zones, and potential fallout patterns overlaid on an interactive map.^[1]^[3] The tool estimates casualties by integrating population density data, employing models derived from declassified U.S. government reports and empirical data from historical tests like those at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.^[2] Wellerstein, a professor of science history at the Stevens Institute of Technology specializing in nuclear secrecy and weapons policy, designed NUKEMAP to convey the scale and immediacy of nuclear destruction through accessible digital mapping, addressing public underappreciation of blast radii and radiation propagation.^[4]^[2] Hosted on the Nuclear Secrecy website as part of the Restricted Data project, it draws on peer-reviewed computational methods for air burst and ground burst scenarios, excluding long-term environmental or electromagnetic pulse effects to focus on prompt detonation impacts.^[1] By 2022, the simulator had amassed tens of millions of simulated detonations, influencing journalistic analyses, policy discussions, and educational curricula on nuclear risks without commercial backing or institutional affiliations biasing its outputs.^[5] The application's defining characteristic lies in its empirical grounding: yield-to-effect correlations stem from Glasstone and Dolan's The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (1977), a standard reference updated with modern geospatial tools, enabling precise replication of scenarios like the 15-kiloton Hiroshima bomb or hypothetical multi-megaton strikes.^[2] While not a predictive model for classified modern arsenals, its transparency in assumptions—such as isotropic blast propagation and simplified fallout via hypothetical wind vectors—facilitates scrutiny and has prompted refinements based on user feedback and newly declassified data.^[2] NUKEMAP thus serves as a neutral platform for exploring causal chains of nuclear physics, from fission/fusion yields to human lethality, underscoring the exponential destructiveness beyond conventional explosives.^[3]

Overview

Purpose and Core Functionality

NUKEMAP serves as an educational tool for simulating the effects of nuclear detonations, allowing users to assess the potential devastation of nuclear weapons on specific geographic locations. Developed to promote understanding of nuclear weapon impacts through visualization, it integrates with mapping services to overlay explosion effects directly onto real-world terrain.^[1] The core functionality revolves around user-driven simulations where individuals select a target by entering a city name or dragging a marker on an interactive map interface. Users then specify key parameters, including the warhead's explosive yield—measured in kilotons (kt) or megatons (Mt) of TNT equivalent—and the height of burst above ground level. Additional options permit customization for air bursts, surface bursts, or underground detonations, influencing the propagation of blast and thermal effects.^[1] Upon initiating a simulation, NUKEMAP generates visual outputs depicting the fireball radius, thermal radiation zones capable of causing third-degree burns, and concentric rings for blast overpressure levels, such as 5 psi (pounds per square inch) for widespread structural damage and 20 psi for near-total destruction of reinforced concrete buildings. It also estimates casualties by cross-referencing effect areas with local population densities, providing figures for immediate fatalities and injuries. These outputs emphasize the scale of destruction from yields ranging from tactical devices (e.g., 1 kt) to strategic thermonuclear weapons (e.g., 1 Mt), highlighting how even modest yields can devastate urban centers.^[1]^[3] The tool's design prioritizes accessibility for non-experts while drawing on declassified nuclear effects data to approximate real-world outcomes, though it abstracts complex atmospheric and terrain variables for computational simplicity. This enables rapid iteration of scenarios, such as multiple strikes or fallout patterns in extended modes, fostering informed discourse on nuclear risks without requiring specialized software.^[1]

Creator and Institutional Context

Alex Wellerstein, an associate professor of science and technology studies at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, created NUKEMAP in 2012 as a web-based tool for simulating nuclear detonation effects.^[3] Wellerstein, who specializes in the history of nuclear weapons and secrecy, personally handled all aspects of the project's programming, design, and underlying research, developing it as an independent academic initiative without primary institutional funding or oversight beyond his university role.^[6]^[3] The tool emerged from Wellerstein's broader scholarly work on nuclear history, including his maintenance of the Nuclear Secrecy Blog, where NUKEMAP has been hosted since its inception on the domain nuclearsecrecy.com.^[1] While affiliated with Stevens Institute's programs in science, technology, and society, the project reflects Wellerstein's individual expertise rather than a collaborative institutional effort, aligning with his role as a historian who uses digital tools to make complex historical and technical data accessible.^[6] No evidence indicates direct sponsorship from government agencies or defense contractors, distinguishing NUKEMAP from simulations produced by official entities like national laboratories.^[3] Wellerstein's academic background includes prior positions at institutions such as Harvard University and the American Institute of Physics, informing his focus on declassified nuclear data for the tool's models, though its ongoing development remains tied to his personal and university-based resources.^[7] This creator-centric context underscores NUKEMAP's origins in historical scholarship rather than operational military or policy-driven simulations, emphasizing educational visualization over predictive analytics.^[8]

