Bruce DEDICATION 81.87 ta x .1 3 82.00 This pamphlet Is dedicated to Premier Bill Davis: the Solicitor General of Ontario George Taylor; and the other cabinet ministers of Ontario to whom the responsibility of nuclear preparedness has been shifted by the Federal Government Gift copies ar e being offered to these honorable persons and also to the Prime Minister o f Canada an d th e members of th e Federal Cabinet. Gift copies ar e also being offered to certain other InftuenUal opinion makers In hopes of ameliorating th e effects of this Abomination of Desolation.
This pamphlet Is dedicated to Premier Bill Davis: the Solicitor General of
Ontario George Taylor; and the other cabinet ministers of Ontario to whom theresponsibility of nuclear preparedness has been shifted by the Federal GovernmentGift copies are being offered to these honorable persons and also to the PrimeMinister of Canada and the members of the Federal Cabinet. Gift copies arealso being offered to certain other InftuenUal opinion makers In hopes of amelioratingthe effects of this Abomination of Desolation.
This pamphlet Is copyrighted. You are welcome to reproduce It. however.
for FREE distribution In whatever quantity you desire and by whatever meansyou desire so long as you reproduce the entire pamphlet. Extensive quotesare also welcomed so long as credit Is properly given.
Our purpose In publishing this pamphlet Is to ameliorate the effects ofa nuclear holocaust for as many people as we can reach. and to locate asmany people as we can who are willing and able to Join our nuclear survivalgroup.
Additional quantities of this pamphlet are available at very low prices.(For example $100 per thousand. which Includes postage). Inquiries for ordersof twenty or more are Invited.
The cover price on the pamphlet goes almost entirely to the several levels
of Individuals In the distribution chain. mostly students. They all work hard fortheir money and deserve what they get. No one Is getting rich off this pamphlet.
MYTH .1: Almost everyone will
suddenly be killed on doomsday.
DOOMSDAY
You will survive doomsday. And hereyou thought that if It ever happened the
bomb would fall right on you. Probablynot. It will more likely go like this.
One day. the Inferior Russian computersmay make a mistake and decide that theU.S. has already launched a pre-emptoryattack against Russia. The U.S. warningsystem has made that same sort of mistakemany times and a number of times wehave gotten just minutes away fromlaunching our retaliation before the mistakewas discovered. Who is to say the Russianswill always be so smart?
Forty minutes after a missile Islaunched from Russia It will be landingon Its target in North America. Beforethis occurs the U.S. has just minutes withinwhich to respond or it will be caughtwith Its missiles down. The hotline toRussia happens to be not working (thishas also happened a number of timesbefore.> That Is one of the factors thatentered Into the Russians decision tolaunch.
So. what's his name In the White
House reaches for a 1ellybean and pushesthe button. Interception missiles of coursetry to stop the Russian missiles beforethey reach their first two primary targets.NORAD (NORthern Air Defense)Headquarters In Colorado Springs. Coloradoand Its backup at North Bay. OntariO.
These are hardened underground computerand communication sites that may requireseveral bombs to wipe them out. Giventhe number Of missiles that may beIntercepted the Russians have sent ahandful.
A better way to wipe out the
communications of North America Is tojust explode four thermonuclear devicesat a high altitude over the continent Thesewill generate the EMP (Electro MagneticPulse) that will knock out most electricand electronic devices tied Into the powergrids. It will also knock out any newdevices that contain IC's <Integratedcircuits) and that have an antenna overthirty Inches long. That means that yourcar radio. portable radio. and televisionwill be inoperable. even If the power everdoes come back on.
All over the continent the powerand lights will suddenly go Off. If youhappen to be listening to a batteryoperated old tube type radio (when didyou last see one of those?) that Is tunedInto a 'hardened' transmitter sight (I don'tknow where you will find one) that transmits(fat chance) the EBS (Emergency BroadcastSignal) then you will know that doomsdayhas begun.
Otherwise you will be standing outthere with the rest of us survivors saying."Nice
day. eh? Strange the powerWOUld
go off on a nice day like this." Silence.The sun will continue to shine. and thebirds will sing. and the breezes will blowand you will stili not know that they havea bit of a prOblem up In North Bay. Theyare no longer there. Silence.
Eventually word may drift In. On thechance that there Is something to therumour you decide to try to call someone.Your spouse. a friend. a relative. Don'tbother. Silence. The telephone Isn't workingeither. Even if the EMP hadn't done it
in a mere power outage causes suchan overload of demand on the centralexchange that you couldn't even get adial tone.
You are a survivor. Doomsday hasoccurred and you are a survivor. Whileyou are waiting for the spouse and kidsto get home maybe you should dosomething practical. Uke go down to thesupermarket and lay In a bit of an extrastock.
You may notice that the little corner
store has closed. If he has believed therumour. He wants to save his stock. andbesides. your money may not be worthanything tomorrow. You thought you hadseen rapid Inflation before but this Islike from zero to a million In sixty seconds.
At the supermarket. If you are earlyenough. you will find pandemonium. Ifnot you will find practically nothing. Maybea large bag of dog food <take It) andsome cans of floor wax (forget It>. Therest of the stuff was all In those cartsthat you met come flying up the walkas you came running down.
There won't be any girls at the cashregisters, (they have done their shoppingand gone) and besides the cash registersaren't working anyhOW. with no power.It may have taken the hired manager alittle longer to figure out that he shouldgrab what he can and head home tohis family. but he has probably gone now.The only cops you will see are the one'sgrabbing stuff themselves.
If on the way back you spot a shoppingbasket with something In It. -think twicebefore helping yourself. If there Is analtercation there are probably no doctorsat the hospital to sew up the lacerations.Everyone else Is also too busy to bothercalling an ambulance If they COUld. andone wouldn't be available If they did.
Of course the trip to the supermarketmay have been nothing like that at all.It may have just been a bit more activethan usual but if most people haven't
caught on yet then we are very lucky.You Just keep mumbling under your breath."Good people. good people. -that's theway. -that's the way, Just stay calm."This way we can just go about doingwha.t we have to do as quickly as Vie
can, while trying to not stir up panic."Yes. I understand the cash registersaren't working but please let me Just helpyou add this up by hand. No, that's finejust keep the change."
Then, of course. if everything is really
this calm we can take that good old plastiCcredit card and go out and buy all thegood survival stuff that we are going toneed and should have gotten beforehand.Don't worry about paying for It, no oneIs ever going to send you a bill. Gettingthe stuff home may be a bit of a problemIf the car Isn't working (the EMP. mayhave wiped out that fancy electronicIgnition). "No, that's fine. You don't needto deliver It. I'll just put It here In mylittle red wagon." But you sure don't wantto lug It all the way up to your
thirty-second 1100r apartment. If there issomewhere safe that you can stash It."Can you really believe that people arestaying this calm? How is It that we seemto be so much smarter than the rest?"
More than likely you are now backhome and all you have is the fifty poundbag of dog food. Are you really goingto be able to carry it up to yourthirty-second floor apartment? You knowthe elevators aren·t working of course.Then maybe you could hide It In the trunkof your car in the garage- If no one
sees you.
Ah. back home In the apartment.Home sweet home. The kids are homefrom schOOl now. 00 you have enoughguts after that scene at the supermarketto send them out to do some morescavenging? It Isn't exactly a party goingon out there. Old you see Watts. Detroit.Washington D.C.. and Baltimore after someof their similar parties? I did. I think Iwould keep the kids home. Not much youcan do except to walt fo r the spouseto walk home. Shouldn't be more than
a few hours.
I I The spouse finally makes it home.What do you mean all you got is fifty
pounds of dog food? We don't even havea dog." The electricity Isn't on. we can'tcook anything anyway. Best to eateverything out of the refrigerator beforeIt spoils. Won't be anymore water as soonas the gravity feed tanks on the roof empty.Hope you saved a few pot's full. If everyonefilled up their bathtubs- Its all gone. It'sg o t t e ~ cold. Might as well go to bed.
There s no light to see anything by anyway.Certainly not going out In those streetsIn this dark with all that noise going ondown there. Hopefully. everything will lookbrighter In the morning.
Morning comes early with the noiseof people throwing pots and pans overthe sides of their balconies along withthe blankets. pillows and other things thatit saves them carrying down. Apparantlysome of the residents are moving out.Perhaps you should too.
Everything looks better In the lightdoesn't it? T.V. still doesn't come on.Telephone isn't working either. And youknow what- the toilet doesn't flush. Can'tcook anything. Got to eat what you'vegot. See. that wasn't so bad. Make Itsort of a picnic. Eat It right out of thecan. There Is not going to be any waterto wash dishes.
But see. we survived doomsday. Didn't
even see an explosion. hear a bomb,or anything. Maybe we should sit downtogether and try to figure out what weare going to do from here. The bombsmay stili be coming. Probably are.
If the attacker's plans have goneaccording to schedule they have probablyfinished with their primary targets. Theyhave hit the three Titan Wings In Kansas.Missouri and Arkansas (three wings,eighteen missiles each. for a total orfifty-four) or the things have landed InRussia by now. so why bother. They have
certainly been knocking the beJammersout of Montanna and the Dakotas. Can'thear or see a thing from here of course.
