The Effects of Atomic Bombs
on
Hiroshima and Nagaski

United States Strategic Bombing Survey

United States Government Printing Office
Washington: 1946
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington 25, D.C.

Contents

  Foreword iii
         
I. Introduction 1
II. The Effects of the Atomic Bombings 3
  A. The attacks and damage 3
    1. The attacks 3
    2. Hiroshima 5
    3. Nagasaki 6
  B. General effects 15
    1. Casualties 15
    Flash burns 17
    Other injuries 17
    Radiation disease 18
    2. Morale 20
    3. The Japanese decision to surrender 22
III. How the Atomic Bomb Works 24
  A. The nature of the explosion 24
  B. Heat 25
  C. Radiation 25
  D. Blast 28
  E. The atomic bomb compared with other weapons 33
IV. Signposts 36
  A. The danger 36
  B. What we can do about it 38
    1. Shelters 38
    2. Decentralization 41
    3. Civilian defense 41
    4. Active defense 43
    5. Conclusion 43
 
Maps
1. Japan: Showing Location of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
2. Hiroshima: Extent of Fire and Limits of Blast Danage
3. Nagasaki: Atomic Bomb Damage
(Sorry: this requires scanning at least 12 different sections and attempting to line them up and paste them together -- I've given up after 3 days.)


Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation