In the following definitions they are defined in reference to "The Horrors of Nuclear War and How to Survive It!" and not necessarily a full definition
of the word. They are meant to help you understand what you are reading and a quick reference. The definitions might even help you if you read another book or
article about nuclear war and radiation. To get a full definition of some of the words I would suggest you pick up a physics dictionary like the
"Oxford Dictionary of Physics" ISBN 978-0-19-871474-3 published by Market House Books Ltd. I use the amount of radiation that you are exposed to as the
dosage received. The wording is technically not accurate but useful to keep things simple. Also it is assumed that the dosage is full body exposure and not
directed toward a particular body or organ part. This is also not accurate as well but keeps the math down. I think it is complicated enough without
adding more technicality and math that is involved in some of this. FEMA provides a good document that you may find helpful titled
Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation, Third Edition. You can find another radiation dictionary at the
CDC.
A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U X
absorbed dose-the amount of radiation exposed and thereby absorbed by a person or by a
particular body system. The amount of radiation that is absorbed does depend on whether the whole body is irradiated or only certain body systems are
exposed. Certain body systems are more susceptible to radiation than by others. The unit of absorbed dose is the gray. It is defined as 1 Gy = 1 J/kg.
Where J is joule and kg is kilogram. The original unit was defined as the rad but I will try to use SI which is the gray.
acute radiation sickness-when a person is exposed to a lot of radiation in a short
amount of time (less than 24 hours) the body can not cope with that much radiation and the person gets very sick and is likely to perish in a short amount
of time but not without suffering a great deal. Radiation is fatal for 95% of the population for dosages of >600 R. You can find out more information
about acute radiation on CDC's Acute Radiation Page.
air burst-when the nuclear bomb goes off at an altitude less than 100,000 feet but
high enough that the fireball does not touch the ground.
ALARA-it stands for as low as reasonable achievable. During radiation treatment of
cancer you will only expose the person to the lowest amount of radiation that can achieve your goal of curing the person of cancer. Any more than that is
dangerous and is unconscionable. You want to cure the patient not kill them or cause them to have cancer in the future.
alpha radiation-the particle that is given off is made up of a nucleus of a helium atom
and is considered alpha radiation. When alpha radiation is given off the particle does not penetrate very far. A piece of paper or air can stop the
particle. It is most dangerous when it is ingested or breathed in. For clarity it is 2 protons and 2 neutrons.
atomic bomb-an atomic bomb is a fission bomb that uses Uranium or Plutonium as apposed
to a fusion bomb. When a atomic bomb goes off it has the following types of killing characteristics: radiation, thermal energy, very high winds, and
crushing pressure. It is a weapon of terror and is the stuff of nightmares. It is also a weapon that can kill all life on this planet if used.
atoms-in simple terms it is made up of three small particles: electrons, protons, and
neutrons. The number of protons determines what the atom is called. For instance Carbon is made up of 6 protons and is therefore the sixth element
on the Periodic Table of Elements. An element has more sub-particles but for this discussion we will limit it to the three.
beta radiation--is a electron. It is higher in energy than alpha radiation but has less energy
than gamma radiation. It can be stopped with a little shielding like wood but will not necessarily be stopped by paper or clothes like alpha radiation.
blast wave-there is a wave front of winds and pressure that has the blast as its center.
That wave front is called the blast wave. At first it expands from the blast and eventual reverses and goes toward the bombs center as the air rises. Like
a ripple caused by a pebble being thrown into a still pond. It goes out like a the ripple but unlike the ripple it reverses and it is sucked backward due
to heat and differing pressures. See thermal wave as the other type of energy given off by the nuclear bomb.
cancer-within about 2 years you need to keep checking for leukemia's and after about 10 years
you should check for other cancers caused by the radiation from a nuclear blast. Your cells are very good at protecting its DNA and RNA but with large doses
of radiation it exceeds the cells ability to protect the cell thus causing cell death or cancer.
centrifuges-they are very high speed centrifuges used to concentrate the uranium ore into
uranium-235. The centrifuges need to be expertly engineered so they do not become unbalanced and just fly apart. There are hundreds of centrifuges used in the
concentration of the uranium ore to weapons grade uranium. There is very little of the uranium-235 mixed in the uranium ore, less than 1%. Almost all of it
is uranium-238.
deuterium-it is hydrogen with one proton and one neutron. Sometimes called heavy water.
dosimeter-it is a device that can detect different types of radiation and X-Rays and
help you determine how much radiation and X-Rays you have been exposed too. It does not necessarily need to be electronic but can be a device or film
when it is exposed to radiation and X-Rays it changes and after a certain amount of time is taken to be "read". This method is often used by X-Ray techs.