Then they will start on the secondarytargets. All the SAC (Strategic AirCommand) bases both in the U.S. andaround the rest of the world. Oh, theyhave lots to keep them busy for a while.Cities themselves are pretty far down thelist. Maybe they won't even go for them.Any airport with over a ten thousand footrunway Is pretty Important however becauseold SAC could land and refuel their bomberthere. So you know where that puts us.They will probably get around to us Inthe next dSy or two.
There are two strategies of warfare.One Is called counterforce and the otherIs called countervalue. With counterforceyou knockout the enemy's forces so hecan't harm you. This can be verychivalrous like the fighting codes of theknights of old. You never harm the womenand children.
On the other hand, with countervalue,you go after everything the enemy holdsdear In order to demoralize him. Thiswas the technique of the Mongolian hordes.Take no prisoners. Eliminate the enemy.The only good Indian Is a dead Indian.
Ellmmate the Jews. Sock it to the Japs.Women. children. babies. -everybody goes.
Now the problem with countervaluewarfare Is if everybody knows they areeither going to win or die. some peoplecan get very tough. So maybe the bestthing is to knockout the military forces
and hold the cities as hostage. "Now,either surrender or we bomb the cities."Anyway, the Cities aren't generally thefirst targets.
And so here we sit. Unscratched,the day after doomsday. But we can seesome problems on the horizon. Very'lOSSlbly the city Is going to be bombedIn the next day or two. Even If It Isn't.how can we stay here? The electricityIs off. The heat Is off. The water Is off.And It Isn't coming back on. The elevators
aren't working. For older people Its. "Ifwe go down ( i f we can go down) wecan't come back up."
There Is no more food In the grocerystore. And there won't be any more.(Unless you believe your government. whichsays they will start delivering It in abouttwo weeks- wanta bet?). Then there Isthat horrible stuff called fallout that Isgoing to start showing up in abouttwenty-four to forty-eight hours.
Now, we have all seen or heard
about the book and the movie "On TheBeach", and Beach himself shows upwith the 'solution', A pocket full of cyanidepills. If you want one he will give youone for each of your kids or grand kids.There Is only one catch. There are onlyso many and I don't want them wasted.So you will have to line up each of yourchildren or grandchildren in a row andpop It down their throats right while Iam here. How many of you will do It?"Here Is your vitamin. Open wlde--- "
No?? Then you really are a survivor.
Here you always said you hoped the bombwould fall right on you and then whenI offered you an easy out-- Oh. well Itwon't be that bad. A world withoutelectricity. automobiles. radio, television,telephones. and supermarkets. And maybeeventually with only twenty million peopleIn north America. <They won't all beCanadians).
But then, that Is the kind of worldthat was here In 1800. The people thendidn't have cars. supermarkets. movies.T.V.. radio. telephones. modern medicine.airplanes. rockets, and computers. Andthey survived. They may have even enjoyedlife. Maybe even more than many peopledo today with all their drugs. tranquilizers.and what have you.
People generally are survivors. Putthem out on an Ice flo in the middleof the arctic with no expectation of rescue.no supplies, -nothing, and they will holdon. Some will even survive until theyhappen to be rescued.
So you are a survivor and you surviveddoomsday. But you will eventually die.We will al l eventually die. That Is thenature of this world. The question Is notwhether or not you will die. but how longyou will live. and what will life be likeduring that time.
So you have survived. And If youand your kids are going to continue tosurvive you had better get the heck out
of the city. Not only is there the posslblilltythat there will be bombs but those little
scenes down at the supermarket. oranywhere else a little bit of food happensto show up, are going to become moreand more unpleasant as anarchy prevails.
Moreover. without the toilets flushingand with no one removing the dead bodies.health conditions are really going to reacha state you Just wouldn't want me todescribe. So. off to the country. But. how?And. where?
Before actually departing for the country
let us further consider the alternative ofstaying In the city. Perhaps you areconvinced that the Russians would neverreally get around to bombing your city.Or you feel you have sufficient undergroundshelter If they do. Nothing. of course,would protect you If there were a directhi t on your shelter. but a good bombshelter could certainly give you very goodprotection as little as five miles fromground zero.
The trouble Is that subways andunderground garages are not designed
as blast shelters. They do not have blastvents and doors. Anyone In such a placeat the time of blast within a couple ofmiles distance of ground zero will besubjected to a phenomenon calledpopcornlng. Minute particles of greatlyaccelerated sand will cause blisters topop out all over exposed parts of thebody. This, combined with several otherpathological mechanisms. will probablyresult In a rather painful death withina few days.
Although the blast protection In anunderground shelter is much superior tobeing above ground there are reasonsthat one Is better off staying In theirhigh-rise apartment rather than goingto a large public shelter if they feel thereis little or no danger of blast.
The public sheiters have no supplies
and no eqUipment. The average designatedpublic shelter is supposed to shelter overthree thousand people. Can you Imaginethe anarchy and conditions there? Withoutfood. the first to die will be Infants whoare not being breast fed. Other earlycandidates will be persons who require
special medications (especially the elderly>and anyone who happens to be injured.
Not onlr will deaths have negativepsychologica effects on the survivors.they will create severe sanitation problems.There will be enough sanitation problemsanyway If the water and sewage systemsare not working. Most of the designatedshelter locations do not have sanitaryprovision for three thousand people inthe first place.
One of the greatest hazards In anunderground shelter Is carbon dioxidepoisoning. The designated public shelters,almost without exception, do not haveadequate ventilation for large numbersof people over a considerable period oftime. And the existing ventilation systems
generally depend upon electricity beingavailable.
There are ventilation defense andsurvival techniques available. However.if you were to try to Implement them In
a large public shelter situation you wouldprobably be one of the first persons killedby the other survivors. The reason Is thatmost people have misconceptions abouteither the ai r becoming radioactive, orcontaining radioactive particles that theyfeel would be more dangerous than thecarbon dioxide.
Add to these problems the fact thatyou might not have any light In the shelter.that anarchy may become rampant. andthat there will almost certainly be no food,and perhaps. more Importantly. no water
and you will see why no trained survivalistwould want to be caught dead In theplace.
Returning to one's own high riseapartment. after the danger of blast ispast. gives much more favourableopportunities for continued survival thangiven by remaining In a public shelter.If you are ten or fifteen stories abovethe ground the distance will probablyadequately protect you from any radiationfrom the fallout on the ground. If thereare ten or more stories above your head
then that distance will also protect youfrom fallout on the roof.
The apartment dweller should tryto secure an Inner room without anywindows. A blast fifteen or more miles
away will knock out the windows and ItIs the glass shards that will kill mostpeople. Pulling drapes and blinds areall helpful defenses. A blast wave willbe preceded by a brilliant flash of light.The survivor will have from several secondsto three or four minutes. depending upon
the distance from the blast. to duck behinda sofa or to take other shelter.
Training oneself to take similarimmediate defensive action can also helpgive protection from the Intense thermalradiation that accompanies a nuclear blast.and that can start fires fifteen to twentymiles from ground zero. Fires. Inthemselves. can be a problem and If youare downwind from a large fire or firestormyou have to watchout for carbon monoxidepoisoning.
Fire defense techniques are generallywell known so I will not dwell upon themhere. One thing you need not do. Is callthe fire department. If you could. ThereIs little they could do. if they were stiliaround. without central water supplies.But the thing you can do. Is Improviseclosings to seal off all the apartmentsabove you. and those Immediately belowyou. so that fallout will not blow In andsettle on the floors over your head. orotherwise near you.
Now. It may be possible to organizeyour activities with other survivors tobecome a cliff dweller like those of old.A bucket on a rope might be used tohaul up water gotten from a nearby streamor pond. and waste could be let downIn the same way.
Some Ingenuity may be required Inproviding heat and light. but If you reallyhave sufficient supplies of food for yourselfand your fellow survivors to hold out untilanother crop can be planted and harvested(most survivalists recommend at least two
years supply). and you seriously face upto the sanitation problems created bymorbidity. and you and your co-survivorsare sufficiently organized against anarchy.and there are no more nearer bombblasts. -then you are probably well onyour way towards continued survival. Atleast you are many times better off thanbeing In a public shelter.
There may be all sorts of reasonswhy you elect to remain In the city ratherthan head for the country. If the attackcomes In the winter and you do not havea planned escape route. adequate clothingand supplies to make the trip. are notphysically able to make the trip. and donot have a known 'CIetttlnation of refuge.well then ...
Those who have most preparedthemselves and have made the best plansshould pray that their flight does not comeIn the winter. During a storm. or severelycold weather. It Is very likely that manymore persons may be kIlled by exposurethan by any other single cause. The roads
and highways will most likely be Jammed.If there has been an explosion In thevicinity then overpasses and utility linesmay have been dropped onto the roadwaysmaking them unusable.
Even without a blast having occurred.traffic jams. accidents. or vehicles justrunning out of gas, will probably createbottlenecks that completely clog the roads.Once people find themselves just sittingthere not moving they will abandon theirvehicles. My guess Is you can forget using
an automobile for escape unless you hada plan and Immediately Implemented itbefore the general panic set in.
