A nuclear bomb goes off, what do you do?

A nuclear bomb has been detonated!

There aren't many if any threads about this on here, so I decided to start one.

I've been trying to learn about surving a nuclear explosion but I find alot of information contradicting or confusing.

So far I've realized that when you see the bright flash and you aren't dead, you have a chance to survive. Time to duck and cover like in the old cold war videos and wait for the blast wave to hit. Hopefully you are behind something that will shield you from the thermal and gamma radiation as well as the shockwave and debris that will pass you. I've read that if you are hiding and it hasn't hit you in 2 minutes then you are far enough away that it won't do significant damage. Not sure if this is true, but it sounds probable.

Now here comes the tricky part. After you have survived the initial blast how the hell do you survive the fallout? I remember Flight-ER-Doc (I think) posted something on this that shows different shelters. I've learned a few ideas too. Some involve digging a trench, other involving piling stuff on top of and around a table in your house. Either way it must be something to keep radiation back. The truth is, I don't know what would really work and what I would be able to come up with in a situation like that (I might not have the luxury of a premade shelter). I don't know what really would work to shield you from the radiation, protect you from breathing it, and how long some of these would take.

In addition to the concern of the shleter making itself are questions about fallout. Two important questions I've thought of:
1) How long can we expect it to be before fallout begins?
2) How long can we expect fallout to be dangerous?
I do realize that these questions rely on different variables.

3) Also, how big is the initial fireball on a nuclear bomb? This also is obviously something that depends on the bomb.

I raise these questions because if you do make a shelter, it will be important to know how long you have to be in there because without water and food you will be dead if it takes a long time. It also would be important to know how long you have to make a quick shelter.

It's certainly possible we will see a nuclear bomb go off in our lifetime, and I think we should have a discussion about what we would od if it happened.

http://www.awrm.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=27;t=000053

A lot depends on luck, and on how the bomb was detonated. Was it a ground burst? If so, radiation will definitely be a problem. If it was an air burst, with relatively little dirt kicked up, then not so much. And if it was high enough, none at all.

As far as the blast goes, duck-and-cover is it. Get down low, wait for the shock wave to pass, and low-crawl (if practical) to your foxhole or other shelter. The blast wave is roughly 40% of a bomb's energy, if I remember correctly.

Thermal energy is about 30% to 40% of a bomb's energy. Cloud cover will increase the range and effectiveness of the thermal energy. This is why you need to seek shelter after the shock wave passes. Don't look at the fireball for at least five minutes after the detonation.

Ionizing radiation constitutes about 5% of a bomb's energy, and with larger bombs becomes relatively negligible in importance. Nuclear fallout is the primary component if ionizing radiation with a large weapon (above about 50 kilotons).

Tactically, an air burst is of more use, since forces can occupy the affected area faster. Ground bursts extend the area of fallout, but quickly limits the area of blast and thermal damage. Ground bursts would probably be used for missile silos or hardened bunkers, or for a terrorist weapon.

Hope this helps.

Onward and upward,
airforce

A 1 Megaton warhead will give you the following results upon detonation
Thermal radiation radius (3rd degree burn): 7.27 statute miles

Air blast radius (widespread destruction): 4.47 statute miles

Air blast radius (near-total fatalities): 1.68 statute miles

Ionizing radiation radius (500 rem): 1.93 statute miles

Fireball duration: 4.5 seconds

Fireball radius (minimum): 470.25 yards

Fireball radius (airburst): 597.62 yards

Fireball radius (ground-contact airburst): 765.53 yards

Time, Distance and Shielding are your best friends when dealing with a Nuclear Warhead going off. The longer you stay in a shelter, the more radioactive decay will have occured. The further away you are from the explosion and the further your shelter is in the ground the better off you are. The denser the materials are that you us for shielding the better off you will be.

Radioactive particles can be carried by the winds for hundreds of miles, so take a look and see which way the prevailing winds are blowing for your area. Some areas of the United States may escape the fallout altogether.

No matter what the nuclear device is, the decay rates will still be the same. Obviously the bigger the device, the more radioactive particles there will be with that device.

If you are not in one of the areas that did not get hit with a high dose of fallout, you should be able to come out of your shelter after about 2 weeks. I would still recommend that you only stay out of your shelter for very short periods of time each day. Maybe 15-30 minutes a day. But this will depend on how many rads/hour the radiation level is and to check that you will need a dosimeter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doQY4xRXJJ4

Here is a few facts on it:
Dosage in RADS; Clinical effect; Mortality rate
0-25 Practically no effect. 0%
100 Slight nausea. 0%
200. Nausea vomiting, 25%
Hair loss, fatiuge,
Hemmorrages
400. Increased severity of 50%
above symptoms
600 Rapid on set of 75%


For a 20 KT bomb at .10 miles from blast zone metals vaporize. .5 miles metals melt. 1 mile out rubber and plastics melt and wood burns. 2 miles third degree burns. At three miles wooden buildings vaporize.

The energy distrubution is:
50% blast
35% heat
10% residual radiation (remains in matter)
5% initial radiation

Gamma radiation is released in the initial blast. It can pass through soil, water, brick, and concrete and disrupt molucular structure of living tissue.

A 1 MT bomb detonated at 6000 ft only has 1/5 of normal blast. If detonated at 3000 ft it has optimum tactical blast effect.

To understand how to survive a nuke download and read this book: http://www.shtfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/nuclear_war_survival_skills.pdf