I have a credit card sized card that when it is exposed turns different colors depending on the amount of radiation and X-Rays it is exposed to and it lets
me know how much radiation and X-rays I am exposed too. The usual dosimeter measures gamma and beta radiation and X-Rays but does not detect alpha radiation.
A special attachment or a different device needs to be used to detect alpha radiation. See also Gieger counter.
early radiation sickness-when a person is exposed to a dose of radiation they can
have radiation sickness. There are many factors that determine how sick a person gets like how much radiation they were exposed to, how long they were
exposed, and how far they were from the source of radiation. Radiation sickness comes and goes and comes back again. I designate early radiation sickness
as the first bout of illness before the symptoms seem to go away. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between a dose that just makes you sick and is
not fatal from a fatal dose. The symptoms are: nausea and vomiting, hair falling out, sunburn and/or blisters, some bleeding in urine and feces,
spontaneous abortion, headaches, fever, infections, and some others. The symptoms seem to go away as your body tries to repair itself. Then as the bone
marrow dies after a period of time the symptoms come back. As a treatment for cancer like leukemia, radiation is used to kill the cancer cells in the
bone marrow and allow the normal cells to take over the bone marrow. So if you do not get enough of a dose to kill your bone marrow totally than given
enough time the bone marrow will recover. However, risks of infection and bleeding may cause the person to perish before this can be achieved. See also
acute radiation sickness.
electromagnetic pulse-when a nuclear bomb explodes it causes a electromagnetic pulse that
burns out transistors which are in computers, radios, and other electronic devices making them inoperable. The area this occurs depends on a number of factors.
If a nuclear bomb goes off at an altitude greater than 100,000 feet it is considered a high altitude burst. This can effect large areas. It is theorized that
it would not take to many high altitude bursts to completely put the United States back to the pre-industrial era.
electromagnetic waves-a photon of different energies gives us the electromagnetic spectrum.
Different types of energy fall on this electromagnetic spectrum. For instance visible light falls on this spectrum along with radio waves, ultraviolet light,
infrared light, and others. Gamma radiation is highly energetic and falls on one end of the spectrum. Hard and Soft X-rays fall just below gamma radiation.
That is why gamma radiation is so dangerous. It is highly energized. Soft X-rays are not as highly energized but still high enough in energy to cause damage
to the human body. Given that gamma radiation and soft x-rays are photons of electromagnetic energy and is given off during a nuclear explosion is why this is
brought up. This is a over simplification of this concept but it is important to understanding what gamma radiation and x-rays are. You can view a
electromagnetic spectrum of electromagnetic waves at NASA.
electrons-in an atom the electrons orbit a nucleus. Since the electron orbits a nucleus
it is "exposed" enough that it can be knocked away from the atom giving us beta radiation. It has mass and has a negative electric charge even if the mass
is very small.
equivalent dose-different parts of the body react to radiation to more or less degrees. So
equivalent dose is given by an absorbed dose multiplied by a radiation weight factor for that part of the body or organ: equivalent dose, H (Sv) = absorbed dose
(Gy) X WR. Sv is called a sievert. It gives a value that will tell you if that particular organ or body part is at risk for cancer or
genetic damage. It is easier to use this value for treatment since the radiation will be pointed toward a certain area or organ. A full body exposure would
be harder to use this value since multiple organs will be given a dose.
fallout-it is the material that is vaporized and sucked up into the air by the nuclear
blast and becomes radioactive. Eventually over time the material comes back down in what is called fallout. Even if you are not close to the fireball you
can still get a dose of radioactivity from the fallout. It follows the wind patterns so if you are downwind move away from the fallout as quickly as you can
to protect yourself from the deadly fallout. Some will come down in the rain so if the rain is "black" or has material in it the rain probably contains a
lot of fallout and you should get to shelter as quickly as possible for protection. When you come out of your shelter be very wary of bodies of water since
rain has a tendency to wash the radioactive material to bodies of water. Boiling or adding water purification will not remove the radioactive particles.
