What was the closest any person was distance wise to ground zero when either of the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, and they subsequently survived without immediate major ill effects? By immediate major ill effects, I mean acute radiation poisoning, bad burns, etc. Not cancer 30 years later.

I looked through my copy of “A-bomb Drawings by Survivors” ISBN978-4-00-022765-0 which is a truly amazing collection of drawings from memory of survivors including the story, distance from epicenter, and time the drawing took place.

The closest I could find was about 220 m, but it was later there were no survivors there—only lunch boxes lined up. There were a few at 300 m, near the bridge which was actually the target. Those showed the river full of rotting, bloated bodies.

I didn’t reread the entire book to answer this question, but it seems like there start to be survivor stories from over one kilometer. Perhaps if they were indoors and were able to escape the fires which followed the bomb.

This book is amazing and I think it should be some required reading in schools. Let me know if you have any other questions, and I’ll see if I can find the answer after I get home from work.