Development History

Initial Creation and Release (2012)

Alex Wellerstein, a historian of nuclear weapons with a Ph.D. from Harvard University, developed the initial version of NUKEMAP as a web-based simulator to visualize the effects of nuclear detonations on user-selected locations worldwide.^[2] At the time, Wellerstein served as Associate Historian at the American Institute of Physics in College Park, Maryland, where the Center for History of Physics provided support by acquiring the LandScan global population density dataset used for casualty estimates.^[2] The tool drew on declassified Cold War-era models, particularly those outlined in the 1977 edition of The Effects of Nuclear Weapons by Samuel Glasstone and Philip J. Dolan, which Wellerstein adapted into JavaScript for computational efficiency.^[3] NUKEMAP was publicly unveiled on February 3, 2012, via Wellerstein's Nuclear Secrecy Blog, marking its debut as an interactive educational resource amid ongoing public interest in nuclear risks highlighted by media coverage.^[5] The original interface integrated with the Google Maps API to overlay concentric rings representing blast overpressure, thermal radiation, and initial nuclear radiation radii on a map, allowing users to select yield in kilotons or megatons from historical or hypothetical weapons.^[9] Wellerstein personally handled all programming, design, and research, aiming to demystify nuclear effects by enabling simulations over familiar urban areas rather than abstract diagrams.^[3] In its first year, NUKEMAP recorded over nine million simulated detonations, reflecting rapid adoption for educational, journalistic, and informal analytical purposes, including by U.S. government and military personnel.^[10] Early limitations included a focus on air bursts without detailed fallout modeling or advanced casualty breakdowns, features added in subsequent updates; however, the tool's accessibility and empirical grounding in verified effects data established it as a novel public-facing nuclear visualization platform.^[2]

Key Updates and Iterations (2013–Present)

In July 2013, NUKEMAP underwent a significant overhaul with the release of NUKEMAP2, featuring completely rewritten effects simulation codes that enhanced flexibility in modeling detonation parameters such as yield, height of burst, and weapon type.^[11] This iteration introduced newly derived equations for blast effects, thermal radiation, and initial nuclear radiation, along with options for visualizing crater formation, seismic impacts, and detailed fallout plume patterns based on hypothetical wind conditions.^[12] Concurrently, NUKEMAP3D was launched as a companion tool integrating with Google Earth to provide three-dimensional visualizations of blast radii and destruction zones.^[12] By 2015–2016, NUKEMAP3D became inoperable following Google's discontinuation of the Earth Browser Plugin, rendering the 3D functionality obsolete without a direct replacement.^[13] In December 2019, the core NUKEMAP transitioned from Google Maps to the Mapbox and Leaflet open-source libraries due to policy restrictions and performance limitations imposed by Google, which had begun limiting high-traffic applications simulating destructive scenarios; this change improved reliability and reduced dependency on proprietary services.^[14] Subsequent iterations have focused on maintenance rather than major feature additions, with no publicly documented overhauls to core simulation models post-2013, though usage analytics and minor backend optimizations have been noted in creator updates through 2022.^[5] As of 2025, NUKEMAP2 remains the active version, supporting over 124 million simulated detonations historically while preserving the 2013 enhancements for educational and analytical purposes.^[15]