You need to filter it. I have extra cotton fill and activated charcoal for fish tanks to accomplish this in an emergency such as this plus the water
purification pills. I have been told that a well packaged food will not become radioactive. So you can eat the packaged food. I personal would use my
gieger counter to test it before consumption and make sure a can is not bloated or the food does not smell to bad when opened. Also, you will need to
start to grow food using non-radioactive dirt and water. So seeds are a necessary commodity.
faraday cage-if you enclose a electronic device in a conductive metal container or material
it can help negate the electromagnetic pulse and protect the electronic device from being fried. You can purchase faraday cage bags or material to wrap a
device in from the internet or you can make your own by using a conductive metal container. Some people say using a metal barrel with sand in it so you can
put the device in the middle is a great way to protect electronic equipment. There is no guaranty that the item will be protected but it couldn't hurt. The
most important things to protect would be a radio and a radiation detector so you could possibly get updates but there may not be any radio stations left
after a nuclear exchange. The problem will probably be batteries. They may not last long enough for the military to start broadcasting after a while.
Remember the experiment you may have done in physics or chemistry where you used potatoes to create a battery or you can buy a radio that uses solar power
or a hand crank to create electricity. A radiation detector can help you decide when you can go outside again. This is sometimes called hardening the device.
firestorm-when a fire or multiple fire creates its own weather patterns. During World War
II a firestorm was created by conventional bombs in Dresden, Germany. A firestorm can create a fire tornado which compounds the effects of the fire. When a
nuclear weapon goes off its thermal energy creates an expansion of heat outward but since heat rises there is vacuum created and there is a rush of air back
toward the vacuum causing a mushroom cloud that rises. A nuclear explosion used to be discussed in terms of a firestorm but I have not heard it used in this
sense in a long time.
fission-fission is when a neutron is given off from an isotope and collides
with the nucleus of the isotope next to it to give off two to three more neutrons. If the collisions produce enough collisions with other isotopes creating
a self sustainable reaction then it reaches super criticality and a nuclear explosion occurs. There has to be enough of the collisions to kept the collisions
going or the isotope is said to be sub-critical. Remember that the nucleus is very small so that is why a implosion is used to create the nuclear explosion.
It helps to overcome the repulsive nuclear forces and bring the atoms closer together so the odds of neutrons bombarding the other nucleus' is increased.
That is why the gun type nuclear bomb is less efficient and probably not likely be used anymore. There is an interesting demonstration of fission at the
JavaLab.
fission products-when radioactive Uranium or Plutonium gives off radiation the material
that is left can and is often radioactive itself. That is why you have to be careful of the products of radioactive materials that give off radiation as
well as the original bomb material you start off with. Some of the products to watch out for are radioactive Strontium, Cesium, Iodine, etc. after a nuclear
explosion. These products have different half lives as well and some of them are very bad for you even if they were not radioactive.
flash blindness-if you are looking at a nuclear flash it is so bright that it can blind you.
The blindness can be permanent or be temporary so it is best not to be looking at the flash.
fusion-is what makes a atomic bomb into a thermonuclear bomb or H-Bomb. The reason is the
fission reaction is used to create a fusion reaction in addition to the fission reaction. The sun uses the fusion of hydrogen to helium to keep it going. A
thermonuclear bomb uses the fusion method like hydrogen to helium or another material is used instead of hydrogen like lithium. Thus the name H-Bomb for
hydrogen fusion. Deuterium and tritium are usually used instead of hydrogen even though they are different forms of hydrogen. The fusion increases
the yield of the bomb making it "stronger" and more deadly.
gamma radiation-it is the high energy electromagnetic radiation given off by isotopes.
It can cause a great amount of damage to the body due to its ability to penetrate deep into the body and through it. Gamma radiation damages the cells
of the body and the DNA in the cells causing cell death or cancer. The best defense is to limit the amount of exposure to gamma radiation to ALARA or
none depending on how it is used. Remember it is used to treat patients with cancer as well as used for weapons.
Geiger counter-is a device that can measure radiation. You might of seen the yellow devices
that Civil Defense used to detect radiation in the day. Now they have different looking devices that can detect different types of radiation and X-Rays. To
detect alpha radiation you either need a specific device to detect it or have a special attachment that connects to your device. They usually give you CPM,
Sieverts, or Roentgens. Remember you will probably want to print a unit to symptom table so you can interpret what symptoms you are going to have given the
amount of Sieverts or Roentgens you receive. You may want to add a dosimeter that is not electronic to your supplies given that the Geiger counter may be
knocked out by a EMP pulse given the computer part of the device. See dosimeter.
ground zero-it is the ground point right underneath the nuclear blast. When you talk about
the characteristics of the nuclear explosion going out to a mile you are measuring the distance from ground zero to a mile out.
half life-a radioactive atom does not give off radiation linearly. It gives off half
of the radiation for a specific atom for the atoms half life. Lets say we have a substance made up of I-131. I-131 has a half life of 8 days. So after
8 days there will only be half of the radioactivity than originally. After 16 days it will be half that meaning that it will have a quarter of the
radioactivity then what we started off with and after 8 more days it will be half that or decreased 1/16th of what it was. That is what is meant by
half life. Each radioactive atom has its own half life. Plutonium-239 for instance has a half life of about 24,000 years so you do not want that
lying around. Uranium has a half life of about 7 x 108 years or 700 million years.
high altitude burst-it is a nuclear bomb that goes off above 100,000 feet. You certainly
do not get the heat (thermal energy), winds and pressure, and the amount of radiation of lower altitude burst. You would do this to cause a electromagnetic
wave that is spread out a lot more than a lower burst and covers a greater area. This is a significant problem to all the electronic equipment that
we use today. That alone could put us back to the pre-industrial age.
hydrogen bomb-a hydrogen or thermonuclear bomb uses fusion as well as fission to
create a larger more damaging nuclear explosion than just a fission bomb or atomic bomb alone.
implosion-an inward rather than an outward explosion. It is used more often than
a gun like type of nuclear bomb. One half of the nuclear material is aimed at the other half and blown together to create the nuclear explosion.
It is inefficient and wasteful way to create a nuclear explosion. If they direct all the force inward it creates a more efficient and cleaner nuclear
explosion. It is a battle between keeping the radioactive material close enough to keep it fissioning and the outward forces of blowing it apart.
initial radiation-it is all the gamma radiation and X-Rays that is created during the
nuclear explosion as compared to the fallout.
ionizing radiation-is the high energy radiation that can knock a electron off a atom
thus creating ions. The ions can cause damage to a cell thus making it dangerous to the human body.
isotopes-a isotope is atom that has more neutrons than protons in the nucleus. When
the neutrons exit the nucleus it gives off or causes energy in the form of gamma, beta, and alpha radiation. One neutron can cause two to three
neutrons of the atoms next to it to give off there neutrons. When a cascade is created using isotopes of Uranium or Plutonium to keep the fissioning
going you can have a self sustaining nuclear reaction causing a nuclear explosion. The trick is to keep them just close enough to the self sustaining
reaction without reaching super criticality until the desired time you want the nuclear explosion to go off.
kiloton-a nuclear explosion is compared to the chemical explosion of TNT. One kiloton
is equal to 1000 TONS of TNT which is a huge amount of TNT. It would be very difficult to deliver 1000 tons of TNT to one spot to deliver a one kiloton
explosion without being discovered.
latent radiation sickness-if you are exposed to an amount of radiation that does not
outright kill you then you can go through radiation sickness and then feel better for a little while and then BAMB. You get sick again. This second
bout is called latent radiation sickness. That is one of the cruel things about radiation. You think you have gone through the worst of it and then
you get sick again and possibly die the second time around. The latent radiation sickness is caused by bone marrow death. The White and Red Cells along
with Platelets are grown in the bone marrow. So if you have those cells die then you are susceptible to infections, bleeding, other symptoms.
megaton-a megaton is a 1000 kilotons of TNT and a kiloton is 1000 TONS of TNT. So you
are looking at 1,000,000 TONS of TNT. In a nuclear explosion that much energy is given off in a split second.
mirror-it is used to keep the neutrons confined in the implosion so the fissionable
material in the nuclear bomb is used up in the reaction. It makes the explosion more efficient and "stronger". Remember it is a battle between blowing
apart and the all the isotope fissioning creating the explosion.
mushroom cloud-when a nuclear explosion occurs a pressure wave is created that goes
outward. After the pressure wave reaches it's greatest distance, the air starts to fill back due to the displaced air the explosion caused
(pressure gradient) and the heat starts to rise in the air. This causes a mushroom like cloud filled with radioactive debris that will fall back down
to earth as fallout. If you see a large chemical explosion you see the same thing but without the radioactive debris and fallout. I saw a oil plant
explode once and saw the upward explosive ball that looked like a mushroom and it deposited a oily substance on our house miles away from the actual
explosion. People died in that explosion. I am talking about the Texas City Refinery (TCR) explosion around 1980.