A motorcycle. motorscooter. or evena bicycle might otter certain advantagesover an automobile. One might carry asmaller form of conveyance on a largerone and then Implement the smaller meansof conveyance. such as a bicycle. whenthat became the necessity.
The most dependable means of escapewould probably remain walking. If one
had to walk all the way out. and theywere In any physical shape at all. theycould surely do It In two or three days.Once again. proper preparation can makeall the difference. Proper walking gear.proper survival clothing. a planned escaperoute. proper selection of materiel to bepacked. and proper allocation of loads.
And as before. there are betteralternatives. One could have pre-arrangedpiCkup points and times with co-survIvorscoming from the refuge destinatIon. orIn a worsening pre-criSiS situation you
may have made an early dispersal. Butthe greater likelihood Is that anyone witha practical survival plan who reactsImmedlatly can get out well before therush sets In.
Just getting out into the country,or to the other side of the mountain.will increase the survivability factors formany people. The threats of blast andthermal radiation will have been greatlyreduced. But blast and thermal radiationwhile very nasty in their effects are notgoing to kill that many people anyway.Oh. they will kill millions. but as apercentage of the people living the daybefore doomsday they Will, combined. killonly ten to fifteen percent. And most ofthese will be a considerable distance fromthe blast and will eventually die as a
result Of Injuries caused by the brokenglass shards.
As stated before. depending uponthe time of year and the weather. manymore may be killed by exposure. But thereis stili another big killer coming. ThatIs of course the fallout from the weaponexplosions that took place many hundredsof miles away. This fallout may requirefrom a few hours to a day or two toarrive. If the weather permits. and thesurvivors know what they are doing. theymay stili have time to build an expedientshelter against the fallout.
Techniques for defense against fallouthave been developed and tested at greatexpense by almost ever nuclear nation.While information on these techniques
has been made readily available. mostpeople have not availed themselves ofIt.
Two basic techniques are available.One Is to leave the contaminated area.But the extent of the contaminated areamay be far too wide to escape. or onemay not have accurate information asto the delineation of the contaminatedarea. or they may not have the meansOf transportation. nor the means of survivalshould they reach a radiation free area.
The other basic means Is to provldeshelter within the contaminated area.Weather. ground. and time conditionspermitting It Is possible to dig a trenchand cover It with dirt supported by poles.wooden doors. or a vehicle. Properlydesigned. SUCh an expedient shelter canmake all the difference between avoidingthe effects of fallout radiation. and notavoiding those effects.
The details of how to build anexpedient shelter are to be found In books
listed In the bibliography. One of the mostImportant and often overlooked factorsIn designing a shelter Is the matter ofproviding an alrpump so as to eliminatethe problem of carbon dioxide poisoning.The technique for building such anexpedient pump from materials readilyavailable In time of crisis Is also foundthere.
The effect of fallout radiation Is notalways death. although many times It is.Even If It is death It Is not Immediatedeath. Intense radiation causes a very
painful. and horrible death (what theliterature calls a 'hard' death) over severaldays. More likely the effects are drawnout over a period of weeks. months. oreven years. As the title of this pamphletpOints out. all these people will havesurvived doomsday. It is not a question
of survival but the condition of survivalwith which we must concern ourselves.Everyone will die eventually but it Is thequality of life In the interim that Is ofImportance.
MYTH 12 Most people would bequickly killed by the bomb blasts,thermal radiation. or radioactivity.
By the second year after doomsdaythe combined affects of blast. thermalradiation. and fallout will probably haveresulted In some Immediate. but mostlydelayed. deaths accumulating to 35% ofthe population that were living. ondoomsday. Deaths that can be directlyattributed to radiation and weapon relatedInjuries will continue until five years afterdoomsday so that by that time 40% of
the population that was living on doomsdaymay no longer be surviving because ofthe above named factors.
H0W9'i8r. the total population suMvingfive years after doomsday will probablybe only 20.. of the number that was livingon doomsdayt Obylously. nearly half. orperhaps more than half. of the fatalitieswill be directly contributable to causesother than the bombs.
What then are these equally effectivecauses of post doomsday mortality? Theyare exposure. starvation. plagues. andanarchy. While the threat of chemical andbiological warfare Is not to be Ignoredthe primary causes of these means ofmortality can be looked upon as beingmore 'natural'. That is to say they willJust result naturally from the breakdownof the social Infrastructure that we regularly
depend upon for day to day survival.The four factors that will determine
survival are 1. location 2. knowledge 3.preparation 4. luck. On doomsday mostpeople will be living outside of areas thatwill be struck In Initial attacks by blastor thermal radiation. Many others willalready be living In areas that will neverbe damaged by blast or thermal radiation.Both of these groups. If they have theknowledge of what to do, and have madethe proper preparations. will very likelyfind themselves In the group of survivors
who are living unharmed five years afterdoomsday when the surviving populationhas once again established somesemblance of order and Is once againmultiplying and replenishing the earth.
MYTH '3 : You can build an adequateshelter In your basement.
For a number of reasons. basementshelters do not offer the amount ofprotection that Is commonly supposed.A proper analogy between them and asurvival Installation as described later Inthis pamphlet would be to compare aplank with a well equipped and commandedlifeboat. This Is not to say. that If someonefinds themselves In the water from asunken vessel. It Is not well to advise
them to grab hold of a plank and startpaddling in the direction that one hopesthere lies shore. If there Is no bettermeans of survival. such as a lifeboat,or raft.
Similarly. there Is very little protectionafforded (starting from the rooftop down)by a layer of shingles. a roll of asphaltpaper, some thin pine planking. a footor two of light insulation (composed mainlyof airspaces for the purpose of retainingheat). a quarter to half Inch of plasterboard. some paint. a carpet on the floor.
another layer or two of thin boards. andperhaps some paneling or ceiling tilesif the basement Is finished. The distancebetween the roof and the basement (atwo story house offers more than abungalow In this way) does allow someadditional protection. but this factor. alongwith the combined density of all the matterdescribed. would not equal more protectionthan would be afforded by six to eightInches of earth.
When. within SUCh a basement situation
one starts to create an expedient shelterusing, as Is usually advised. such materialsas bookcases and trunks (filled with earthIf possible) there are certain design errorsthat are liable to creep In. Piling dirtor other material on the floor above willhelp but the greatest dangers will be fromthe areas outside the basement wall wherethe foundation extends above the ground.It Is best to keep ones shelter at leastthree feet below the outside ground level.and to have at least three feet of soliabove one's head.
The next most overlooked problemIs that of proper ventilation, so as toavoid carbon dioxide poisoning. As statedbetore, most survival experts advise alocation other than the basement for suchreasons as the threat of carbon monoxide
poisoning In case of fire. broken gasmains. and the threat of fire Itself thatmay result from the wide spread flrestormscaused by the thermal radiation associatedwith a nuclear blast.
There are certain advantages to abasement shelter. One may have accessto necessities such as food. clothing. andblankets. stored In the home. There maystili be water available from the hot watertank. And most Importantly. one may feelcertain psychological comfort by being
In the familiar surroundings of their ownhome. None of these advantages of coursehold a candle to the advantage of beingin a properly equipped and manned survivalcenter.
MYTH '4 : You must filter the ai rcoming Into a shelter to remove the
fallout.
One of the general misconceptionsregarding fallout and fallout shelters Isthat the air Itself may become radioactive.
ThIs Is simply not true. Those with a littlelearning will then say. "Ah. yes, but Itwill contain radioactive particles of fallout"That Is true. but a properly designed airIntake. even for an expedient shelter. willcause most of the particles to drop outof the air flow, before the air enters theshelter.
Should the number of particles stilisuspended In the air be a problem. anexpedient filter. such as a damp sheethung In the ai r Intake passageway. willdo an adequate job of filtering the air.
If the air vents do not have automaticblast valves then the air passage shouldbe quickly shut and remain shut for afew minutes after the brilliant flash ofa nearby nuclear explosion, (so as toprevent the popcorning effect describedearlier). The air passages will have tobe shut In every case where there Isa large fire nearby that Is generatingcarbon monoxide that would otherwiseseep Into the shelter.
Most expedient shelters will not haveprecautions such as those Just described.The danger of carbon . monoxide poisoningIs one of the main reasons that mostsurvival experts recommend that even 11
Is preferable to build an expedient sheltera considerable distance outside and awayfrom existing structures In case of fire.
MYTH '5 : Water would become
radioactive.
As has been mentioned before. thematerials necessary for building analrpump. and an expedient radiationdetector are available In almost everyhome. Anyone planning on attempting touse the basement survival method shouldobtain ahead of time the detailedInstructions for building these devices,and store these Instructions in their homealong with an emergency supply of foodand containers for storing approximately14 gallons of water for each Individualthat Is going to be accommodated.
There is a similar misconceptionabout water becoming radioactive as thereIs about air becoming radioactive. Thismay have something to do withmisconceptions about the nature of 'heavywater' but we won't go Into that here.Radioactive particles do become suspendedIn water, hOwever. and that 15 why forthe shelter confinement period. you mustmake sure that you have a sufficient store
of potable water available ahead of time.