Technical Features

Simulation Types and Outputs

NUKEMAP supports simulations of both airburst and ground burst nuclear detonations, with users specifying the explosive yield in kilotons or megatons of TNT equivalent, height of burst above ground level, and detonation location via an interactive map interface.^[1] Yields can be selected from historical presets, such as the 15-kiloton Little Boy or 50-megaton Tsar Bomba, or entered custom values, while height of burst defaults to optimal airburst altitudes but can be set to zero for surface bursts that generate significant fallout.^[9] Multiple detonations can be simulated sequentially on the same map, allowing visualization of cumulative effects from strikes at different sites.^[1] Upon detonation, the tool overlays graphical representations of key effects on a map, including the fireball radius, which vaporizes everything within it, typically scaling with yield as approximately (yield in kt)^{0.4} in kilometers.^[2] Air blast radii are depicted at multiple overpressure levels—such as 20 psi for near-total structural destruction and fatalities, 5 psi for widespread building collapse and injuries, and 1-2 psi for window breakage and light injuries—derived from scaled curves in declassified models like Glasstone and Dolan's The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (1977).^[2] Thermal radiation contours illustrate burn severity, with thresholds for third-degree burns (around 10 cal/cm²) and first-degree burns (4-5 cal/cm²), while prompt ionizing radiation shows areas of acute exposure, such as 500 rem doses potentially causing severe sickness or death.^[2] For ground bursts, a fallout plume is modeled using wind direction and speed (default 15 mph), displaying dose contours like 500 rem/hour lethal exposure in the first hour, based on Carl F. Miller's simplified scaling system from 1963.^[2] Casualty estimates are generated using 2011 LandScan global population density data, apportioning fatalities primarily to those within the 5-20 psi blast radii and injuries to lower overpressure zones, per the U.S. Defense Civil Preparedness Agency's 1973 manual, though these figures exclude factors like sheltering, evacuation, or fires.^[2] Outputs include numerical summaries of estimated deaths and injuries, shareable links for specific scenarios, and optional toggles for effect types, emphasizing qualitative scale over precise forecasting due to simplifications in terrain, weather, and shielding.^[2] These visualizations use color-coded rings and plumes on Mapbox, providing immediate graphical insight into blast, heat, and radiation propagation.^[1]

User Interface and Customization Options

The NUKEMAP interface centers on an interactive map powered by Mapbox and Leaflet, allowing users to select a detonation site by dragging a marker or entering a city name, with defaults based on IP geolocation or New York City.^[1]^[2] Users input key parameters including warhead yield in kilotons, selectable via presets or manual entry, and height of burst, configurable for airburst or surface detonation with options to maximize airburst radii or optimize for overpressure levels in psi.^[1]^[2] Upon clicking the "Detonate" button, the tool generates visualizations including concentric circles denoting blast radii at varying overpressures (e.g., 5 psi, 20 psi), thermal radiation zones, and initial nuclear radiation contours.^[2] Casualty estimates appear below the map, drawing from the 2011 LandScan Global Population database to calculate potential fatalities and injuries within affected areas, excluding fallout and fire effects.^[2] For surface bursts, users can view fallout contours scaled from historical models.^[2] The interface supports multiple simultaneous detonations, with each tracked individually, and includes toggles for advanced options such as debug logs.^[2] Customization extends to embedding NUKEMAP in external webpages via iframe, where URL parameters allow presetting latitude/longitude, yield, height of burst, and zoom level; the "lite" parameter hides elements like city selectors or buttons for tailored displays (e.g., lite=city,yield_preset).^[16] Hashed URLs enable sharing complex multi-detonation scenarios.^[16] While primarily desktop-oriented due to information density, mobile adaptations are under development.^[2]