neutron-is one of the three fundamental elements that we have discussed. It has mass but
does not have a electrical charge. When the neutrons outnumber the protons in the nucleus of an atom it is called an isotope. A self sustaining neutron
generation of neutrons is what creates a nuclear explosion.
neutron initiator-it is in the center of a nuclear bomb but it can be external to it as
well using another method. It is used to create a burst of neutrons to help start the self sustaining neutron generation creating a nuclear explosion.
Beryllium and polonium are brought together to create a burst of neutrons in the center of the bomb sometimes called the pit.
non-ionizing radiation-it is the lower energy radiation that does not knock off electrons
from a atom. It makes it less dangerous to the human body than ionizing radiation.
nuclear winter-some people believe that if there is a major exchange of nuclear weapons
that the amount of debris thrown into the atmosphere will block off sunlight thus causing the temperatures to go down. I think this will be the case plus
other horrible things will happen to the environment. Nuclear war is not only bad for humans but also for the animals and the environment.
nucleus-it is the center of the atom that contains the neutrons and protons. It is very
small and in some cases considered difficult to get at.
overpressure-it is the pressure increase caused by the nuclear explosion. It is measured
in PSI in the US. It is like scuba diving. The farther you go down into the ocean the higher the pressure is and like in the movies it crushes things like
the human body and submarines. See blast wave.
periodic table of elements-
Periodic Table of Elements
plutonium-plutonium-239 is used in making a nuclear bomb. It has a half life of about 24,110
years and is usually produced in a nuclear reactor.
proton-protons are positively charged and have mass. The number of protons is what determines
what a element is called.
radiation-is unseen and you can not taste it and you can not feel it while you are being
exposed. That is one of the reasons why it is so dangerous. You can be exposed to a lethal dose and not even know it until it is to late. There are three
different types of radioactive radiation caused by isotopes called alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. Alpha radiation is the nucleus of a helium atom. One
way Beta radiation is created is that the electron is ripped from a atom that has been collided with a neutron. Gamma radiation is the electromagnetic
energy that is given off by collisions of neutrons with the nucleus of the isotope atom next to it. X-rays are also given off during a nuclear explosion.
The radiation given off during the nuclear explosion causes the vaporized debris to become radioactive and come back down as fallout. Radiation is also
used for peaceful purposes such as nuclear energy and is used to kill cancer cells.
radiation detector-there are various ways to detect radiation. There are even ways to
determine what isotopes are causing the radiation. However, the most common and cheapest way to detect radiation in a radiation detector is a Geiger-Muller
tube. It is used to detect the beta and gamma radiation and X-rays given off by a nuclear bomb and fallout. You do not really need to know which isotope
is giving off the radiation. Just how much is being given off so you can determine the dosage you are receiving and which areas are clean. The other methods
are usually to cumbersome and expensive and usually found at research and government facilities. You can use the Geiger counter to determine how much
radiation is being given off so you can keep the total dose below 70 R. You will get a little sick but most people will recover. If you receive a 200 R
dose 5% of the population will perish. 600 R is given as the dose that 95% of the population will perish. These are used for people with little to no
treatment. Everybody is different and can tolerate more or less radiation. It is best to go with the less amount to make sure you are not likely to die.
Survival is the goal here.
