WW3: Here’S what would happen if a nuclear bomb was dropped on London in World War Three

Donald Trump announced at the weekend that he intends to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (IRNFT) with Russia.
Nuclear bombNuclear bomb
Nuclear bomb

The US President also revealed his intentions to develop new ballistic missiles – raising fears of a new arms race and even World War 3. 

The landmark IRNF treaty, signed by America and Russia in 1987, eliminated all nuclear and conventional missiles, as well as their launchers, with ranges of 500–1,000 kilometres (310–620 mi) (short-range) and 1,000–5,500 km (620–3,420 mi). 

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Earlier this year The News revealed that Portsmouth was one of the key Russian targets during the cold war along with many other cities across the country.

President Trump wants to start building ballistic missiles. Picture: AP Photo/Manuel Balce CenetaPresident Trump wants to start building ballistic missiles. Picture: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
President Trump wants to start building ballistic missiles. Picture: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
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Here's what would happen if a nuclear bomb was dropped on Portsmouth in event of...

NUKEMAP calculates the predicted number of fatalities and injuries that would be caused - based on the size of a the bomb dropped on the city – for this story we have selected the option of the bomb exploding as an airblast. 

So if the ‘Little Boy’ 15 kiloton bomb, which was dropped by the US on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in WW2, fell on the City of Westminster of London it is estimated that 76,460 would be killed and 245,960 injured. 

The fireball would have a radius of 180m, the air blast radius - which would severely damage buildings – would be 340m and the radiation radius – where death rates would be between 50% and 90% - would be 1.2km. 

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However the ‘Little Boy' hasn’t been used since WW2, so if a 350kt W-78 nuke – currently the largest option on NUKEMAP – was used on London it would be much more devastating.

With an estimated 565,980 people being killed and 1,629,370 injured if it fell on the City of Westminister

The fireball radius would be 0.63km, the air blast radius - which would severely damage buildings – would be 4.95km, the thermal radiation radius – causing third degree burns, scaring, disablement, and can require amputation - would be 7.67km. 

All of this is hypothetical and the risk of a nuclear bomb falling on London or anywhere in the World is extremely low.