Click here to view the embedded video.

http://www.oneofakindhouse.com/fortress.html

“The Underground Fortress is an 8th wonder of the world! It is an unbelievable feat of engineering. The Fortress goes a total of 45 feet under the house! That is below sea level! The fortress has over 1600 sq. ft. of living area, plus hundreds of more square feet of passages and secrets rooms. It was all hand dug over a 20 year period, and all the walls were constructed with a small electric hand cement mixer. There are 3 ft concrete walls, using 5-bag cement (20% denser than regular cement). Not only are the walls thick and dense, but the finishing work is amazing quality. These walls keep it a constant 60F degrees year round. It is so well insulated that even one small space heater can heat all 1600+ sqft of fortress space in a few hours. The fortress has amazingly fresh air in it with an incredible air ventilation system that pulls air outside and brings fresh air in, leaving no moldy or musty smell that you commonly smell in basements. Because of the walls and systems, there are very few bugs/spiders down in the fortress and we have never seen any signs of rodents. The fortress also has 4 sump pumps that keep the ground water from being an issue. The sump pumps are on float valves that make them come on automatically when they fill up with water. 3 of the pumps are for ground water and the other one is for sewage of the bathroom/kitchenette area. The fortress is also fully wired with electrical/phone/plumbing/drains. It also has many secret doors, and a 1-ton blast door at the entrance and a 3-ton motorized door to seal you in and close the fortress to the outside world. There are at least 5 ways to get in/out of the fortress back into the house!

The fortress comes with almost everything needed to still be a fully functional “bomb shelter”, it comes with everything needed to survive almost any situation. Everything having to do with the survival gear is being left behind for the new owner. All these items are worth in the many thousands of $$$. After you experience this underground fortress, you will be awe struck with amazement, there is no other home like this anywhere on Earth! The producers of the History Channel show Secret passages of the Cold War, claimed that this was the best civilian made bomb shelter in all of North America! You still will not believe it once you see it.”

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Many family shelters were abandoned after the development of the H-Bomb, which caused larger scale destruction. Some shelters are now used in the  midwest as tornado shelters. Still others were used as spare bedrooms & storage. Very few exist today, but when they come to light, they’re an interesting look at a time gone past.

Department of National Defense

Blueprint for Survival No. 4

Introduction

The Canadian Government has joined other peace-minded nations in doing everything possible to reduce world tensions, to assist in the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means and to achieve disarmament with such controls as are necessary to preserve the security of all nations. However, the awesome threat of a major nuclear war involving North America remains a factor in plans for the defense of Canada.

The nature and scale of a possible nuclear attack on North America, and the extent to which Canada would be involved in such an attack, cannot be predicted with accuracy. Our major centres would be at some risk of deliberate attack, random explosions could occur, and there would be the certainty of the danger from widespread, radioactive fallout over most of the Country.

Governments at all levels have made, and are continuing to make, preparations which will reduce the number of casualties, safeguard survivors and contribute to the capacity of this nation to survive and recover from such a tragedy. The purpose of this booklet is to assist individuals and families in making personal survival plans and preparations to guard themselves against the potential dangers of nuclear war. Many of the precautions which are recommended will serve a double purpose in that they will save lives in peacetime disasters such as flood, tornado, fire, hurricane, blizzard, ice storm or earthquake. Attention has been directed to this important feature throughout the various steps. All Canadians are urged to read “11 Steps to Survival” with care to act on the advice it contains and to keep it handy for emergencies. Although protected by Crown Copyright, the contents may be reproduced in whole or in part provided proper acknowledgment of the source is made. The Queen’s Printer
Ottawa, 1969
Cat. No. Id 83-1/4

The Eleven Steps to Survival

Governments and communities at all levels are planning for the survival of our Nation in the event of a nuclear war. But the survival of individuals also will depend upon the preparation that each person makes. Persons ready to take the right action before and following an attack will increase their chances of survival.

This pamphlet describes what YOU can do before and following a nuclear attack. You can greatly increase your family’s and your own protection by taking the Eleven Steps to Survival:

• Step 1: Know the effects of nuclear explosions.
• Step 2: Know the facts about radioactive fallout.
• Step 3: Know the warning signal and have a battery-powered radio.
• Step 4: Know how to take shelter.
• Step 5: Have fourteen days emergency supplies.
• Step 6: Know how to prevent and fight fires.
• Step 7: Know first aid and home nursing.
• Step 8: Know emergency cleanliness.
• Step 9: Know how to get rid of radioactive dust.
• Step 10: Know your municipal plans.
• Step 11: Have a plan for your family and yourself.

Step 1: Know the Effects of Nuclear Explosions

A nuclear explosion releases vast amounts of energy in three forms:

1. Light and heat
2. Blast
3. Radiation

The amount of energy released depends upon the size and design of the weapon. A wide range of weapons and delivery systems are available to an aggressor and we have no way of knowing what size of explosions might take place in Canada. For illustration purposes, we describe in this pamphlet the effects of a 5-megaton H-bomb equal to the explosive force of five million tons of TNT. Such a bomb could substantially damage the largest Canadian city.

The effects depend upon whether the weapon is exploded high in the air, or on, or near the ground. An air burst usually produces more fire and blast-damage than a ground burst which results in a big crater and more radioactive fallout. The effects described below are approximate for a 5-megaton explosion and can only be approximate since effects depend upon a number of conditions such as weather, terrain, etc.

Light and Heat

A blaze of light brighter than the sun is produced by a nuclear explosion. It lasts for about 15 seconds. Temporary blindness and eye injury can result from the glare if eyes are not shielded.

The heat rays from the explosion travel at the speed of light or about 186,000 miles per second. It can start fires up to 20 miles away. Many fires are caused when the heat pulse comes through a window to set fire to curtains, paper, clothing and furniture. The heat flash also can set fire to the outside of wooden buildings.

The following are some examples of the predictable effects on unprotected skin of the heat flash of a 5-megaton weapon exploded on a clear day:

• Skin is badly burned up to 15 miles from the explosion.
• Skin is blistered up to 18 miles from the explosion.
• Sunburn types of burns up to 23 miles from the explosion.

Nuclear explosions in the air rather than on the ground are more likely to produce a greater number of serious burns through the heat flash. Clothing will give some protection. A shield between you and the light will give protection against burns from the heat flash.

Blast

The blast wave travels more slowly than the heat flash. Several seconds may pass after you have seen the light or felt the heat before the blast wave reaches you, depending on the distance you are from the explosion. It is like the time between seeing the flash of lightning and hearing the sound of thunder. For example, at ten miles from the centre of an explosion, it would take about 35 seconds for the blast wave to reach you. If caught in the open during a nuclear explosion, this time can be used to find some protection from the blast wave.

You might be injured by being thrown about by the blast; therefore, keep low. The greatest danger is from flying glass, bricks and other debris. The blast from a 5-megaton explosion could injure people as far away as 15 miles.

The kinds of damage that the blast can do to buildings are:

• Complete destruction of all buildings three miles from the centre of the explosion.
• Damage beyond repair to buildings three to five miles distant. They would have to be torn down.
• Major repairs required to buildings five to 10 miles distant before they could be occupied.
• Light to moderate damage to buildings 10 to 15 miles distant. They could be occupied during repairs.

A 20-megaton bomb increases the approximate ranges of damage described above to five, eight, sixteen and twenty-four miles.

These are approximate distances as the strength of buildings is not uniform. For example, reinforced concrete buildings are more blast resistant than wood frame structures. In some areas four miles away from the explosion, concrete buildings might be repairable, while wood frame buildings would be completely destroyed. Windows, of course, are very vulnerable and are apt to be blown in as far away as 25 miles from the explosion.

Radiation

A nuclear explosion causes both immediate radiation and residual radiation.

Immediate radiation is given off at the time of the explosion. It is dangerous only within two or three miles. If you were near the explosion without adequate protection and managed to survive the effects of blast and fire, you could still be seriously affected by immediate radiation.

Residual radiation is given off by the radioactive particles left as “fallout” after the explosion. The danger from fallout would be so great and widespread that it is discussed separately, in >Step 2.

Protection against Heat, Blast and Immediate Radiation

The illustrations below show some of the most probable situations in which you might find yourself at the time of a nuclear attack, and what you should do:

Step 2: Know the Facts About Radioactive Fallout

If a nuclear weapon is exploded on, or near, the ground, danger from radioactive fallout is greatest. The force of the explosion may make a crater up to a mile wide and to a depth of one hundred feet. Millions of tons of pulverized earth, stones, buildings and other materials are drawn up into the fireball and become radioactive. Some of the heavier particles spill out around the point of explosion. The rest are sucked up into the mushroom cloud.

This radioactive material is then carried by winds until it settles to earth. This is called “Fallout”. Under some circumstances you may see the fallout; under others you may not.

The radioactivity it gives off cannot be seen. You can’t feel it. You can’t smell it.

But fallout doesn’t come out of the sky like a gas and seep into everything. It can best be described as a fine to coarse sand carried by the winds. Because the wind direction varies at different heights above the ground, it is not possible to judge from the ground where the fallout will settle. It can settle in irregular patterns hundreds of miles from the explosion.

The fallout from a 5-megaton explosion could affect seriously an area of 7,000 square miles. If nothing were done to gain protection during the period of high radioactivity, there would be a grave danger to life in that area.

Because fallout is carried so far and covers such a large area, it could be the greatest danger to the largest number of Canadians in a nuclear war. If Canada was not hit by nuclear bombs, those exploding in the United States close to our border could result in serious fallout in many parts of Canada.

There are four things which determine the amount of radiation reaching your body from fallout:

1. The time that has passed since the explosion.
2. The length of time you are exposed to fallout.
3. The distance you are from the fallout.
4. The shielding between you and the fallout.

Time

The radioactivity in fallout weakens rapidly in the first hours after an explosion. This weakening is called “decay”. After seven hours, fallout has lost about 90% of the strength it had one hour after the explosion. After two days it has lost 99%; in two weeks 99.9% of its strength is gone. Nevertheless, if the radiation at the beginning were high enough, the remaining 0.1% could be dangerous.

Radiation must be measured by special instruments handled by people trained to use them. But, if you stay in a shelter during the first days following an explosion, you escape the strongest radiation. You should stay in the shelter until radiation has been measured and you have been told aver the radio that it is safe to come out.

Distance

The strength of radiation reaching your body is reduced the farther you are from the fallout. Here are some illustrations of the safest place to be when you are in various kinds of buildings.

Shielding

The most effective protection is to place some heavy material between yourself and the fallout. The heavier the material the better the protection. Many common materials give excellent protection. The materials and design of the fallout shelter recommended in Blueprint for Survival No. 1 will stop penetration of 99% of outside radiation.

These thicknesses of material will stop 99% of radiation:

• 16 inches of solid brick
• 16 inches of hollow concrete blocks filled with mortar or sand
• 2 feet of packed earth Ä 3 feet if loose
• 5 inches of steel
• 3 inches of lead
• 3 feet of water

A fallout shelter is the best way to protect your family and yourself against radiation because:

• It keeps the radiation at a distance.
• It shields you from radiation.
• The time spent there is the period when radiation is most intense.

By providing your family and yourself with a fallout shelter, you are unlikely to suffer serious effects from radioactive fallout.

Personal Danger from Fallout

Radioactive particles in contact with your skin for a few hours may produce burns. Follow Step 9 to prevent this danger.

Radioactive particles swallowed in food or water might be harmful. Follow Step 9 to prevent this danger.

Radioactivity from an area of fallout may produce illness in the unprotected individual after a few days. Follow Step 4 to prevent this danger.

Radiation illness develops slowly. It cannot be spread to other people. Except for temporary nausea shortly after exposure, evidence of serious effects from radiation may only appear after an interval of from a few days to three weeks. A combination of loss of hair, loss of appetite, increasing paleness, weakness, diarrhoea, sore throat, bleeding gums and easy bruising indicate that the individual requires medical attention. Nausea and vomiting may be caused by fright, worry, food poisoning, pregnancy and other common conditions.

Step 3: Know the Warning Signal and have a Battery-Powered Radio

All Canadian communities where there is a likely need are provided, or will be provided, with sirens. Other areas should have warning arrangements based on local systems such as telephones, horns, bells or factory whistles.

Warning devices are only attention-getters. Dependent on the size of your municipality, the sirens, bells, telephones, etc., will sound the Attack Warning.

There is one type of siren warning signal in Canada:

• An attack on North America has been detected;
• Warning of fallout.

WHEN YOU HEAR THE WARNING SIGNAL, YOU SHOULD TAKE PROTECTIVE ACTION AND LISTEN TO THE RADIO FOR INSTRUCTIONS.

A Radio is Essential

When the Attack Warning sounds, you must take protective action. Take a battery-powered radio with you. Broadcast advice and instruction may help to save your life. If you don’t have a portable radio, turn up the volume of your house radio so that it can be heard in your shelter. If away from home you are forced to take emergency shelter and are near a radio-equipped vehicle, turn up the volume and open all the vehicle’s doors or windows.

The Canadian Emergency Broadcasting System, a network of all Canadian radio and television stations which will be formed when a nuclear attack on Canada has been detected, will tell you when and how to take emergency protective action against possible attack and shelter against fallout if an attack occurs.

Before Attack

If sirens or warning systems signal impending attack, regardless of where you are or what you are doing, you must take the best available cover against the blast, heat and light effects of nuclear explosions.

Emergency broadcast instructions will include the following advice:

• If you are at home go to the basement or strongest part of your house or building which offers the best protection. If material is handy, improvise blast protection. See Step 4.
• Take your battery radio with you, or turn up the house radio so that you can hear it while under cover.
• Stay away from windows.
• Lie down and protect yourself from flying glass and falling debris.
• Shield your eyes from the flash of an explosion.
• If you are away from home take protective cover immediately.
• If you are travelling, stop and take protective cover immediately, or if you are only a few minutes from a safe destination, proceed and take protective cover immediately.
• Listen to your radio for further instructions.

After Attack

If sirens or warning systems sound following nuclear attacks, the warning may mean another attack or that radioactive fallout is approaching your area. You will be advised over the radio. If the advice concerns fallout, you must take cover against the fallout effects. (See Step 4).

Radio broadcasts will identify areas which will be affected by the fallout and give instructions and advice. These might include:

• Location of nuclear explosions causing local fallout.
• Information about the parts of the country to be affected by fallout.
• Length of time before fallout is likely to reach specific communities or areas.
• Ways to increase fallout protection.
• Supplies to take to your fallout shelter.
• Whether it is safer to stay in your community or area, or to go to other areas.
• Advice as to which areas are free of danger.
• Advice on when to leave shelters and for how long as danger from radioactive contamination diminishes.
• Requests for help in rescue operations, such as rescue, firefighting and medical assistance.
• Advice on conservation of food, water and fuel.
• How to keep warm when power is off and the weather is cold.

Don’t Use The Telephone

When the sirens sound don’t use the telephone. Listen to a radio or television for information. In the event of an Attack Warning telephone lines will be required for official use.

Step 4: Know How to Take Shelter

It is important to provide your family and yourself with a shelter. But what kind of shelter? This is a decision you must make yourself after studying the problem.

Study your shelter requirements in the same way that you would study accident or fire insurance. Decide upon the degree of protection you want for your family and yourself. Shelter is your insurance against something you hope will not happen, but if it does, will give you protection.

Shelters of the type commonly used in Europe during the Second World War would not provide protection against the blast of a nuclear explosion. They were designed to withstand short shock pressures lasting something like 1/100th of a second. Shelters designed to withstand the pressures created by a nuclear explosion must be able to stand up to pressures lasting as long as 6 seconds. In addition, they must be capable of giving the occupants protection against fires outside the shelter as well as against radiation.

The fallout shelter is designed to give protection against radioactive fallout only. Because most people in Canada probably would not be affected by the blast and heat effects of nuclear explosions, protection against fallout is all that is required by them.

The type of shelter for good protection depends upon the distance it will be from the explosion. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know this in advance. That is why each individual must make his own decision when selecting the type of shelter he wishes to have.

Blueprint for Survival No. 1 gives details of a fallout shelter for the home in which you now live. If you rent the home, the decision to construct a shelter must be taken jointly with your landlord.

Blueprint for Survival No. 2 gives details of a fallout shelter for the new home you may be planning to build.

Blueprint for Survival No. 6 gives details of blast shelters which may be built outside the home.

These pamphlets are available from your local Emergency Measures or Civil Defence Organization.

Improvised Protection Against Blast

One of the simplest ways to improvise some anti-blast protection is to build a lean-to (bed springs or boards) against a work bench or heavy table, preferably in the basement, and pile mattresses on it and at the ends. If the material is readily available it could be built in a matter of minutes after the ATTACK WARNING is sounded and could protect you from loose bricks, flying glass, etc.

If you are in the open and there is a ditch or culvert within easy, quick reach, lie face down in it and cover your face with your arms. Make sure this shelter is not too close to buildings which could collapse into it.

“After” the blast and heat of the explosion, you would have to find other protection against fallout which will come down later. (Don’t forget your battery-powered radio). None of these improvisations is as good as a properly equipped blast shelter, but any single one of them could mean the difference between life and death.

Improvised Protection Against Fallout

You may not have a fallout shelter when warning of approaching fallout is broadcast. Here are some tips on how to increase your protection in a basement. The amount of protection you can build will depend on how much time you have available until fallout arrives.

• You can improvise a small emergency shelter by using furniture, doors, dressers, work-bench and other materials.
• Select a corner of your basement, if possible away from windows, in which to build your shelter. Remove inside house doors from hinges to use as a shelter roof over supports. Supports for the improvised roof can be cabinets, chests of drawers, work-bench, or anything which will bear a heavy load. Use the house doors as a roof surface to provide a base for the heavy material you will have to place on it. Bricks, concrete blocks, sand-filled drawers or boxes, books or other dense items on the roof will help reduce radiation penetration. Around the sides and front of your shelter build walls of dense materials to provide vertical shielding. A small cabinet or dirt-filled box as may be used as a crawl-in entrance which can be closed behind you.
• Remember, the heavier or more dense the material around you, the greater the protection.
• Block basement windows with earth, bricks, concrete blocks, books or even bundles of newspaper. In winter, use packed snow.
• On the floor above the corner of the you select as your shelter area, pile any heavy objects you may have available, such as furniture, trunks filled with clothes, dirt-filled boxes, books, newspapers, or earth from outside.
• Outside, against above ground walls of the basement around your shelter area heap earth, sand, bricks, concrete blocks or packed snow.