Methodological Foundations

Data Sources and Models

NUKEMAP's simulations rely on unclassified models adapted from declassified U.S. government research conducted primarily during the Cold War era, with all computational implementations developed by creator Alex Wellerstein using JavaScript curve-fitting equations.^[2] These models approximate key nuclear effects including blast overpressure, thermal radiation, ionizing radiation, and radioactive fallout, drawing from empirical data and theoretical scaling laws validated against historical tests like those at Nevada Test Site.^[2] Population exposure estimates integrate the LandScan Global Population dataset from 2011, produced by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which provides high-resolution gridded population density data derived from satellite imagery, census statistics, and mobility models.^[2] Blast effects, such as overpressure radii causing structural damage and fatalities, are calculated using equations from E. Royce Fletcher et al.'s "Nuclear Bomb Effects Computer" (1963), a slide-rule analog tool, supplemented by scaling relationships in Samuel Glasstone and Philip J. Dolan's The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (third edition, 1977).^[2] This publication, prepared under U.S. Department of Defense auspices, compiles test-derived data on air blast propagation, ground shock, and cratering, with yield scaling following the cubed-root law for distances (i.e., radius proportional to yield^(1/3)).^[2] Thermal radiation models similarly originate from Glasstone and Dolan, incorporating blackbody emission approximations for fireballs and adjustments for first-, second-, and third-degree burn thresholds on exposed human skin, assuming clear atmospheric conditions without cloud cover or aerosols.^[2] For radioactive fallout, NUKEMAP employs a simplified scaling model developed by Carl F. Miller in 1963 for the Stanford Research Institute, which generates elliptical plume contours based on fission yield fraction, surface burst height (H+1 hour), and assumed constant wind speed of 15 mph at 35,000 feet altitude.^[2] ^[17] This approach scales contamination levels (e.g., in rads/hour) from empirical correlations with historical surface bursts, prioritizing local fallout from ground-vaporized debris but excluding global or tropospheric effects and real-time meteorological variability.^[17] Initial nuclear radiation (prompt gamma and neutron) follows Glasstone and Dolan's dose-distance curves, attenuated by air and ground shielding.^[2] Casualty projections, including estimated fatalities and injuries, utilize vulnerability functions from the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency's 1973 guidelines and the Office of Technology Assessment's 1979 report on urban nuclear targeting, where blast overpressure serves as the primary proxy (e.g., 5 psi for 50% mortality in open areas, adjusted for indoor protection factors).^[2] These do not incorporate fallout or firestorm casualties, focusing instead on immediate blast and thermal impacts overlaid on population grids.^[2] Geographic basing employs OpenStreetMap data for terrain rendering and Mapbox for satellite imagery, ensuring simulations reflect real-world coordinates without classified intelligence inputs.^[2]

Assumptions, Limitations, and Accuracy

NUKEMAP employs several key assumptions in its simulations to simplify complex nuclear effects into computable models. Blast radii are calculated assuming a flat terrain with no obstructions, ignoring variations in elevation, urban structures, or atmospheric reflections that could alter overpressure propagation. Thermal radiation models presume clear atmospheric conditions without opacity from dust or smoke, and casualty estimates rely on static 24-hour average population densities from the LandScan Global 2011 dataset, disregarding real-time movements, sheltering behaviors, or time-of-day factors. Fallout patterns are modeled exclusively for surface bursts under idealized, user-specified wind conditions, normalized to H+1 hour post-detonation, and exclude contributions from airbursts which produce negligible short-term fallout.^[2] These assumptions stem from the tool's reliance on unclassified, declassified U.S. government data from the mid-20th century, including Samuel Glasstone and Philip J. Dolan's The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (1977 edition) for blast and thermal effects, Fletcher et al.'s 1963 nuclear bomb effects computations for overpressure "knee curves" and prompt radiation, and Carl F. Miller's 1963 simplified fallout scaling system. Ionizing radiation for prompt effects draws from Fletcher et al., while thermal burn probabilities incorporate adjustments to Glasstone and Dolan's yield-dependent curves. Interpolations fill gaps in historical charts, but the models do not incorporate classified modern refinements or empirical data from post-1970s tests.^[2] Limitations of NUKEMAP include its two-dimensional projection, which cannot fully capture three-dimensional effects like terrain channeling or building-induced shadowing, potentially leading to overestimations in obstructed environments or underestimations in open ones. The tool omits electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects due to insufficient unclassified data and modeling complexity, as well as dynamic phenomena such as firestorms, base surges from underwater bursts, or long-term environmental contamination beyond initial fallout. Casualty projections from the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency's 1973 manual focus primarily on blast overpressure, inadequately weighting thermal and radiation injuries, and may inflate figures in dense urban areas by neglecting shielding or evacuation. Airburst simulations prioritize blast optimization but do not adjust for reduced fallout, and the absence of probabilistic targeting or multiple-weapon interactions restricts scenarios to single-detonation events. Creator Alex Wellerstein describes these as "back-of-the-envelope" approximations unsuitable for operational planning, emphasizing educational visualization over predictive precision.^[2] Accuracy is characterized as order-of-magnitude reliable for historical yields and standard conditions, with effects scalable by cubed-root laws inherent to the Glasstone-Dolan framework, but local variables like weather anomalies, soil composition, or weapon design deviations (e.g., enhanced fission yields) can multiply or diminish radii by factors of 2 or more. Validation against declassified test data, such as Operation Castle yields, supports the core equations, yet the tool's JavaScript implementation introduces interpolation errors for non-tabulated points, and population data predates 2011, underrepresenting subsequent urban growth. Wellerstein notes that while the models align with unclassified benchmarks, they reflect Cold War-era assumptions and lack integration of contemporary simulations like those from advanced hydrodynamic codes, rendering outputs illustrative rather than authoritative for hypothetical modern conflicts.^[2]

