Kaboomly / Nuke map simulator
Nuke Map Simulator
A nuke map simulator places the estimated effects of one nuclear explosion on a real map, so you can see how far each effect would reach from a point you choose. The map above is Kaboomly's version, drawn in 3D and based on published reference data.
Not affiliated with NUKEMAP. "NUKEMAP" is the name of a separate tool at nuclearsecrecy.com. Kaboomly is an independent educational project with its own code and is not connected to NUKEMAP, its author, or any government.
What a nuke map simulator shows
A single nuclear explosion produces several effects that reach different distances: the fireball, the blast wave, heat, and radiation. Reference books publish those distances in tables and charts. A map simulator takes the same relationships, works out each distance for the yield you choose, and draws them as rings around ground zero. Seeing a ring cross a familiar neighborhood gives a sense of scale that a list of numbers does not.
For example, in this simulator a Little Boy airburst (15 kt) has a 5 psi blast radius of about 1.6 km (0.98 mi) and a 1 psi radius of about 4.5 km (2.8 mi). A B83 airburst (1.2 Mt) reaches about 6.8 km (4.2 mi) at 5 psi. These are rough estimates for flat, open ground and clear weather, meant to show scale rather than predict any real event.
How to use this nuke map simulator
- Choose a place. Type a city into the search box, tap a city button, or click anywhere on the globe. The search covers a built-in list of 1,210 large cities and works without sending your query anywhere. After the camera flies in, click the map to move ground zero.
- Choose a yield. The weapon bar lists historical yields from 15 kt to 50 Mt, plus a Custom option.
- Choose the burst type. Airburst uses one fixed height scaled from the Hiroshima explosion. Surface places the explosion at ground level, which is the case that produces heavy local fallout.
- Detonate. The red button plays a slow sequence of about ten seconds: flash, fireball, then the blast wave moving outward while the rings grow. Click anywhere or press Esc to skip. If your device is set to reduce motion, the map goes straight to the end.
- Read the results. The results panel lists every radius in kilometers or miles. For a surface burst it also describes the fallout pattern, and a View fallout plume button pulls the camera back when the plume is larger than the view.
- Share it. The Share button copies a link that stores the location, yield, and burst type, so someone else can open the same scenario.
The nuclear bomb map guide goes deeper into moving around the map, reading the 3D building colors, and what a share link contains.
How it compares with other map simulators
Most nuke map simulators, including NUKEMAP, describe their sources as scaling relationships of the kind published in Glasstone and Dolan's The Effects of Nuclear Weapons. The basic method is shared: blast distances grow roughly with the cube root of the yield, while heat and radiation follow their own charts. Kaboomly does not copy any other tool's code. It works from the book and from the open-source glasstone library (MIT license), and every source is listed on the How It Works page.
Where Kaboomly differs is mostly in what it adds to the map:
- 3D buildings. For smaller yields the camera stays low and the buildings take a color from the ring they fall in, so you can see which blocks sit inside each zone.
- An idealized fallout pattern. For a surface burst the map shades Glasstone and Dolan's own idealized contours (Table 9.93) for one fixed 15 mph wind. It is a textbook illustration, not a forecast, and it is never drawn for an airburst.
- Residents in zone. The results can show an estimate of how many people live inside a zone, from a public population grid. It never shows deaths or injuries.
Results will not match other tools exactly. Small modeling choices, such as how clear the air is assumed to be for heat, can change a ring by a noticeable amount. No map simulator gives exact answers; all of them are estimates for idealized conditions.
Reading the rings
Each ring marks the distance at which one effect reaches a set level. From the outside in, the blast rings always nest the same way: 1 psi is the widest, then 5 psi, then 20 psi.
- 1 psi overpressure. Windows break and light damage is common.
- Third-degree burns. The distance for a 50% chance of third-degree burns on bare skin on a clear day.
- 5 psi overpressure. Most houses and other residential buildings collapse or are badly damaged.
- 500 rem initial radiation. The dose from neutrons and gamma rays in the first minute for a person with no shielding.
