What a 21st century Nuclear War Could Look Like?

In 1960, U.S. nuclear plans envisioned staggering carnage: 275 million Soviets killed in the first hour, 325 million more from fallout, and up to 300 million Chinese dead even if China stayed out. Defense official John Rubel likened the planning to the Wannsee Conference. Annie Jacobsen’s “Nuclear War: A Scenario” uses a hypothetical North Korean strike to show the speed and fragility of deterrence: satellites can detect launches instantly; radars fix trajectories within seconds; a missile arrives in ~30 minutes; a president has six minutes. A Russian sub could salvo U.S. targets in 80 seconds; coastal launches hit in seven minutes. Jacobsen’s cinematic account echoes Cold War dystopias and resonates amid renewed nuclear anxieties post-Ukraine and “Oppenheimer.” Her scenario follows cascading misreadings—U.S. missiles overfly Russia; hotlines fail; flawed Russian sensors report mass launches—escalating to general war. Graphic effects include reactor-spewed fallout, firestorms at 660°C, and cities erased. Critics question North Korea’s incentives and launch-on-warning assumptions, but the consequences are clear: nuclear winter, 70% less sunlight for a decade, rainfall down 50%, and global societal collapse.

Subscribe to our channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@story-of-then?sub_confirmation=1