As shelter during a nuclear disaster
Survival / / December 23, 2019
So, for example, in your city exploded a nuclear bomb of small capacity. How long do you have to hide and where to do it, to avoid the consequences of a nuclear fallout?
Michael Dillon, a scientist from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, described the fallout and ways of survival. After extensive research, the analysis of many factors, and the possible development of events, it has developed a plan of action in case of disaster.
In this case, Dillon's plan is aimed at ordinary citizens, who have no way to determine where the wind will blow, and what was the magnitude of the explosion.
small bomb
The technique for the protection of Dillon fallout yet it developed only in theory. The fact that it is designed for small nuclear bombs from 1 to 10 kilotons.
Dillon says that now nuclear bombs are associated at all with incredible power and devastation that might occur during the Cold War. However, this threat seems less likely than a terrorist attack using small nuclear bombs, several times smaller than those dropped on Hiroshima and simply incomparably smaller than those that would destroy everything, happen between the global war countries.
Dillon's plan is based on the assumption that after a small nuclear bomb the city survived and now its residents have to escape from the fallout.
The diagram below shows the difference between the radius of destruction from a bomb in a situation which explores Dillon, and the radius of the bomb in the arsenal of the Cold War. The most dangerous area is marked dark blue (psi standard - a pound / dyuym², which is used to measure the force of the explosion; 1 psi = 720 kg / m²).
People who are a kilometer away from this zone are at risk to get a dose of radiation and burns. The range of radiation hazard after the explosion a small nuclear bomb is much less than that of thermonuclear weapons of the Cold War.
For example, the warhead to 10 kilotons create a radiation hazard at 1 kilometer from the epicenter and the fallout can take another 10-20 miles. So it turns out that a nuclear attack today - it's not an instant death to all living things. Maybe your town even after it recovers.
What if the bomb exploded
If you see a bright flash, do not come to the window, you may suffer while looking around. As in the case of thunder and lightning, the shock wave moves much slower than the explosion.
Now you have to take care of protection against radioactive fallout, but in the case of a small explosion, do not need to look for a special isolated refuge. To protect it will be possible to take shelter in a conventional building, just need to know where.
30 minutes after the explosion, you have to find a suitable shelter. For half an hour the entire initial radiation from the explosion will disappear and become the main danger radioactive particles the size of a grain of sand, which will settle around you.
Dillon explains:
If during a disaster you are in the unreliable refuge, which can not provide a decent defense, and you know, that nearby, within 15 minutes, there is no such a building, you have to wait half an hour and then go to his look for. Before you visit the shelter, be sure that you will not be radioactive particles the size of sand.
But some buildings can become a normal refuge? Dillon says the following:
Between you and the consequences of the explosion must have as many obstacles and distances. Buildings with thick concrete walls and roof, a large amount of land - for example, when you are sitting in the basement, on all sides surrounded by land. Also, you can go deep into the big buildings to be as far away from the open air with the consequences of the disaster.
Think about where you can find a building in your town and how far away it is.
Maybe it's the basement of your home or building with lots of interior walls and, library with shelves of books and concrete walls, or anything else. Just choose the building, to which you can get in for half an hour and do not rely on transport: many will flee the city, and the road will be completely clogged.
Let's say you got to his hiding place, and now the question arises: how long to sit there until the threat does not pass? The film shows the different ways of development of events, ranging from a few minutes in the shelter and ending several generations in the bunker. Dillon says that they are very far from the truth.
It is best to stay in the shelter until help comes.
Given that we are talking about a small bomb damage radius is less than a mile, rescuers should promptly react and begin the evacuation. In the event that no one will come to the rescue, the shelter is necessary to spend at least a day, but it's better to wait, until rescuers arrive - they will point the right escape route, so you are not rushed in places with high levels of radiation.
The principle of operation of radioactive fallout
It may seem strange that it is permitted to go out of the shelter the next day, but Dillon explains that the biggest danger after the explosion comes from early fallout, and they are heavy enough to settle down within a few hours after explosion. As a rule, they cover an area in the immediate vicinity of the explosion, according to the wind direction.
These coarse particles are the most dangerous due to high levels of radiation, which will provide an immediate onset of radiation sickness. This is different from the smaller doses of radiation, which can cause cancer many years after the incident.
If you hid in the shelter, it does not save you from cancer of the prospects in the future, but it will prevent a quick death from radiation sickness.
It should also be remembered that the contamination - this is not a magical substance that flies everywhere and penetrates into any place. There will be limited to a region with high levels of radiation, and once you leave the shelter, it will be necessary as soon as possible out of it.
Here you will need and the rescuers who will say, where is the border of the danger zone and how far to go. Of course, in addition to the most dangerous large particles in the air to save a lot more light, but they can not cause immediate radiation sickness - something you try to avoid the explosion.
Dillon also noted that radioactive particles decay very quickly, so that be outside the shelter 24 hours after the explosion is much safer than right after it.
Our pop culture continues to relish the topic of nuclear apocalypseThat will leave on the planet only a few survivors, hiding in underground bunkers, but a nuclear attack may not be as devastating and far-reaching.
So it pays to think about your city and figure out where to go in case anything happens. Maybe some ugly concrete building, which has always seemed to you a miscarriage architecture someday save your life.
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