Dude, the detonation doesn't have to be over Kansas. The laws of physics are the same 30 miles above Philadelphia. There goes the Boston to DC megalopolis. Or one over western Ohio...that takes out St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, all of Ohio, Louisville and Pittsburgh.
Either way, much of the country is unaffected, but most of the federal structure , financial heavyweights and heavy manufacturing is toast.
Oh, and 30 miles is nothing for any nation that has successfully orbited satellites...like Iran.
I didn’t say it would be centered over Kansas, the point is that your circle that you said isn’t very high IS actually quite high (needing a weather balloon or better to achieve, 30 miles is over the ozone layer) AND only gets a small fraction of the country.
Your own comment shows the problem with the article. The article says this:
by an enemy with a low-cost, short range, ship-launched missile armed with a nuclear warhead.
And you just admitted:
and 30 miles is nothing for any nation that has successfully orbited satellites...like Iran.
There’s a pretty big gap between a low cost short range ship launched missile and a satellite. Which is exactly the problem I was pointing out, all these articles try to make it sound like any doofus terrorist that can get a hold a small nuke and a good sling shot can destroy the country, and the facts show that’s 100% BS. You need a good sized nuke and a real launch platform.