In other countries, the importance of civil defence has fallen off the agenda in recent years. Meanwhile, the US Department of Homeland Security also has recently redesigned its website called, which includes a section on nuclear blasts. One of the areas directly threatened by North Korea, the US territory of Guam, has also recently issued instructions about how to cope with radiation (see 'Armageddon advice', below). Hawaii has revised its guidelines for the public on what to do in the event of a nuclear explosion, as have some local authorities on the US west coast. In Japan, villages have been staging nuclear attack drills. The leaders of both countries recently agreed with one another that relations between their states were at a dangerously low point.Īlthough Wellerstein acknowledges that nuclear war or a small-scale nuclear detonation by a rogue state or terrorist group is extremely unlikely, he believes there is still value in being prepared just in case.Īs North Korea continues to demonstrate its increasing capability for launching a nuclear missile that could reach the US and tensions rise between the country’s two leaders, some communities within range of its missiles are beginning to take preparations more seriously. We don’t talk about the bomb dropping or the aftermath so much these days, but that needs to change, argues Wellerstein.Īfter all, there remain about 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world today, the vast majority owned by Russia and the United States.

The greatest threats to humanity as we know itĬivil defence was much more commonly discussed during the Cold War – when the spectre of nuclear attack shaped popular culture and was prevalent in politics.The secret nuclear bunker built as the UK's last hope.The monster atomic bomb that was too big to use.

That is, the methods and information campaigns designed to help the public protect themselves in the event of a military attack or natural disaster. Wellerstein recently announced that he and his colleagues are taking part in a project to reinvent civil defence. On continuity of government he says, “I’m not interested in that… that’s their problem.” That is the question that most preoccupies Alex Wellerstein at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.

Rise of nations nuke