is the only country that has ever dropped nuclear bombs on a civilian population centers, the United States of America.

Sweet dreams!

I don't see any of those countries initiating a nuclear attack on the US.

Despite Jong-Un's personal idiosyncrasies, I don't think North Korea really wants to engage in a nuclear war (or any other kind of war) with anyone.

China plans to be a global power, but I believe they're aiming to achieve it via the economic and technological realms, in partnership with other countries, not via military imperialist action.

I also think they're smart enough not to shoot off their own foot. China has a lot of financial and business interests in the US. Heck, the US of A is up to its eyeballs in debt to the Chinese. A massive amount of manufacturing and service sector work is outsourced to China by American companies.

I guess the obvious targets on the West Coast would be San Francisco and Seattle: international financial, business, and technology centers, and major Internet hubs in the US. But why would China want to harm their own interests that way?

Russia? Nyet. I'm not sure they believe they could "win" a nuclear war against the US, and I don't think they're crazy enough to try.

I used my last one on New Years Eve. It was a dud. I guess that's good.

US political leadership is doing it for them. The more the government puts into defense offense spending, the less there is for repairing/improving infrastructure, health care or education. America used to be the world's #1 country in all the things that made America "great" 50 years ago. Now it doesn't rank in the top ten in any one of them. The country has even slipped in military power if one considers "bang for the buck". The ONLY thing the country excels in is questionable financial products that will eventually bring the country (and possibly the world) to it's knees.

The most important thing the Russians and Chinese can do at this time is to isolate themselves as much as possible from the coming US financial clusterfuck by constructing alternative systems.

It is a Washington Post article - the analysis discusses the potential danger to US military targets within reach of North Korea. No discussion of local population. (The current popular phrase collateral damage did not appear to be a concern.)

This is a series of maps and s discussion for the lower 48 states on nuclear targets and fallout projections.

The real effects surrounding the nuclear targets on any given map will depend on the type of nuclear detonation.

A ground burst detonation will not only pulverize everything within a given radius, but will also pulverize many countless tons of soil and dirt into the atmosphere. This will create a very dirty nuclear fallout situation.

An air burst detonation will still destroy buildings and everything on the ground from its shock-wave (within a blast radius), but it will not pulverize the soil and ground like a ground burst detonation would. This will result in less overall fallout in the atmosphere, however this fact is not to diminish the consequences…

In both circumstances, radiation (particles) will reach into the atmosphere and drift with the lower and upper level winds. While they will eventually fall out (some quicker than others), the effects could be long lasting.

Nuclear Power Plants?
There are many nuclear power plants located across the country. If the power grid (or part of the power grid) goes down during a nuclear exchange, there will additionally be a high probability that some (or many) of these plants will present a real and present danger if they cannot ‘scram’ in time – while critical systems are held up by diesel backup generators and dependence on a constant delivery of fuel to keep them running.

EMP
The Russians (and others?) are apparently ahead of the US with regards to EMP research and technology. Some believe that a nuclear first strike will ‘first’ involve a salvo of EMP detonations at high altitude (potentially via orbiting satellites, or launched from submarines or even off-shore freighters). This will likely take down the power grid, followed by a first wave of nuclear strike. The primary targets will likely be military installations, while a secondary wave will broaden in scope. A third wave would likely involve strategic bombers mopping up what’s left. The first and second wave could be all over in minutes to an hour (point being – it will be fast).

Okay, that said, lets look at a few target and fallout maps…

This is just a fascinating site with real time satellite data of global wind, temp or particulate patterns at different atmospheric levels.