If your home has no basement or crawl space, build your emergency shelter in that part of the house (centre hall or clothes closet) farthest away from outside walls and the roof. Build it as described for houses with basements. On the floor immediately above your shelter area, and against surrounding walls, pile up furniture, trunks, dressers, dirtfilled boxes or other heavy material which will reduce radio-active penetration into your emergency shelter.

Step 5: Have 14 Days Emergency Supplies

Nuclear attacks on centres of production, and fallout conditions, may curtail the distribution of available food stocks for several days or even weeks following these attacks. Persons who had taken shelter against fallout might be advised to stay in their shelters for as long as 14 days. Those who had chosen to evacuate larger cities would be dependent largely on the resources available in reception towns. Because of these possibilities, it is recommended that every person should have emergency supplies. These supplies should include food, water, battery-powered radio, first aid kit, and where necessary, medical supplies as recommended in Step 7. Heavy clothing would be necessary in winter. Extra changes of clothing should be considered particularly stockings and underclothing.

For those who may choose to evacuate major centres, supplies must be selected carefully because of space limitation in the family car. Supplies should be packaged beforehand so that they can quickly be put into the car. See the pamphlet “Your Emergency Pack” available from your local Emergency Measures or Civil Defence Organization.

Many of the recommended items are already in your home.

Whether you choose to evacuate or take shelter locally, you should have a road map with you. You could then relate the information about areas under fallout, which you would hear about on the radio, to your actual location. Toys, games, books for your children would help to occupy their time if they had to remain in shelter from fallout. Your battery-powered radio will keep you in contact with the outside world.

The following is a suggested list of items from which your two weeks’ supplies should be developed to be in your shelter or handy to it.

Equipment

• Beds (bunks or folding)
• Bedding
• Toilet
• Polyethylene bags for toilet
• Table (folding or other)
• Stools (folding)
• Cups and plates (disposable)
• Knives, forks, spoons
• Can opener
• Cooking utensils
• Kerosene cooker (Do not use a pressurized stove in the confines of your shelter.)
• Kerosene lamp
• Kerosene (sufficient for 14 days)
• Candles
• Safety matches
• Hand basin
• Calendar
• Paper towels
• Garbage can (two if no waste water runoff is possible)
• Garbage bags
• Shovel
• Broom
• Battery radio and spare batteries
• Electric lamp and spare bulbs
• Clock
• Flashlight and spare batteries
• Fire extinguisher
• Hand tools
• Pocket knife
• Axe
• String
• Light rope

Recreational

• Books
• Paper
• Pencils
• Playing cards
• Chess, checkers, other games
• Crosswords, other puzzles
• Knitting, sewing, etc.
• Hobby materials
• Plasticine

Toiletries

• Soap
• Toothpaste
• Toothbrushes
• Detergent
• Nail brush
• Razor, blades and soap
• Women’s basic cosmetics
• Tissues (face and toilet)
• Face cloth
• Towels
• Brush and comb

Clothing and Personal Items

Coveralls, rubber boots, rubber gloves for adults. To be used in venturing outside even after instructions have been given that this is safe for short periods.

• Bedding (blankets preferable)
• Warm sweaters and socks
• Change of underclothing and socks
• Personal hygiene items for women
• Baby clothes
• Baby feeding equipment
• Disposable diapers (two-week supply)
• Legal papers
• Plastic sheeting

Medical

(See Step 7)

Food

These are suggested items and amounts for each adult for 14 days in shelter. Check off the items as you stock them in the shelter and mark the purchase date on them. Food stored for emergency use should be used and replaced at least once a year.

• Milk: 14 cans (6-oz) or 6 cans (15-oz) evaporated milk or 1-lb dried skim milk
• Vegetables: 6 cans (15 or 20-oz) – beans, peas, tomatoes, corn
• Fruits: 6 cans (15 or 20-oz) Ä peaches, pears, apple sauce
• Juices: 6 cans (20-oz) Ä apple, grapefruit, lemon, orange and tomato
• Cereals: 14 individual packages (sealed in wax bags inside or outside)
• Biscuits:
  • 2 packages of crackers (1-lb. each)
  • 2 packages of cookies or graham wafers
• Main Dish Items:
  • 2 cans meat (12-oz) – corned beef, luncheon meats
  • 2 cans beef and gravy
  • 2 cans baked beans (15 or 20-oz)
  • 2 jars cheese
  • 2 cans fish (8-oz)
• Canned and Dehydrated Soups: 2 cans (10-oz) – bean, pea, tomato, vegetable

Other Foods:

• 1 large jar or can honey, syrup, jam or marmalade
• 2 lbs. hard candy
• 1 jar or can peanut butter
• 1 package tea bags or instant tea
• 1 jar sugar
• 1 jar instant coffee
• Salt and pepper
• Instant chocolate powder
• Chewing gum

Special Requirements for Children

• For each infant include 14 cans evaporated milk (15 oz) and infant food for 14 days.
• For each child up to 3 years, include 8 extra cans of milk.
• Decrease amounts of other foods according to appetite.
• Food for older children can be the same as for adults; adjust amounts according to appetite.

Water

• Requirements: 7-14 gallons for each adult member of family; more for younger children (some water may be replaced by canned beverages).
• Containers: Store in well-cleaned, covered containers such as large thermos jugs, new fuel cans, large bottles, or plastic containers.
• Change: Change stored water at least once a month.

Step 6: Know How To Prevent And Fight Fires

Misinformation about the fire danger from nuclear explosions is widespread and common. For example, some persons believe that the fire-ball would completely incinerate a city. This is not true.

The heat from the fire-ball lasts about 15 seconds and would create fires which are no different from the fires you see in peacetime. They can be put out with water and extinguishers, and if each survivor were able to put out a small fire quickly, mass fires would not take place.

The heat flash from the fire-ball entering through windows and doors could set fire to curtains, clothes, furniture and paper. Other fires could break out in attics, in backyard trash, on wooden shingles and on the outside of houses built of wood particularly if they are unpainted or weathered.

Knowing how to prevent and fight fires at home and at work reduces the number of peacetime fires. The same knowledge will also reduce the number of fires caused by a nuclear explosion.

But how can you fight fires in the presence of fallout? From 5 to 15 miles from the centre of the explosion, there will be many survivors. Fallout will not start coming down for about 30 minutes. During this half hour, survivors should inspect their houses and put out all the small fires they can. They must not rely on the fire department to extinguish these fires.

You should have in your home and place of work, fire extinguishers, or in an emergency, create a water supply for fire fighting in pails, bathtubs, washtubs, etc. Don’t rely on being able to use the established water supply system.

Even those who live in areas not attacked may find their fire departments will have to fight major fires elsewhere. Every householder should learn how to carry out fire prevention and know how to fight small fires. It may prove of value in peacetime!

Your local fire authorities are always anxious to advise you on how to fight fires. Attend any emergency fire fighting classes held in your area.

Here are some tips for an emergency:

• Prepare for emergency by preventing accumulations of trash and rubbish in and around the home. This would include dry leaves and grass, lumber, boxes, cardboard cartons, old unused furniture, bales of newspapers, etc. Keep waste and garbage in covered containers.
• The shaking and twisting of buildings and homes due to blast waves in wartime or earthquakes and explosions in peacetime, may break utility inlets at the point they enter the structure. This may allow gas or fuel oil to flow into basements creating a severe hazard. Do not smoke, strike a match, or a lighter, to light your way into a darkened basement. Gas or oil vapours may be present and a violent explosion and fire may result.
• To lessen the danger of fires and explosions follow local instructions about shutting off utility services when the ATTACK WARNING sounds.
• If you have a coal-burning furnace, or a wood-stove, extinguish it or at least be sure to close all fuel and draft doors.
• Close curtains shutters or venetian blinds on all windows and remove furniture from window areas.

TO FIGHT AN ORDINARY FIRE:

• Take away its fuel. Get the burning material out of your home.
• Take away its air. Smother it with a blanket, wet if possible, or a rug.
• Cool it with water, earth, sand or fire extinguisher.

GAS, OIL, ELECTRICAL FIRES REQUIRE SPECIAL METHODS:

• Gas fire: Make sure the gas is shut off and then try to extinguish anything still burning.
• Oil fires: Make sure the supply is shut off then smother the fire with earth, sand, rugs or other heavy materialsÄDon’t use water.
• Electrical fires: Make sure the electricity is shut off then put out the fire. Don’t use water if the power is still on.

PROMPT ACTION TO PUT OUT SMALL FIRES IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING A NUCLEAR ATTACK WILL SAVE LIVES.

Step 7: Know First Aid And Home Nursing

The acquisition of First Aid and Home Nursing skills prepares individuals to serve effectively in a national emergency. If such an emergency occurs, the care of many thousands of injured or seriously ill persons becomes a tremendous task for the organized health services. Doctors and nurses may not be readily available to assist you. Thus the importance of First Aid and Home Nursing skills takes on a new dimension. The survival of the injured or sick members of your family may become your responsibility.

The main objectives of training individuals in first aid and home nursing are:

1. To preserve life
2. To minimize the effects of injury or illness
3. To relieve suffering or distress
4. To provide continuing care and assist in rehabilitation.

Therefore you must:

• Know and practice life-saving first aid.
• Know and practice simple home nursing measures.

First Aid Supplies

A simple first aid box kept in your shelter or in your evacuation kit should contain:

• 1 bottle mild antiseptic solution (use to clean cuts)
• 5 yards 2-inch gauze bandage
• 2 triangular bandages (use for slings)
• 12 4″ x 4″ sterile pads (use to cover cuts, wounds and burns)
• 12 assorted individual adhesive dressins (use for minor cuts)
• 2 large dressing pads (shell dressing type) 8″ x 8″ (Available at minimal cost from St. John Ambulance Association)
• 5 yards 1/2 inch adhesive tape
• 9 assorted safety pins
• 1 small bottle toothache drops (for temporary treatment of toothache)
• 1 tube of petroleum jelly
• 1 small bottle aspirin tablets
• 1 thermometer
• 1 small scissors (blunt ended)
• 1 medicine glass
• 1 pair tweezers
• 4 oz baking soda and 8 oz table salt (make a drinking solution by adding 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp baking soda to 1 qt. of water)
• 1 First Aid Manual (St. John Ambulance Association)
• 1 Home Nursing Textbook (St. John Ambulance Association and/or Canadian Red Cross Society)
• 1 packet paper tissues

NOTE: individuals requiring special medication such as insulin should maintain at least 100-days supplies.

First Aid Hints

General Rules:

• Keep calm.
• Keep the injured person Iying down in a comfortable position, his head level with his body until you determine whether his injuries are serious.
• Examine for stoppage of breathing, serious bleeding or broken bones. These must be treated immediately before any attempt is made to move the injured person. Do not be hurried into this unless you are in a situation of extreme danger.
• Keep him comfortably warm with blankets or other coverings, under and above the patient.
• Never attempt to give a semi-conscious or unconscious person anything to drink.

Unconsciousness:

An unconscious patient lying on his back may be strangled by his own tongue which will tend to fall back and obstruct the airway. All unconscious persons should be placed lying half over on their faces, (three-quarter-prone position).

If the patient is breathing quietly and easily and his lips are pink and have no froth on them, breathing is not obstructed.

If the patient is breathing noisily and with difficulty, if his lips are blue and frothing, or if his chest is sucked inwards when he breathes in, his airway is obstructed and needs immediate attention.

Keep the airway clear by:

Placing the casualty on his back; supporting his shoulders on a pad of any suitable material available; tilting the head back with one hand on the forehead, the other lifting the neck.

• Stop bleeding (haemorrhage)
• Keep out germs (infection)

Cover the wound with a clean dressing to keep out dirt and germs. Bandage it on firmly to stop the bleeding. If a wound is bleeding profusely, hold it firmly with your hand until you can secure an emergency dressing. Any thick pad of clean, soft, compressible material large enough to cover the wound will make a good dressing. Clean handkerchiefs, towels, sanitary pads, tissue handkerchiefs or sheets make good emergency dressings.

Burns: Cover the burned area with large, thick, dry dressing and bandage it on firmly. Encourage the casualty to drink plenty of fluids. A solution of salt and soda is useful to give to casualties with burns and to those who have suffered from serious bleeding. Broken bones (fractures): If a limb is very painful and cannot be used, appears to be bent in the wrong place or the casualty says he heard or felt the bone snap, it is likely that a bone is broken. Sharp ends of a broken bone may damage important structures such as blood vessels and nerves. A broken limb should be steadied and supported to prevent movement of the broken ends before attempting to move the patient. If a person’s back or neck is so severely injured that he is afraid to move because of pain, or cannot move or feel his limbs, you should assume that he has a broken back. He should be moved on a hard, firm stretcher taking great care not to “jack-knife” him by picking up his feet and shoulders. Improvised stretchers can be made from a door, wide board, window shutter, etc. Fill in the natural hollows of the track and neck with padding and support the head on both sides to prevent movement.

DO NOT:

• Put strong antiseptics into a wound.
• Use a tourniquet.
• Remove clothing which is stuck to a burn.
• Break any blisters or apply creams or grease to a large burn.
• Give anything by mouth to a semi-conscious patient, or to a patient with internal abdominal wounds.

HOME NURSING HINTS

Before medical or nursing help becomes available you may also encounter infant care problems. emotional problems and persons suffering from radiation sickness. What to observe, and what to do for these latter cases, is outlined below.

Infant Care

Breast feeding is preferable but, if not possible, then a formula using powdered or evaporated milk should be prepared under clean conditions.

If vomiting or diarrhoea occurs infants and children become dehydrated very quickly. To avoid this happening give frequent sips of boiled water.

If a rash or fever develops, keep others away from the sick child.

Emotional Problems

Persons who become emotionally disturbed following a disaster should be treated calmly but firmly. They should be kept in small groups, preferably with persons whom they know and encouraged to “talk out” their problem. If they are not otherwise injured they should be given something to do. It may be necessary to enlist the aid of one other calm person to help subdue the overexcited patient. If a stunned or dazed reaction persists over 6 to 8 hours this should be reported to a doctor or nurse immediately one becomes available.

Radiation Sickness

The signs and symptoms of this illness are described in Step 2.

Treatment includes rest, the provision of whatever nutritional food and drink is available and personal encouragement to get well. Swab the mouth gently with mild, warm salt and water if it becomes sore. As these patients are susceptible to infection, keep wounds clean and covered with a sterile dressing. Separate these patients from persons with colds, rash or fever.

Improvised Equipment

The following suggestions may help you care for your patient when proper equipment is not available.

• Bed: A couch, mattress or any well padded, firm surface; if too low raise on bricks, boxes or wooden blocks.
• Bedding Protection: Old crib pads cut into a convenient size and placed over a waterproof sheeting; or several layers of newspaper and heavy brown paper covered with old soft cotton. (Never use thin plastic if patient is a child.)
• Backrest: A straight-backed chair turned upside down at head of bed and securely tied to bed; a triangular bolster or cushions from a chair or chesterfield.
• Bed Cradle: A light wooden box or firm cardboard carton approximately 10 x 12 x 24 inches, with two sides removed; or a hoop sawn in half and the two pieces joined together in the centre.
• Pressure Pads: Soft cushion or foam or sponge rubber pads will protect heels, elbows, back of head or any other body pressure point.
• Bedpan or Urinal: For bedpan use a padded dish or pan; for urinal any wide-necked bottle or jar.
• Hot Water Bottle: A heated brick wrapped in several layers of newspaper.

START TRAINING NOW!

ONE PERSON IN EVERY FAMILY SHOULD BE TRAINED IN FIRST AID AND/OR HOME NURSING.

Courses in these skills are available in most municipalities from your local St. John Ambulance Association or Canadian Red Cross Society.

REGISTER NOW!

Step 8: Know Emergency Cleanliness

Your limited supply of water will have to be rationed and used only for essential purposes. If you have enough warning time before the arrival of fallout, fill your bathtub, all available buckets and pans with water. And remember that there is an emergency supply in your hot water tank. (Don’t forget this if in peacetime your water supply has been temporarily disrupted).

The problems of garbage and human waste disposal can be solved even if fallout keeps you in the shelter. Put all your garbage in tightly covered garbage pails. After using your emergency toilet, you should tie human waste in waterproof plastic (polyethylene) bags and place them in the garbage pail. Store a 14-day supply of the plastic bags. After the second day in the shelter, you may risk leaving it for a few minutes for essential tasks. Therefore, when your garbage container is filled, move it out of the shelter.

Keep a soft broom in the shelter for tidying it up. Remember, personal cleanliness in crowded shelter conditions is important to you and your family. If your area is free of fallout but is without sewage services, bury human waste and garbage in the ground. Dig the pit deep enough so that the waste will be covered by at least two feet of earth.

Step 9: Know How To Get Rid Of Radioactive Dust

In Step 2, fallout was described as “sand”. To remove the danger, remove the sand. If you suspect that your clothes have fallout on them, remove your outer clothing before you come inside your home and leave it outside. Don’t shake these clothes inside the house or shelter. You would only scatter the fallout grit and create unnecessary danger to others. If you have water, wash thoroughly, particularly exposed skin and hair. But do not scrub your skin as this might rub in the radioactive particles.

Exposure to fallout does not make you radioactive.

Even if you are stricken with radiation sickness, this sickness cannot be passed on to others.

Fallout on your clothing or body would expose you and those close to you to radiation. If you suspect you have been exposed to fallout, you will not be a danger to others if you carefully get rid of your outer clothing outside the shelter and wash.

Food and Water

Since most of your food will be in tightly covered containers (cans, bottles, plastic, boxes), it will all be safe to eat or drink if you dust the containers. Food, if it is unspoiled and free of grit or dust, may be eaten during the emergency period. Be sure to wash fruit and vegetables and peel carefully. Water will be safe if it is in covered containers, or if it has come from covered wells, or from undamaged water systems.

