Are the US preparing for a nuclear war?

UNITED STATES (OBSERVATORY) – Fearing unpredictable behavior in North Korea, US intelligence officials update their plan of action in the event of catastrophic events, including massive nuclear explosions over 60 major US cities. The information comes from BuzzFeed News.

US intelligence would prepare for disasters, including nuclear, according to BuzzFeed News which refers to the spokesman of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), writes Thursday the news site Vestifinance.ru .

The transition between the use of reduced nuclear weapons, which could be used by lone terrorists, and thermonuclear explosions organized by “state entities” was discussed in Washington on August 23, 2018, says the site.

According to the head of FEMA’s nuclear, biological and chemical divisions Luis Garcia, the agency is also studying possible scenarios according to which a nuclear bomb, a cyber attack, a coordinated electromagnetic pulse and a biological weapon would affect the USA at the same time.

Until now, FEMA had a plan of action in case of a nuclear explosion of a power of between 1 and 10 kt, which is inferior to the atomic bombs launched in 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki having killed more than 200.000 people . A small detonation of an improvised explosive device was the most likely scenario after the attack on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001.

However, last year, North Korea tested a thermonuclear bomb with a power of 250 kt, which equates to a warhead of US intercontinental missiles. The North Korean tests have particularly alarmed the Pentagon.

As part of the Duck and Cover program, which was still in existence during the Cold War, the focus was on shelter and strategic drug and food supplies.

At present, the state reserves essentially have medicines and medical-sanitary materials to cure radiation sickness, but very few anti-scald devices. Medical specialists from the American Burns Association are concerned about the low number of burn experts in the country, especially to treat children.

According to the FEMA plan, after a nuclear explosion 6.000 doctors, nurses and other medical staff should help the civilian population – which is very little according to experts.

Two misconceptions also preclude the development of an effective plan of action in the event of a nuclear explosion. First, the belief that life in remote areas of big cities will not change after a nuclear attack, when in reality the attack would be a blow to the resources of the world.

Second: that the explosion will kill everything in its path, so any plan to overcome the disaster is useless. In reality, severe radioactive poisoning and serious burns can and must be treated.