Report: Nuclear Truck Bomb Would Kill 1.6M in NYC

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/19/141516.shtml

What would happen if a 20-kiloton nuclear bomb exploded over Broadway and Warren Street in downtown New York City?

Nearly 1.6 million New Yorkers could be killed or injured, according to Cham Dallas, director of the Center for Mass Destruction Defense.

Dallas offered the prediction in an interview with the New York Post. He also said the flash from the blast would permanently blind all onlookers, and that a fireball would burn everything in its path.

Not surprisingly, the shock wave from the blast would likely demolish surrounding buildings and scatter radioactive particles downwind

Dallas was merely forwarding non-classified information to the Post from his November 10 testimony in a closed hearing before the House Subcommittee on the Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attack, an arm of the Homeland Security Committee.

Dallas said a 20-kiloton nuclear weapon is roughly equivalent to the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but is "relatively small” by today’s nuclear standards.

He warned that a 20-kiloton weapon could fit in the back of "a small rental truck or even a van.”

While Dallas said such an attack would be catastrophic, there were ways to mitigate the damage. He said federal and local officials should train civilians to give immediate first aid and organize quick distribution centers for medical supplies and treatment.

Sounds like someone is prepairing the public ahead of time...