by Corcceigh Green

effects of nuclear weapons. The

effects are quite dangerous to

exposed individuals and steps

must be taken if one is to survive.

Preparation is most important in

this area as once an event takes

place, the acquisition of necessary

equipment and vital knowledge of

the dangers will be too late. The

time to prepare for bad times is in

good times, before bad things

become present.

Your first defensive priority will be in protecting yourself from the initial effects of a nuclear detonation, i.e. blast, heat, fire, flying debris and initial radiation. The best way to defend against the dangers of initial nuclear threats is to live outside of any high risk area. High risk areas or potential nuclear targets include military bases, airports, state capitals, Washington D.C., shipping centers and large population centers. Staying outside of a one hundred mile radius of any potential target will greatly increase the chances of your survival as the initial effects of a nuclear detonation will not pose a hazard to a prepared individual from this distance. If you must live within a high risk area there are some methods of protecting yourself from the initial nuclear weapons effects.

The economic situation for many Americans today demand a close commute to their work areas due to rising energy prices. Work areas are frequently close to high risk target areas and for convenience, home is also close by. Odds are you may find yourself needing to defend against the initial effects of nuclear weapons due to your proximity to a high risk target. If this is the case there are a couple of methods you should consider.

One such method is to maintain a blast shelter on your property near your house. A blast shelter is structured to protect it's occupants from the effects of blast and overpressure. Because the easiest way to do this is to bury the structure underground, a blast shelter can also be designed to protect against fallout and fire. Stock your blast shelter with radiological equipment to monitor fallout radiation levels, air filers and air blowers or pumps not dependent on an electrical grid, oxygen tank, water, food, medical equipment, sanitation supplies, bedding, lighting and entertainment items. More on a fully stocked shelter in sections 4 and 5 of this dissertation.

A blast shelter must be constructed to withstand the effects of overpressure, which is usually accomplished by burying the shelter underground and utilizing a strong frame with thick, reinforced concrete walls and ceiling and a strong blast door that is hermetically sealed. When living close enough to a target area, you must always be certain that you can hermetically seal your shelter to keep firestorms from sucking the air out and suffocating the occupants. It is also the reason to keep a large capacity oxygen tank. During a firestorm, you must stow away your air

LMI Newsletter Page 15

intake pipes (hermetically capping them off) wherein, you’ll be without air, unless you have an oxygen tank (actually, an air tank) to allow fresh air into the shelter before you suffocate.

A blast shelter is not absolute protection, however, and must be positioned at least five miles from ground zero even for an excellent shelter. In considering this option keep in mind that a blast wave will travel one mile in five seconds. If you have built a blast shelter on your property and your property is situated five miles from what makes your area a high risk target, (ground zero), as soon as the intense light flash from the fireball lights up the sky, you will have twenty five seconds to reach your shelter before the blast wave rips everything apart within your vicinity!

If you must live within a high risk area and rely on a blast shelter for protection against initial nuclear effects, try to situate yourself at least twelve miles from ground zero. This distance will give you a full minute to reach your blast shelter plus the effects of the blast wave will be somewhat diminished. Also bear in mind that bad things like nuclear war happen around 2:00-3:00 AM and you will be very deep in sleep. If you awake in time, you will be awaking your spouse, and pulling your children from their beds before dashing to your blast shelter. The greater the distance you are situated from ground zero, the more time you will have for your response.

As an added hazard, you will probably be running from a burning house, as the thermal effects or heat produced by the detonation will set dry flammable objects, such as curtains, wood, dry grass and plants on fire at this distance. A thermal pulse travels at the speed of light, so don't think about outrunning it to your blast shelter. To protect against thermal effects, provide your house with a metal roof, metal siding and metal shudders for the windows. This will protect occupants of the house against thermal effects, but not blast effects. The occupants will still need to be aware of the attack and reach their blast shelter before the blast wave reaches them.

Another option is evacuation. This option can only be used if you are aware that danger of a nuclear attack is very high or imminent, such as an escalation of hostilities between the U.S. and a nuclear power. An example would be if China were to invade Taiwan and the U.S. considered going to the aid of Taiwan. This would be clear escalation. In the case of a terrorist detonation, however, there will probably be no warning at all. At least not for the first detonation. For this reason those living inside high risk areas will want to maintain a blast shelter for the option of evacuation as well. Your blast shelter can be smaller and more economical with this option, as your blast shelter need only accommodate just enough room for it's occupants and a little food and water. Your main goal will be to survive the detonation's initial effects, then to evacuate before the arrival of fallout.

