Nukes

§ "Nukes," also known as "ICBMs" (intercontinental ballistic missiles), can ruin a leader's whole day. These are the ultimate weapons available in Civilization IV, and they are extremely potent.
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Acquiring Nukes

§ To build nuclear weapons, you need the following:
§ The Manhattan Project Wonder
§ Someone in the game must have built the Manhattan Project wonder. It needn't be you; once anybody has built the Manhattan Project, everyone can build nukes (if they meet the other requirements).
§ Rocketry and Fission
§ You need to know the Rocketry and Fission technologies before you can construct nukes.
§ Uranium
§ You need access to the Uranium resource to build nukes. Uranium is uncovered by the Physics tech.
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Constructing Nukes

§ You build nukes in a city, just like any other unit.
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Launching a Nuke

§ Nukes have unlimited range: they can reach any Explored space on the map. Once launched, nukes reach their target space and detonate immediately.
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Area of Effect

§ Nukes are "area of effect" weapons; when detonated they cause damage in their target square, but they also cause damage to the eight squares that are adjacent to the target square. In fact, the eight adjacent squares get hit just as hard as the target square.
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Damage Effects

§ Buildings
§ If a nuke detonates in or adjacent to a city, the computer makes a "kill check" against each building; if the building passes the check, it emerges unharmed. If the target building fails, it is destroyed (but see "bomb shelters," below). Wonders cannot be destroyed by nukes!
§ Units
§ The computer makes a "kill check" against each unit; if the unit fails, the check it is destroyed. If the unit passes the check, it may emerge damaged or unscathed.
§ Improvements
§ If a nuke detonates on top of or adjacent to an improvement, that improvement too must go through a "kill check." (Exception: nukes never damage roads or rails.)
§ Fallout
§ A nuclear detonation may produce "fallout" - radioactive debris - in any of the target squares. Fallout makes the space totally unworkable; in other words, a nearby city cannot draw food, commerce, production, or resources from a square damaged by fallout.
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Scrubbing Fallout

§ Once you have discovered the Ecology technology, your workers can "scrub" (or clean) fallout. Scrubbing fallout is like any other worker action; multiple workers can scrub a space simultaneously to speed the job up; certain Civics and Wonders may cause workers to scrub fallout faster, and so forth.
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SDI and Nukes

§ The SDI project has an excellent chance of intercepting any nukes targeted at your territory.
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Bomb Shelters and Nukes

§  A bomb shelter in a city reduces damage by 75%.
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Diplomatic Penalties

§ There are serious diplomatic penalties attached to using nukes. Relations with other civilizations are almost certain to drop precipitously, and you may find yourself at the recieving end of someone else's nuclear arsenal. You have been warned!
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Global Warming

§ Use of nuclear weapons will cause Global Warming to begin, turning previously fertile tiles into useless desert. Prolonged nuclear exchanges will transform the world into an uninhabitable wasteland.