Step 10: Know Your Municipal Plan

It is important that your local municipality have a plan for a war emergency. And it is just as important that you know that plan.

Over the past several years, provincial and municipal governments, with the assistance of federal authorities, have been steadily developing plans for the protection of the population and the continuity of essential government services in wartime. Most municipalities in Canada have emergency plans to deal with both peacetime disasters and a nuclear attack situation. These include the details of how welfare, health, police, public utilities, fire and other emergency services will operate.

Some larger communities have developed plans to assist in the evacuation of those who would choose to leave before an attack or who might have to be evacuated as survivors or casualties following an attack. These plans include traffic arrangements to reception centres and medical facilities in nearby communities.

It would be unwise to try and prepare your own family survival plan without first checking to see how it fits in with municipal plans. This would be true whether you plan to go to a safer area before attack or remain at home. It is particularly important that you know and understand the arrangements to instruct the public about staying in shelter and coming out of shelter when it is safe. Fallout is a health hazard which will require countermeasures for personal and family protection including assessment of radiation and advice and instructions to those in shelter.

There must be close understanding and cooperation between the public and municipal authorities responsible for their protection.

Find out about your municipal emergency plans now and keep well informed about them as they are further developed.

Step 11: Have A Plan For Your Family And Yourself

If you know what is contained in the first nine steps, and you know your municipal plan for a war emergency, you should now make your personal and family survival plan. The success of your plan will depend on how many of the suggested recommendations you carry out. Your chances of survival increase as you carry out each recommendation.

Thinking about the problems with which you would be faced should nuclear attack be launched against North America is the first important step. Blast, light, heat and radioactive fallout are the problems. A workable survival plan will include all of the preparations you can make in advance to meet those problems.

In making that plan, there are certain things you must know:

When to take protective action

When the sirens or other warning devices sound and your local broadcast station confirms that an attack on North America has been detected it means that you must take protective action immediately. Would you and your family

• Recognize the Attack Warning signal ?
• Turn on the radio or television and listen for instructions?

Where to take shelter

Deciding where you will take initial protective action and where you and your family will seek shelter from fallout are two basic points which you must consider in making your survival plan. Can you answer the following questions about seeking immediate protection and shelter:

• Have you decided where you will take shelter if you’re not at home when the Attack Warning sounds?
• Will you try to get home?
• Will your family know what to do if you are not at home?
• Is there a shelter plan for your children at school?
• Do you want them to try to get home?
• Does everybody in your family know your survival plan?

In thinking about what you will do or where you would go, you might consider leaving your home to find shelter elsewhere. Before you decide to plan on evacuation, consider the following questions:

• Will protection there be better than in your home?
• Are there sufficient supplies there?
• Can you carry emergency supplies for 14 days?
• Do you know how to get there quickly?

How to take shelter

If you don’t have a fallout shelter built in your home, study the guide given in Step 4. It shows how you can improvise emergency home protection. Bearing in mind that density and distance between you and the fallout is necessary, try to estimate if there is enough material and furniture to build an emergency shelter in your basement or the central part of your house.

• Can you move it to where it will be needed quickly?
• Will you have the help you require?

Based on the lists of emergency supplies suggested in Steps 5, 6, 7 and 8, try to answer the following questions:

• Do you have them at home?
• Can you collect and move them to the shelter area quickly?
• Does your emergency cooker, lamp, flashlight, radio work?
• Have you containers for water, garbage, hygiene?
• DO YOU HAVE A BATTERY RADIO AND SPARE BATTERIES?

There are many other points which you and your family must resolve for a workable survival plan. This booklet provides most of the essential information on which to base your plans. Read the Steps again, and, as you review each Step, try to answer the questions which apply to your surroundings, your home, your family. Here are a few more which may help:

• Do I know the recommended fire precautions?
• Does anyone in my family know how to fight small fires?
• Can an emergency supply of water be obtained quickly – for fire fighting? for personal use?
• Are first aid supplies and special medicines readily available?
• Does anyone in my family know how to render fist aid?
• Can materials for personal hygiene and cleanliness be gathered near the shelter area quickly?
• Do I know what I must do about radioactive dust?
• Do I know the emergency plans of my municipality – for public shelters? for planned evacuation routes? for schools, hospitals, welfare centres? other special instructions?

REMEMBER! YOU MUST PLAN FOR:

• PROTECTIVE ACTION WHEN WARNED OF ATTACK and
• PROVISION OF SHELTER AGAINST THE EFFECTS OF FALLOUT

On the basis of what you’ve read and the questions and answers you’ve thought about, you should now make your survival plan and start making whatever arrangements you can. BUT MAKE SURE THAT ALL MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY KNOW YOUR PLAN AND WHAT TO DO WHEN THE TIME COMES.

The best way to arrive at a workable plan which will be remembered by your family is to practice it. If you plan on building an emergency shelter, try it now to find out if you have enough material, how much help you’ll need, if your proposed area is large enough, and how long it will take to build. Locate and practice moving essential supplies, water, clothing, bedding, etc. Practice the essential things you would have to do.

If you plan to move to what you consider a safer location, make a practice run to make sure you know the quickest and safest route, that protection is available when you get there, and that you can carry all the supplies you think you’ll need.

WRITE DOWN THE IMPORTANT PARTS OF YOUR PLAN.

List for quick reference the important things to be done in the event of warning. As examples, note when and where all members of your family will take shelter at all times; where essential items of food, shelter and other supplies will be obtained; how shelter will be improvised; what windows must be blocked; if you plan on going to what you consider a safer area, details of the route and supplies you will need at your destination.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Threads is a 1984 television docudrama depicting the effects of a nuclear war on the United Kingdom and its aftermath. Written by Barry Hines and directed by Mick Jackson, Threads was filmed in late 1983 and early 1984.

The premise of Threads was to hypothesize the effects of a nuclear war on the United Kingdom after an exchange between the Soviet Union and the United States escalates to include the UK.

[... I found this amid piles of musty old magazines in a booth at a local arts festival. From 1962, deep in the midst of The Cold War -- everything you've ever wanted to know about fallout shelters but were afraid to ask. ...]

Images also available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wardomatic/sets/72157594417383496/

We have outlined the basic step by step process for the corrugated steel shelter construction with pictures . Following this presentation, we have shown in greater detail, how the process should unfold with either steel tanks or corrugated steel. If you wish to attempt this construction on your own, we would highly recommend that you read our entire manual, NUCLEAR DEFENSE ISSUES.

UTAH SHELTER SYSTEMS is now commercially building and selling any size corrugated steel shelter providing complete protection from earthquake, home invasion, winter storm, nuclear blast & radiation, fire storms, tornado and chemical/biological terrorism. These shelters are built to the specifications in our book NUCLEAR DEFENSE ISSUES. They include two entrances, two hardened blast doors, wood floor, floor coverings, chemical toilet, hardware to hang hammocks, AC & DC electrical system and a large 40 occupant complete ANDAIR chemical biological filter with air filtration system. For ordering or questions, call Sharon Packer at (435) 657-2641 or Paul Seyfried at (801) 280-8303, or e-mail to spacker@netoriginals.com.
Prices for our most popular sizes (not including installation or shipping)
1-20 occupants 8 ft. by 30 ft. $20,900
21-40 occupants 8 ft. by 50 ft. $22,900
40-60 occupants 9 ft. by 50 ft. $24,900
Storage only 7 ft. by 9 ft. $1,599

Step 1. Buy a corrugated steel culvert and weld on end plates:

Step 2. Make two entrances. (They must come down vertically, turn 90 degrees and enter the shelter horizontally):

Step 3. Dig a deep hole:

Step 4. Hire a crane and trackhoe to lift the shelter into the hole:

Step 5. Attach entrances:

Step 6. Fill to at least half way with washed crushed rock (1/2 or 3/4 inch minus):

Step 7. Add 6 inch diameter air vent

Step 8. Add 180 degree turn to air vent & fill excavation:

Step 9. Install blast door:

Step 10. Install floor:

Step 11. Install blast valves:

Step 12. Install Ventilation system with nuclear, chemical biological filter:

Step 13. Install electrical system:

People with rudimentary metal working skills can construct an 8 ft. by 40 ft. steel shelter with two entrances and blast doors for approximately $8,000. If we construct this shelter for you it will slightly more than double that price. We have found excavation and installation costs to run an additional $3,500. The air filtration system varies in cost from a few hundred dollars to an additional $5200 dollars for the Swiss made LUWA Nuclear, Chemical, Biological Filter.
If you wish for us to build the shelter for you, please contact us by phone. Look on this web site under Contact & Ordering.

The basic design, using corrugated steel culvert, was successfully tested up to 200 psi during nuclear weapons tests at the Nevada test site during the 1950s. Properly installed, either type of shelter should withstand a 200 psi overpressure as well as the thermal, blast, and radiation effects accompanying that overpressure range. Weapons effects from a one megaton (one million tons of TNT equivalent) ground burst would then be survivable within 1/4 mile of the crater edge, or at ground zero from a one megaton air burst detonated at a height maximizing blast damage. This design concept was highly recommended by government engineers. The design information, however, reached only a few people and no construction details were made available to the general public.

We researched this design while Sharon was doing her master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Utah. The blast doors and blast valves were designed by local engineers for the volunteer citizens group, The Civil Defense Volunteers of Utah, of which we are the founders. We know of no other shelter designs, commercially built or otherwise which have been tested under blast conditions.

http://www.netoriginals.com/uss/

also see http://www.radius-defense.com/

Article originally found at:

http://www.green-trust.org/bombshelter.htm

Posted to preserve original content. It appears that the original domain is going through a transition and I do not belive this information will survive.

General Information

This family fallout shelter, designed primarily for homes without basements, is a permanent home shelter to be placed in the yard. It is designed to have a protection factor of at least 40, which is the minimum standard of protection for public shelters throughout the United States. This assures that persons inside the shelter will be protected against radioactive fallout following a nuclear attack, and will also have protection against earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes.

Following are detail drawings of the shelter, which is capable of housing six adults. It can be built of poured reinforced concrete, precast concrete slabs, or a combination of concrete blocks and poured concrete. If it is built as detailed with the top near ground level, the roof slab can be used as an outdoor patio. The shelter is accessible by a hatch-door and wood stairway. Fresh air is provided by a hand-operated centrifugal blower and two ventilating pipes that extend above ground level. In areas where there is poor drainage or where the ground water table is close to the surface, the fourth modification on page 5 should be used.

Before starting to build the shelter, make certain that the plan conforms to the local building code. Obtain a building permit if required. If the shelter is to be built by a local contractor, engage a reliable firm that will do the work properly and offer protection from any liability or other claims arising from its construction.

GUIDE TO CONTRACTS AND SPECIFICATIONS

It is generally advisable to have a written contract with your contractor, as well as technical specifications to supplement the drawing. A widely used and convenient contract form for construction of this size is the AlA Document A 107, Short Form For Small Construction Contract-Stipulated Sum, which is available from the American Institute of Architects, 1785 Massachusetts Ave., Washington, D. C. 20036. It would be impractical to write a technical specification to suit every local condition; however, the following summary of generally accepted construction materials and practices should be a useful guide.

EXCAVATION

The excavation should have side slopes gradual enough to prevent caving, or appropriate shoring should be provided. Materials used for backfill and embankment should have debris, roots and large stones removed before placement. The sub-grade for the floor slab should be level for ease in placing waterproofing membrane and to provide uniform bearing conditions for the structure. The area surrounding the patio should be sloped away at a minimum grade of I inch per 10 feet to provide good drainage.

CONCRETE

For details of concrete construction, the Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete (ACI 318 – 71) should be followed. This publication can be obtained from the American Concrete Institute, Detroit, Michigan 48219.

WATERPROOFING

Waterproofing specifications may be obtained from the nearest FHA (Federal Housing Administration) office, or those of a reputable manufacturer of waterproofing materials may be used.

VENTILATION

The ventilation piping for the shelter should be installed in accordance with the practices outlined in the National Plumbing Code (ASA A40.8 – Latest Edition). This publication may be secured from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, N.Y. 10018. All pipe and fittings shall be galvanized. Suitable ventilating blowers and roof ventilators are available from many sources of supply. Fabrication details and consequently the installation requirements will differ for equipment furnished by the various manufacturers. Positive-displacement blowers having both electric motor and geared hand-crank drives are available from commercial sources.

OPTIONS

To accommodate additional persons, increase the shelter length 2′-6 for each two (2) shelter spaces. Do not increase the 9′-4 width.

Electrical service for lighting and outlets may be installed in the shelter from a separate residence circuit. A branch circuit breaker should be installed inside the shelter. Additional lighting and outlets may be provided from this circuit for the patio above.

An electric motor and pulley may be installed to operate the centrifugal hand-crank blower by virtue of the electrical service option.

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U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 1975.

CONTENTS

Foreword
Introduction
The Mechanics of Nuclear Explosions
Radioactive Fallout
A. Local Fallout
B. Worldwide Effects of Fallout
Alterations of the Global Environment
A. High Altitude Dust
B. Ozone
Some Conclusions

Note 1: Nuclear Weapons Yield
Note 2: Nuclear Weapons Design
Note 3: Radioactivity
Note 4: Nuclear Half-Life
Note 5: Oxygen, Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation

FOREWORD

Much research has been devoted to the effects of nuclear weapons. But
studies have been concerned for the most part with those immediate
consequences which would be suffered by a country that was the direct
target of nuclear attack. Relatively few studies have examined the
worldwide, long term effects.

Realistic and responsible arms control policy calls for our knowing more
about these wider effects and for making this knowledge available to the
public. To learn more about them, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
(ACDA) has initiated a number of projects, including a National Academy of
Sciences study, requested in April 1974. The Academy’s study, Long-Term
Worldwide Effects of Multiple Nuclear Weapons Detonations, a highly
technical document of more than 200 pages, is now available. The present
brief publication seeks to include its essential findings, along with the
results of related studies of this Agency, and to provide as well the basic
background facts necessary for informed perspectives on the issue.

New discoveries have been made, yet much uncertainty inevitably persists.
Our knowledge of nuclear warfare rests largely on theory and hypothesis,
fortunately untested by the usual processes of trial and error; the
paramount goal of statesmanship is that we should never learn from the
experience of nuclear war.

The uncertainties that remain are of such magnitude that of themselves they
must serve as a further deterrent to the use of nuclear weapons. At the
same time, knowledge, even fragmentary knowledge, of the broader effects of
nuclear weapons underlines the extreme difficulty that strategic planners
of any nation would face in attempting to predict the results of a nuclear
war. Uncertainty is one of the major conclusions in our studies, as the
haphazard and unpredicted derivation of many of our discoveries emphasizes.
Moreover, it now appears that a massive attack with many large-scale
nuclear detonations could cause such widespread and long-lasting
environmental damage that the aggressor country might suffer serious
physiological, economic, and environmental effects even without a nuclear
response by the country attacked.

An effort has been made to present this paper in language that does not
require a scientific background on the part of the reader. Nevertheless it
must deal in schematized processes, abstractions, and statistical
generalizations. Hence one supremely important perspective must be largely
supplied by the reader: the human perspective–the meaning of these
physical effects for individual human beings and for the fabric of
civilized life.

Fred C. Ikle
Director
U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

INTRODUCTION

It has now been two decades since the introduction of thermonuclear fusion
weapons into the military inventories of the great powers, and more than a
decade since the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union ceased
to test nuclear weapons in the atmosphere. Today our understanding of the
technology of thermonuclear weapons seems highly advanced, but our
knowledge of the physical and biological consequences of nuclear war is
continuously evolving.

Only recently, new light was shed on the subject in a study which the Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency had asked the National Academy of Sciences
to undertake. Previous studies had tended to focus very largely on
radioactive fallout from a nuclear war; an important aspect of this new
study was its inquiry into all possible consequences, including the effects
of large-scale nuclear detonations on the ozone layer which helps protect
life on earth from the sun’s ultraviolet radiations. Assuming a total
detonation of 10,000 megatons–a large-scale but less than total nuclear
“exchange,” as one would say in the dehumanizing jargon of the
strategists–it was concluded that as much as 30-70 percent of the ozone
might be eliminated from the northern hemisphere (where a nuclear war would
presumably take place) and as much as 20-40 percent from the southern
hemisphere. Recovery would probably take about 3-10 years, but the
Academy’s study notes that long term global changes cannot be completely
ruled out.

The reduced ozone concentrations would have a number of consequences
outside the areas in which the detonations occurred. The Academy study
notes, for example, that the resultant increase in ultraviolet would cause
“prompt incapacitating cases of sunburn in the temperate zones and snow
blindness in northern countries . . “

Strange though it might seem, the increased ultraviolet radiation could
also be accompanied by a drop in the average temperature. The size of the
change is open to question, but the largest changes would probably occur at
the higher latitudes, where crop production and ecological balances are
sensitively dependent on the number of frost-free days and other factors
related to average temperature. The Academy’s study concluded that ozone
changes due to nuclear war might decrease global surface temperatures by
only negligible amounts or by as much as a few degrees. To calibrate the
significance of this, the study mentioned that a cooling of even 1 degree
centigrade would eliminate commercial wheat growing in Canada.

Thus, the possibility of a serious increase in ultraviolet radiation has
been added to widespread radioactive fallout as a fearsome consequence of
the large-scale use of nuclear weapons. And it is likely that we must
reckon with still other complex and subtle processes, global in scope,
which could seriously threaten the health of distant populations in the
event of an all-out nuclear war.

Up to now, many of the important discoveries about nuclear weapon effects
have been made not through deliberate scientific inquiry but by accident.
And as the following historical examples show, there has been a series of
surprises.

“Castle/Bravo” was the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated by the United
States. Before it was set off at Bikini on February 28, 1954, it was
expected to explode with an energy equivalent of about 8 million tons of
TNT. Actually, it produced almost twice that explosive power–equivalent
to 15 million tons of TNT.