During the recovery period. afterradiation has decreased to the point whereIt Is safe to work outside. there aretechniques for letting fallout settle outof water. and for distilling It. In orderto make sure that It Is safe for drinkingand cooking. However. far from keepingair and water ou t of a shelter It isabsolutely necessary to life that they beavailable.
While an expedient shelter couldmean the difference between life and deathit Is probably not something that you wouldwant to continue to use for a very longtime.
MYTH '6 : There would be nodangerous radioactivity after a couple
of weeks.
There is a wide range 01misconceptions about what 15 safe andwhat is not. The matter Is sufficientlycomplicated that a person should haveprofessional advice. However. If there was
no doctor going to be available to seta broken leg I presume you would goahead and do the best you COUld. Andif one had to build a bridge to get acrossa river and there was no structuralengineer around. again I presume onewould have a go at It.
Doctor's would like to have theirx-ray machines available when settinga leg. and engineers would like to havetheir surveying eqUipment. specificationguides. and computers or slide rules whenthey are building a bridge. So you can
well imagine a radiological defense officerwould like to have radiation detectionequipment available when giving adviceIn a radiation defense situation.
However. if the advise. expertise.or equipment. Is not available. one mustgo on. One rule of thumb Is that H there
Is not enough fallout that you can seeIt -there Is not enough of It that It will
kill you. Fallout is usually small graindust or grit. often having a light color,but not always. It depends upon Its source.The best place to spot It Is on a smoothsurface. like the hood of a car.
The more dense fallout Is -probablythe greater the hazard although thereIsn't necessarily a direct correlation. 11may fall thick enough that quite a littleheap of it may be brushed up from asurface that Is one foot square. It Ispossible to build. from common materialsfound around the home. an expedientradiation detection meter. The details forsuch a meter will be found in books listedin the bibliography.
Even If one has commercially availableradiation detection equipment there Isstili some considerable skill required InIts use. For example. almost all surveyequipment Is designed to be .Ased byan adult of normal stature. This meansthat If the equipment Is held In the handof a walking adult It will tell how muchradiation 15 being received 3 and 1/2
feet above the ground. and particularlyby the adults vital organs which are abovethat level. A child's or an Infant's vitalorgans will be below that level and will
be exposed to much more hazardous levelsthan an aduit's. For this reason. If oneIs passing through an area that Issuspected to have any radiation at all,a child should be carried on an adult'ss h o u l ~ e r s .
There Is another rule of thumb thatfo r every seven fold increase In timeradioactivity will decrease by ten fold.This Is called the sf"Ien/ten rule. Thisis based upon standard decay. It is usefulas an example. for training. and in buildingtheoretical models. but in actual practice
the decay rate is likely to be somethingquite different. It is determined by theIsotopic composition of the matter underconsideration.
There Is another commonly heldmisconception among semi-trained
individuals that low levels of radiationcannot be rapidly fatal. Someone, afterseveral days In the confines of a crampedexpedient shefter, might conclude thatbecause their meters now Indicate a verylow level of radioactivity (or perhaps noradioactivity If It Is a high-rangeInstrument>. that It would now be all rightto go outside and sleep on the groundIn the cool breezes beneath the brightsummer stars.
The fallacy again arises from takingmeasurements at a level that assumesthe vital organs are well above the radiationsource. This Is not the case when aperson Is stretched out on the groundfor long hours of sleep. These long hoursof low level radiation exposure to the vital
organs will result In a fatality In just afew days.
Ukewlse. perfectly healthy adults whotake Infants ou t of the cramped.unpleasant. expedient shelter to allow themto play during the day on a blanket spreadout on the ground will be quite shockedto see those Infants sicken and die injust a few days while they themselvesremain healthy. The Infant's vital organsagain being close to.the weak radiationsource for a long period while the adults'vital organs are being protected by
distance.
MYTH .7: Radiation sickness Is notcontagious so there is n'J danger In
assisting those affected.
The statement that radiation sicknessis not contagious is often found in theliterature. That is true. The erroneousconclusion Is drawn. however. that beingaround persons with radiation sicknessIs not dangerous. The danger arises fromthe manner in which radiation kills.
Sufficient radiation can cook the vitalorgans, but more often what happens isthat It kills the white corpuscles and theability of the bone marrow to make moreof them. It Is the white corpuscles thatare the body's defenders against viruses,bacteria, and other disease causing bodies.
Once these defendersare lost the person succumbs to a diseasethey might have otherwise warded off.and once that disease takes hold In theIndividual they may become highlycontagiOUS.
In this manner there is grave dangerof plagues breaking out and all sortsof Illnesses, one does not generally see,becoming very threatening. For this reasonrigorous quarantine. sanitary measures,
and health defense measures must beImposed and enforced.
Becoming aware of such unexpectedand unpleasant snares may initially makeone feel that the situation is hopeless.The danger really arises from a personsunfamiliarity with the circumstances. ThereIs the story of the explorer who askedthe young native if there were crocodilesIn a certain stream. He was assured therewere not. While then swimming In thestream he once again saw the younglad on the bank and asked for reassurance
that there were no crocodiles. "Oh nosirl". replied the shocked young fellow."they won't come there. They are all afraidof the piranha."
The young fellow would have foundhimself equally in danger from things withwhICh he was not familiar in our society,-like automobiles and electrical appliances.It Is not that the hazards are so onerous.but simply that we are not familiar withthem.
FOOD - Some Important Considerations
MYTH _8: Food exposed to radiationbecomes radioactive and Is therefore
not edible.
Food is the most serious problem.Most food that is In the house will notbe harmed by the radiation, no matter
how Intense. There are three types ofradiation that are found In fallout. Alphaparticles. beta particles, and gamma rays.As the first two names indicate. they areparticles. They are minute (too small tobe seen) pieces of atomic matter that
attach themselves to the fallout (bits ofdust that mayor may not be large enoughto be seen).
In any case, these partiCles maybe simply washed off many types of foodsthat have a natural covering. such as
eggs, bananas. potatoes, oranges, etc .or off well sealed foods such as thoseIn vacuum packed cans. Foods such asgrains (rice. dry cereals, etc'> that arern partially used p a c k a g ~ s that have beenopened should be viewed with suspicion.Fallout dust may have crept In.
The food in Its unopened containeror natural covering should be rinsed underflowing water and then placed on a surfacethat has been similarly cleansed, beforeopening. Make sure that the hands (and
under the nails have been thoroughlycleansed before handling the fooo). ThereIs little danger In handling such articles.The radiation given off by these particlesIs so weak that it will often not evenpenetrate something as thin as thecellophane wrapper on a package ofcigarettes.
You may then ask, "Why beconcerned? II The reason Is that oncethese minute particles are Ingested Intothe biological system they will get Into
the organs and the very bone marrowItself where they can do a lot of damage.ThIs 15 not to say that you need not worryabout getting the alpha and beta particleson your skin. You do. Because they cancause skin burns. However. good hygienepractice can eliminate the problem andthey are a much more severe hazardInternally than externally.
MYTH '9 : If you have a special'radiation suit like you see In the
mOVies and on T.V. you will beprotected from the radiation.
As an aside, this Is one of the reasonsthat those 'fallout or radiation suits' thatyou see in all the pictures and moviesand on T.V. are such a Joke. Those thingsare not going to protect the guy fromanything that a couple of good garbagebags wrapped around his feet and madeInto a hood to go over his head, wouldnot do as well. In fact the garbage bagsare In many ways better. They would beconsidered disposable.
The main purpose of the fallout suits
Is to prevent the wearer from trackingthe fallout Into the shelter. The user simplytakes the suit off at the door. If the personwere to wear it on Inside, It would defeatthe purpose. There are some cleanhandling techniques that are beneficialto know and practice, but in a wartimesituation there Is so much of the stuffaround that peacetime standards ofexposure and cleanliness lose theirmeaning.
The gamma rays are another matter.
They are very penetrating. No fallout orradiation suit Is going to protect you fromthem. It requires much more dense matterto protect you than you could 11ft, leave
alone lug around. This Is why one mustremain In a shelter when there Is Intenseradiation. With good housekeeping there
should not be so much dust Inside ashelter as to create a hazard from gammarays. However, be sure to dispose of thecontaminated rinse water that you have
used for cleaning the food containersand persons returning from outside. Itmay contain matter that is giving of fgamma rays.
There will prObably not be sufficientfallout on the food packages (or you canget rid of It quiCkly enough) that youneed concern yourself about the amountof gamma radiation that you are goingto get from that source during thedecontamination process. However, thefood may have been stored in an areathat has received very intense radiation.
That can of beans or peaches may havebeen stored right out there where It wasreceiving 1000 roentgens of radiation perhour. An amount that would have killedyou right away. But It will not be harmed.
That Is right. It Is perfectly edible.If it were not so I would have told you.It Is only living things that radiation hurts.Even then It depends upon the frequencyand Intensity of the radiation. For example,there are all sorts of radio and T.V. wavesgoing right through where you are sittingright now and they are not harming you.
