Soldiers involved in the Desert Rock V exercise are seen in their foxholes with Civil Defense leaders. Stop-motion views are shown of a house blown apart by the blast wave. From the planning phase through an actual visit to the site after the detonation, she shows viewers the potential results of the explosion and effective ways of sheltering people from the effects of a nuclear blast. Electrical power experiments included setting up poles, lines, transformers, and a complete substation and observing the thermal and blast effects. Effects are studied on two radio towers and transmitters, a liquefied petroleum and natural gas facility with propane storage tanks, five types of completely furnished houses, rows of mannequins with standard clothing, and canned and packaged food.
Spectacular footage shows the awesome destructive power of a nuclear explosion.