If the power of the bomb was unexpected, so were the after-effects. About
6 hours after the explosion, a fine, sandy ash began to sprinkle the
Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon, some 90 miles downwind of the burst
point, and Rongelap Atoll, 100 miles downwind. Though 40 to 50 miles away
from the proscribed test area, the vessel’s crew and the islanders received
heavy doses of radiation from the weapon’s “fallout”–the coral rock, soil,
and other debris sucked up in the fireball and made intensively radioactive
by the nuclear reaction. One radioactive isotope in the fallout,
iodine-131, rapidly built up to serious concentration in the thyroid glands
of the victims, particularly young Rongelapese children.

More than any other event in the decade of testing large nuclear weapons in
the atmosphere, Castle/Bravo’s unexpected contamination of 7,000 square
miles of the Pacific Ocean dramatically illustrated how large-scale nuclear
war could produce casualties on a colossal scale, far beyond the local
effects of blast and fire alone.

A number of other surprises were encountered during 30 years of nuclear
weapons development. For example, what was probably man’s most extensive
modification of the global environment to date occurred in September 1962,
when a nuclear device was detonated 250 miles above Johnson Island. The
1.4-megaton burst produced an artificial belt of charged particles trapped
in the earth’s magnetic field. Though 98 percent of these particles were
removed by natural processes after the first year, traces could be detected
6 or 7 years later. A number of satellites in low earth orbit at the time
of the burst suffered severe electronic damage resulting in malfunctions
and early failure. It became obvious that man now had the power to make
long term changes in his near-space environment.

Another unexpected effect of high-altitude bursts was the blackout of
high-frequency radio communications. Disruption of the ionosphere (which
reflects radio signals back to the earth) by nuclear bursts over the
Pacific has wiped out long-distance radio communications for hours at
distances of up to 600 miles from the burst point.

Yet another surprise was the discovery that electromagnetic pulses can play
havoc with electrical equipment itself, including some in command systems
that control the nuclear arms themselves.

Much of our knowledge was thus gained by chance–a fact which should imbue
us with humility as we contemplate the remaining uncertainties (as well as
the certainties) about nuclear warfare. What we have learned enables us,
nonetheless, to see more clearly. We know, for instance, that some of the
earlier speculations about the after-effects of a global nuclear war were
as far-fetched as they were horrifying–such as the idea that the
worldwide accumulation of radioactive fallout would eliminate all life on
the planet, or that it might produce a train of monstrous genetic mutations
in all living things, making future life unrecognizable. And this
accumulation of knowledge which enables us to rule out the more fanciful
possibilities also allows us to reexamine, with some scientific rigor,
other phenomena which could seriously affect the global environment and the
populations of participant and nonparticipant countries alike.

This paper is an attempt to set in perspective some of the longer term
effects of nuclear war on the global environment, with emphasis on areas
and peoples distant from the actual targets of the weapons.

THE MECHANICS OF NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS

In nuclear explosions, about 90 percent of the energy is released in less
than one millionth of a second. Most of this is in the form of the heat
and shock waves which produce the damage. It is this immediate and direct
explosive power which could devastate the urban centers in a major nuclear
war.

Compared with the immediate colossal destruction suffered in target areas,
the more subtle, longer term effects of the remaining 10 percent of the
energy released by nuclear weapons might seem a matter of secondary
concern. But the dimensions of the initial catastrophe should not
overshadow the after-effects of a nuclear war. They would be global,
affecting nations remote from the fighting for many years after the
holocaust, because of the way nuclear explosions behave in the atmosphere
and the radioactive products released by nuclear bursts.

When a weapon is detonated at the surface of the earth or at low altitudes,
the heat pulse vaporizes the bomb material, target, nearby structures, and
underlying soil and rock, all of which become entrained in an expanding,
fast-rising fireball. As the fireball rises, it expands and cools,
producing the distinctive mushroom cloud, signature of nuclear explosions.

The altitude reached by the cloud depends on the force of the explosion.
When yields are in the low-kiloton range, the cloud will remain in the
lower atmosphere and its effects will be entirely local. But as yields
exceed 30 kilotons, part of the cloud will punch into the stratosphere,
which begins about 7 miles up. With yields of 2-5 megatons or more,
virtually all of the cloud of radioactive debris and fine dust will climb
into the stratosphere. The heavier materials reaching the lower edge of
the stratosphere will soon settle out, as did the Castle/Bravo fallout at
Rongelap. But the lighter particles will penetrate high into the
stratosphere, to altitudes of 12 miles and more, and remain there for
months and even years. Stratospheric circulation and diffusion will spread
this material around the world.

RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT

Both the local and worldwide fallout hazards of nuclear explosions depend
on a variety of interacting factors: weapon design, explosive force,
altitude and latitude of detonation, time of year, and local weather
conditions.

All present nuclear weapon designs require the splitting of heavy elements
like uranium and plutonium. The energy released in this fission process is
many millions of times greater, pound for pound, than the most energetic
chemical reactions. The smaller nuclear weapon, in the low-kiloton range,
may rely solely on the energy released by the fission process, as did the
first bombs which devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The larger
yield nuclear weapons derive a substantial part of their explosive force
from the fusion of heavy forms of hydrogen–deuterium and tritium. Since
there is virtually no limitation on the volume of fusion materials in a
weapon, and the materials are less costly than fissionable materials, the
fusion, “thermonuclear,” or “hydrogen” bomb brought a radical increase in
the explosive power of weapons. However, the fission process is still
necessary to achieve the high temperatures and pressures needed to trigger
the hydrogen fusion reactions. Thus, all nuclear detonations produce
radioactive fragments of heavy elements fission, with the larger bursts
producing an additional radiation component from the fusion process.

The nuclear fragments of heavy-element fission which are of greatest
concern are those radioactive atoms (also called radionuclides) which decay
by emitting energetic electrons or gamma particles. (See “Radioactivity”
note.) An important characteristic here is the rate of decay. This is
measured in terms of “half-life”–the time required for one-half of the
original substance to decay–which ranges from days to thousands of years
for the bomb-produced radionuclides of principal interest. (See “Nuclear
Half-Life” note.) Another factor which is critical in determining the
hazard of radionuclides is the chemistry of the atoms. This determines
whether they will be taken up by the body through respiration or the food
cycle and incorporated into tissue. If this occurs, the risk of biological
damage from the destructive ionizing radiation (see “Radioactivity” note)
is multiplied.

Probably the most serious threat is cesium-137, a gamma emitter with a
half-life of 30 years. It is a major source of radiation in nuclear
fallout, and since it parallels potassium chemistry, it is readily taken
into the blood of animals and men and may be incorporated into tissue.

Other hazards are strontium-90, an electron emitter with a half-life of 28
years, and iodine-131 with a half-life of only 8 days. Strontium-90
follows calcium chemistry, so that it is readily incorporated into the
bones and teeth, particularly of young children who have received milk from
cows consuming contaminated forage. Iodine-131 is a similar threat to
infants and children because of its concentration in the thyroid gland.
In addition, there is plutonium-239, frequently used in nuclear explosives.
A bone-seeker like strontium-90, it may also become lodged in the lungs,
where its intense local radiation can cause cancer or other damage.
Plutonium-239 decays through emission of an alpha particle (helium nucleus)
and has a half-life of 24,000 years.

To the extent that hydrogen fusion contributes to the explosive force of a
weapon, two other radionuclides will be released: tritium (hydrogen-3), an
electron emitter with a half-life of 12 years, and carbon-14, an electron
emitter with a half-life of 5,730 years. Both are taken up through the
food cycle and readily incorporated in organic matter.

Three types of radiation damage may occur: bodily damage (mainly leukemia
and cancers of the thyroid, lung, breast, bone, and gastrointestinal
tract); genetic damage (birth defects and constitutional and degenerative
diseases due to gonodal damage suffered by parents); and development and
growth damage (primarily growth and mental retardation of unborn infants
and young children). Since heavy radiation doses of about 20 roentgen or
more (see “Radioactivity” note) are necessary to produce developmental
defects, these effects would probably be confined to areas of heavy local
fallout in the nuclear combatant nations and would not become a global
problem.

A. Local Fallout

Most of the radiation hazard from nuclear bursts comes from short-lived
radionuclides external to the body; these are generally confined to the
locality downwind of the weapon burst point. This radiation hazard comes
from radioactive fission fragments with half-lives of seconds to a few
months, and from soil and other materials in the vicinity of the burst made
radioactive by the intense neutron flux of the fission and fusion
reactions.

It has been estimated that a weapon with a fission yield of 1 million tons
TNT equivalent power (1 megaton) exploded at ground level in a 15
miles-per-hour wind would produce fallout in an ellipse extending hundreds
of miles downwind from the burst point. At a distance of 20-25 miles
downwind, a lethal radiation dose (600 rads) would be accumulated by a
person who did not find shelter within 25 minutes after the time the
fallout began. At a distance of 40-45 miles, a person would have at most 3
hours after the fallout began to find shelter. Considerably smaller
radiation doses will make people seriously ill. Thus, the survival
prospects of persons immediately downwind of the burst point would be slim
unless they could be sheltered or evacuated.

It has been estimated that an attack on U.S. population centers by 100
weapons of one-megaton fission yield would kill up to 20 percent of the
population immediately through blast, heat, ground shock and instant
radiation effects (neutrons and gamma rays); an attack with 1,000 such
weapons would destroy immediately almost half the U.S. population. These
figures do not include additional deaths from fires, lack of medical
attention, starvation, or the lethal fallout showering to the ground
downwind of the burst points of the weapons.

Most of the bomb-produced radionuclides decay rapidly. Even so, beyond the
blast radius of the exploding weapons there would be areas (“hot spots”)
the survivors could not enter because of radioactive contamination from
long-lived radioactive isotopes like strontium-90 or cesium-137, which can
be concentrated through the food chain and incorporated into the body. The
damage caused would be internal, with the injurious effects appearing over
many years. For the survivors of a nuclear war, this lingering radiation
hazard could represent a grave threat for as long as 1 to 5 years after the
attack.

B. Worldwide Effects of Fallout

Much of our knowledge of the production and distribution of radionuclides
has been derived from the period of intensive nuclear testing in the
atmosphere during the 1950′s and early 1960′s. It is estimated that more
than 500 megatons of nuclear yield were detonated in the atmosphere between
1945 and 1971, about half of this yield being produced by a fission
reaction. The peak occurred in 1961-62, when a total of 340 megatons were
detonated in the atmosphere by the United States and Soviet Union. The
limited nuclear test ban treaty of 1963 ended atmospheric testing for the
United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, but two major
non-signatories, France and China, continued nuclear testing at the rate of
about 5 megatons annually. (France now conducts its nuclear tests
underground.)

A U.N. scientific committee has estimated that the cumulative per capita
dose to the world’s population up to the year 2000 as a result of
atmospheric testing through 1970 (cutoff date of the study) will be the
equivalent of 2 years’ exposure to natural background radiation on the
earth’s surface. For the bulk of the world’s population, internal and
external radiation doses of natural origin amount to less than one-tenth
rad annually. Thus nuclear testing to date does not appear to pose a
severe radiation threat in global terms. But a nuclear war releasing 10 or
100 times the total yield of all previous weapons tests could pose a far
greater worldwide threat.

The biological effects of all forms of ionizing radiation have been
calculated within broad ranges by the National Academy of Sciences. Based
on these calculations, fallout from the 500-plus megatons of nuclear
testing through 1970 will produce between 2 and 25 cases of genetic disease
per million live births in the next generation. This means that between 3
and 50 persons per billion births in the post-testing generation will have
genetic damage for each megaton of nuclear yield exploded. With similar
uncertainty, it is possible to estimate that the induction of cancers would
range from 75 to 300 cases per megaton for each billion people in the
post-test generation.

If we apply these very rough yardsticks to a large-scale nuclear war in
which 10,000 megatons of nuclear force are detonated, the effects on a
world population of 5 billion appear enormous. Allowing for uncertainties
about the dynamics of a possible nuclear war, radiation-induced cancers and
genetic damage together over 30 years are estimated to range from 1.5 to
30 million for the world population as a whole. This would mean one
additional case for every 100 to 3,000 people or about 1/2 percent to
15 percent of the estimated peacetime cancer death rate in developed
countries. As will be seen, moreover, there could be other, less well
understood effects which would drastically increase suffering and death.

ALTERATIONS OF THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

A nuclear war would involve such prodigious and concentrated short term
release of high temperature energy that it is necessary to consider a
variety of potential environmental effects.

It is true that the energy of nuclear weapons is dwarfed by many natural
phenomena. A large hurricane may have the power of a million hydrogen
bombs. But the energy release of even the most severe weather is diffuse;
it occurs over wide areas, and the difference in temperature between the
storm system and the surrounding atmosphere is relatively small. Nuclear
detonations are just the opposite–highly concentrated with reaction
temperatures up to tens of millions of degrees Fahrenheit. Because they
are so different from natural processes, it is necessary to examine their
potential for altering the environment in several contexts.

A. High Altitude Dust

It has been estimated that a 10,000-megaton war with half the weapons
exploding at ground level would tear up some 25 billion cubic meters of
rock and soil, injecting a substantial amount of fine dust and particles
into the stratosphere. This is roughly twice the volume of material
blasted loose by the Indonesian volcano, Krakatoa, whose explosion in 1883
was the most powerful terrestrial event ever recorded. Sunsets around the
world were noticeably reddened for several years after the Krakatoa
eruption, indicating that large amounts of volcanic dust had entered the
stratosphere.

Subsequent studies of large volcanic explosions, such as Mt. Agung on Bali
in 1963, have raised the possibility that large-scale injection of dust
into the stratosphere would reduce sunlight intensities and temperatures at
the surface, while increasing the absorption of heat in the upper
atmosphere.

The resultant minor changes in temperature and sunlight could affect crop
production. However, no catastrophic worldwide changes have resulted from
volcanic explosions, so it is doubtful that the gross injection of
particulates into the stratosphere by a 10,000-megaton conflict would, by
itself, lead to major global climate changes.

B. Ozone

More worrisome is the possible effect of nuclear explosions on ozone in the
stratosphere. Not until the 20th century was the unique and paradoxical
role of ozone fully recognized. On the other hand, in concentrations
greater than I part per million in the air we breathe, ozone is toxic; one
major American city, Los Angeles, has established a procedure for ozone
alerts and warnings. On the other hand, ozone is a critically important
feature of the stratosphere from the standpoint of maintaining life on the
earth.

The reason is that while oxygen and nitrogen in the upper reaches of the
atmosphere can block out solar ultraviolet photons with wavelengths shorter
than 2,420 angstroms (A), ozone is the only effective shield in the
atmosphere against solar ultraviolet radiation between 2,500 and 3,000 A in
wavelength. (See note 5.) Although ozone is extremely efficient at
filtering out solar ultraviolet in 2,500-3,OOO A region of the spectrum,
some does get through at the higher end of the spectrum. Ultraviolet rays
in the range of 2,800 to 3,200 A which cause sunburn, prematurely age human
skin and produce skin cancers. As early as 1840, arctic snow blindness was
attributed to solar ultraviolet; and we have since found that intense
ultraviolet radiation can inhibit photosynthesis in plants, stunt plant
growth, damage bacteria, fungi, higher plants, insects and annuals, and
produce genetic alterations.

Despite the important role ozone plays in assuring a liveable environment
at the earth’s surface, the total quantity of ozone in the atmosphere is
quite small, only about 3 parts per million. Furthermore, ozone is not a
durable or static constituent of the atmosphere. It is constantly created,
destroyed, and recreated by natural processes, so that the amount of ozone
present at any given time is a function of the equilibrium reached between
the creative and destructive chemical reactions and the solar radiation
reaching the upper stratosphere.

The mechanism for the production of ozone is the absorption by oxygen
molecules (O2) of relatively short-wavelength ultraviolet light. The
oxygen molecule separates into two atoms of free oxygen, which immediately
unite with other oxygen molecules on the surfaces of particles in the upper
atmosphere. It is this union which forms ozone, or O3. The heat released
by the ozone-forming process is the reason for the curious increase with
altitude of the temperature of the stratosphere (the base of which is about
36,000 feet above the earth’s surface).

While the natural chemical reaction produces about 4,500 tons of ozone per
second in the stratosphere, this is offset by other natural chemical
reactions which break down the ozone. By far the most significant involves
nitric oxide (NO) which breaks ozone (O3) into molecules. This effect was
discovered only in the last few years in studies of the environmental
problems which might be encountered if large fleets of supersonic transport
aircraft operate routinely in the lower stratosphere. According to a
report by Dr. Harold S. Johnston, University of California at Berkeley–
prepared for the Department of Transportation’s Climatic Impact
Assessment Program–it now appears that the NO reaction is normally
responsible for 50 to 70 percent of the destruction of ozone.

In the natural environment, there is a variety of means for the production
of NO and its transport into the stratosphere. Soil bacteria produce
nitrous oxide (N2O) which enters the lower atmosphere and slowly diffuses
into the stratosphere, where it reacts with free oxygen (O) to form two NO
molecules. Another mechanism for NO production in the lower atmosphere may
be lightning discharges, and while NO is quickly washed out of the lower
atmosphere by rain, some of it may reach the stratosphere. Additional
amounts of NO are produced directly in the stratosphere by cosmic rays from
the sun and interstellar sources.

It is because of this catalytic role which nitric oxide plays in the
destruction of ozone that it is important to consider the effects of
high-yield nuclear explosions on the ozone layer. The nuclear fireball and
the air entrained within it are subjected to great heat, followed by
relatively rapid cooling. These conditions are ideal for the production of
tremendous amounts of NO from the air. It has been estimated that as much
as 5,000 tons of nitric oxide is produced for each megaton of nuclear
explosive power.

What would be the effects of nitric oxides driven into the stratosphere by
an all-out nuclear war, involving the detonation of 10,000 megatons of
explosive force in the northern hemisphere? According to the recent
National Academy of Sciences study, the nitric oxide produced by the
weapons could reduce the ozone levels in the northern hemisphere by as much
as 30 to 70 percent.

To begin with, a depleted ozone layer would reflect back to the earth’s
surface less heat than would normally be the case, thus causing a drop in
temperature–perhaps enough to produce serious effects on agriculture.
Other changes, such as increased amounts of dust or different vegetation,
might subsequently reverse this drop in temperature–but on the other hand,
it might increase it.