The food in the can is already deadand the gamma rays are not going to
harm It. They will not make It radioactive.If the radiation Is strong enough it maykill any bacteria that happen to stili beliving In the food and thus preserve iteven further. If the food is supposed tocontain bacteria (such as yogurt) I amnot sure what It would do for thatl
Radiation preservation of food is atechnique that Is already being used InIndustry and will probably become muchmore widely used In future years. Manypeople already have radiation (microwave)ovens In their homes tOday. One furtheranalogy. Fire will kill living animals butwe use It to cook our food. You reallyshouldn't be overly frightened aboutradiation, either.
MYTH '10: New crops of food grownIn future years will not be radioactive.
Food that Is grown In radioactivesoli, or that has not yet been harvestedwhen fallout falls on It Is another matter.This food will absorb the particles ofradioactive matter Into its own structureand thus become dangerous.
This was the fallout pattern 36 hours after a single 15 megaton thermonucleardevice (the Bravo shot of Operation Castle at Bikini Atoll. 1 March 1954) wasdetonated. The eventual extension of the fallout was more than 20 miles upwindand over 320 miles downwind. The width in cross section was variable. the maximumbeing over 60 miles. This means there was substantial fallout contamination overan area of more than 7000 square miles.
It is important to note that persons anywhere downwind would not havehad to travel more than 40 miles in a direction crosswind to be perfectly safe.Secondly. assuming upperwinds of 150 miles per hour and descent times of30 minutes, persons 150 to 200 miles away would have over an hour In whichto either evacuate the area or to take shelter.
As noted from the chart on the effect of radiation on humans (p. 19) the300 roentgens per hour would cause serious illness with some fatalities afteran exposure of 1 hour and exposure of 2 hours would certainly cause a harddeath occuring in hours to days.
GROUND
ZERO
PERCENT Of PeOPLE:
DEAD_ HURT= SAFE
10 90.,
UGHT. DAMAGE
100
This picture shows the effect of a 5 megaton alrblast. While mUClh largerweapons have been developed experimentally their use Is unlikely. For one thing
they are to hard to oellver and more Importantly a 20 megaton weapon wlfldo only about one third the damage that will be caused by 4 five megaton weapons.5 to a megatons will probably be the average size of the strategic weapons.They will probably be detonated at some altitude around 2000 feet for maximumeffect. At 15 to 18 miles on a clear day exposed people will be blistered. andfrom 18 to 23 miles the will be sunburned.
This map shows the principle targets in the U.S.. Major airports, militaryInstallations. and railway passes would be targets In Canada. The number twotarget in North America is North Bay, Ontario. .
In an all out nuclear exchange CWWIID. with a multiplicity of devices beingdetonated over a relative short period of time <three days to two weeks Is acommon estimate). there would most likely be wide spread areas with generalradiation levels (In the 5 to 20 roentgen per hour range) over 1000 miles downwind from the blast sites. two to three days after zero hour. This following mapassumes 5050 megatons on the targets indicated on this map.
D O ~ I O O R • ,.. 20,000
101-450 R ORNL-DWG 78-2030511• SOOI-IO,OOOR . IO ,004-20 ,OOOR
451-2 :100 R
This map indicates the amount of radiation that a person would receiveIn various areas by remaining In the open for 14 days following the bombingof targets Indicated In the map above. It Is Important to note from the mapthat even If Canada were not bombed that Ontario would receive 101 to 450Rfrom the MinuteMan sites In Montana and the Dakotas,
The biological food chain acts asa marvelous strainer and concentratorof radioactive Isotopes. This was welldemonstrated in certain tests that tookplace at Almagordo. From some Intentionalsurface bursts and because of theunintentional venting of some underground
bursts there was some fallout carried ontothe mllkshed for southern Utah.
The amount of fallout deposited overthe surface was so slight that the mostselective Instruments could not detect It.An atomic or nuclear explosion releasesits great amounts of energy by changingsome matter Into energy. It also changescertain amounts of matter Into new anddifferent types of matter. Without goingInto detail about atomiC theory. the natureof the atom with Its electron rings, andIts nucleus conSisting of protons and
varying number of neutrons. let us simplysay that these new forms of matter aregenerally unstable Isotopes. That meansthey are going to change into anotherform of matter.
Once again. the matter. In the processof changing from one state to another.releases certain amounts of energy. ItIs this energy that we measure asradioactivity. The energy. depending uponthe Isotope Involved, may be rapidlydispelled or It may continue to be releasedfor a very. very long time. Most unstable
isotopes release their energy and transformInto a stable state within fractions of asecond or at least within minutes aftera nuclear explosion. Others, take hours.and stili others days, weeks. or months.and some take centuries.
Each Isotope starts out with Justso much energy. and for al l practicalpurposes we can say It Is not going toget any more. Once that Isotope hasreleased all Its excess energy It willbecome stable. Since the Isotope releasesIts energy at a specified rate we cansay how long It will take to lose halfof Its energy. After that. It will then takethe same length of time again for It tolose <give off) one half of the remalnlnHamount of energy. Question: When wi Ial l of the energy be given of f by theIsotope?
An ancient Greek philosopher posedthe same problem. He said. "Supposethere Is a bear at the back of a cave.On the first day the bear walks halfwayto the entrance. On the next day he walks
half of the distance that remained to theentrance after the first day. And on theday following the bear walks half of thedistance that remained to the entrancefrom the previous day. The bear continuesto do this.. same thing on each subsequent
14
day. He walks half of the distance toentrance of what was left from the previousday. The question 15- When will the bearget out of the cave?"
The answer Is. "Never." This sortof regression Is what mathmetlclans call
asymptotic. That Is to say the figurescontinue to approach zero. closer andcloser. but they never reach It. So justas the bear never gets out of the cave.all of the energy is never lost. But much(one half) of the energy Is lost in thefirst half life. And three quarters of theenergy Is lost by the end of the secondhalf life. Ater ten half lives a very largepercentage of the energy Is gone.
It is because so much of the energyis lost In the early periods (half lives>.as compared to the later periods. that
It Is Important to be in shelter duringthe early periods after fallout has fallen.We might divide the half life times ofradioactive isotopes into three categories.Very short term. medium term. and verylong term.
As mentioned earlier. most of theunstable Isotopes generated by an atomicor nuclear explosion are very short term.They give off all their significant amountsof energy In a matter of seconds. Unlessyou are within very close range of anatomic or nulear bomb there will be no
way for this radiation to reach you. Itwas this Initial radiation that caused thehorrible radiation burns and sickness atHiroshima and NagasakI.
First the good news. There will notbe any persons subjected to long sufferingfrom Initial radiation by the nuclearweapons of today. The bad news is thatthe reason why is that the weapons biastsuch a large hole or create such a largearea of complete dlstructlon that the initialradiation can't escape. That is to saythe totally destructive blast extends beyondthe range of the initial radiation.
On the other hand, the survivorsof Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not havemuch problem with fallout The first majorvictims of fallout were some fishermenmany. many miles downwind from the BlldnlIsland tests. Fallout is a phenomenon muchmore associated with nuclear weapons.
Nevertheless. there was fallout InSouthern Utah. As stated before. it wasso slight It could not be detected by the
most sensitive Instruments. The specificmatter of Interest In southern Utah wasthe Isotope 131 of Iodine. This wasabsorbed by minute bacteria In the 5011.
In the process of filtering the Iodine outof the soli they greatly concentrated It.
The bacteria were absorbed bylegumes and other biological forms higherIn the food chain. Each in turn furtherconcentrated the iodine Isotope.
Finally. after the iodine had foundIts way into the grass a cow came alongand ate It Now a cow Is a very complexorganism In Itself. There are all sortsof biological activities going on In a cow.Various organs and the bone marrow filterout different minerals for different purposes.One of these complex systems forms milk.This particular cow. and hundreds of otherslike it. was milked. and the milk was bottledand dIstributed to children all over thearea of southern Utah.
The children were also complexbiological organisms. They In turn hadnumbers of specific organs that specializedIn straining out various minerals andcompounds from the food that theyconsumed. The end result was that theirthyrOids once again concentrated the Iodine131. And this to such an extent that Ifyou held a radiation detector next to theirnecks It buzzed like a rattlesnake. Thiswas not healthy.
In fact numerous problems developGdamong the population. There were a greatnumber of mentally retarded children born.and a number of other unpleasantramifications. This need not have occuredfrom the Iodine 131 If we had knownwhat we know to day.
MYTH .11: There Is no such thing asa fallout pili.
There Is a simple pili that wouldhave prevented the difficulty. It Is suppliedIn every nuclear emergency kit In Russia.
and available In Denmark and Sweden.Unfortunately It Is not sold In NorthAmerica.
Fortunately. however. the pill is quitesimple to make. Ahead of time. obtaina quantity of potassium Iodide from yourlocal drug store. Five dollars worth shouldbe lots. When needed, take a regularglass and fill It a fourth or less full ofwater. and then slowly start pouring inthe potassium Iodide while thoroughlystirring the water.
Don't worry about how much youpour In. You cannot pour In too mUCh.After a while you will notice that thechemical no longer dlsolves In the water.It just lies there on the bottom. This meansthat the water Is saturated. You can nowstop pouring In the chemical. More willnot help or hurt.
