NukeSimulation.com
Named weapon
B53 blast radius (9 Mt)
Last updated
B53 is a retired 9 Mt US bomb class, often described as a bunker-buster. On this globe it is a 9 Mt airburst so you can see a high-megaton disk without going to Tsar Bomba.
Educational estimate only. Blast and heat rings use simplified yield scaling. They ignore terrain, weather, shielding, and weapon design. Casualty counts use WorldPop 2020 residents on an approximately 1 km grid and ignore time of day, commuting, shelter, and evacuation. This is not a targeting or civil-defense tool. About the model.
| Effect | Ground range | What the model means |
|---|---|---|
| Fireball | 3.4 km (2.1 mi) | Maximum luminous radius |
| 20 psi | 7.1 km (4.4 mi) | Heavy destruction |
| 5 psi | 15.3 km (9.5 mi) | Most buildings collapse |
| Thermal | 28.3 km (17.6 mi) | 3rd-degree burns |
| 1 psi | 35.4 km (22.0 mi) | Windows shatter |
Nine megatons is 600 Little Boys. Cube-root scaling still keeps the radius in the tens of kilometres, not continental.
The real B53 was not an educational graphic. This card exists so the yield ladder has a rung between B83 and B41.
Surface burst in the globe will add a simplified crater and more local fallout. The default card is airburst like most of the list.
See this yield on a place
New York · Los Angeles · Novaya Zemlya · London
Other weapons
Little Boy · Fat Man · W76-2 · W76-1 · W87 · W88 · B83 · B53 · Ivy Mike · Castle Bravo · B41 · Tsar Bomba
Open the simulator · How the numbers work · FAQ · Privacy · Terms · support@nukesimulation.com