The U.S. Cities That Theoretically Could Face the Highest Risk in a Nuclear Emergency

Nuclear Missile Fields Create Target Clusters in Western States

Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming would all be targeted by Russia because these states house America’s intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal. 400 Minuteman III missiles sit in underground silos stretching across these 5 states, including small portions of Nebraska. These missile fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, and F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming form the land-based leg of America’s nuclear triad. Russia would target these silos to eliminate America’s ability to launch any retaliatory strikes.

Scientific modeling based on open source data from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and the National Resources Defense Council was used by Dodge to plot likely Russian nuclear targets. It also shows that a concentrated nuclear attack on these existing U.S. silo fields would annihilate all life in the surrounding regions. Minnesota, Iowa, and Kansas would be subjected to high levels of radioactive fallout despite being outside the direct strike zones. Acute radiation exposure alone could cause several million fatalities across the central United States. The fallout would contaminate fertile agricultural land for years, devastating America’s food production capacity. Western Texas, most of Nevada, and Michigan would be relatively clear of immediate fallout, though long-term nuclear winter effects would still impact these regions.