In opting for evacuation as your main plan of survival you will need to provide for yourself and maintain an EMP resistant vehicle. What you'll need is an older vehicle or engine with a points ignition system. EMP produced by the intense detonation of a nuclear warhead will knock out the electrical system of a modern vehicle, stopping it where it is and if that is between your safe area and a molten hole in the ground you will be in serious trouble. Obtaining your EMP resistant vehicle with four wheel drive capability will give you the added option of driving off road or across fields and country where roads don't exist should the need arise.

Automobiles with modern electrical systems are not the only equipment that EMP will render useless. You will probably wish to rely on radios for communication and news after a nuclear strike. Other electronic equipment, such as computers, TVs, and VCRs help make life a little

LMI Newsletter Page 16

easier, but EMP will destroy this equipment. To guard against this effect, wrap your electronic gear in thick blankets or styrofoam for insulation against static discharge, then place your gear in a metal box, whose metal lid fits tightly, place the metal boxes containing your gear into your blast shelter. Include in your blast shelter a copper rod extending three feet through your shelter's floor. Using electric wiring, ground the boxes to the rod. This will protect your electronic gear from the effects of EMP.

You will need to keep your vehicle stored in it's own blast shelter/garage. Building your blast shelter to accommodate your vehicle will help cut costs. Remember, a set of trail bikes with fuel and bug out gear does not take much space. (Evacuation vehicles don’t necessarily need to be cars or trucks.) There is no sense in maintaining the vehicle in your unprotected garage only to emerge from your blast shelter ready to evacuate to find your vehicle ten yards down the road and twisted in two.

The reason for carrying so little supplies in your vehicle is because the only reason to keep such a vehicle is to remove yourself from a target area and into a PRE-STOCKED shelter in a safer area. If you do not have such a shelter already supplied at the time of a nuclear attack don't bother trying to retreat. Wherever you are going MUST be pre-positioned and pre-stocked or you will simply die somewhere other than home!

If you have friends or family living in a low risk area, you may be able to make arrangements to shelter with them. This area should be within a one hour drive from your location and have no other high risk area between you and your destination. You could help out with their supplies and preparations in return for space in their fallout shelter, which you might help to build and kick in some funds. If you have no friend or family living in a low risk area, you and such friends or family may opt to buy undeveloped property in such an area in order to build a shelter and place such supplies as you will need on the property. This area will need to be positioned outside of

LMI Newsletter Page 17

blast and fire zones. One hundred miles from a high risk area is a good distance, but if for some reason this distance is unattainable for you, forty miles will put you outside of dangerous blast zones even for a 20 mega ton weapon. Trees, brush and grass should be cleared away from the shelter to prevent fires.

Beside helping construct and providing some funds for your stay at the shelter, you will also need to provide some supplies for your stay. A couple of 55 gallon drums for water storage, an Aqua Rain or Berkey water filter with extra filter elements and at least a one year food supply for your family, so that you will not be a burden on those you stay with should be the minimum kept at the remote shelter. You must also have in place, at least two changes of clothing, some cots or small beds, pillows and bed clothes. This is the bare minimum. You may consider circumstances unique to your situation, such as extra eyeglasses, medications and dog or cat food.

During evacuation, monitor your fallout meter or radiation detector constantly. Depending on the distance between you and ground zero, fallout will begin drifting toward the earth within a couple of hours. Here’s the rub. You will need protection against the lethal doses of radiation being emitted by the fallout which is certainly on the way down. In the confusion you will not know if the incident you just survived was a single terrorist incident, one terrorist strike in a multiple strike scenario or an exchange between nuclear powers. The problem this presents is what targets have been hit and what fallout patterns you can expect. Your fallout meter will let you know when you are in danger. You do not want to flee your high risk area and pass through another high risk area or area where fallout is likely to be deposited before you can traverse it. You must choose your safe area well to make sure you will not travel through areas that are damaged with a lot of debris on roads or paths. Also make sure there are alternate routes into and around your targeted safe area. Drive them and know them.

If you decide you can commute or are lucky enough to be able to make a living well outside of target areas, you can shelter in place. This will negate the hazards posed by evacuation during an event when radiation can be most hazardous. You will not be caught in the open and exposed while fallout is being deposited if something goes wrong along your route or with your vehicle. Also you will not have to contend with the extreme hazards of the initial effects of a nuclear detonation and fallout will be much lighter. Shelter and life saving equipment will only be a few steps away.

Even if you are living in a safe area or have located your retreat in a safe area outside of blast and fire zones, you must still protect yourself from fallout. Fallout can be carried by the wind for hundreds of miles down wind where it literally falls out of the air and onto your property. This means that you will need to build a fallout shelter. In the next section we will discuss proper fallout shelters, the equipment and supplies necessary for survival.

back to about page