- 20 psi overpressure. Even heavily built concrete structures are severely damaged.
- Fireball. The ball of hot gas at its largest size.
The order of the heat and radiation rings changes with yield, because each effect follows its own relationship. The nuclear blast radius page lists every ring for every preset in one table, and the nuclear fallout map page explains the fallout shading.
Historic test sites on the map
Besides cities, the simulator can open at places where nuclear weapons were tested, and at the historic hypocenters in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Each link below opens the map at that point; the simulator then works the same way as anywhere else. Each one-line description links to its source.
- Hiroshima (Japan): Historic hypocenter of the atomic bombing of 6 August 1945, beside the former Shima Hospital. Source
- Nagasaki (Japan): Historic hypocenter of the atomic bombing of 9 August 1945, now marked by the Hypocenter monument. Source
- Trinity Site (USA): Site of the first nuclear test, 16 July 1945. Source
- Nevada Test Site (USA): US nuclear test site, used from 1951 to 1992. Source
- Bikini Atoll (Marshall Islands): US nuclear test site from 1946 to 1958, including Castle Bravo in 1954. Source
- Enewetak Atoll (Marshall Islands): US nuclear test site from 1948 to 1958. Source
- Semipalatinsk (Kazakhstan): Main Soviet nuclear test site, used from 1949 to 1989. Source
- Novaya Zemlya (Russia): Soviet Arctic test range; Tsar Bomba was tested near here on 30 October 1961. Source
- Lop Nur (China): Site of China's first nuclear test, 16 October 1964. Source
- Moruroa (French Polynesia): French nuclear test site from 1966 to 1996. Source
- Pokhran (India): Indian test range, site of tests in 1974 and 1998. Source
Limitations
- The rings are perfect circles. Real effects are shaped by hills, water, buildings, and weather, which the model ignores.
- Heat assumes a clear day with 12 miles of visibility. Haze, cloud, or shade would shrink the burn ring.
- The fallout pattern uses one fixed wind that never changes. Real fallout follows the weather of the day and can be very irregular.
- Very large or very small custom yields go beyond the range of the source charts. The results panel says so in its accuracy notes.
- Building colors follow the rings only. They say nothing about how strong any particular building is.
The full list is under limitations on the How It Works page. This is an educational tool, not a planning or civil-defense tool.
Ready to try it? Scroll back to the map above, or open the full-screen nuke simulator on the homepage.
Frequently asked questions
What is a nuke map simulator?
A nuke map simulator is an interactive map that draws the estimated reach of a single nuclear explosion around a point you choose. It turns published distances for blast, heat, and radiation into rings over real streets, so the scale is easier to picture. Kaboomly is one of these tools, built for education.
Is Kaboomly the same as NUKEMAP?
No. Kaboomly is not affiliated with NUKEMAP, its author, or nuclearsecrecy.com. It is an independent project with its own code, written from the published literature, mainly Glasstone and Dolan, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (1977).
Why do different nuke map simulators give different numbers?
Each tool makes its own choices: which charts or curve fits it uses, what weather it assumes for heat, which radiation dose it draws, and how it defines an airburst. Kaboomly assumes 12 miles of visibility for heat, following Glasstone and Dolan Fig. 7.42, and uses one fixed airburst height. Small choices like these can change a ring by a noticeable amount.
Does this nuke map simulator show fallout?
Yes, for a surface burst only. The map shades an idealized downwind pattern from Glasstone and Dolan Table 9.93, with one fixed 15 mph wind that always points east. It is a textbook illustration, not a weather forecast. An airburst shows no fallout pattern.
Does it show casualties?
No. It never shows deaths or injuries. The rings describe physical effects such as blast pressure, heat, and radiation dose, and the panel shows how many people live inside each ring (GHSL 2020 residents), which is not a casualty estimate.
Is it free, and does it work on a phone?
It is free and needs no account. It runs in a mobile browser as well as on a computer. On a phone the weapon bar sits along the bottom of the screen and the results panel appears above it after the detonation sequence.