Probably more important, life on earth has largely evolved within the
protective ozone shield and is presently adapted rather precisely to the
amount of solar ultraviolet which does get through. To defend themselves
against this low level of ultraviolet, evolved external shielding
(feathers, fur, cuticular waxes on fruit), internal shielding (melanin
pigment in human skin, flavenoids in plant tissue), avoidance strategies
(plankton migration to greater depths in the daytime, shade-seeking by
desert iguanas) and, in almost all organisms but placental mammals,
elaborate mechanisms to repair photochemical damage.

It is possible, however, that a major increase in solar ultraviolet might
overwhelm the defenses of some and perhaps many terrestrial life forms.
Both direct and indirect damage would then occur among the bacteria,
insects, plants, and other links in the ecosystems on which human
well-being depends. This disruption, particularly if it occurred in the
aftermath of a major war involving many other dislocations, could pose a
serious additional threat to the recovery of postwar society. The National
Academy of Sciences report concludes that in 20 years the ecological
systems would have essentially recovered from the increase in ultraviolet
radiation–though not necessarily from radioactivity or other damage in
areas close to the war zone. However, a delayed effect of the increase in
ultraviolet radiation would be an estimated 3 to 30 percent increase in
skin cancer for 40 years in the Northern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes.

SOME CONCLUSIONS

We have considered the problems of large-scale nuclear war from the
standpoint of the countries not under direct attack, and the difficulties
they might encounter in postwar recovery. It is true that most of the
horror and tragedy of nuclear war would be visited on the populations
subject to direct attack, who would doubtless have to cope with extreme and
perhaps insuperable obstacles in seeking to reestablish their own
societies. It is no less apparent, however, that other nations, including
those remote from the combat, could suffer heavily because of damage to the
global environment.

Finally, at least brief mention should be made of the global effects
resulting from disruption of economic activities and communications. Since
1970, an increasing fraction of the human race has been losing the battle
for self-sufficiency in food, and must rely on heavy imports. A major
disruption of agriculture and transportation in the grain-exporting and
manufacturing countries could thus prove disastrous to countries importing
food, farm machinery, and fertilizers–especially those which are already
struggling with the threat of widespread starvation. Moreover, virtually
every economic area, from food and medicines to fuel and growth engendering
industries, the less-developed countries would find they could not rely on
the “undamaged” remainder of the developed world for trade essentials: in
the wake of a nuclear war the industrial powers directly involved would
themselves have to compete for resources with those countries that today
are described as “less-developed.”

Similarly, the disruption of international communications–satellites,
cables, and even high frequency radio links–could be a major obstacle to
international recovery efforts.

In attempting to project the after-effects of a major nuclear war, we have
considered separately the various kinds of damage that could occur. It is
also quite possible, however, that interactions might take place among
these effects, so that one type of damage would couple with another to
produce new and unexpected hazards. For example, we can assess
individually the consequences of heavy worldwide radiation fallout and
increased solar ultraviolet, but we do not know whether the two acting
together might significantly increase human, animal, or plant
susceptibility to disease. We can conclude that massive dust injection
into the stratosphere, even greater in scale than Krakatoa, is unlikely by
itself to produce significant climatic and environmental change, but we
cannot rule out interactions with other phenomena, such as ozone depletion,
which might produce utterly unexpected results.

We have come to realize that nuclear weapons can be as unpredictable as
they are deadly in their effects. Despite some 30 years of development and
study, there is still much that we do not know. This is particularly true
when we consider the global effects of a large-scale nuclear war.

Note 1: Nuclear Weapons Yield

The most widely used standard for measuring the power of nuclear weapons is
“yield,” expressed as the quantity of chemical explosive (TNT) that would
produce the same energy release. The first atomic weapon which leveled
Hiroshima in 1945, had a yield of 13 kilotons; that is, the explosive power
of 13,000 tons of TNT. (The largest conventional bomb dropped in World War
II contained about 10 tons of TNT.)

Since Hiroshima, the yields or explosive power of nuclear weapons have
vastly increased. The world’s largest nuclear detonation, set off in 1962
by the Soviet Union, had a yield of 58 megatons–equivalent to 58 million
tons of TNT. A modern ballistic missile may carry warhead yields up to 20
or more megatons.

Even the most violent wars of recent history have been relatively limited
in terms of the total destructive power of the non-nuclear weapons used.
A single aircraft or ballistic missile today can carry a nuclear explosive
force surpassing that of all the non-nuclear bombs used in recent wars.
The number of nuclear bombs and missiles the superpowers now possess runs
into the thousands.

Note 2: Nuclear Weapons Design

Nuclear weapons depend on two fundamentally different types of nuclear
reactions, each of which releases energy:

Fission, which involves the splitting of heavy elements (e.g. uranium); and
fusion, which involves the combining of light elements (e.g. hydrogen).

Fission requires that a minimum amount of material or “critical mass” be
brought together in contact for the nuclear explosion to take place. The
more efficient fission weapons tend to fall in the yield range of tens of
kilotons. Higher explosive yields become increasingly complex and
impractical.

Nuclear fusion permits the design of weapons of virtually limitless power.
In fusion, according to nuclear theory, when the nuclei of light atoms like
hydrogen are joined, the mass of the fused nucleus is lighter than the two
original nuclei; the loss is expressed as energy. By the 1930′s,
physicists had concluded that this was the process which powered the sun
and stars; but the nuclear fusion process remained only of theoretical
interest until it was discovered that an atomic fission bomb might be used
as a “trigger” to produce, within one- or two-millionths of a second, the
intense pressure and temperature necessary to set off the fusion reaction.

Fusion permits the design of weapons of almost limitless power, using
materials that are far less costly.

Note 3: Radioactivity

Most familiar natural elements like hydrogen, oxygen, gold, and lead are
stable, and enduring unless acted upon by outside forces. But almost all
elements can exist in unstable forms. The nuclei of these unstable
“isotopes,” as they are called, are “uncomfortable” with the particular
mixture of nuclear particles comprising them, and they decrease this
internal stress through the process of radioactive decay.

The three basic modes of radioactive decay are the emission of alpha, beta
and gamma radiation:

Alpha–Unstable nuclei frequently emit alpha particles, actually helium
nuclei consisting of two protons and two neutrons. By far the most massive
of the decay particles, it is also the slowest, rarely exceeding one-tenth
the velocity of light. As a result, its penetrating power is weak, and it
can usually be stopped by a piece of paper. But if alpha emitters like
plutonium are incorporated in the body, they pose a serious cancer threat.

Beta–Another form of radioactive decay is the emission of a beta particle,
or electron. The beta particle has only about one seven-thousandth the
mass of the alpha particle, but its velocity is very much greater, as much
as eight-tenths the velocity of light. As a result, beta particles can
penetrate far more deeply into bodily tissue and external doses of beta
radiation represent a significantly greater threat than the slower, heavier
alpha particles. Beta-emitting isotopes are as harmful as alpha emitters
if taken up by the body.

Gamma–In some decay processes, the emission is a photon having no mass at
all and traveling at the speed of light. Radio waves, visible light,
radiant heat, and X-rays are all photons, differing only in the energy
level each carries. The gamma ray is similar to the X-ray photon, but far
more penetrating (it can traverse several inches of concrete). It is
capable of doing great damage in the body.

Common to all three types of nuclear decay radiation is their ability to
ionize (i.e., unbalance electrically) the neutral atoms through which they
pass, that is, give them a net electrical charge. The alpha particle,
carrying a positive electrical charge, pulls electrons from the atoms
through which it passes, while negatively charged beta particles can push
electrons out of neutral atoms. If energetic betas pass sufficiently close
to atomic nuclei, they can produce X-rays which themselves can ionize
additional neutral atoms. Massless but energetic gamma rays can knock
electrons out of neutral atoms in the same fashion as X-rays, leaving them
ionized. A single particle of radiation can ionize hundreds of neutral
atoms in the tissue in multiple collisions before all its energy is
absorbed. This disrupts the chemical bonds for critically important cell
structures like the cytoplasm, which carries the cell’s genetic blueprints,
and also produces chemical constituents which can cause as much damage as
the original ionizing radiation.

For convenience, a unit of radiation dose called the “rad” has been
adopted. It measures the amount of ionization produced per unit volume by
the particles from radioactive decay.

Note 4: Nuclear Half-Life

The concept of “half-life” is basic to an understanding of radioactive
decay of unstable nuclei.

Unlike physical “systems”–bacteria, animals, men and stars–unstable
isotopes do not individually have a predictable life span. There is no way
of forecasting when a single unstable nucleus will decay.

Nevertheless, it is possible to get around the random behavior of an
individual nucleus by dealing statistically with large numbers of nuclei of
a particular radioactive isotope. In the case of thorium-232, for example,
radioactive decay proceeds so slowly that 14 billion years must elapse
before one-half of an initial quantity decayed to a more stable
configuration. Thus the half-life of this isotope is 14 billion years.
After the elapse of second half-life (another 14 billion years), only
one-fourth of the original quantity of thorium-232 would remain, one eighth
after the third half-life, and so on.

Most manmade radioactive isotopes have much shorter half-lives, ranging
from seconds or days up to thousands of years. Plutonium-239 (a manmade
isotope) has a half-life of 24,000 years.

For the most common uranium isotope, U-238, the half-life is 4.5 billion
years, about the age of the solar system. The much scarcer, fissionable
isotope of uranium, U-235, has a half-life of 700 million years, indicating
that its present abundance is only about 1 percent of the amount present
when the solar system was born.

Note 5: Oxygen, Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation

Oxygen, vital to breathing creatures, constitutes about one-fifth of the
earth’s atmosphere. It occasionally occurs as a single atom in the
atmosphere at high temperature, but it usually combines with a second
oxygen atom to form molecular oxygen (O2). The oxygen in the air we
breathe consists primarily of this stable form.

Oxygen has also a third chemical form in which three oxygen atoms are bound
together in a single molecule (03), called ozone. Though less stable and
far more rare than O2, and principally confined to upper levels of the
stratosphere, both molecular oxygen and ozone play a vital role in
shielding the earth from harmful components of solar radiation.

Most harmful radiation is in the “ultraviolet” region of the solar
spectrum, invisible to the eye at short wavelengths (under 3,000 A). (An
angstrom unit–A–is an exceedingly short unit of length–10 billionths of
a centimeter, or about 4 billionths of an inch.) Unlike X-rays, ultraviolet
photons are not “hard” enough to ionize atoms, but pack enough energy to
break down the chemical bonds of molecules in living cells and produce a
variety of biological and genetic abnormalities, including tumors and
cancers.

Fortunately, because of the earth’s atmosphere, only a trace of this
dangerous ultraviolet radiation actually reaches the earth. By the time
sunlight reaches the top of the stratosphere, at about 30 miles altitude,
almost all the radiation shorter than 1,900 A has been absorbed by
molecules of nitrogen and oxygen. Within the stratosphere itself,
molecular oxygen (02) absorbs the longer wavelengths of ultraviolet, up to
2,420 A; and ozone (O3) is formed as a result of this absorption process.
It is this ozone then which absorbs almost all of the remaining ultraviolet
wavelengths up to about 3,000 A, so that almost all of the dangerous solar
radiation is cut off before it reaches the earth’s surface.

This guide is for families preparing for imminent terrorist or strategic nuclear attacks with expected severe destruction followed by widespread radioactive fallout downwind.

IF ONLY A ‘Dirty Bomb’ Attack (Not the vastly more devastating nuclear weapon blasts with fallout discussed below.) – You can expect localized and downwind contamination from the explosion and dispersed radioactive materials. If you are near enough to see or hear any local bomb blast, assume that it includes radiological or chemical agents. You should move away from the blast area as quickly as possible. If the wind is blowing toward you from the direction of the blast, travel in a direction that is crosswise or perpendicular to the wind as you move away from the blast area. If possible cover your face with a dust mask or cloth to avoid inhaling potentially radioactive dust. Upon reaching a safe location, remove your outer clothing outside and shower as soon as possible. Refer to local news sources for additional instructions about sheltering or evacuation. The government is better prepared to direct and assist the public in a ‘dirty bomb’ incident, unlike an actual nuclear weapon attack discussed below.

In a national crisis of imminent nuclear weapon attacks, read all the way through this guide first,

THEN TAKE EFFECTIVE PROTECTIVE ACTION WITH CONFIDENCE… FAST!

#1 – STAY OR GO?

You must decide FIRST if you need to prepare where you are, or attempt evacuation. The nature of the threat, your prior preparations, and your confidence in your sources of information should direct your decision. If you know already you will be preparing to stay at your own home or, at least, the immediate local area, go now to #2 below.

If you are considering evacuation, your decision requires a very high confidence that it is worth the risk. You do not want to get stuck between your current location and your hoped for destination, as there will probably be no easy getting back. If you fail to get to your destination, you may be exposed without shelter, in a dangerous situation with little effective law enforcement, perhaps among panicked hordes of refugees. Whatever supplies you have may be limited then to what you can carry on foot. IF you are in a big city or near a military target, AND you have relatives or friends in the country that you know are awaiting you, AND the roads between you and them are clear, AND the authorities are not yet restricting traffic, AND you have the means and fuel, evacuation may be a viable option for a limited time. DO NOT attempt evacuation if all of the above is not clearly known, or if the situation is deteriorating too quickly to make the complete trip. You do not want to get stuck and/or become a refugee being herded along with panicked masses. If evacuation is truly a viable option, do not wait – GO NOW! Do so with as many of the supplies listed on the last page as possible. Better to be two days too early in arriving than two hours too late and getting snagged mid-way, potentially exposing your family to a worse fate than having stayed where you were. Because of the very real danger of getting caught in an evacuation stampede that stalls, almost all families will be better off making the best of it wherever they currently are.

#2 – WHAT YOU NEED TO DO FIRST

Because time is of the essence, you need to first delegate and assign to different adult family members specific tasks so they can all be accomplished at the same time. Your first priorities to assure your family survival are Shelter, Water, and Food/Supplies. While some are working on the water storage and shelter at home, others need to be acquiring, as much as possible, the food and supplies.

#3 – FOOD/SUPPLIES

Because much of the food and supplies listed on the last page of this guide may quickly become unavailable, you need to assign someone NOW to immediately go to the stores with that list! Get cash from the bank and ATM’s first, but try and use credit cards at the stores, if at all possible, to preserve your cash.

#4 – WATER

With one or more adults now heading to the stores with the list on the last page, those remaining need to begin storing water IMMEDIATELY! Lack of clean water will devastate your family much more quickly and more severely than any lack of food. Without water for both drinking and continued good sanitary practices in food preparation and for bathroom excursions (which will inevitably be much less sanitary than normal), debilitating sickness could rampage through your household with little hope of prompt medical attention. That is a highly likely but, avoidable, disaster, ONLY IF you have enough water.

Every possible container needs to be filled with water RIGHT NOW! It will be very hard to have stored too much water. When the electricity/pumps go down or everybody in your community is doing the same thing, thus dropping the water pressure, what you’ve got is all you might be getting for a very long time. Empty pop bottles (1-3 liter) are ideal for water storage, also filling up the bathtub and washing machine. (Remember, later you’ll have some in your hot water tank.) If you have any kiddie pools or old water beds, pull them out and fill them up, too. (Water from a water bed should be used only for bathing or cleaning, not for drinking as it may contain traces of algaecide and/or fungicides.) Anything and everything that’ll hold water needs to be filled up quickly RIGHT NOW!!

One of the shopping items listed on the last page is new garbage cans and liner bags which you’ll also use for storing water. If you can’t get any more new cans, you could clean out an existing garbage can and scrub it throughout with bleach, then put in a new garbage bag liner and fill it with water. Even sturdy boxes could be used with bag liners. (Use two liners if they are very thin/flimsy.) Choose well where you fill up garbage cans with water because they won’t easily be moved once full and many of them together could be too heavy for some upper floor locations. Ideally, they need to be very near where your shelter will be constructed and can actually add to its shielding properties, as you’ll see below. BE ASSURED, YOU CANNOT STORE AND HAVE TOO MUCH WATER! Do not hesitate, fill up every possible container, RIGHT NOW!

#5 – SHELTER

The principles of radiation protection are simple – with many options and resources families can use to prepare or improvise a very effective shelter. You must throw off the self-defeating myths of nuclear un-survivability that may needlessly seal the fate of less informed families.

Radioactive fallout is the particulate matter (dust) produced by a nuclear explosion and carried high up into the air by the mushroom cloud. It drifts on the wind and most of it settles back to earth downwind of the explosion. The heaviest, most dangerous, and most noticeable fallout, will ‘fall out’ first close to ground zero. It may begin arriving minutes after an explosion. While the smaller and lighter dust-like particles will typically be arriving hours later, as they drift much farther downwind, often for hundreds of miles. As it settles, whether you can see it or not, fallout will accumulate and blow around everywhere just like dust or light snow does on the ground and roofs. Wind and rain can concentrate the fallout into localized ‘hot spots’ of much more intense radiation with no visible indication of its presence.

This radioactive fallout ‘dust’ is dangerous because it is emitting penetrating radiation energy (similar to x-ray’s). This radiation (not the fallout dust) can go right through walls, roofs and protective clothing. Even if you manage not to inhale or ingest the dust, and keep it off your skin, hair, and clothes, and even if none gets inside your house, the radiation penetrating your home is still extremely dangerous, and can injure or kill you inside.

Radioactive fallout from a nuclear explosion, though very dangerous initially, loses its intensity quickly because it is giving off so much energy. For example, fallout emitting gamma ray radiation at a rate of 500 R/hr (fatal with one hour of exposure) shortly after an explosion, weakens to only 1/10th as strong 7 hours later. Two days later, it’s only 1/100th as strong, or as deadly, as it was initially.

That is really very good news, because our families can readily survive it IF we get them into a proper shelter to safely wait it out as it becomes less dangerous with every passing hour.

