chances of WW3?

[sniper 55]

Proper dust masks look a bit like a gas mask with filter cannisters and can be reasonable expensive, but even a good quality disposable mask from your local builders merchant would be better than nothing, you can get them for a few pounds from ebay too. Normal safety goggles again from a builders/ebay are fine, if theres holes for ventilation just tape them up. The idea is not to breath the stuff in or get it in your eyes.

[ukpreppergrrl]

The term "dust" is used for a lack of anything better. The point is you may not be able to see the "dust". It *may* rain down on you like snow, but equally depending on where you are in relation to the detonation you may not see it at all. But that doesn't mean it's not there, emitting radiation. As has been stated the only protection from the radiation is distance from it. The less dense the stuff between you and it, the bigger the distance has to be. i.e. if it's just air then you need to be a long, long way away from it (I don't know the precise distance!). 10cm of brick wall will offer a little protection, but still, according to the information available nowhere near enough. If there are windows in that brick wall, then now you're only protected by 5mm of glass. Barely more than just air. The more dense stuff between you and the radiation the better. Books are more dense than blankets, so consider building book walls. A sofa isn't necessarily that dense - some sofas are just thin foam held in place with straps and then a lot of air before a material skin. Sitting inside a tent inside a room isn't offering you any more protection from radiation than just sitting in the room. The skin of the tent is totally inadequate for radiation protection. However, sitting inside a tent inside a room, or making a nest behind the sofa will help you to keep warm if there is no heat and it's cold. The taping up of plastic is purely to stop any ingress of dust (i.e. keep the radioactive dust as far away from you as possible - if it gets inside your home, then the brick skin of your house is no longer contributing to the protection and it's just air between you and the radiation). Of itself the plastic does not protect you from radiation.

The leaflet Clarebelle posted with its diagrams does explain it quite well. Your best chance is in a basement (so that the soil outside the building protects you), inside a "den" made of more soil/bricks (i.e. more dense stuff further protecting you). Few of us have that. So you just have to do the best you can to emulate it as closely as possible. There are no guarantees as to whether it's enough. We won't know until it's happened.

The clothing part is not about protection in the same sense. It's not nearly dense or thick enough to protect you from radiation unless it's lead lined and even then it'll only protect you for a very short time (the length of time it takes to take an x-ray for example). The purpose of the clothing, masks and goggles is so that any radioactive dust lands on the clothing and not on your skin or in your eyes or so you don't breathe it in. This includes your shoes as you'll be walking on radioactive dust. You then remove the clothing before coming back into your shelter so that radioactive dust stays as far away from you as possible. The same purpose as the plastic. The alternative is showering to remove all the dust before coming back into your shelter - hence the suggestion of plastic ponchos etc. as these can be washed clean of radioactive dust. This would be both you and your dog. There is no point in building a shelter if you're going to track the radioactive dust inside on your clothes and on your feet. And a covered porch will not stop the dust being underneath it.

I don't think anyone on this board is a nuclear survival expert (feel free to correct me!), and if they were I suspect we're all still in the situation in that no country other than Japan has ever had a nuclear bomb detonated in an urban area. So it's all ostensibly speculation about what may and what may not be sufficient. I suspect the only guaranteed safe place is a kosher nuclear bunker with X feet of concrete (lead?) all around it and an NCB air scrubber so you can breathe. For the rest of us it's take your chances and do the best you can. BTW...just because other people were walking around outside I still wouldn't go out unless I know that 2 weeks have passed. And even then I'd still remove clothing away from my shelter when I come back in.

But remember this has really a very, very, very small likelihood of happening. It's worth thinking about, assuming you've thought about other much more likely events, but I wouldn't get het up on precise detail. The basic rule of thumb is more stuff, and the denser that stuff is, between you and the outside world the better.

Edit: Page 15 of Clarebelle's booklet gives you the thickness of various dense materials needed to stop 99% of radiation (e.g. 16 inches of solid brick; 2 feet of packed earth; 3 feet of water). It gives you some idea of what you may need to think about and whereabouts in your home you will get the best protection.

[katilea]

We really need a 'like' option on these posts, great post prepper girl! Although it may never happen and we may never know if our ideas would work, I do feel more 'prepared' incase it did. At least in knowing what to expect as I suspect many of us will not be old enough to have lived through a world war. I have been watching the 'back in time for tea' series on BBC2 and I think they still had gas/electric even during the war? at least the second one? I think the govt tried to look after people well then evacuating children from London, setting up of the NHS after the war , the information about what to do and how to feed your family etc. Somehow I can't see our current govt been as helpful on that front! I think people are largely going to be left to survive on their own.

