Declassified US documents labelled "General Nuclear War" have revealed that Washington DC would be the first city wiped out in a nuclear conflict. The papers, which had remained classified by the US administration, outline how America's capital would be destroyed by a one-megaton thermonuclear weapon in a catastrophic "surprise attack".
Surprise attack scenario
Andrew Weber, former assistant secretary of defence for nuclear, chemical and biological defence programmes, said: "A 'Bolt out of the Blue' attack against DC is what everyone in DC fears most." A Bolt out of the Blue strike is an assault without advance notice, unleashing an explosion with temperatures reaching millions of degrees.
Such extreme heat would create an enormous fireball spreading at velocities of millions of miles per hour. The Sun reports this would result in "concrete to rupture, metal to liquefy or vaporise, stone to fracture, and individuals to instantaneously combust into carbon."
Survival advice
Craig Fugate, former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief, told The Mail on Sunday that survivors' sole chance lies in "self-survival." "We have to get past the mental block that says it's too terrible to think about," he stated in a previous interview. "We have to be ready to deal with it" and assist people in learning how to best protect themselves.
In a 2010 ABC interview, an official "involved in the planning" for a potential attack spoke openly. "It's more survivable than most people think," said the official, who requested anonymity. "The key is avoiding nuclear fallout."
Russian nuclear readiness
This follows a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin that his nuclear weapons exist "in order to use them". Speaking to Russian state media, the Kremlin despot warned he was ready to deploy the weapons of mass destruction, but has yet to find a need for them. Putin declared his nation was prepared for nuclear warfare on both a military and technical front.