Next take an eyedropper. or a soakedpiece of paper If you do not have aneyedropper. and drop four drops ontoa little piece of bread for an adult. Ortwo drops for a Child. If you get severaltimes that amount It Is not going to harmyou (although In much larger amountsIt is a poison).
Now take some butter or margarineand make a little ball out of the breadand pop it down. Tastes awful. Ugh. Takeonce a day for 100 days after the lastbomb falls. This is good stuff and youshould have It around for reasons otherthan defense In case of a nuclear war.
If you live anwhere within In a couple
of hundred miles of a nuclear generatingplant you might suddenly find yourselfneeding the stuff. The U.S. departmentof Health rushed a supply of pills to ThreeMile Island and they have a standardbrochure all printed ready for distributionIn case It or some similar site vents.
The department of defense also keepsa supply near the old Titan sites thatare deteriOrating and breaking down.Canadians have nothing. I'll take that back.They do have lots of nuclear plants andthe distinct possibility of bombs exploding
over their heads and on their soli.
The reason why the potassium Iodideworks Is that the thyroid will absorb onlyso much iodine. After that any Iodinetaken into the body Is passed off by thekidneys. Since the body already has allthe gOOd stuff it wants It passes out thebad stuff. This Is what we call thyroidblocking.
Do not try to use the tincture ofIodine that you put onto cuts. TakenInternally it will kill you. And you cannoteat enough Iodized salt to do you anygood. You would get salt poisoning longbefore you got sufficient Iodine to do theJob.
MYTH .12: There Is a fallout pili thatwill protect you from all radiation.
I wish I could tell you about anotherpili that would solve all your radiationand other problems. But there Is none.Unless you mean the cyanide pilimentioned earlier and things really are
not that gloomy. As I hope I have carefullyexplained. most of the radiation we haveto be concerned about from a nuclearbomb will decay In a matter of days orweeks to a level where we can deal withIt.
MYTH 1113: There would be dangerousradioactivity for thousands of years.
You may say. "I've heard that someradiation will be around for thousandsand even hundreds of thousands of years. II
Yes. but those Isotopes are our friends.<That may be putting it a bit strongly.>Anyway. they are not near so harmfulas many people think. There Is the pointof view that no radiation Is good for you.Some dermatOlogists maintain that youshould not even get a suntan. <Yes. thatIs radiation that you get from the sun.>
There Is even the theory that It Iscosmic radiation that causes both overallgenetic change. aging. and death. In anycase we are all subjected to many sources
of radiation every day. The question isn01 whether or not you are going toreceive radiation, but how moen and howquiCkly. Let us compare the raolatlon weare concerned about with another typeof radiation. Heat.
Just as we measure radioactivity Inroentgens we measure heat In calories.If I were to tell you that that pipe overthere was going to put off a million caloriesof heat. You might say. "Let me get awayfrom Itl" But. If I then said that It wasgoing to be over the next million years
at the rate of one calorie per year youwould realize that you were In g,daterdanger of freezing to death than 01 burningto death If you were depending upon thatpipe for heat.
It Is not how much heat Is goingto be given off (It may be a great amount>but how much over what period of time.A mere two hundred calories suddenlyInflicted upon one point of the skin wouldcreate a bit of a sting. but hundreds ofthousands might be comfortably absorbedfrom a heating pad over an appropriate
period of time.
It Is the same with radiation. MostIsotopes give off their energy so rapidlythat they are like flash bulbs. Flash andthey are gone. It Just happens right Inthe vicinity of the bomb. Others are likeregular light bulbs that give off their lightand heat for some period of time beforethey burn out. They may travel a longway from the bomb as fallout before theydissipate their energy. For these we needa shelter to protect us If we are In theirvicinity. Nothing else will do.
Stili others are like those smallluminescent lights that some people putIn their bathrooms for night lights. Onlyweaker stili. They Just sit there and barelyglow for a very long periOd of time.
'\,
Little mlnature flashlight bulbs ormatches are a good analogy to falloutparticles. One or two of them In a roomwith you will not harm you. But surelyyou can Imagine the situation where ifyou had thousands and thousands thelight would either be blinding or the heatso Intense that you would be incinerated.
Fallout Is Just the same way. A fewpieces Inside a shelter with you will notharm you. but If you go outside wherethere are millions of the little beasts Iyllngaround- you have had it. The onlydifference between their radiation andthe radiation from a little flashlight bulbor a match Is that It Is Invisible radiationthat you cannot see or feel. -like thatfrom an x-ray machine
MYTH 1114: There would be nodangerous radioactivity after a couple
of years.
After having explained all this. nowI must tell you that there are someIsotopes that u n f o r t u n a ' ~ l y do not fall Intoeither the short range of Initial radiation(which we do not need to worry aboutbecause It does not extend out of theblast area). nor the medium range <thatyou will be protected from by a falloutshelter). nor the very long range (that
decay over so many hundreds of yearsthat their energy is too weak to concernus here).
These remaining Isotopes are realmeanies. There may be solutions to theproblems they present but there are nosimple solutions. There will not be enoughof them around that they will make walkingaround dangerous for most people butthe problem Is that they get Into the foodchain and that they have relatively shorthalf-lives. between five and 30 years.
That means that during the next coupleof hundred years they are going to begiving off most of their energy. Fortunately.some of them are rather rare, and giventhat they are going to be widely dissipatedIn world-wide fallout we can largely Ignoretheir effects.
Others may be concentrated In certainareas. certain types of soli and certainfoods where we can avoid them also.So they will not be that serious a problem.
Some others, however. particularlyCesium 137 and Strontium 90 presentmajor problems In keeping them out ofthe food chain. Even here, there areavailable defense techniques. For examplelime. gypsum, fertilizer, or organic matter(In practical amounts) may be applied
to low calcium soil. or naturally highcalcium soil may be used for growingcertain crops which have an uptakepreference for calcium over strontium.
There are known refining andpurification techniques for some foodsand milk, and there are some newtechniques which I have discussed withsome of the researchers at some of theleading nuclear laboratories, but whichthe world Isn't ready to hear about asyet.
These methods along with otherssuch as land denial. deep plowing, surfacescraping. and selective utilization, areharsh realities that are going to haveto be faced by the long range survivors.
MYTH .15: You are prepared If youhave a two weeks emergency supply
Of food stored.
More Important to the present themeare questions as to what preparationssurvivors should be making ahead of time.Since It will take a while to get cropsgrowing again because of socialdisorganization. ozone depletion In theatmosphere. climatic changes. cropadaptation. early crop failures, solideprivation. and similar factors, survivors
will need a couple of year's supply offood. Wheat and honey are the only twobasic foods, of which I am aware. thathave an Indefinite shelf life. Thousandyear old kernels found In the pyramidshave stili sprouted.) Fortunately, thesetwo foods. wheat and honey, meet mostadult nutrient requirements. Powdered milkwill be necessary If one wishes to reducethe Infant mortalities. The Infants will notsurvive otherwise, unless their mothershave adequate natural milk, which Isunlikely. salt Is Important as a preservative.
among other purposes.In addition to storing the four basic
survival foods (wheat honey. powderedmilk. and salt) It Is highly advisable thatone also store a couple of year's supplyof a variety of seeds. Some seeds willnot store very well and need to becontinually replaced.
It Is equally Important to developcertain skills. GardenIng skills. I particularlyrecommend the area of hydrc'ponlcsbecause this would be one way to grow
foods free of contamination. Preserving. . . . . . Here I recommend learning to dryfoods using hot air- freeze-drying requirestoo much elaborate and expensiveequipment and freezing Itself Is not reliablewhen electrICity Is not reliable. PreparaIIOn_Is . Bread making. use of lentils. and
making of many foods. or their substitutes.that today are commonly gotten In preparedform.
On all of these subjects one could
write a book, and indeed many bookshave been written on them. Even if onedoes not have time to Immediately developail these skills they might do well to getthemselves a survival library and thenas a next step acquire the essentials inmaterials listed In che.ckllsts In most wellorganized manuals.
MYTH 1# 16: You should be prepared tobe self sufficient and be able to
survive on your own.
The very best thing that a survivalminded person can do, after preparingfo r themselves an equipped place ofrefuge. and developing their own survivalskills, Is to associate themselves with otherskilled survivalists. No one person canknow everything, and almost everyone cancontribute something. Agricultural. medical,mechanical. communlcaton, you name It.all skills will be needed.
Few people could afford the eqUipmentthat an organization can have. One wellequipped laboratory for testing for alphaand beta particles In food costs $5.000.Along with other radiation detectionequipment and many other types ofemergency supplies, what individual canafford It? Yet no nuclear survival groupshould be without one.
Even In building a shelter the majorexpense Is the entrance and supportmechanisms such as emergency lighting,water source. etc.. The Incremental costfor space for one additional IndividualIs quite small. Thus. the greater the
number of people the overall cost canbe spread over, the less the averagecost.