What stops radiation, and thus shields your family, is simply putting mass between them and the radiation source. Like police body armor stopping bullets, mass stops (absorbs) radiation. The thicker the mass, the more radiation it stops. Also, the denser (heavier) the mass used, the more effective it is with every inch more you add to your fallout shelter. The thickness in inches needed to cut the radiation down to only 1/10th of its initial intensity for different common materials is: Steel 3.3″, concrete 11″, earth 16″, water 24″, wood 38″, etc. The thickness required to stop 99% of the radiation is: 5″ of steel, 16″ of solid brick or hollow concrete blocks filled with mortar or sand, 2 feet of packed earth or 3 feet if loose, 3 feet of water. You may not have enough steel available, but anything you do have will have mass and can be used to add to your shielding – it just takes more thickness of lighter wood, for example, than heavier earth, to absorb and stop the same amount of radiation. Increasing the distance between your family and the radiation outside also reduces the radiation intensity.

The goals of your family fallout shelter are:

* To maximize the distance away from the fallout ‘dusting’ outside on the ground and roof
* To place sufficient mass between your family and the fallout to absorb the deadly radiation
* To make the shelter tolerable to stay in while the radiation subsides with every passing hour

While a fallout shelter can be built anywhere, you should see what your best options are at home or nearby. Some structures already provide significant shielding or partial shielding that can be enhanced for adequate protection. If you do not have a basement available, you can still use the techniques shown below in any above ground structure, but you’ll need to use more mass to achieve the same level of shielding. You may consider using other solid structures nearby, especially those with below ground spaces, such as commercial buildings, schools, churches, below ground parking garages, large and long culverts, tunnels, etc.. Some of these may require permissions and/or the acquiring of additional materials to minimize any fallout drifting or blowing into them, if open ended. Buildings with a half-dozen or more floors, where there is not a concern of blast damage, may provide good radiation protection in the center of the middle floors. This is because of both the distance and the shielding the multiple floors provide from the fallout on the ground and roof.

Bottom Line: choose a structure nearby with both the greatest mass and distance already in place between the outside, where the fallout would settle, and the shelter inside.

If you have a basement in your home, or at a nearby relatives’ or friends’ house that you can use, your best option is probably to fortify and use it, unless you have ready access to a better/deeper structure nearby.

For an expedient last-minute basement shelter, push a heavy table that you can get under into the corner that has the soil highest on the outside. The ground level outside ideally needs to be above the top of the inside shelter. If no heavy table is available, you can take internal doors off their hinges and lay them on supports to create your ‘table’. Then pile any available mass on and around it such as books, wood, cordwood, bricks, sandbags, heavy furniture, full file cabinets, full water containers, your food stocks, and boxes and pillow cases full of anything heavy, like earth. Everything you could pile up and around it has mass that will help absorb and stop more radiation from penetrating inside – the heavier the better. However, be sure to reinforce your table and supports so you do not overload it and risk collapse.
Leave a small crawl-through entrance and more mass there that can be easily pulled in after you to seal it up. Have at least two gaps or 4-6″ square air spaces, one high at one end and one low at the other. Use more if crowded and/or hotter climate. A small piece of cardboard can help fan fresh air in if the natural rising warmer air convection current needs an assist moving the air along. This incoming air won’t need to be filtered if the basement has been reasonably sealed up, however any windows or other openings will require some solid mass coverage to assure they stay sealed and to provide additional shielding protection for the basement. More details on this in the next (#6) section.

With more time, materials, and carpentry or masonry skills, you could even construct a more formal fallout shelter, such as the lean-to shown to the right, but you will need to assure structural integrity is achieved and adequate mass is utilized.

An effective fallout shelter constructed in a basement may reduce your radiation exposure 100-200 fold. Thus, if the initial radiation intensity outside was 500 R/hr (fatal in one hour), the basement shelter occupants might only experience 5 R/hr or even less, which is survivable, as the radiation intensity will be decreasing with every passing hour.
basement fallout shelter

Adding mass on the floor above your chosen basement corner, and outside against the walls opposite your shelter, can dramatically increase your shielding protection. Every inch thicker adds up to more effective life-saving radiation shielding.

As cramped as that crawl space fallout shelter might seem, the vital shielding provided by simply moving some mass into place could be the difference between exposure to a lethal dose of radiation and the survival of your family.

The majority of people requiring any sheltering at all will be many miles downwind, and they will not need to stay sheltered for weeks on end. In fact, most people will only need to stay sheltered full-time for a few days before they can start coming out briefly to attend to quick essential chores. Later, they can begin spending ever more time out of the shelter daily, only coming back in to sleep. As miserable as it might seem now, you and your family can easily endure that, especially compared to the alternative.
It’s really not so difficult to build an effective family fallout shelter, not to get it done… RIGHT NOW!

#6 – ESSENTIAL DETAILS

If you’ve accomplished the above; securing your supplies, stored water, and built your family fallout shelter, CONGRATULATIONS! You have now succeeded in improving the odds of survival for your family 100-fold, or more! Now, you need to expand your knowledge and fine-tune the tactics that will make the most of your family survival strategy.

* Government information and guidance is a vital resource in your response to a nuclear crisis, but for many reasons it may be late, incomplete, misleading or simply in error. While evacuation might be prudent for individuals who act quickly in response to a threat, governments will be slow to call for mass evacuations because of their potential for panic and gridlock. As the recent government calls for duct tape and plastic sheeting led to sold-out stores, anxiety, and derision from the press, there will be great reluctance to issue similar alarms. If you want to assure that you have adequate food and supplies for your family you must act BEFORE the panic without first waiting for government instructions that may never come or as urgently as warranted. You alone are ultimately responsible for your family.

* Filtering the air coming into your basement shelter won’t be required. Air does not become radioactive, and if your basement is reasonably snug, there won’t be any wind blowing through it to carry the radioactive fallout dust inside. Simply sealing any basement windows and other openings prevents significant fallout from getting inside. To improve both the radiation shielding inside the basement, and to protect the windows from being broken and letting fallout blow in later, you should cover them all with wood, and then with sandbags or solid masonry blocks or earth, etc. on the outside and inside too, if possible. If the basement air gets seriously stale later on, you could re-open a door into the upper floors of the still closed house, or secure a common furnace air filter over an outside air opening leading into your basement.

* Regarding fallout contamination, any food or water stored in sealed containers, that can later have any fallout dust brushed or rinsed off the outside of the container, will then be safe to use. As long as the fallout dust does not get inside the container, then whatever radiation penetrated the food/water container from the outside does not harm the contents. If you suspect that your clothes have fallout on them, remove your outer clothing before you come inside and leave them outside. A cheap plastic hooded rain poncho that can be easily rinsed off or left outside is very worthwhile. Have water and baby shampoo near the entrance (hose and containers) to wash and thoroughly rinse any exposed skin and hair. Exposure to fallout radiation does not make you radioactive, but you need to assure that you don’t bring any inside. If any are stricken with radiation sickness, typically nausea, it is when mild (<100 Rads) 100% recoverable and cannot be passed on to others. Before fallout arrives, you might also try to cover up items you want to protect outside for easier rinsing off of the fallout dust later when it’s safe to come out and do so. For instance, if you have a vegetable gardening spot, you might try covering much of it with plastic or tarp and weighting them down.

* If without sufficient time to acquire radiological instruments of your own, like Geiger counters and dosimeters, you’ll need to be extra sure that your portable radios function properly from inside your shelter and that you have plenty of fresh batteries stocked for them. Without radiological instruments, listening for official guidance about the radiation threat levels in your particular area will be the only way you’ll know when it’s becoming safe to venture out. It might also be the only way you’ll know when you first need to take your initial maximum protective action. When not in use, they should not be attached to any outside antenna or even have their own antenna extended. And, they should be wrapped in any non-conducting insulation, like layers of paper or bubble wrap plastic and then stored in a metal container or wrapped in aluminum foil to minimize the potential of EMP ruining the electronics. Having back-up radios would be very prudent. With extra radios, you can have one always tuned to the closest likely target city and, if it suddenly goes off the air, that could be your first indication of an attack.

* If close to a target, your first indication of a nuclear detonation may be with its characteristic blinding bright flash. The first effects you may have to deal with before radioactive fallout arrives, depending on your proximity to it, are blast and thermal energy. Promptly employing the old “Duck & Cover” strategy will save many from avoidable flying debris injuries and minimize thermal burns. Those very close will experience tornado strength winds and should quickly dive behind any solid object or into any available depression, culvert, etc. A very large 500 kiloton blast, 2.2 miles away, will arrive about 8 seconds after the detonation flash with a very strong three second wind blast. That delay is much greater further away. That is a lot of time to take cover IF alert and you should stay down for up to 2 minutes. If not near any target ‘ground zero’ you will only, like the vast majority, have to deal with the fallout later.

* When fallout is first anticipated, but has not yet arrived, anyone not already sheltered should begin using a dust protector filter mask and hooded rain ponchos. Everyone should begin taking Potassium Iodide (KI) or Potassium Iodate (KIO3) tablets for thyroid protection against cancer causing radioactive iodine, a major product of nuclear weapons explosions. If no tablets available, you can topically (on the skin) apply an iodine solution, like tincture of iodine or Betadine, for a similar protective effect. (WARNING: Iodine solutions are NEVER to be ingested or swallowed.) For adults, paint 8 ml of a 2 percent tincture of Iodine on the abdomen or forearm each day, ideally at least 2 hours prior to possible exposure. For children 3 to 18, but under 150 pounds, only half that amount painted on daily, or 4 ml. For children under 3 but older than a month, half again, or 2 ml. For newborns to 1 month old, half it again, or just 1 ml. (One measuring teaspoon is about 5 ml, if you don’t have a medicine dropper graduated in ml.) If your iodine is stronger than 2%, reduce the dosage accordingly. Absorption through the skin is not as reliable a dosing method as using the tablets, but tests show that it will still be very effective for most. Do not use if allergic to iodine. If at all possible, inquire of your doctor NOW if there is any reason why anybody in your household should not use KI or KIO3 tablets, or iodine solutions on their skin, in a future nuclear emergency, just to be sure.

* When you know that the time to take protective action is approaching, turn off all the utilities into the house, check that everything is sealed up and locked down, and head for the shelter. You should also check that you have near your shelter additional tools, crow bars, and car jacks for digging out later, if required, and fire extinguishers handy, too. Also, any building supplies, tools, sheet plastic, staple guns, etc. for sealing any holes from damage. Your basement should already be very well sealed against fallout drifting inside. Now, you’ll need to seal around the last door you use to enter with duct tape all around the edges, especially if it’s a direct to the outside door.

* You don’t need to risk fire, burns, and asphyxiation trying to cook anything in the cramped shelter space, if you have pre-positioned in your shelter enough canned goods, can opener, and other non-perishable foods, that are ready-to-eat without preparation. More food, along with water, can be located right outside your crawl space entrance that you can pull in quickly as needed when safe to do so.

* For lighting needs within the shelter have many small LED flashlights or LED head-lamps to stretch your battery life. Try not to have to use candles if at all possible. Bring in some books for yourself and games for the children. Maybe throw in a small/thin mattress, some cushions, blankets, pillows, etc.

* Toilet use will be via the 5 gallon bucket with a seat borrowed from one of the house bathrooms, if you did not purchase a separate one. Garbage bag liners, preferably sized for it, should always be used and a full-size and bag lined garbage can should be positioned very close to the shelter entrance for depositing these in when it is safe to do so quickly. Hanging a sheet or blanket will help provide a little privacy as shelter occupants ‘take their turn’. The toilet needs to have its new ‘deposits’ sealed up tight with the plastic liner after each use. Use a very secure top on the bucket and position it near the wall with the outgoing upper air vent.

* Pets, and what to do about them, is a tough call. Letting dogs run free is not a humane option, both for their potential to die a miserable death from radiation exposure outside and/or to be a danger to others, especially if they get diseased and/or run in the inevitable packs of multitudes of other abandoned pets. Caring for them is ideal, if truly realistic and not a drain on limited resources, while ‘putting them down’ might eventually become a painful, but necessary reality if the disruption of services and food supplies was very long term.

* Boiling or bleach water treatments will be used for cleaning your stored water later for drinking. (This is for killing bacteria, not for radiation contamination, which is never a concern for any stored and covered water containers or even sealed food.) Tap water recently put into clean containers won’t likely need to be purified before using. To purify questionable water, bring it to a roiling boil and keep it there for 10 minutes at least. If you don’t have the fuel to boil it, you can kill the bacteria by mixing in a good quality household bleach at the rate of 10 drops per gallon, and letting it sit for at least 1/2 an hour. The bleach should be at least 5.25% pure, like Clorox, but be sure it has no additives such as soap or fragrance. You can later get rid of the flat taste from boiling, or some of the chlorine taste when using bleach, by pouring it from one container to another several times.

* There’s much more that can be learned to better understand what you are up against and to acquire to help your family survive and to better endure all of this. While time allows, and if the Internet is still up & running, task someone with getting and printing out this additional information and see the short Civil Defense films below them.

The Good News About Nuclear Destruction

Jericho Syndrome – No Knowledge, No Instruments Equals Panic!

Nuclear War Survival Skills

“Know What To Do” 3 minute PSA video

Core shelter video (inner shelter basics that can be made in 30 minutes)

Civil Defense films made during the Cold War. Old fashioned, but tactics of radiation protection are timeless.

http://www.archive.org/stream/AboutFal1963/AboutFal1963_256kb.mp4

If there is also enough time to both order, and be shipped, your own radiation detection and monitoring instruments, potassium iodide anti-radiation tablets, Nuclear Survival handbooks, etc., check first for remaining availability at these links…

http://www.radmeters4u.com/package.htm

http://www.nukalert.com

http://www.ki4u.com/products1.htm

* BOTTOM LINE:

When the TV or radio program switches abruptly to an terse announcement saying: “We Interrupt This Program For This Special Bulletin!”, and your kids look up to you with questioning wide-eyes and eager for assurances, know then that you are confidently ready for them with your own Plan of Action ready to go! That’s what this is all about… our children!

This guide was purposely designed with the sober realization that the overwhelming majority of our fellow Americans would not be compelled to read such a guide until a nuclear crisis was imminent and, unfortunately, their preparation options and time to prepare then would be very limited. www.ki4u.com and other survival equipment suppliers will again be quickly sold-out, as all were after 9/11. This guide then will be the best/only help that we can offer. If you are fortunate enough to be exploring your family preparation needs and options before such a future national crisis, there is much more that you can and should do now to insure that they are even better prepared.

“A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them;
the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” – Proverbs 22:3

LIST OF SUPPLIES TO ACQUIRE LOCALLY

If stores are still at all stocked, and safe to go to, try to buy as many of the following items as possible… IMMEDIATELY! There are no quantities listed here on the food items below as family size varies and because, as the emergency and panic widens, many items will become quickly sold-out or quantities restricted and you’ll need to try to get more of what does remain on the shelves. At a minimum you should be looking at two weeks of provisions, but much better to be aiming for two months or more. The reality is, if/when we are attacked, it will be a very long time before anything is ever ‘normal’ again, especially at any grocery stores. Hurricane victims can attest to the prolonged misery and disruptions from even a localized disaster, even with the rest of the country still able to help out. Nobody can begin to imagine how bad the suffering will be, and for how long, if nuclear weapons have gone off… and in multiple locations!

The half-dozen top listed and UNDERLINED food items below are primarily for use while in the shelter. They are mostly ready-to-eat that requires no cooking or preparation, just a can opener at the most. (The iodine solution is included here because of its importance for its thyroid-blocking topical use detailed above, but it’s NEVER to be ingested or swallowed.) The other foods listed below there are better cost/nutrition staples for later use during the extended recovery period. Then follows general non-food supplies, tools and equipment.

Go Acquire It All Now QUICKLY!

It’s much better to risk being a little early when securing your families essential food and supplies, rather than a few hours too late…

Canned goods (pasta, soups, chili, vegetables, fruit, tuna, meats, beans, peanut butter, etc.)
Ready-to-eat foods (pop-tarts, raisins, cheese, granola/energy/protein bars, snack-paks, etc.)
Some perishable foods (breads and fruits like bananas, apples, oranges, grapes, etc.)
Assorted drink mix flavorings (with no cold drinks, just plain water, kids will appreciate it!)
Plenty of potent Multi-Vitamins, Vit C, etc.
Iodine solution, like Betadine (16 ounces)- NOT TO BE INGESTED OR SWALLOWED!

Multiple big boxes of dried milk (Could include/use some inside shelter, too.)
Multiple big boxes of pancake and biscuit mix & syrup
Largest bags of rice
Largest bags of beans
Largest bags of flour
Largest bags of potatoes
Largest bags quick oats and other grains
Largest bags of macaroni
Large bag of sugar
Large jar of honey
Large 2 gallons or more of cooking oil
Baking powder & baking soda & spice assortment pack
Bottled water (especially if home supplies not secured yet)

Paper or plastic plates/bowls/cups/utensils
Quality manual can opener, 2 if you don’t already have one at home
Kitchen matches and disposable lighters
New garbage cans and lots of liner bags (water storage & waste storage)
5 gallon bucket and smaller garbage bags sized for it (toilet)
Toilet seat for the bucket (or use one from inside the house)
Toilet paper and, if needed, sanitary napkins, diapers
Baby wipes (saves water for personal hygiene use)
Flashlights (ideally LED) and more than one portable radio
Plenty more batteries, at least three sets, for each of the above
Bleach (5.25%, without fragrance or soap additives)
Alcohol and Hydrogen Peroxide
Aspirin/Tylenol/Motrin, Pepto Bismol, etc.
Prescription drugs filled, and as much extra as possible
First aid kits
Fire extinguishers
Plenty of inexpensive dust mask filter protectors
Cheap plastic hooded rain ponchos for everyone
Water filters and all other camping type supplies, such as Coleman cook
stove and fuel, ammo, etc., if any sporting goods stocks still available.
And, of course, rolls of plastic sheeting, duct tape, staple guns, staples, etc.