Usage and Impact

Popularity and Statistical Milestones

Since its public release in February 2012, NUKEMAP has achieved widespread adoption as an accessible nuclear effects simulator, attracting over 50 million users globally through its hosted iterations.^[18] Usage has averaged approximately five virtual detonations per visitor, a pattern observed consistently from early logs onward.^[19] Key statistical milestones include reaching 1 million simulated detonations within months of launch, demonstrating rapid initial traction among online audiences interested in nuclear visualization tools.^[19] By its fifth anniversary in February 2017, the platform had facilitated over 99 million detonations, reflecting sustained engagement driven by periodic media coverage and geopolitical events.^[20] This figure rose to about 113 million by May 2017, underscoring accelerating interest amid broader discussions of nuclear risks.^[10] As of February 2022, coinciding with the tool's tenth anniversary, NUKEMAP had recorded roughly 41.8 million unique users, with geographic distribution skewed toward English-speaking regions: the United States led at 14.2 million (34% of total), followed by the United Kingdom at 2.4 million (7.5%) and Canada at 1.4 million (4.4%).^[5] External events have triggered usage spikes, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which prompted nearly 9 million visits in the ensuing months, including daily peaks exceeding 300,000 users.^[21] Recent daily active users hover around 10,000, indicating enduring baseline popularity despite no formal marketing efforts beyond the creator's academic and blogging channels.^[22]

Educational and Policy Influence

NUKEMAP has been integrated into educational curricula to illustrate the tangible effects of nuclear detonations, helping students and researchers grasp scales that abstract statistics often fail to convey. Developed with the explicit aim of enhancing nuclear security literacy, the tool allows users to visualize blast radii, thermal effects, and fallout patterns over specific locations, making the destructive potential of weapons from Hiroshima-era bombs to modern thermonuclear devices more comprehensible.^[23] For instance, instructors at institutions like Stanford University incorporate NUKEMAP assignments in technology and national security courses, requiring students to simulate scenarios that personalize the threat of nuclear war and underscore its immediacy.^[24] High school history teachers have similarly employed it to engage students on the nuclear arms race, directing them to model detonations and compare yields, thereby fostering discussions on escalation dynamics without relying on rote memorization.^[25] In academic settings, NUKEMAP facilitates comparative analyses, such as contrasting Cold War-era arsenals with contemporary threats from rogue states or terrorists, by enabling rapid adjustments to variables like yield and height of burst.^[23] This interactivity has contributed to broader nuclear education efforts, as evidenced by its inclusion in resources from organizations like the Carnegie Corporation for understanding proliferation risks.^[26] Creator Alex Wellerstein has noted its role in presentations that highlight yield disparities, such as between the 15-kiloton Hiroshima bomb and multi-megaton hydrogen bombs, aiding learners in internalizing exponential differences in devastation.^[27] Regarding policy influence, NUKEMAP has informed nonproliferation and deterrence debates by providing policymakers and analysts with accessible simulations that ground theoretical risks in geographic specificity.^[28] It has been referenced in discussions on regional nuclear dynamics, including potential India-Pakistan exchanges, where simulations reveal casualty estimates and long-term fallout implications, prompting reevaluations of escalation ladders.^[29] Wellerstein emphasizes that the tool encourages "serious and careful conversations" about weapon potency, countering oversimplifications in public discourse and supporting advocacy for arms control by quantifying uncertainties in effects modeling.^[30] While not directly altering legislation, its adoption in think tank analyses and university policy simulations has elevated data-driven assessments over alarmist narratives, as seen in its use to critique post-Cold War complacency toward nuclear threats.^[23]^[5]