And. moreover, no Individual hasthe personal resources which a grouphas. If the head of a single family survivalgroup Is Injured or lost the chances ofsurvival for that group are much reduced.However. if It Is a large group then thereare numbers of people available tocontinue to give support. Just like thereare numbers of people available tomaintain twenty-four hour watches. or to
create a well manned convoy to go aftarnecessary supplies. One more preparedand equipped Individual added to sucha group is an asset, whereas In a situatIOnlike a public shelter. one more unpreparedand unequipped Individual Is Just anotherliability.
hour (arriving two or three days afterdetonation and thus having already lostuCh of its rapid decay) would causerious illness after one day's exposure,
(even with continued decay) wouldse certain death within a couple of
'WFunrc:t However, almost any expedientwould greatly minimize the effects,
The basement shelter shown here
Example of
d mean the difference between lifeand death. As much care as possibleshould be taken to make sure the shelterroof Is below outside ground level.Otherwise, radiation will come In at an
angle through the narrow basement wall,as demonstrated.
SevenlTen Rule .....______________I hr-------------------- l .OOO r/hr
This chart Indicates that If one startedoff with one thousand roentgens ofradiation per hour at zero plus 1 hour,that It would take 2 weeks for the radiationto get down to 1 roentgen per hour.
Since death would be almost certainafter exposure for even 1/2 hr (seeaccompanying chart> It is apparant thatshelter would be necessary.
The above is a model of theunderground survival cityplanned for 50 miles northof Toronto. It is not nearlyso elaborate as some in theU.S. It is like a lifeboatcompared to the QueenMary. Still. each familywould have their privatecompartment which wouldbe suitable shelter forseveral weeks.
18
The important thing to rememberabout the seven/ten rule is that It Is onlytheoretical. and that actual decay mayfollow a different slope. Secondly. In orderto use I t one must know the exact timeof detonation for the weapon causing thefallout. And thirdly. it Is only applicablefor calculating the fallout from one weapon,and not for multiple sources.
Any material can be used for shieldingagainst radiation. Even feathers. Thereis nothing magical about lead. It Is onlythe density of the material that matters.A pound of lead and a pound of feathersweighs exactly the same. But it takes amuch bigger stack of feathers than Itdoes of lead to make a pound.
Neither feathers nor lead are generallyparticularly cheap to obtain, so it is usuallybetter to use some other material likedirt or concrete. The more dirt or concretein the barrier. the greater the protection.Since concrete is more dense (heavier)
it only takes about 24 inches of concreteto give the same protection as 36 inchesof dirt.
Thirty six Inches <three feet) of dirtwill give good protection. Five feet of dirtwill give better.
A successful survival group will haveto be either completely homogeneous orthoroughly committed to thoroughgoingtolerance and appreciation Of a wide rangeof Individual attitudes and preferencesregarding society. economics, religion,and future expectations. Still. a shelterIs not a democratic society anymore thanIs a ship or an airliner. The captain'Sauthority Is absolute and one should haveconfidence is his credentials and abilitybefore boarding.
Neither Is a shelter a democracyIn the sense that there must be muchmore stringent rules regarding behavior.Everyone must perform assigned duties.There are no wealthy passengers alongfor a free ride to be served by others.There are many limitations to personal
freedoms such as contraband materials.No drugs or alcohol (except under medicalprescription and then as approved by thecommander).
All firearms and weapons must beplaced In the armory and will not bereleased except under orders from thecommander. All valuables will be receiptedand stored In the locker for safe-keeping.No private stocks of foods because undersurvival conditions this can lead to socialdisorder. No tobacco or smoking Insidethe shelter, since It would cause discomfort
to others.
No loud toys. devices. or other objectsthat would be environmentally disturbingto others. No large bulky Items, or greatquantities of any Item without thepermission of the commander. And nopets or animals unless the survivalcommunity has made prior specialarrangements for their accomodatlon.
Tough. Yes, it Is tough. But not nearlyas tough as the conditions of survivalwill be for those who are not prepared.There are many items that are notprohibited. and In fact are ~ n c o u r a g e d . A reasonable supply of one s personalreligious literature; the tools and resourcemanuals of their trade or professton;survival manuals and equipment of everysort; additional supplies of food to beput Into the common larder; and extrasupplies to be put Into the common store.
MYTH '17: Any survivors would haveto live the rest of their Uves
underground.
Many people ask how long they mightexpect to have to live In a shelter. Thereare no fixed answers. If your shelter Isan expedient hole In the ground you might
want to stay In It no longer than wasabSOlutely necessary. Maybe as much asa couple of weeks. If you dug a prettyelaborate hole In the ground YOU might
be able to expand upon it and make ItInto a place where you could survive
through a winter.
If you owned space In a sheltercity like there Is In southern Utah orsouthern California you might plan to livethere the rest of your life. '(he co-operatlveshelter that I have been describing Inthe previous paragraphs Is not sufficientlyelaborate that anyone would want to makeIt a permanent home. Some persons wouldprobably be able to find larger and moreadequate quarters elsewhere after a fewwee1<s.
Others might Improve upon the existingstructure and remain there for a yearor two until more adequate homes couldbe built elsewhere. Decontaminationprocedures would provide work areas.schools. and school grounds outside ofthe shelter where people would carry ontheir dally activities after a few weeks.However. It might be beneficial for youngchildren and expectant mothers to sleepIn the shelter or a similar structure forseveral months.
Certain occupations. such asdecontamination crews. farmers who workon large un-decontaminated areas,'explorers' who go Into unsurveyed areas.long distance truck drivers, and otherswho go out of well defined areas for thenext several years. will have to be closelymonitored to be sure their total exposuredoes not exceed established limits.
It should be apparant to the reader.from what has been said earlier. thata person may receive substantially largertotal doses over a large period of time
than over a short period of time. Justas with sunlight. a person may easilyrecover from several small sunburnsthroughout the years. resulting from stayingIn the sun overlong for an hour or twoeach time. while If they were to be exposedto the hot desert sun that many hours.all at once they would succomb.
In the same way one may recoverfrom a number of small radiation bums(although some controversy holds thatone never recovers -this seems unlikely),and In just the same way one may recefve
small amounts of radiation and never feelill. Just the same. certain biOlogicalconditions dictate that certain Individuals.<particularly the reproductively active) shouldreceive less radiation exposure and thatothers may receive much larger amounts.
MYTH '18: Life after doomsday won'tbe worth living
Hearing descriptions of this sort some
persons wonder If life will be worth livingafterwards. For some. most assuredly so.Others do not find life worth living today.How many times have you heard of aperson like a famous movie star. whohad wealth. fame. beauty. health. thecompany of famous illustrious persons.opportunities to travel to all sorts of places.and to participate in all sorts of Interestingevents. The fulfilment of the very aspirationsof thousands of young ambitious peopleand yet that same person committedsuicide.
On the other hand there are manyIndividuals who suffer daily from terriblephysical afflictions and all sorts of personalmisfortunes. Oftentimes In the greatestpoverty. And yet. the world over. downthrough the centuries. they have goneon surviving. Many actually findinghappines. meaning. and perhaps evenenlightenment In life. You will survive.The conditions of that survival are upto you.
Und')ubtedly. the events that are aboutto transpire will have a profound affectupon the attitudes of many people andperhaps upon mankind Itself. From thecauldron of the holocaust there may springforth a new race of men who are lessconcerned with self Inter• .;t and who willcome to understand man's true natureand his divine destiny.
Some of us may even feel that thisevent will herald the coming to maturityof the human race. Instead of no future.mankind may have a glorious future. Therewill be great amounts of resources
available. combined with man's greatadvances In technology to build a newand glorious world civilization. Providing.of course. that he has learned from thisexperience and does not just go aboutpreparing fo r the next war in anothertwenty to thirty years.
But. I leave each man unto his ownvision. While, to myself. looking upon theImmensity of the visible universe. andpondering the events that have happenedupon this one single planet circling aSOlitary sun among the uncountable millions
In our but one of the innumerable galaxies.I cannot help but wonder If the eventsthat are about to transpire are not lessthan all that unique In the repetitive cyclesof life and nature that we see about useverywhere.
MYTH '19: You need not make anypreparation because you are either
going to die In the holocaust or be'saved' (religious connotation).
Men's philosophies today often goto one extreme or the other. Claimingthat all Is within man's power. Or thatnothing Is within man's power. There Isa middle ground. One can simultaneously
feel that nothing can be achieved exceptby the will of God and think that theresults are dependent upon his own efforts.God sets the boundaries and within thoseboundaries man can have some effectupon the outcome.
MYTH '20: The bOmbs today are solarge and there are so many they will
destroy the world.
There are those who feel that theholocaust will destroy everything. And wellIt might. for there are certainly more thanenough nuclear weapons In the worldto achieve that end. "Except those daysbe shortened. none will survive. not eventhe very elect." But If It Is the DivineWill, those days will be shortened. Thereare those of us who feel that the DivineHand Is evidenced In the dealings of theworld. every moment unto every moment.
The Divine happenings often seemquite natural. If one were to say untoa mountain. "Be thou removed and castInto the sea." and It should occur, anotherwould sayan earthquake Just happenedto happen right then. If the forces ofnature should transpire so that In themidst of the holocaust the planet shouldsuddenly tip on Its side and place Hissign (the Southern Cross) suddenly blazingIn the sky above the heads of the people
In the northern hemisphere there are thosewho would only recognize the naturalcauses.