radiation protection-the principles of radiation protection are time, distance, and
shielding. Time is not necessarily on your side. One of the problems depends on the isotope and it's half life. If it is 24,000 years you are looking
at a long time for the radiation to decrease. During fission there are going to be some other isotopes that are produced as byproducts and that do not
have such long half lives and therefore the radiation will decrease over time. So time is going to help but how much depends on other factors like how
many bombs went off and how big they were and where were you in relation to explosions? Also, since you may be in a shelter for a while you will need
food and water. If your shelter does not have food and water then like I said time is not on your side. You may have to leave to get somewhere where
you are more protected or you may have to find access to food and water. The distance is going to help a lot. If you are not at or near ground zero and
your not downwind of the fallout you will be in good shape. So get as far as you can from ground zero and try to stay away from the fallout. Knowing wind
patterns for your area can be very helpful as well. I have a hand held device that will tell me the wind direction, temperature, atmospheric pressure,
plus other parameters. Shielding is probably your best bet. Before the fallout reaches you get to a good shelter if you can. Put as much distance as you
can from the exterior of the shelter (for distance) and the more thickness of the walls the better. The type of shielding is important as well. Different
barriers will provide different protection. Steel would be best but how many buildings are made out of adequate steal or metal? I am not talking about
aluminum siding. That will not provide you any protection. A steel ship might do a good job but that will probably be at a port and that will probably be
hit with a nuclear bomb. Concrete is pretty dense and depending on the thickness it can provide you with good protection. It is certainly a cheaper
building material than steel. Dirt provides some protection but more is needed between you and the radiation than concrete. The deeper you dig into the
ground for the shelter the better and the more dirt you can put on top of the shelter the better as well since it will provide more shielding for you.
Make sure air can get into your shelter so that you will not asphyxiate. It should be noted that if you have the money and the time you can build
a decent shelter before any of this happens. The closer to you the better since you will probably need to get away quickly to lessen the exposure to
radiation. If you are planning to drive to your shelter remember the electromagnetic pulse will probably knock out your vehicle and you will probably
be walking. That also means that you may have to go through fallout as well which will give you a dose of radiation. People are dangerous when scared
so that will be a concern as well. Also, get a Geiger counter. You can use it to determine if you are in good spot and whether or not you are going to
get a fatal dose of radiation if you stay at that particular shelter. It also can be used to determine if it is safe to leave your shelter. Radiation
is cumulative. If you are being exposed to 25 R per hour than in three hours you will be exposed to 75 R and that should be the limit for all emergency
personnel and if the background radiation is still at a high rate then the limit should be lowered. You want to keep it low enough so that a person, even
emergency personnel, will not reach a fatal dosage. After a few more hours at that exposure rate it will become fatal pretty quickly. One thing to
remember is that you need to keep small children from walking on there own. The reason being is that a small person is closer to the ground and thus
there vital organs are closer to the ground where the fallout is and will receive a higher dose to the vital organs than a normal adult. Animals
like a dog would get a higher dose to there vital organs than a normal adult as well. You can plan and plan but when those bombs start flying then
everything is going to be your best judgment you and must rely on yourself. So being informed is a very good strategy.
radiation sickness-radiation dosages can cause a number of symptoms and make you
very sick. A dosage of <200 R usually is not fatal. It can cause the following symptoms: Nausea and vomiting, Diarrhea, Headache, Fever, Dizziness
and disorientation, Weakness and fatigue, Hair loss, Bloody vomit and stools, Infections, Spontaneous abortions, Sun Burn and possibly blisters, and
Low blood pressure. Remember there is a latent phase where you may not feel bad and then the symptoms come back. Some of these symptoms are in the late
phase due to the bone marrow being suppressed or killed. That is where the white cells, red cells, and platelets are produced. The white cells prevent
infections while the red cells carry oxygen to the body and the platelets keep you from bleeding to death. A dose of 200-600 R increase the risk of
fatality and a dose of >600 R are likely to cause fatality and a great amount of misery. When you get a dose of >600 your mental acuity is decreased.
Confusion, Dizziness, and disorientation with death not long afterward. The symptoms of someone that will not die and someone who has a fatal dose
overlap so you have to be careful in your determination of there status. You can go to the CDC radiation thermometer to asses risks from a particular
dose: CDC Thermometer. I have a graphic on my phone and a poster
on my wall that has the dosage versus risks. I also have it in books and reference materials. Since I carry a card on me at all times that will give me
the ball park dosage I receive I will know at least if I am going to survive. I also carry a NukAlert as well.
residual radiation-it is the amount of radioactive materials that are left after the
initial burst from the fission. Most of this I would consider would come back down as fallout. Do not forget the radioactive material at ground zero
as well. You want to stay clear of ground zero due to the heavy radioactivity and fires from the thermal energy. I consider there to be two types of
residual radiation. One is the Uranium or Plutonium of the bomb material that did not fission and the material that becomes radioactive due to neutrons
bombarding it and making it radioactive. I think somebody called this neutrification. An example of this I read about was that the coral that was
vaporized and became radioactive and came down as fallout on a Japanese fishing boat and contaminating it.
