How to Survive After Nuclear Fallout

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This happened. A bright white light flashed before your eyes, the power of the sun licked your skin, and you felt a wave of dust and debris sweep through the city you call your home. You are one of the lucky ones at the moment, but your fight is not over yet – not even close.

What is nuclear fallout?

After a nuclear bomb explodes, residual radioactive material is released into the upper atmosphere . This material, usually consisting of radioactive dust and ash, then “falls” from the sky – hence the name. Material can travel hundreds of miles in natural wind. Exposure to any type of precipitation, be it debris, dust, ash, radioactive rain, or anything that contaminates these materials is extremely deadly.

In the short term, radioactive fallout will make you sick and suffer from acute radiation syndrome . You will suffer from rapid cellular degradation and DNA damage and, depending on the dosage, you will experience nausea and vomiting, adverse neurological effects, and even quick death. In the long term, pregnant women can have miscarriages or ugly babies, the risk of cancer is greatly increased, and you can die a slow painful death.

However, the radiation from Fallout doesn’t hang around forever. It decays at an exponential rate, and many contaminated areas eventually become somewhat harmless. Your goal after the explosion is to reduce the impact of the fallout, find a suitable place for you and your family to hide, and come up with a realistic escape plan.

Initial explosion: destruction, burns and blindness

Anyone within a few miles of the explosion will either be killed instantly or die very quickly. For example, the epicenter of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was estimated at about 300,000 ° C. The cremation of bodies is carried out in furnaces whose temperature reaches 1200 ° C. each within one mile – and this is one of the smallest bombs.

An area one to three miles away is considered a zone of “light damage,” according to Brooke Baddemayer of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory . The glass will shatter and cause injury to people, paint will peel off, and heat radiation traveling at the speed of light will cause third-degree burns. Seven miles away, you probably would have gotten off with first-degree burns.

However, even if you are 13 miles from the blast site, you will still be temporarily blinded if you look in the direction of the blast (53 miles at night). And the danger zone of radioactive fallout (direction finding zone) extends at least 10-20 miles from zero.

First hour: take refuge and cleanse yourself

So, you survived the explosion and you can see the mushroom cloud billowing up in the distance. A general rule of thumb (literally) is to extend your hand if you see a mushroom cloud, close one eye and raise your thumb towards it. If the cloud is larger than your thumb, you are in a radiation zone and you need to either evacuate or seek cover. You now have 10-15 minutes to get to a safe place . Fallout moves fast and can travel long distances, so you need to look for suitable shelter immediately, especially if you’re downwind from zero. The US government identifies three key factors in finding adequate protection and fallout prevention :

Distance : The farther the distance between you and the fallout particles, the better. An underground area, such as the basement of a home or office building, provides more protection than the first floor of a building.

Shielding : The heavier and denser the materials – thick walls, concrete, bricks, books, and earth – between you and the fallout particles, the better.

Time : radioactive fallout loses its intensity rather quickly. Over time, you will be able to leave the fallout shelter. Fallout poses the greatest danger to humans during the first two weeks, by which time it has dropped to about 1 percent of the original radiation level.

It is important to keep these things in mind so that you can understand who you were blinded with. Do not try to hide in a car, trailer, or any other vehicle unless you think you can leave the area before 15 minutes have elapsed. If you see a debris cloud approaching you, leave the area using a route perpendicular to the rainfall path. If you are near a building that might offer the best hiding place and can get there in a few minutes, do so.

The further underground you go, the better. If you can’t go underground, head to the center of the building. Once inside, turn off ventilation systems and close doors and windows.

After that, you need to cleanse any radioactive material that may have deposited on your body . Failure to do so can result in beta burns to the skin and lethal radiation exposure. Ask everyone outside to take off their clothes – at least the top layers – to put all of this in a plastic bag, tie it up, and then place the bag as far away from everyone as possible. If you have running water, wash your body with plenty of soap, shampoo your hair (no conditioner), blow your nose, wipe your eyelids and lashes, and wipe your ears. The goal is to remove as much radioactive material from the skin as possible.

First 24 hours: find supplies and stop

Now that you’ve found cover and removed all the dirt, you need to prepare for the long journey. Expect to stay in place for at least 24 hours. Longer if you are downwind of the explosion. It can be several days, or it can be a month. It all depends on the level of radiation in your area, which will be monitored by emergency personnel. When you can safely leave, you will be asked to do so.

So, you need supplies. First, you need to find drinking water . Bottled water is best, but if it’s not available you will need to get it from taps that come from deep wells, water tanks, or closed tanks. The types of wells you find on a farm or country house are ideal. Keep in mind that you cannot remove radioactive elements from the water by boiling or any kind of disinfection. If you can’t find a clean water source soon, you’ll have to filter it yourself. It is best to filter it through a simple clean earth filter (as shown in the video above), which removes about 99% of the radioactivity from the water.

Then you need to find an emergency radio that will allow you to listen to updates. You don’t want to stay in cover any longer than necessary. Chances are that most of the electronics will not work due to the EMP effect of the explosion, and even if they do, you are likely to experience constant power outages, so a hand-wound emergency radio is best for you. Make sure someone is always listening for news on what to do, where to go, and places to avoid.

But let’s say when you set up your base, you see someone starting to vomit and getting very tired. Acute radiation sickness is coming and you need to help them. If your nearest first aid kit has potassium iodide (KI), give it to them at the first sign of injury. There are other ways to deal with indoor pollution , but potassium iodide tablets are the most common. If they do not start vomiting for four or more hours after infection, this is a good sign. They will most likely recover within a few days or weeks if they can stay at home and rest. If they vomit, faint, or experience seizures within an hour of contact, they need serious medical attention and professional help.

First week and beyond

Luckily, you now have cover and water, so you’re ready to play the wait-and-see game. You can try to find any canned or packaged food nearby (anything that hasn’t come into contact with radioactive particles), but you should be fine for a while if you can’t find them. However, remember to carefully ration and share what you find.

Keep listening to emergency radio, stay morale when you are with other people, and check to see if any of you need any medication. Some people may be shocked and forget. Waste management will also become a problem, whether you are sharing space with people or not. James Roberts and Mark Lawrence of Secrets of Survival suggest using a trash can or large bucket as a toilet , and cat litter can be used to keep odors to a minimum. Dab some Vick’s Vapor Rub on your nostrils to get rid of unpleasant odors.

After the first 24 hours, the fallout will have lost about 80% of its energy, but it is still better to stay indoors unless the rescuers advise otherwise. Eventually you will hear a message and they will tell you where and how to go. Additional resources and helpful printouts can be found at:

I hope you never need this information, but it’s always better to play it safe than sorry.

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