Reception and Criticisms

Positive Assessments and Achievements

NUKEMAP has received acclaim for demystifying nuclear weapon effects, transforming abstract threats into concrete, location-specific visualizations that foster greater public comprehension.^[31] Its creator, historian Alex Wellerstein, emphasized its capacity to prompt visceral engagement with nuclear risks, enabling users to simulate detonations over real-world sites using declassified Cold War-era data on blast radii, thermal radiation, ionizing radiation, and fallout patterns.^[31] ^[23] This interactivity has been highlighted as a key strength in advancing nuclear security literacy, particularly by contrasting historical megaton-yield weapons with modern lower-yield scenarios, such as a 10-kiloton terrorist device.^[23] Educators and analysts have endorsed NUKEMAP for its pedagogical value, noting its use across age groups—from elementary students to professionals—to convey the scale of nuclear devastation and build emotional resonance without relying solely on textual descriptions.^[5] It supports nuclear preparedness initiatives by illustrating casualty estimates and environmental impacts, helping to counter misconceptions like radiophobia through informed simulation.^[22] Professionals in U.S. government, military, and nuclear fields have reported using it for informal scenario testing, appreciating its accessibility for explorations not feasible in classified tools.^[5] Key achievements include sustained global engagement, with over 220 million virtual detonations and 38 million unique visitors by February 2022, alongside daily usage averaging around 10,000 sessions.^[5] ^[22] Traffic surges during geopolitical tensions, such as 150,000 daily visits in February 2022 amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, underscore its role in real-time public awareness.^[22] Developments like NUKEMAP3D, which renders three-dimensional mushroom clouds and effect plumes, have extended its analytical utility for media and expert assessments of contemporary threats, such as North Korean missile simulations.^[23]

Debates on Realism versus Alarmism

Alex Wellerstein, NUKEMAP's creator and a historian of nuclear science, has positioned the tool as a means to promote empirical realism by simulating effects based on declassified historical data, physical models of blast, thermal, and radiation propagation, and yield estimates from actual weapons.^[5] He argues that such visualizations correct public misconceptions, such as the overestimation of nuclear weapons as capable of instantly destroying entire continents, emphasizing instead their localized devastation even at high yields like 1 megaton, where severe blast effects typically extend only 5-10 kilometers from ground zero under optimal airburst conditions.^[32] This approach aligns with defensive realist perspectives that underscore mutual assured destruction's credibility through precise, physics-derived consequences rather than vague existential threats.^[33] Critics, however, contend that the interactive format—allowing users to select targets and yields with immediate graphic outputs—can veer into alarmism by enabling sensational simulations, such as hypothetical strikes on urban centers, which amplify emotional responses over strategic context like missile defenses, civil preparedness, or escalation dynamics.^[34] Media outlets have occasionally leveraged NUKEMAP for headlines portraying routine geopolitical tensions as imminent catastrophe, potentially eroding public confidence in deterrence stability without accounting for historical non-use of nuclear weapons in over 75 years of possession by multiple powers.^[35] Wellerstein acknowledges user tendencies toward "wild" custom detonations but maintains the tool's outputs remain tethered to verifiable models, avoiding inclusions like unproven electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects to prevent unsubstantiated fear-mongering.^[5] Proponents of the realism view highlight NUKEMAP's utility among military analysts for informal scenario planning, where its flexibility aids in assessing tactical yields without classified tools, fostering informed policy over hyperbolic narratives prevalent in some academic and activist circles.^[5] Wellerstein has explicitly stated that the simulator demonstrates a single detonation, while causing tens to hundreds of thousands of casualties in dense areas, does not equate to global extinction, countering alarmist claims that downplay human adaptability and technological mitigations observed in Cold War civil defense data.^[10] This balance reflects broader debates in nuclear strategy, where tools like NUKEMAP are credited with demystifying effects to support deterrence efficacy, though skeptics warn of selective use by disarmament advocates to prioritize abolition over credible defense postures.^[36]

