Hype.
More than 1000 atomic weapons were detonated just 65 miles outside of Las Vegas and it is inhabitable.
People used to watch the mushroom clouds from hotel balconies and windows.
That is more and dirtier megatonnage than the combined nuclear arsenals of India, Pakistan and North Korea.
An atomic bomb was set off right inside of Hiroshima, yet more than 5 million people live there today.
> An atomic bomb was set off right inside of Hiroshima, yet more than 5 million people live there today.
I have a Japanese friend who lived through the Hiroshima bombing. Yes, he did get burned at the time, but he survived and got over it. To the best of my knowledge, he has not permanent scars or radiation related problems. He is a pediatrician who lived in Buffalo, NY for about 10 years when I knew him and who now lives in Osaka, Japan.
Although the vast bulk of the tests at the NTS were underground, and hence “contained”, there were enough atmospheric tests to have the fallout clouds track across just about every portion of the continental US.