Such an event would certainly playheck with the astral, satellite based. andInertial. guidance systems upon whichthe Individual and MIRVed warhead deliverysystems depend.
Events would not even have to beso 'miraculous' as I have described Inorder to limit Word War III. There Is seriOUSconcern on the part of the military that
they will not even be able to fight thewar because of such factors as the EMP.However, I have faith In the military. Iam sure they will do an admirable Jobof trying to destroy the world.
None of us have an Infallible insightInto the future or Its timetable. Whateverwill be. will be. We can but walt uponevents to prove our speculations to beright or wrong. While we are working andwaiting some of us put our trust In God.
Others put It In the Government.
MYTH *21: You will receive adequatewarning from your government.
The goverment at first proposed theIndividual family shelter plan. Then Itabandoned It . Next It proposed thecommunity shelter plan. Then It abandonedIt. Then it proposed the relocation plan.Then It abandoned it. Presently It hasno plan. Don't you feel abandoned?
The government has millions to spendfor destruction but not a penny for defense.The EMO (Emergency MeasuresOrganization) has been completely shutdown. The Ontario government wasallocated three berths in the RadiologicalDefense Officers course (for the summerof 1982) given by the Canadian EmergencyMeasures College at the EmergencyPlanning Canada Federal Study Centerin Arnprlor. Ontario, but it didn't feel Itcould afford to send anyone even afterour group offered to pay expenses forthree people. We appealed all the way
up to the Solicitor General's office.
Admittedly, I am authorized to teachthe course but during the last coursethat I taught at one of the communitycolleges (free gratis) I could not evenget any resource personnel to come fromCamp Borden. who are responsible foradministering the examinations. I feelabandoned. A radiological detection kitthat I used to be able to get for sixtydollars.ln the U.S .. now costs in Canada.with import duties (they really want youto have one). federal and provincial taxes.
exhange rate. custom's brOkerage. andyou name it. $450. Who cares?
The last Radiological Scientific OfficersCourse taught In Canada was in 1977.No future courses are planned. Thereare no communities with a nuclear defenseplan. I think I can make that an unqualifiedstatement.
Millions for destruction and not apenny for defense. Your family's destructionbill for this year Is $1,300 per memberof your family. Do you realize what $1.000a year for the last ten years would havebought you in the way of nuclear survivaldefense? Instead, your government hasbought you destruction. Your family'sdestruction.
22
Oh. I am well aware of the argumentthat that pile of bombs has maintainedpeace In the world for the last ten years.and the belief that It will continue tomaintain peace. Believe It If you wantto. All the high government officials have
there shelters. Why do they need themIf you don't?
If the government knew right todaythat the RUssians were going to attacknext week. do you think they would tellyou? If they did. what would you and themillions like you do? It would only createpanic and get In their way. No, I do notthink you would be tOld. Do you feelabandoned?
MYTH *22: You will receive nowarning. and there Is no hope If you
do.
The fact the government may notwarn you, and Is not giving you anyassistance to defend yourself does notmean that you haven't been warned. Thereare many people who feel they can seethe 'signs of the times'. Anyway. if youhave read this pamphlet. consider yourselfwarned. You may still have time to prepare.If an attack should OCCur you prObablydo not live In a primary target area andwill have plenty of time to escape. If youhave made preparation.
MYTH '23: One of the primary targetswill be nuclear power plants.
Many persons come up with all SOrtsof rationalizations as to why they shouldnot prepare for survival. One Is that thereIs a sufficient number of weapons In theworld. that if they were all used. theycould destroy the whole of mankind. ThisIs true.
However. It may be that all theweapons will not be used. Some may be
destroyed by the other side. Some maymisfire. Others may Just fall to getlaunched. This Is why each side has somany extra. Moreover. many persons makethe mistake of assuming that It is allIn man's hands and determined by man'swill. Whatever. It may be that some limitedamount of the potential for destructionwill be used.
Another rationalization often heardIs that the person feels they live In atarget area such as In the vicinity of anuclear generating plant. In actuality theRussians have little need to target thenuclear generating plants and probablycan do more damage by not doing so.A bomb on the plant would Just blow Itto smithereens and the material In theplant might add little to the radioactivefallout. On the other hand, as a result
of the EMP, If the plant Is left on itsown when It loses Its computer controlit will go into a meltdown and addsubstantial radioactive material to theatmosphere.
All of this is quite speculative, of
course. There are no experts on nuclearwar. There Is no one living who has beenthrough one. There Is general agreement.however, that It will be awfully terrible.It will probably take six or seven monthslust to bury the bodies. But. there willprobably be someone around to It.
Nuclear Survival Groups
There are probably 12 nuclear survivalgroups In the city of Toronto. I personallyknow of four and I have heard of threeor four others. <There may be someoverlap. I can't be certain). My guessIs that there are another three or fourI don't know about. Most such groupsare very secretive. For various reasons.Anyway three of the groups are headedup by instructors. like myself. who teachsurvival courses at the community colleges.
Most of the groups contain a numberof very wall trained and experiencedpeople. There are also many other groupsscattered around both the U.S. and Canada.
They have their own training bases andsurvival courses. There is a magazine.Survtve where you can learn about someof these g rou ps.
If you would like to know more aboutour group call- our 24 hour answeringservice (416) 923-2678 or (519) 925-5376.
What is a Radiological DefenseOfficer?
Both In the Canada and the UnitedStates the Federal Governments havetrained certain individuals to be advisorsto mayors and other public officials Intime of nuclear disaster. In Canada theseIndividuals are called Radlologlclal DefenseOfficers.
Certain Radiological Defense Officershave received additional training. so asto become qualified to teach RadiologicalDefense Officers. themselves. TheseIndividuals are designated as being
Radiological Sclentiflc Officers. Thesupposed requirement for becoming aradlololcal Defense Officer Is a Ph.D. InphysiCS. but because of a lack ofcandidates. Individuals with lesserqualifications have been selected.
About the Author
The author of this pamphlet builttwenty-three fallout shelters In Kansasand Utah in the 1960's. He completedthe U.S. Office of Civil Defense course
In 1970 after moving to Canada and thenthe Radiological Defense Officer's courseat Arnprlor. OntariO In 1976. and theRadiological Scientific Officer's courseIn 1977.
While in the U.SAF. he was a controltower operator and graduated as HonorStudent from the A.A.C.S. supply school.Because of this training he was askedto inspect the Titan mTsslle sites afterhis honorable discharge. He refusedbecause of his understanding of whatthe missiles could do to mankind. Hehas been a member of various anti-wargroups and his personal motto Is: "Bellthe CSt and Ban the Bomb". but he thinksIt Is now too late to do either.
His master's degree Is In Economicsfrom Texas Christian University. and heholds certificates In both data processingand Information technology, the latter fromM.I.T.
Prior to becoming a college teacherof computer science he was a telephony
engineer and holds both U.S. and Canadianpatents.
He presently devotes a large amountof his time to the nuclear survival groupmentioned In this pamphlet.
Bibliography
The two books that I most highly
recommend are:
LIfe After Doomsdavby Dr. Bruce D. Claytontrom Paladin PressBo)( 1307Boulder. Colorado 80306(303) 443-7250$19.95
Nuclear War Survival Skillsby Cresson H. Kearnyfrom Caroline House Publishers.
Inc. 920 West Industrial DriveAurora. illinoIs 60506$9.95
Here are twen1y-three myths that are repeatedly heard(some much more Often than others)
that this pamphlet tries to dispel.
Almost everyone will suddenly be killed on doomsday.
Most people would be quickly killed by the bomb blasts, thermal radiation, orradioactivity.
You can build an adequate shelter in your basement.
You must filter the air coming Into a shelter to remove the fallout.
Water would become radioactive.
There would be no dangerous radioactivity after a couple of weeks.
Radiation sickness is not contagious so there Is no danger In assisting thoseaffected.
Food exposed to radiation becomes radioactive and Is therefore not edible.
If you have a special 'radiation suit' (like you see In the movies and on T.V.>you will be protected from the radiation.
New crops of food grown In future years will not be radioactive.
There is no such thing as a fallout pili.
There Is a fallout pili that will protect you from all radioactivity.
There would be dangerous radioactivity for thousands of years.
There would be no dangerous radioactivity after a couple of years.
You are prepared If you have a two weeks emergency supply of food stored.
You should be prepared to be self sufficient and be able to survive on yourown.
Any survivors would have to live the rest of their lives underground.
Life after doomsday won't be worth living
You need not make any preparation because you are either going to die In
the holocaust or be 'saved' (religious connotation>.
The bombs today are so large and there are so many they will destroy theworld.
MYTH #21 You will receive adequate warning from your government.
MYTH #22 You will receive no warning. and there Is no hope If you do.
MYTH '23 One of the primary targets will be nuclear power plants.
This pamphlet Is published by a nuclear survival group. The group isnot affiliated with any religious group or other organization. We welcome Inquiriesfrom all persons Interested In Joining our survival group. (See Information Inside).
