Surviving a nuclear attack.

[Yorkshire Andy]

More info here

https://youtu.be/9GJttnC8PoA

[Jerseyspud]

Your chimney should be okay for gamma as radiation travels in a straight line

I probably would try and seal it for the dust though

[jennyjj01]

I'm wondering abut my chimney - I mean, I could tape a black plastic garden waste bag over it, that's true, so most of the dust couldn't get as per the beta advice you give. But the gamma whatever-it-is is then very near me, is that right?

Jehosophat! That this question would ever be anything other than interested intellectual query ...

All, As I Understand it so far...

With the first nukes, radiation and fallout were almost an incidental side effect. The US wanted a big destructive explosion and that's what they got. They soon discovered that by shipping some hydrogen with the warhead, they could get a bigger bang. The government fall-out advice anticipated the same sort of fallout dust as we had from those early bombs. Pretty benign as it decayed away after a few weeks. But later designs and delivery processes catered for different objectives: Tactical and strategic nukes might aspire to kill promptly with enhanced gamma radiation while causing little destruction. There are designs for big gamma pulse, detonate high, not much fallout: Big electronic pulse. To target specific structures they might detonate near the ground, localised fallout? If you want to lay waste to an area for decades or centuries, deliver a bit of cobalt, and the fallout will be highly radioactive for centuries. ( I don't think anyone dared test a cobalt bomb, but the Ruskies have designs for them and presented Putin with designs for a cobalt torpedo nuke. Send that up the Thames and London would be a wasteland forever ) Blowing up nuclear plants could be a conventional explosion causing massive fallout. That's like a dirty bomb where the explosion is not nuclear, but fallout is the objective.

The polonium that killed Litvinenko illustrates the damage from alpha radiating fallout. It was a strong emitter of Alpha radiation (Helium nuclei) but a very low emitter of Gamma, so it was hard to detect. Note that Alpha has very short range and can be stopped by a piece of paper. Beta radiation (High speed free electrons) can be stopped by a few cm of anything. Different elements give off a different cocktail of alpha beta and gamma radiation. Some for days, some for centuries. Fallout dust would likely emit all 3 types in varying degrees.
The damage with Alpha radiation occurs from what dust we breathe in or ingest, because it is pretty much in contact with our internal organs. It gets complicated depending on the nature of the dust. Dust from an exploding power station would be different to that from a bomb and might be radically different depending on what type of bomb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_bomb
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salted_bomb


So back to our chimney's and fallout shelters. The two objectives are, (as I understand it)
1: Keep some radiation shielding like our brickwork and roof tiles and whatever lining we can find to absorb the modest radiation from the fallout until it has decayed away after a few weeks (hopefully)
2: Physically keep the dust off our skin, off our food and out of our lungs. That's where tarpaulins, ffp3 masks*, and taping up our vents and chimneys comes in and where staying in our shelter is needed, while the dust outside our homes naturally decays.
*FFP3 masks useful against fallout dust as well as covid.

[Arzosah]

Thanks for that, Jenny - I never understood the history as it applied to the type of bombs. I think making some notes from this thread is in order for me


ETA - thanks Jerseyspud too, only just seen your additional reply.

[jennyjj01]

More info here

https://youtu.be/9GJttnC8PoA

Oh cheers YA.

Seen it before. Whitewashing the windows protected them from the heat for about 17 seconds..... Till their house was blasted to rubble.
Cannibalising the home to build a hole in the ground bunker was akin to digging your own grave in the interest of neatness.

The only prep for the armageddon described would seem to be to not live in a targeted city or nation. And that is all.

Let's all move to Wales.

[Jerseyspud]

This is a very good book and really informative if old

[Arzosah]

Hmmm. I have a confession to make. I already have an e-copy of that I suppose I'd better read it, and not assume the knowledge makes its way into my head by osmosis

Thanks for the reminder, jerseyspud

[Jerseyspud]

I have it on my kindle and working my way through it. It's very informative

[jennyjj01]

Thanks for that, Jenny - I never understood the history as it applied to the type of bombs. I think making some notes from this thread is in order for me

Take it all with a pinch of salt, especially civil defense advice from the 50s. There's a lot of misinformation out there. Even my own observations might be ... probably are quite wrong.
A basis for discussion

[Jerseyspud]

Thing is nukes now are a much more precision bomb.

There's also the different types of blasts. Emp, airburst or ground burst.

Emp is no fallout and no blast radius but fries electronica

Airburst is maximum fireball, blast radius and destruction but no fallout

Groundburst is fallout and big fireball. Mainly used if there would be government bunkers underneath to destroy.

This is probably common knowledge to most people on here but I like to share lol