Everyone is invited to copy, post, print, and distribute this ‘WHAT TO DO IF A NUCLEAR DISASTER IS IMMINENT!’ guide anywhere, as long as they do so without charging anything for it. It must be reproduced in entirety, including this notice, and not be altered or edited. To contact the author with comments and suggestions, e-mail: Shane Connor at webmaster@ki4u.com. This guide will be continually ‘fine-tuned’ so, before distributing it, download it fresh from http://www.ki4u.com/guide.htm or to print out, use this PDF version here http://www.ki4u.com/guide.pdf
Last Update: 9/16/2006

EMP. The letters spell burnt out computers and other electrical systems and perhaps even a return to the dark ages if it were to mark the beginning of a nuclear war. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Once you understand EMP, you can take a few simple precautions to protect yourself and equipment from it. In fact, you can enjoy much of the “high tech” life style you’ve come accustomed to even after the use of a nuclear device has been used by terrorists–or there is an all-out WWIII.

EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse), also sometimes known as “NEMP” (Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse), was kept secret from the public for a long time and was first discovered more or less by accident when US Military tests of nuclear weapons started knocking out phone banks and other equipment miles from ground zero.

EMP is no longer “top secret” but information about it is still a little sketchy and hard to come by. Adding to the problems is the fact that its effects are hard to predict; even electronics designers have to test their equipment in powerful EMP simulators before they can be sure it is really capable of with standing the effect.

EMP occurs with all nuclear explosions. With smaller explosions the effects are less pronounced. Nuclear bursts close to the ground are dampened by the earth so that EMP effects are more or less confined to the region of the blast and heat wave. But EMP becomes more pronounced and wide spread as the size and altitude of a nuclear blast is increased since the ground; of these two, altitude is the quickest way to produce greater EMP effects. As a nuclear device is exploded higher up, the earth soaks up fewer of the free electrons produced before they can travel some distance.

The most “enhanced” EMP effects would occur if a nuclear weapon were exploded in space, outside the Earth’s atmosphere. In such a case, the gamma radiation released during the flash cycle of the weapon would react with the upper layer of the earth’s atmosphere and strip electrons free from the air molecules, producing electromagnetic radiation similar to broad-band radio waves (10 kHz-100 MHz) in the process. These electrons would follow the earth’s magnetic field and quickly circle toward the ground where they would be finally dampened. (To add to the confusion, we now have two more EMP terms:

“Surface EMP” or “SEMP” which refers to ground bursts with limited-range effects and “High-altitude EMP” or “HEMP” which is the term used for a nuclear detonation creating large amounts of EMP.)

Tactically, a space-based nuclear attack has a lot going for it; the magnetic field of the earth tends to spread out EMP so much that just one 20-MT bomb exploded at an altitude of 200 miles could–in theory–blanket the continental US with the effects of EMP. It’s believed that the electrical surge of the EMP from such an explosion would be strong enough to knock out much of the civilian electrical equipment over the whole country. Certainly this is a lot of “bang for the buck” and it would be foolish to think that a nuclear attack would be launched without taking advantage of the confusion a high-altitude explosion could create. Ditto with its use by terrorists should the technology to get such payloads into space become readily available to smaller countries and groups.

But there’s no need for you to go back to the stone age if a nuclear war occurs. It is possible to avoid much of the EMP damage that could be done to electrical equipment–including the computer that brought this article to you–with just a few simple precautions.

First of all, it’s necessary to get rid of a few erroneous facts, however.

One mistaken idea is that EMP is like a powerful bolt of lightning. While the two are alike in their end results–burning out electrical equipment with intense electronic surges–EMP is actually more akin to a super-powerful radio wave. Thus, strategies based on using lightning arrestors or lightning-rod grounding techniques are destined to failure in protecting equipment from EMP.

Another false concept is that EMP “out of the blue” will fry your brain and/or body the way lightning strikes do. In the levels created by a nuclear weapon, it would not pose a health hazard to plants, animals, or man PROVIDED it isn’t concentrated.

EMP can be concentrated.  That could happen if it were “pulled in” by a stretch of metal. If this
happened, EMP would be dangerous to living things. It could become concentrated by metal girders, large stretches of wiring (including telephone lines), long antennas, or similar set ups. So–if a nuclear war were in the offing–you’d do well to avoid being very close to such concentrations. (A safe distance for nuclear-generated EMP would be at least 8 feet from such stretches of metal.)

This concentration of EMP by metal wiring is one reason that most electrical equipment and telephones would be destroyed by the electrical surge. It isn’t that the equipment itself is really all that sensitive, but that the surge would be so concentrated that nothing working on low levels of electricity would survive.

Protecting electrical equipment is simple if it can be unplugged from AC outlets, phone systems, or long antennas. But that assumes that you won’t be using it when the EMP strikes. That isn’t all that practical and–if a nuclear war were drawn out or an attack occurred in waves spread over hours or days– you’d have to either risk damage to equipment or do without it until things had settled down for sure.

One simple solution is to use battery-operated equipment which has cords or antennas of only 30 inches or less in length. This short stretch of metal puts the device within the troughs of the nuclear-generated EMP wave and will keep the equipment from getting a damaging concentration of electrons. Provided the equipment isn’t operated close to some other metal object (i.e., within 8 feet of a metal girder, telephone line, etc.), it should survive without any other precautions being taken with it.

If you don’t want to buy a wealth of batteries for every appliance you own or use a radio set up with longer than 30-inch antenna, then you’ll need to use equipment that is “hardened” against EMP.

The trick is that it must REALLY be hardened from the real thing, not just EMP-proof on paper. This isn’t all that easy; the National Academy of Sciences recently stated that tailored hardening is “not only deceptively difficult, but also very poorly understood by the defense-electronics community.” Even the US Military has equipment which might not survive a nuclear attack, even though it is designed to do just that.

That said, there are some methods which will help to protect circuits from EMP and give you an edge if you must operate ham radios or the like when a nuclear attack occurs. Design considerations include the use of tree formation circuits (rather than standard loop formations); the use of induction shielding around components; the use of self-contained battery packs; the use of loop antennas; and (with solid-state components) the use of Zener diodes. These design elements can eliminate the chance an EMP surge from power lines or long antennas damaging your equipment. Another useful strategy is to use grounding wires for each separate instrument which is coupled into a system so that EMP has more paths to take in grounding itself.

A new device which may soon be on the market holds promise in allowing electronic equipment to be EMP hardened. Called the “Ovonic threshold device”, it has been created by Energy Conversion Devices of Troy, MI. The Ovonic threshold device is a solid-state switch capable of quickly opening a path to ground when a circuit receives a massive surge of EMP. Use of this or a similar device would assure survival of equipment during a massive surge of electricity.

Some electrical equipment is innately EMP-resistant. This includes large electric motors, vacuum tube equipment, electrical generators, transformers, relays, and the like. These might even survive a massive surge of EMP and would likely to survive if a few of the above precautions were taking in their design and deployment.

At the other end of the scale of EMP resistance are some really sensitive electrical parts. These include IC circuits, microwave transistors, and Field Effect Transistors (FET’s). If you have electrical equipment with such components, it must be very well protected if it is to survive EMP.

One “survival system” for such sensitive equipment is the Faraday box.

A Faraday box is simply a metal box designed to divert and soak up the EMP. If the object placed in the box is insulated from the inside surface of the box, it will not be effected by the EMP traveling around the outside metal surface of the box. The Faraday box simple and cheap and often provides more protection to electrical components than “hardening” through circuit designs
which can’t be (or haven’t been) adequately tested.

Many containers are suitable for make-shift Faraday boxes: cake boxes, ammunition containers, metal filing cabinets, etc., etc., can all be used.  Despite what you may have read or heard, these boxes do NOT have to be airtight due to the long wave length of EMP; boxes can be made of wire screen or other porous metal.

The only two requirements for protection with a Faraday box are: (1) the equipment inside the box does NOT touch the metal container (plastic, wadded paper, or cardboard can all be used to insulate it from the metal) and (2) the metal shield is continuous without any gaps between pieces or extra-large holes in it.

Grounding a Faraday box is NOT necessary and in some cases actually may be less than ideal. While EMP and lightning aren’t the “same animal”, a good example of how lack of grounding is a plus can be seen with some types of lightning strikes. Take, for example, a lightning strike on a flying airplane. The strike doesn’t fry the plane’s occupants because the metal shell of the plane is a Faraday box of sorts. Even though the plane, high over the earth, isn’t grounded it will sustain little damage.

In this case, much the same is true of small Faraday cages and EMP.  Consequently, storage of equipment in Faraday boxes on wooden shelves or the like does NOT require that everything be grounded. (One note: theoretically non-grounded boxes might hold a slight charge of electricity; take some time and care before handling ungrounded boxes following a nuclear attack.)

The thickness of the metal shield around the Faraday box isn’t of much concern, either. This makes it possible to build protection “on the cheap” by simply using the cardboard packing box that equipment comes in along with aluminium foil. Just wrap the box with the aluminum foil (other metal foil or metal screen will also work); tape the foil in place and you’re done. Provided
it is kept dry, the cardboard will insulate the gear inside it from the foil; placing the foil-wrapped box inside a larger cardboard box is also wise to be sure the foil isn’t accidentally ripped anywhere. The result is an “instant” Faraday box with your equipment safely stored inside, ready for use following a nuclear war.

Copper or aluminium foil can help you insulate a whole room from EMP as well. Just paper the wall, ceiling and floor with metal foil. Ideally the floor is then covered with a false floor of wood or with heavy carpeting to insulate everything and everyone inside from the shield (and EMP). The only catch to this is that care must be taken NOT to allow electrical wiring connections to pierce the foil shield (i.e., no AC powered equipment or radio antennas can come into the room from outside). Care must also be taken that the door is covered with foil AND electrically connected to the shield with a wire and screws or some similar set up.

Many government civil defence shelters are now said to have gotten the Faraday box, “foil” treatment. These shelters are covered inside with metal foil and have metal screens which cover all air vents and are connected to the metal foil. Some of these shelters probably make use of new optical fibre systems–protected by plastic pipe–to “connect” communications gear inside the room to the “outside world” without creating a conduit for EMP energy to enter the shelter.

Another “myth” that seems to have grown up with information on EMP is that nearly all cars and trucks would be “knocked out” by EMP. This seems logical, but is one of those cases where “real world” experiments contradict theoretical answers and I’m afraid this is the case with cars and EMP. According to sources working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, cars have proven to be resistant to EMP in actual tests using nuclear weapons as well as during more recent tests (with newer cars) with the US Military’s EMP simulators.

One reason for the ability of a car to resist EMP lies in the fact that its metal body is “insulated” by its rubber tires from the ground. This creates a Faraday cage of sorts. (Drawing on the analogy of EMP being similar to lightning, it is interesting to note that cases of lightning striking and damaging cars is almost non-existent; this apparently carries over to EMP effects on vehicles as well.)

Although Faraday boxes are generally made so that what is inside doesn’t touch the box’s outer metal shield (and this is especially important for the do-it-yourself since it is easy to inadvertently ground the Faraday box–say by putting the box on metal shelving sitting on a concrete floor), in the case of the car the “grounded” wiring is grounded only to the battery. In practice, the entire system is not grounded in the traditional electrical wiring sense of actually making contact to the earth at some point in its circuitry. Rather the car is sitting on insulators made of rubber.

It is important to note that cars are NOT 100 percent EMP proof; some cars will most certainly be effected, especially those with fiberglass bodies or located near large stretches of metal. (I suspect, too, that recent cars with a high percentage of IC circuitry might also be more susceptible to EMP effects.)

The bottom line is that all vehicles probably won’t be knocked out by EMP. But the prudent survivalist should make a few contingency plans “just in case” his car (and other electrical equipment) does not survive the effects of EMP. Discovering that you have one of the few cars knocked out would not be a good way to start the onset of terrorist attack or nuclear war.

Most susceptible to EMP damage would be cars with a lot of IC circuits or other “computers” to control essential changes in the engine. The very prudent may wish to buy spare electronic ignition parts and keep them a car truck (perhaps inside a Faraday box). But it seems probable that many vehicles WILL be working following the start of a nuclear war even if no precautions have been taken with them.

One area of concern are explosives connected to electrical discharge wiring or designed to be set off by other electric devices. These might be set off by an EMP surge. While most citizens don’t have access to such equipment, claymore mines and other explosives would be very dangerous to be around at the start of a nuclear box if they weren’t carefully stored away in a Faraday box. Ammunition, mines, grenades and the like in large quantities might be prone to damage or explosion by EMP, but in general aren’t all that sensitive to EMP.

A major area of concern when it comes to EMP is nuclear reactors located in the US. Unfortunately, a little-known Federal dictum prohibits the NRC from requiring power plants to withstand the effects of a nuclear war. This means that, in the event of a nuclear war, many nuclear reactors’ control systems might will be damaged by an EMP surge. In such a case, the core-cooling controls might become inoperable and a core melt down and breaching of the containment vessel by radioactive materials into the surrounding area might well result. (If you were needing a reason not to live down wind from a nuclear reactor, this is it.)

Provided you’re not next door to a nuclear power plant, most of the ill effects of EMP can be over come. EMP, like nuclear blasts and fallout, can be survived if you have the know how and take a few precautions before hand.

And that would be worth a lot, wouldn’t it?

Some initial thoughts on EMP protection from the US military packaging division.

A continuously sealed metal barrier has proven to be very effective in preventing EM/HPM energy from reaching susceptible electronic or explosive components. Exterior packaging fabricated from plastic, wood or other fibre materials provides almost no protection form EM/HPM threats. The metal enclosure can be very thin provided there are no openings (tears, pin holes, doors, incomplete seams) that would allow microwaves to enter. Sealed barrier bags that incorporate a thin layer of aluminium foil and are primarily used to provide water vapour proof protection to an item, can add a great deal of resistance to EM/HPM penetration.

A number of cylindrical and rectangular steel containers have been developed by the Packaging Division for a wide range of munitions, weapon systems and associated components. The cylindrical containers are end opening and the rectangular containers are top opening. All the containers have synthetic rubber gaskets that allow them to maintain a +3 psi environmental seal to the outside environment. The containers are constructed using seam welding to provide for continuous metal contact on all surfaces of the body assembly. The cover openings have been held to a minimum and the sealing gaskets positioned in a manner to allow overlapping metal parts to add additional protection to these areas. Microwaves are very adept at bouncing around and working their way into even the smallest opening. Tests of the cylindrical and rectangular steel containers used by this organization have demonstrated a high level of protection in preventing EM/HPM energy from entering the container.

The key is to use a metal enclosure and eliminate or minimize any openings. Where openings are needed they should be surrounded to the greatest extent possible by continuous metal and in the case of a gasket, metal sheathing or mesh can be placed around the elastometer material or conductive metal moulded into the gasket. The closer the surrounding container comes to a continuous metal skin the more protection that will be provided.

High quality gaskets, utilizing either a mesh or embedded conductive metal design, are very expensive. They add a magnitude of cost to a normal gasket and can easily double the price of a container similar to the ones mentioned above.

The single question that I am most often asked is – “How do you filter the air in a shelter so the radiation from the fallout will not kill you.” Although I briefly explain the situation elsewhere I will provide here the somewhat longer explanation that I am sometimes prevailed upon to give.

The radioactivity actual comes from a minute particle of matter (created by a nuclear explosion) that is so tiny that you can’t see it, but that tiny particle of matter attaches itself to another piece of dust or sand that is blown away from the site of explosion and sometimes carried great distances by air streams before it “falls out” of the air. It is from this that we get the name ‘fallout’.

Energy radiates (it is called radiation) off of the piece of fallout in just the sameway radiation as light radiates off of a lit match head. The only difference about this radiation is that like X-ray, it is not visible to the human eye. (Coincidently, like the radiation on the match head, it will burn itself out but on average it takes it a couple of weeks to do so, or to become so low in energy that it is insignificant).

The amount of radiation, that one receives from a single grain of fallout, is insignificant, and much less energy than the amount from the single light sources in the example that I am about to give, but because there can be millions of pieces of fallout lying about on the ground outside – their effect can be fatal.

Now, for my example. Suppose you, along with tens of thousands of other individuals, attended some event inside a large domed stadium. And suppose EVERY light in the place went out. There were no emergency lights anywhere, no windows, no light working its way in through the doorway ramps. Nothing. It is pitch dark. And then some bright minded soul gets an idea and takes out his Bic and flips it. Suddenly, everyone in the place can see that pin point of light, although nothing else. But everyone else also happens to have a Bic and they all take it out and flick it – and NOW the stadium is so bright that you could read a newspaper in there.

The quantity of fallout, lying about, outside a shelter can be so immense (you could probably even feel the dust by running your finger over the hood of a car) that the energy it is giving out (though not visible) is many times greater than that from EVERYONE having flicked their Bic inside the domed stadium.

However, the real situation with fallout is that it falls out – outside, and with a properly designed shelter there is very little that is in the air that flows through on the inside. It is sort of like only one or a half dozen people in the domed stadium had Bics. That little bit of light from the Bics was not going to help you – and that little bit of radiation from the fallout inside a shelter is not going to harm you.

Now, we didn’t always know this. And some knowledgeable people, while absolutely agreeing that one is many, many, times better off inside a shelter, do not completely agree – because they feel that even breathing a particle or two into your lungs is detrimental – still MOST experts agree that it is not a matter to concern yourself about.

Many decades ago, when I first started designing shelters, we all worried about having one micron filters. But now, while I have the most elaborate shelter that I know of, I do not worry about such things. Ninety degree turns in the doorways and air intakes, with the air intakes being four feet above the ground where the fallout lands – and there should not be much come into the shelter. If you are still concerned, then hang a wet bedsheet over the air pathway of the air coming into the shelter. That will trap the particles and you won’t be breathing them. There are not likely to be so many in the sheet that you need to worry about it either – but that you can tell with a radiation detector.

As to filtering air for chemicals and biologicals – that is a whole different matter. My contention is that they are not a threat in my particular locale. The defense against plagues and such later will require a much different strategy. While I could go into all these subjects, my experience has been that most people who are interested in them are just talkers. They have never actually built even a fallout shelter. In fact, after decades of experience in talking to tens of thousands of people about shelters I now know that most people just talk, talk, talk and never build anything. I hope that you are not one of those people and that you will actually build a shelter – and not worry about such elaborations as one micron filters. Ninety-nine percent of your protection will come from the most simple first steps.