References

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NUKEMAP by Alex Wellerstein - The Nuclear Secrecy Blog
NUKEMAP is a website for visualizing the effects of nuclear detonations ... Created by Alex Wellerstein, 2012-2025. For more about the nuclear past and ...
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NUKEMAP FAQ - The Nuclear Secrecy Blog
The original NUKEMAP was created in February 2012 by me, Alex Wellerstein, a historian of nuclear weapons. I have a B.A. in History from UC Berkeley, a Ph.D. in ...
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NUKEMAP is a web-based nuclear weapons effects simulator. I created it in 2012 (and did all programming, design, and research on it).
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Alex Wellerstein is a historian of science and nuclear weapons and a professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He is also the creator of the NUKEMAP.
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10 years of NUKEMAP | Restricted Data - The Nuclear Secrecy Blog
Feb 3, 2022 · Alex Wellerstein is a historian of science and nuclear weapons and a professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He is also the creator of ...
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Alex Wellerstein | Stevens Institute of Technology
I am a historian of science who specializes in the history of nuclear weapons. I have also published on the history of eugenics.
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Lecturer, Department of History. HARVARD UNIVERSITY (Spring 2011) Lecturer, Department of the History of Science. HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT (2010- ...
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Feb 3, 2012 · A new tool for demonstrating the qualitative effects of nuclear weapons.
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Jun 12, 2017 · In 2012, science historian Alex Wellerstein created NUKEMAP, an online tool that lets users pick a place, pick a type of nuclear weapon, ...
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The NUKEMAPs are here | Restricted Data
Jul 25, 2013 · NUKEMAP2 is an upgraded version of the original NUKEMAP, with completely re-written effects simulations codes that allow one a huge amount of flexibility in ...Missing: changelog key iterations
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Jul 22, 2013 · NUKEMAP2: sequel to the original NUKEMAP, with newly-derived effects equations and lots of brand-new options, including crater size ...Missing: changelog iterations
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NUKEMAP3D has been discontinued. In 2015-2016, Google discontinued the support and operation of the Google Earth Browser Plugin.
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Dec 13, 2019 · The top-secret story of why NUKEMAP switched from Google Maps to Mapbox+Leaflet.
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NUKEMAP and the Ukraine–Russia war (so far) | Restricted Data
Apr 9, 2022 · An accounting of NUKEMAP traffic for the first few months of 2022, including the massive spike in usage during the Russian invasion of ...
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NUKEMAP from version 2.4 onward can be embedded into any webpage very easily, and customized for your purpose. This page demonstrates this and outlines some of ...Missing: features | Show results with:features
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A scaling model lets you input only a few simple parameters (e.g. warhead yield, fission fraction, and wind speed) and the output are the kinds ...
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Alex Wellerstein is a historian of science and nuclear technology. He is a professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
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NUKEMAP at One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Million ...
Feb 23, 2012 · Here are some visualizations I threw together showing where those million-and-change detonations fell. Each of the dots has an opacity of only 25%.Missing: changelog key
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May 23, 2022 · A nuclear bomb simulator website has experienced a huge increase in visits since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
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### Summary of Sections Praising NUKEMAP as an Educational Tool and Its Impact on Public Understanding
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May 4, 2024 · A fun/easy way to get students engaged and teach about the arms race. Basically, just have students visit https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ and have them ...AMA: I am Alex Wellerstein, historian of science, creator of the ...Nukemap as a source? : r/nuclearweapons - RedditMore results from www.reddit.comMissing: policy | Show results with:policy
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Jun 15, 2018 · NUKEMAP got 10,000 hits within a week. Wellerstein thought that was great. He blogged about it. Inexplicably, his blog post got picked up by a ...
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**Summary of Positive Assessments, Praises, Achievements, and Impacts of NUKEMAP:**
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Oct 21, 2022 · NUKEMAP is based on several effects models/equations that were developed by US government scientists. Whether those models/equations exactly ...AMA: I am Alex Wellerstein, historian of science, creator of the ...AMA: I am Alex Wellerstein, historian of science, author of the new ...More results from www.reddit.com
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Nuclear Bomb Map Shows Impact of US Weapons on North Korea ...
Nov 30, 2024 · Newsweek has looked at the potential fallout of the U.S. using the largest nuclear weapon in its arsenal, the B-83, on capitals in North ...
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How Dangerous? History and Nuclear Alarmism | Cato Institute
Aug 26, 2020 · History and Nuclear Alarmism ... Historical analysis revealed that both the alarmist views and the critique by defensive realists missed the mark.Missing: NUKEMAP | Show results with:NUKEMAP