Roentgen (R)-the roentgen is 2.58 × 10−4 C/kg where C is Coulombs and kg is kilogram. It
is really not used much today but some graphics that show radiation symptoms to R are still around. It is used in a lot of the documentation that I have
read over the years (1950's-). So I use it out of habit. See Sieverts. It is used today instead of R.
7 to 10 rule of thumb-
Rate7(n) = Rateinitial x 10%(n)
,where n is a whole number. 7(n) is the amount of time that has past in hours and 10%(n) is the amount of decrease over that amount
of time. You can make a graph where the x-axis is 7(n) hours and the y-axis is the Rate7(n) which is in the same
units of the initial reading. The Rateinitial is the highest rate of radiation exposure (example: R/hr) before it starts to decrease.
If the amount of radiation keeps going up then there is more fallout falling and will make your calculations inaccurate because it will take longer for
the fallout to be at a survivable level. The 7/10 rule is an approximation but can give you some information about how long to stay in your shelter.
Without a Gieger counter you are taking a greater risk if you leave your shelter early or even if your shelter is even protecting you currently.
Two weeks is the general amount of time that is given in the documentation for you to shelter if you have nothing to collect data on the radiation. It
assumes that the fallout will be around 1000 R/hr in the beginning which is possible but highly unlikely because a lot of factors. However, use your best
judgment. A lot of factors can change the amount of time you should stay in your shelter. So the longer you can stay in your shelter the better your
chances will be that the radiation has decreased to survivable levels. The 7/10 rule is usually stated as for 7(n) hours the radiation will decrease
by 10%. I found the following formula on the web site
https://9to5science.com/can-the-7-10-rule-of-thumb-for-radiation-be-understood-theoretically:
Radiation = 10(log10 (radiation(0)) - (1.183 (log10 (time))))
If you start off with 1000 R/hr you get the following (7,100), (49, 10), (343, 1), (2401, 0.1), (16807, 0.01) where the x-values are in hours and the
y-value is in R/hr. If you start off with a lower number then you will get different values. Of course always watch your units.
severe radiation sickness-mimics regular radiation sickness at first but after a short time
you experience severe mental and psychological problems and leads to death pretty quickly. This occurs when you receive a large dosage of radiation of say
>600 R. When you get a high dosage of radiation you can get very sick but if you minimal treat the symptoms of the person they could survive. Everybody
is different so the data is for risk and not set in granite. See acute radiation sickness and also treatment.
shadow people-the thermal energy produces a lot of heat and light. Because of this, the
body is vaporized and since the body blocks some of this light a shadow is produced behind the person. These shadows are called shadow people because of
the shadow of a person is left behind.
shelters-see radiation protection.
shielding-see radiation protection.
Sieverts (Sv)-1 Sv = 1 joule/kg where kg is kilogram of body tissue. "The sievert represents
the equivalent biological effect of the deposit of a joule of radiation energy in a kilogram of human tissue." From Sievert on Wikipedia:
Sievert.
super criticality-during fission neutrons are given off all the time. When you put enough
of the isotope together or bombard the material with neutrons that cause the isotope to keep a self-sustained reaction of neutrons going the isotope is said
to reach super criticality and gives off a great deal of energy and radiation. It is the principle behind a nuclear bomb. You put enough of the isotope
together just below super criticality and by some method cause the material reach super criticality. That is why the bomb does not just go off sitting
on top a missile. It is just below criticality. The implosion is enough to put enough of the isotope in a denser area thus allowing for the self-sustained
reaction to occur. I read once that this was called, "tickling the tail of the dragon."
surface burst-a surface burst is a nuclear explosion where the fireball reaches the ground.
It causes more material to come down as fallout and leaves a crater. This method is used to destroy underground bunkers like command and control centers,
missile silos, air fields, etc.
tamper-it is used to slow down the nuclear reaction to keep the reaction at super
criticality longer which allows for more of the material to be used in the explosion. I would think it helps make it more efficient and more deadly.