What is important in a shelter is VENTILATION. The following two documents are very important to study ahead of time so that you will be prepared to provide the necessary ventilation.

By Bruce Beach – Radiological Scientific Officer
survival@webpal.org

By Duncan Long

During a nuclear emergency, having the wrong radiation detection equipment could be as bad as having none at all.  Worst, even, since it might give you the false security of thinking you were in a safe area when it was actually contaminated.

If, for example, you had a high-level meter designed for nuclear war use and you tried to use it in an area contaminated by a nuclear industrial accident, the results could be disastrous.  For starters, the meter would probably show only a low, perhaps even fractional, reading; while this small amount of radiation exposure might not be of much consideration in a nuclear war where your goal is just to survive, in a nuclear accident, the low-level exposure is a consideration due to its effect on your long-term health.  In a nuclear accident, you’d want to know EXACTLY what the radiation level is.

Another problem with the nuclear war meter which you’re using is that it may only detect gamma radiation; it might not pick up many of the dangerous products given off by a nuclear reactor accident.  Again, this is no small consideration since isotopes which are quite dangerous to human health give off beta and alpha radiation as well as gamma.  And a few give off no gamma radiation and are therefore “invisible” to your nuclear war meter.  (Of the isotopes which could be encountered in an accident, cesium-137 and strontium-90 are the most dangerous since they give off ONLY beta radiation.  Others like Iodine-131 and barium-140 give off gamma and beta radiation and plutonium-239 gives off gamma and alpha radiation; these would be detected by most meters.)

And even in the aftermath of a nuclear war, a high-level meter might not be the best instrument for all types of work.  For example, high-level meters wouldn’t be so useful a year or so after the last nuclear weapons were used. Then the longer lived materials like cesium-137 and strontium-90 would be a health hazard and would be undetectable by meters which register only gamma radiation.  It would be impossible to detect fallout these isotopes in food or on clothing.

But an industrial, low-level meter isn’t the answer for all situations either.  Many low-level meters can “lock up” if exposed to the levels of radiation which might be encountered in a nuclear war; you’d get a low reading when the actual exposure was very high.  Even if you were fortunate enough to have a meter that warns you when you’ve exceeded its limits, it would be a little disconcerting to have it beeping a warning and not be able to determine whether the radiation exposure was only a little over the meter’s scale or in the “fry” range.

In either case, trying to use the wrong equipment would cost you your health and maybe even your life.  Because of the differences in range and type of radiation detected, few, if any, of the current generation of radiation meters are suitable for “all round” use in both a nuclear war and a nuclear accident.  With this in mind, most survivalists will find they will be wanting either to purchase two or more meters, prepare for only war or only for nuclear accidents, or try to purchase a meter capable of being used in both nuclear accidents and nuclear war.  You’ll have to weigh the possibilities against your pocketbook.

If this all isn’t confusing enough, additionally, there are currently two principle types of radiation detection equipment available which can be of great use in protecting yourself from nuclear contamination.  One type is the radiation meter; it gives the rate of exposure of radiation.  The other type is the dosimeter; it shows the total dose of radiation it has been exposed to.

It’s important to not confuse total radiation exposure (or dosage) with the rate of radiation exposure.  Total dosage (which is what dosimeters record) and dosage per hour (which is what most radiation meters give) can be quite different.  For example, if you were taking a meter reading of 240 REMs per hour but only stayed in the area for 1 minute, your total dosage would be only 4 REM which would not represent any short-term health risks and probably would create no long-term problems.  On the other hand, if you had a reading of 240 REMs on a dosimeter you’d been wearing, you’d stand a good chance of suffering from a mild case of radiation sickness.

Total exposure is the most important consideration for your safety.  A dosimeter is the easiest way to determine this.  At the same time, a radiation meter is essential to show when you’re in a dangerous area where your total exposure might become excessive.

Unfortunately, radiation detection equipment isn’t cheap.  If you have limited funds, the place to start is the purchase of a quality meter.  A meter can show where the most dangerous levels of radiation are and help you to avoid them.  BUT, with only a meter, you’ll have to “guestimate” your total exposure to radiation.  Since your total exposure to radiation is what determines the damage to your body, it’s ideal to have a dosimeter as well.

Finally, purchasers should be aware that there are currently a confusing array of scales for registering the amount of radiation that is being detected.  Among those currently in use are milliREMs, milliRoentgens, milliSieverts, and–with equipment from Europe–milliGrays.

The most common increments in the US are “Roentgens” and the “REM” (Roentgen Equivalent in Man) or “milli” (thousandths) increments of these (i.e., “Milli-Roentgen” or “mR” and “milli-REM”).   In nuclear accidents or war conditions involving human beings, these two units of measurement are usually treated as being equal and interchangeable.  A unit of measurement that is sometimes used in the medical and nuclear industry is the “Sievert” which is abbreviated as “Sv.”  The Sievert is a large unit so it is generally given as milli-sieverts (or thousandths of sieverts).  One milli-REM is roughly equal to 100 milli-sieverts.  Yet another unit of measure it the “Gray.”   Like some of the others, this unit is large and therefore normally “CentiGrays” are used.  A CentiGray is equal to one Roentgen making it easy to use since it is interchangeable with the Roentgen and REM used in most of the US.

Bottom line:  the CentiGray, Roentgen, REM, and 0.01 Sievert are basically equal to each other in most radiation measurements involving human beings.

Now, let’s take a look at what is available in the radiation meter area.

Radiation Meters

There are a number of good civil defense surplus meters on the marketplace.  But they are nearly all designed for nuclear war; they’re not so ideal for nuclear accident use since most are high-range meters and they don’t detect beta or alpha radiation.  Many of these meters also require batteries that are becoming frustratingly hard to fine (though many large photography stores are often a good place to look).

Another catch with CD meters is that it often in need of re-calibration. Since most of us aren’t set up to actually test out a meter, it is wise to purchase CD equipment from someone who has recalibrated it or get a surplus meter recalibrated after you purchase it.

All in all, surplus CD meters are good PROVIDED you have a source of batteries for them and have had meters recalibrated so that they’re accurate.

Perhaps a better route to take is to spend a little extra money and purchase one of the new, modern meters designed for nuclear war/civil defense use.  Again, most of these are calibrated to read in higher 0-200 or 0-500 REM ranges which makes the low end of their scales too inaccurate for nuclear accident use (where a range in the neighborhood of 0-500 milli-REM is more ideal).   But, as we’ll see, a few of the newer meters can do double duty thanks to two scales of reading abilities.

The state-of-the-art nuclear war survival radiation meter is the Plessey PDRM 82 which is manufactured in England.  The PDRM 82 is a “smart” meter with built-in IC logic circuits to do most of the work for you.  The PDRM 82 uses 3 standard “C” cells making batteries easy and cheap to purchase and stockpile for it (a set of batteries will last for 400 hours of continuous use). Controls on the unit are simple:  all you have to do is turn it on or off, it does the rest.  No scales to set to, no battery checks, etc., as with most other meters.

On the smart side of the PDRM 82 is a microprocessor which actually checks the unit when you turn it on to be sure that it is working, checks the batteries while the unit is on, and warns if the unit seems to be malfunctioning. Thus, when the meter is turned on, the word “tESt” appears for the first few seconds; the word “FAIL” shows if the unit is malfunctioning, “BATT” appears if the batteries need to be replaced, and the radiation reading is shown if the unit is functioning properly.  The PDRM 82 has a built-in beta source which it compares to the radiation in the environment when testing itself.  Finally, if the 300 REM level of the meter is exceeded, “300″ flashes on and off on the display.  All of these readings show on an easily-read, liquid crystal digital display.

The PDRM 82 has a specified shelf live (without batteries) of at least 20 years when stored in a dry area; you can buy it and store it away for later use without worry.

As mentioned, the only downside with the PDRM 82 is that its digital reading is from 0.1 cGray/hr 300 cGray/hr (remembering that a CentiGray is equal to a REM) making the scale too high for use with most nuclear accidents (but ideal for nuclear war use).  If a similar unit should be marketed for low-level use which detected both gamma and beta radiation, then it would be perfect for nuclear accident use.

Cost of the PDRM 82 is $375 and the unit is currently being imported into the US exclusively by Guillory and Associates.

One industrial meter which could double for either nuclear war or nuclear accident use is Dosimeter Corporation’s MiniRad II 3036-2 model.  This meter has two ranges of detection, one scale reads in the 0-500 mR/hr range and the other in the 0-50 R/hr range.  Cost is $325.

This MiniRad II is truly “pocket-sized”  with a belt clip and “D” ring so that it can be worn or carried a number of ways.  The unit has an internal speaker to give an audible alert as well as a gauge to give visual readings. The meter uses the common 9-volt transistor radio battery as a power source.

The only drawback with the MiniRad II is that it measures only gamma and x-ray radiation; so, again, the purchaser of this unit would do will to have a second meter capable of detecting low-level beta (and perhaps alpha) radiation.

In the “low-level” meter area of instruments suitable for nuclear accidents, there are a number of excellent instruments since these are currently being made for the nuclear industry.

One excellent industrial radiation meter is the “3007 Survey Meter” manufactured by Dosimeter Corporation.  The 3007 has three low-level ranges encompassing 0-0.5 mR/hr; 0-5 mR/hr; and 0-50 mR/hr.  The meter also will take Dosimeter Corporation’s 3011 probe so that the meter will detect alpha, beta, or gamma radiation when the probe is in place.  Cost of the 3007 meter is $290; the 3011 probe costs an additional $150.

The 3007 meter uses 2 “D” cells for power.  The 3007 is NOT ideal for high level use, however.  Like most other industrial meters the meter might “lock up” or give inaccurate readings with VERY high exposures over 1 R/hr.

Another good meter offered by Dosimeter Corporation is the 3700; this meter costs $350 with a gamma/beta probe.  The 3700 has three ranges:  0-0.5 mR/hr, 0-5 mR/hr, and 0-50 mR/hr.  While the 3700 doesn’t detect alpha radiation, the chances of being in a nuclear accident where the contaminated material gives off only alpha radiation would be remote.  To switch from gamma detection to gamma/beta readings, a “window” on the probe is rotated open on this probe.  The 3700 uses common “D” batteries.  Like other low-level meters, this unit will quit giving accurate readings or lock up when levels of radiation go beyond 1 R/hr.

Dosimeter Corporation’s Mini-Con-Rad II is a pocket-sized meter similar to the MiniRad II covered above.  The Mini-Con-Rad II detects only gamma radiation with a built-in probe but–with an external probe–will detect alpha, beta, and gamma radiation in the 0-500 mR/hr range.  Like the MiniRad II, the Mini-Con–Rad II has an internal speaker, a gauge on its front, and uses a 9-volt transistor radio battery.  Cost is $550.

The “Radiation Alert” meter is available from Direct Safety Company for $200.  This unit detects alpha, beta, and gamma radiation and has three ranges which cover 0 to 50 milliREMs per hour.  The unit also boasts an internal “beeper” to give an audible signal of the radiation it is recording.  Users of this meter should be cautious, however, since this meter can “lock up” at ranges above its scale.  As one might suspect from the lower price tag, this meter is not quite as accurate as the other meters listed above and lacks a probe.

The RDX-Radiation Monitor (also available from Direct Safety) detects beta and gamma radiation.  It uses a 9-volt batter and has a switch which activates the meter only when it is held down; this makes it a little awkward in use but also keeps you from accidentally leaving the meter on and running down the battery.  An internal speaker gives an audible click when radiation is detected; unfortunately the gauge covers only 0 to 10 milli-REMs per hour.  One excellent feature with the RDX-Radiation Monitor is that it gives an audible warning if its scale has been exceeded and the meter is “locking up.”  Cost is $110.

Yet another meter from Direct Safety is the Monitor 4 Radiation Alert pocket detector which sales for $165.  This meter will detect alpha, beta, or gamma radiation and operates over three ranges to encompass 0 to 50 mR/hr.  The battery-operated detector will fit into a large pocket and has an audible beeper as well as its built-in meter.  Like the other two lower-priced meters, offered by Direct Safety, the Monitor 4 is not quite as accurate as the more expensive meters but would certainly be better than nothing.

Whichever meter you end up with, remember remember that there is background radiation in all natural environments.  You SHOULD get an occasional reading on most of the above meters.  That means the equipment is working; a meter not registering an occasional “jolt” from a stray gamma ray is probably not working.  Only when you start getting abnormally high readings without a source of radiation or no readings at all do you have an obvious malfunction (though, of course, a meter can get out of calibration through abuse or age).

A carrying strap can be very useful with most meters; just be sure you don’t accidentally drop the unit because of a poorly designed or weak strap. Meters can be used inside a plastic bag when you’re in a highly contaminated environment where gamma rays are your principle concern.  This makes decontamination of the meter simple:  just carefully remove the bag and discard it.

Dosimeters

A dosimeter is needed to give you an accurate idea of your total exposure to radiation.  Modern dosimeters are about the size of a short ink pen. Internally, the sealed tube is electrostatically charged; as the unit loses its charge, it the scale reading changes.  Since radiation causes the tube to discharge more quickly than normal, the scale will show when the dosimeter has been exposed to radiation (within the period of time when the unit would normally start to discharge by itself).  Dosimeters have an eyepiece on one end through which you can peer at a light source to read the scale.

Since a dosimeter must have an electrostatic charge to give its reading, you’ll also need a dosimeter charger in order to be able to use a dosimeter. Normally, the electrostatic charge remains constant for about a month; dosimeters in use should therefore be recharged and rezeroed at least 12 or more times a year.  (Good news:  one charger can be used for many, many dosimeters. Regardless of how many dosimeters you purchase, you’ll only need one charger.)

A dosimeter is usually worn by the person using it.  The unit may be placed on a neck chain, clipped in a pocket, attached to a belt, etc.  Dosimeters should be worn at chest or belt level.  This will give a better average body exposure.  Placing a unit on a hat or in a boot would give low or high readings as compared to what your body is actually receiving.

(In a pinch, a dosimeter might also be used for a group in a shelter.  In such a case, it would be placed in a central location to give a rough idea of each person’s exposure.  This would only give a VERY rough idea, however.  A dosimeter for each member of a group is much more ideal.)

One important point:  dosimeters detect ONLY gamma and X-ray radiation.

In environments which are contaminated by sources of alpha or beta radiation, the dosimeter will not give any indication of actual exposure.  (Alpha and beta radiation is stopped by heavy clothing and therefore not dangerous UNLESS it’s ingested.  Internally, the material IS dangerous since it can damage sensitive tissues in the human body.)

As with radiation meters, a wide range of scales are available with dosimeters.

Those designed for use by the nuclear industry or in nuclear medicine will generally have low-range scales with the units in milli-REMs or milli-Roentgens; those designed for nuclear war use have higher ranges, usually in whole REM/Roentgen increments.

Ideally, you’d again have one of each type of dosimeter since the low range scales will go “over the top” in nuclear war fallout and the high-range scales would not be precise enough for the low-level readings probable in a nuclear accident.  But most of us can afford to purchase only one or the other; therefore, prudence would dictate the purchase of a high-range dosimeter since it will tell you if you’re facing immediate danger from a high exposure to radiation in the 100 to 200 REM range (after which your short-term health will be at risk).

In addition to a dosimeter and dosimeter charger, it is essential to have a place to keep records of readings from dosimeters.  This log book doesn’t need to be more than a spiral notebook; the log does need to be carefully kept.  A carefully-kept log is the only way to keep track of total exposures over any period of time.  During a nuclear emergency, whenever a dosimeter is to be recharged and rezeroed, the reading should be taken from it and logged. By adding up the readings, it’s possible to figure total doses for the person using the dosimeter.  Be sure to include the date of the reading, name of the person using the dosimeter, and the reading from the dosimeter.

A few words about recharging dosimeters:  some dosimeter chargers have a light built into them which allows dosimeter readings to be taken.  When using such a light to obtain a reading, be careful to keep either the charger or dosimeter shielded so that the dosimeter isn’t inadvertently recharged and its reading lost.  When taking a reading, always point the dosimeter in the same angle each time; readings can change by several REM if a dosimeter’s angle is changed from one angle to another or zeroed at one angle and then read at another.

Dosimeters should be stored in a charged state so that they can be quickly used when needed.  They should be recharged every month or so.  If you have a group of dosimeters stored away, compare readings of them before recharging to see if they are all getting the same readings from background radiation.  This will alert you to any which may tend to have higher or lower readings; these can still be used but you should note which are which.

If you forget to recharge the dosimeters, so that they are in an uncharged condition when you need them, all is not lost.  Just charge and zero them, allow them to stand for half an hour, and then recharge and rezeroed them. This will get them ready to go.

Dosimeters are sensitive to rough handling; therefore used ones often aren’t a good buy.  Likewise, civil defense dosimeters are usually good but some are also junk.  So be sure to purchase surplus dosimeters from a reputable dealer and then “check them out” against a good dosimeter when you’re doing the monthly rezeroing of the dosimeters.

The best commercial source of new dosimeters is the Dosimeter Corporation.  Of their various dosimeters, the 686 is probably most ideal with a reading from 0-600 REM; also good is their 638 which reads in the 0-200 REM range.  Each model has a clip for attaching it to clothing and a plastic cap to protect the dosimeter from accidental recharging (when reading from a lit recharger) or damage to the contacts.  The 686 is being phased out by the company and currently has a lower price tag of only $60 per dosimeter.  The 638 carries a $100 price tag.

If you wish to purchase a low-level dosimeter for use only during a nuclear accident, Dosimeter Corporation offers the 002 (0-200 mR), 608 (0-10 R), 611 (0-5 R), and 622 (0-20 R) for $99 each.

Like meters, dosimeters can be carried in a plastic “baggie” to simplify decontamination.

Dosimeter Corporation also makes the 909 Charger which is an excellent battery-operated unit which will charge nearly all dosimeters including civil defense surplus dosimeters.  The 909 is small, well designed, and uses one D-cell to work.  The charger has a light bulb under the charging area so so that readings can be taken without need of a light source (a consideration in a fall out shelter); a spare bulb is included with the charger.  Cost for the 909 is $90.

Copyright (C) Duncan Long 1989.  All rights reserved.