This paper describes the construction of a slide-rule computer that allows one to quickly determine magnitudes of several effects that result from the detonation of a nuclear device. Suggestions for exercises are also included that allow high school and college-level physics students to explore scenarios involving these effects. It is hoped that discussing the effects objectively will inform students and allow them to make sound judgments on issues concerning nuclear weapons. The material in this paper was presented to high school students in a day-long activity session hosted by the author's university.

1.
S. Glasstone and P.J. Dolan, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, 3rd edition (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1977), pp. 1–44. Available online at http://www.princeton.edu/∼globsec/publications/effects/effects8.pdf.
2.
http://www.fourmilab.ch/bombcalc/brico.html. This is an excellent and highly readable site. Complete instructions on assembly and use of the NWEC may also be found here, as well as links to the images in Figs. 4 and 5 of this paper.
3.
Information about nuclear arsenals may be found at http://www.atomicarchive.com/Almanac/Forces.shtml.
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