nuclear war
Mushroom cloud scenario
Nuclear war is armed conflict involving nuclear weapons—bombs or missiles that release energy through atomic fission or fusion, capable of destroying entire cities.
The term emerged during the Cold War, when the United States and Soviet Union maintained arsenals sufficient for mutual annihilation.
Nuclear war implies catastrophic consequences: massive casualties, radiation fallout, and potential civilization-ending effects.
The whole point of the Cold War was to prevent nuclear war.
Prophesied world's end
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- annihilationUtter, complete destruction
- cataclysmViolent, large-scale disaster
- obliterationTotal destruction or erasure
devastation · end times · holocaust · decimation · desolation · ruination · eschatology · judgment day
Reciprocal annihilation prevents war
- first strikeInitiating combat unprovoked
- second strikeResponse to initial attack
- retaliationPunitive response to injury
- deterrencePrevention via threatened consequences
brinkmanship · escalation · counterforce · preemptive strike · decapitation strike · dead hand
Post-blast atmospheric particles
- contaminationIntroduction of impurities
- gamma raysHighest-frequency electromagnetic radiation
- half-lifePeriod for fifty-percent reduction
- cesium-137Radioactive fission byproduct
iodine-131 · strontium-90 · dosimeter · sieverts · roentgen · radioactivity · ionizing radiation · alpha particles
Ocean-spanning nuclear delivery system
- warheadsExplosive missile components
- missilesSelf-propelled guided weapons
- uraniumElement ninety-two
- plutoniumActinide, atomic number 94
hydrogen bomb · atomic bomb · thermonuclear · megatons · kilotons · yield · silos · submarine-launched
Reinforced subterranean stronghold
- shelterProtected place or structure
- evacuationRemoval from danger
- decontaminationRemoving dangerous substances
- exclusion zoneBarred access territory
hazmat suit · survivalism · civil defense · blast radius · ground zero · emergency broadcast · potassium iodide · stockpiling
Escalating weapons accumulation between nations
- superpowersCapabilities beyond human limits
- disarmamentReducing or eliminating weapons
- détenteEasing of strained relations
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
diplomacy · balance of power · SALT · NATO · Warsaw Pact · rogue state · proliferation · sanctions
doomsday
Prophesied world's end
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- annihilationUtter, complete destruction
- cataclysmViolent, large-scale disaster
obliteration · devastation · end times · holocaust · decimation · desolation · ruination · eschatology · judgment day · four horsemen
mutual assured destruction
Reciprocal annihilation prevents war
- first strikeInitiating combat unprovoked
- second strikeResponse to initial attack
- retaliationPunitive response to injury
deterrence · brinkmanship · escalation · counterforce · preemptive strike · decapitation strike · dead hand
fallout
Post-blast atmospheric particles
- contaminationIntroduction of impurities
- gamma raysHighest-frequency electromagnetic radiation
- half-lifePeriod for fifty-percent reduction
cesium-137 · iodine-131 · strontium-90 · dosimeter · sieverts · roentgen · radioactivity · ionizing radiation · alpha particles · beta particles
ICBM
Ocean-spanning nuclear delivery system
plutonium · hydrogen bomb · atomic bomb · thermonuclear · megatons · kilotons · yield · silos · submarine-launched · cruise missile
bunker
Reinforced subterranean stronghold
- shelterProtected place or structure
- evacuationRemoval from danger
- decontaminationRemoving dangerous substances
exclusion zone · hazmat suit · survivalism · civil defense · blast radius · ground zero · emergency broadcast · potassium iodide · stockpiling · triage
arms race
Escalating weapons accumulation between nations
- superpowersCapabilities beyond human limits
- disarmamentReducing or eliminating weapons
- détenteEasing of strained relations
containment · diplomacy · balance of power · SALT · NATO · Warsaw Pact · rogue state · proliferation · sanctions · inspections
- WarsWWI, Yugoslav Wars, Napoleonic Wars, civil wars, Punic Wars
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- warfarebattle, combat, attack, armed conflict, military strategy
- dangersdanger, peril, hazard, risk, menace
- global issuesclimate change, water scarcity, inequality, pandemics, poverty
- Post-Apocalypsewasteland, fallout, survivors, apocalypse, collapse
nuclear warpeace
Freedom from disturbance
world peace · global peace · peaceful coexistence · skirmish · border clash
nuclear warpeace
Freedom from disturbance
global harmony · international cooperation · détente · nuclear disarmament · diplomatic resolution
nuclear warconventional war
Armed conflict between states
conventional warfare · hand-to-hand combat · guerrilla warfare · trench warfare · sword combat
war, nuclear, nuclei, nuclide, antinuclear, nonnuclear, nuclear weapons, nuclearize, nuclear weapon