I would kind of hope in this day and age any war would be technological rather than with bombs, though even with power supplies cut and people not being able to buy food unless they happen to have 25 yrs supply or more in, there would still be some that died, especially in winter. I mean look at Storm Emma the other week..I think 14 people died that week and that was just a week of snow!... but people insisted on driving in dangerous conditions causing pile ups on motorways, think a child was killed when she was hit by a skidding car too, other from falling outside in the snow and not being found in time.

Anyway the snow has melted on road in front of my house so I'm gonna try and get the dog for a short walk round the bus route as it has the most chance of being fully clear. Thanks everyone for all the advice. I have a better idea of what I could try incase it ever did happen! I'll definitely be getting more cold food incase of any power services being targeted (even if they don't hit us with the nuclear nukes!) I know TM threatened Putin with Cyber war or something???? He just might do the same back!!

[Yorkshire Andy]

If the Russians ever do nuke us, you'll all be all right anyway. The nuclear bases are up here in Scotland, where the uk govt carefully put them. I'll go first

Isn't there one on the Yorkshire Moors? I'm sure I remember seeing those buildings that look like giant golf balls when we used to go up to Ilkley to visit an auntie.

It's nowhere near Ilkley (peak District) it's between Whitby and Pickering on the A169 unless your near Harrogate and it will have being Menwith hill


That is RAF filingdales it's a AWAC base (airborne warning and control) centre it looks into space for incoming missiles and also tracks commercial satalites they don't make any noise the air attack sirens were removed from service in the late 80's

The golf balls are long gone it's now a big stone pyramid it's well guarded we got accosted by armed mod police officers whilst near the base on a bridal way while mountain biking



The old protect and survive book gives a lot of info


http://www.atomica.co.uk/main.htm

[katilea]

If the Russians ever do nuke us, you'll all be all right anyway. The nuclear bases are up here in Scotland, where the uk govt carefully put them. I'll go first

Isn't there one on the Yorkshire Moors? I'm sure I remember seeing those buildings that look like giant golf balls when we used to go up to Ilkley to visit an auntie.

It's nowhere near Ilkley (peak District) it's between Whitby and Pickering on the A169 unless your near Harrogate and it will have being Menwith hill


That is RAF filingdales it's a AWAC base (airborne warning and control) centre it looks into space for incoming missiles and also tracks commercial satalites they don't make any noise the air attack sirens were removed from service in the late 80's

The golf balls are long gone it's now a big stone pyramid it's well guarded we got accosted by armed mod police officers whilst near the base on a bridal way while mountain biking



The old protect and survive book gives a lot of info


http://www.atomica.co.uk/main.htm

oh right it is over 30 years ago this when we visited an aunt in Ilkley and we have been to Whitby and Pickering, so it could have been on a day trip over there or on our ways on holidays camping but I definitely remember the 'golf balls'. Haven't been past there for well over 20 yrs now, so didn't know they'd been taken down!

[katilea]

it is worrying though,even without the potential for nuclear fallout there has been mention of them(the Russians) targeting our NHS, water systems and power and if to annoy them further it seems the PM has sent out submarines to italy?????? Not sure why they picked Italy??? And the Queen has prepared a speech for WW3!! (According to one paper!) Even realising the papers could be exaggerating for effect, surely even The Sun etc aren't allowed to print total lies? I mean about submarines already been sent out etc?

[xplosiv1]

it is worrying though,even without the potential for nuclear fallout there has been mention of them(the Russians) targeting our NHS, water systems and power and if to annoy them further it seems the PM has sent out submarines to italy?????? Not sure why they picked Italy??? And the Queen has prepared a speech for WW3!! (According to one paper!) Even realising the papers could be exaggerating for effect, surely even The Sun etc aren't allowed to print total lies? I mean about submarines already been sent out etc?

try not to buy into all the hype, you'll only give yourself grey hairs.

as for the Russians targeting the NHS, sounds pretty impractical to me considering there are hundreds of hospitals spread all over the country, power stations and military installations are definite targets as well as airports and ports.

From past experience in this area there are very few people who know the location of the UKs at sea deterrent, the PM would never reveal the location of any subs (SSN or SSBN). The media print lies on a daily basis all the current hype is nothing new, subs come and go all the time for various reasons.

[itsybitsy]

i'm locking this thread now, as we seem to have veered of into the world of fiction.