There are two forces at play here. One is the energy that is being created that wants to expand. The other is the implosion that is forcing the material
to stay in proximity to allow for the self sustained reaction to keep producing more energy. Eventually the explosion wins out and the material will be
blown apart where the material can not continue to produce more energy. If the material is blown apart before super criticality is reached then you
have a "fizzle" and you do not have a nuclear explosion.
treatment-there is no real treatment to prevent death or certain cancers for now. You
can take Iodine to flood your body with non-radioactive Iodine so the radioactive Iodine will not cause Thyroid cancer. That helps with just the Thyroid
and not with other problems. Prevention is key. Do not eat or drink water that contains radioactive elements and use a decent shelter. If you get dosed
with radiation remember you can treat the symptoms. Diarrhea and vomiting can cause you electrolyte problems which can kill by themselves. Drinking clean
water with Gatorade, Pedalyte or others added can help you keep your electrolytes balanced. Tylenol and Aspirin can keep fever down and deal with
headaches. Antibiotics can help with infections if you have those. Sun burn cream can help with sun burns and iron and Vitamin B12 can help
replace some of the iron and Vitamin B12 that is needed for production of red blood cells. Anti-Oxidant foods and vitamins plus multiple vitamins
can replace some of the vitamins lost from diarrhea and vomiting and they may help to prevent some cancers. These can help keep you more comfortable but
will not "cure" you and remember you will need them again in the latent phase of radiation sickness. There are two others things you need to keep in mind.
First would be to watch out for cataracts and the second would be flash blindness. They are two things I personally do not know what you could do to
help or treat. Hospitals during this time may be unavailable or overfilled so there may not be any treatment except for what you can give yourself. Even
if there is treatment you may perish anyway. The firemen at Chernobyl is a good example since they recieved treatment but still perished because of the
high dose of radiation they received. You can read "Military Radiobiology" by Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute ISBN 0-12-184050-6 published by
Academic Press Inc. in 1987 for more information on what chemicals have been used to help with radiation sickness even though they really didn't find
anything because the chemicals were to toxic.
thermal energy-when a nuclear bomb goes off there is heat and light given off and this
is caused by the thermal energy that is produced by the fission. This can cause flash blindness if a person is looking at the explosion. A person can be
burned by the thermal energy and depending on what the person is wearing can leave burn patterns in there skin. On the presentation that is available
on this site is a picture of a unfortunate Japanese woman from Hiroshima with a burn pattern on her back from her clothes. The heat can cause from first
degree burns to third degree burns. Also the thermal energy can cause fires around the area of the explosion depending on the composition of the material
in the area. Especially the combustible material. The fires may not kill you directly as well. When material burns it produces toxic smoke that can kill
you as well. If you listen to the news, a lot people die from smoke inhalation as well as the toxic substances in the air due to what is being burned.
It takes three things for a fire to burn: fuel, ignition source, and oxygen. So I have a theory as well, if there is a large exchange and a lot forest
is burned that the oxygen levels may be lower and will remain low since there are not enough plants left for the oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange. That
is one of the fears of burning in the Amazon is that the CO2 will increase and create a green house effect as well as the nuclear winter. I
think the amount of material put into the air as well as the burning will make it very hard for the survivors. Maybe even impossible to live on the
surface. The environmental impact can not be underestimated.
thermonuclear blast-another name for hydrogen bomb. It uses fission to jump start a
fusion reaction. Different forms of hydrogen are used in the fusion reaction. Hydrogen with a extra neutron is called Deuterium and hydrogen with two
extra neutrons is called Tritium and both of these are used to create the fusion part of the thermonuclear bomb. A thermonuclear bomb can be in the
megaton range and is a terrible bomb to be used.
tritium-it another name for hydrogen with two extra neutrons in the nucleus which is
used in a thermonuclear bomb.
units of radiation-you can find some definitions at
CDC and do some conversions at
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Uranium-half life of Uranium-235 is 703,800,000 years. When Uranium ore is mined it is
more than 99% Uranium-238. High speed centrifuges are used to help remove the Uranium-235 from the ore for nuclear bombs. Of course it is a little more
complicated than what I describe. The high speed centrifuges are used to refine Uranium for nuclear reactors as well as nuclear bombs and have been in the
news. It is feared that Iran will use the high speed centrifuges to refine enough Uranium into weapons grade Uranium and make nuclear bombs. This scares
a few people because of Iran's rhetoric of wanting to destroy Israel (the little Satan) and the United States (the big Satan). That is why secret high
speed centrifuges are being searched for to see if they are making nuclear bombs.
x-rays-a nuclear explosion also gives off x-rays. On the electromagnetic spectrum they
are lower in energy than gamma rays but right up there with them. Sometimes you might hear them called soft x-rays which are still x-rays but just
have a little lower energy. See electromagnetic waves.
