Did you know that nuclear weapon is tested by humans more than 1700 times and it was used in war only twice? That means that they are up to something. And it is possible that the world will see another great war. It could be limited nuclear war or total nuclear war, but today, there is also possibility of nuclear terrorism. So, how to survive if it comes to the worst?

Much of your survival depends on where you are in the time of the first blast. If you have an information about some details before the blast, try to run from the predicted target as fast and far as you can. This is not situation where we don't panic! We do! In these situations, panic saves our lives. It is pushing us forward to fight for our lives and it can give us superhuman strength! So, run as much as possible and try to find a fallout shelter. You must be aware of things that will happen:

- Destructive impact with huge amount of explosive energy followed by strong shock wave

- Nuclear fallout spreading rapidly from mushroom cloud  

The real damage depends on the power of a nuclear bomb.

If you found good fallout shelter, you are safe for now. But you will feel the blast!

THE BLAST

The blast made by nuclear bomb is something what you never felt before. You could find yourself in the best nuclear shelter in the whole world but you would feel the floor shaking. You can just imagine what happened outside! Inside the large radius around the epicenter of the explosion, everything is devastated and burned. 

We can express power of explosion in kilotons (kt) of TNT yield in the nuclear bomb. The blast of 10 Megatons (Mt) can cause total destruction inside the radius of 8.6 km. And that is very small nuclear bomb. 

Large part of material damage is caused by spherically expanding shock wave and the blast winds. The blast winds can reach the speed of several hundreds km/h. Dynamic pressure of these winds is stronger than strongest hurricane. 

THE FALLOUT

Why do they call it the fallout?

Just after the explosion you can see a mushroom – shaped cloud rising to the sky from the epicenter of the explosion. From there, it „falls out“ of the atmosphere to the Earth. 

It contains radioactive dust and ash and it can look like dark rain. This is the most dangerous way of radioactive contamination. The radioactive cloud is spreading fast and everything alive in the radius of it's influence becomes radioactive. Thermal radiation manifests as infrared and ultraviolet light („flash“), it burns everything around and it can destroy your eyes. 

People and animals often get killed by radiation. Some people are more resistant to different amounts of radiation than others. Some people have delayed effect of radiation, that effects can show up for months or years after being exposed to radiation. It can be cancer or genetic mutation! So better for you to stay in that shelter.

THE SHELTER

Radiation from fallout has form of alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Your ordinary clothes can protect you of alpha and beta radiation, but you need to be in that shelter to stay protected of gamma radiation. You are surrounded with shields that reduce the exposure to gamma radiation by factor of 1000. Those shelters are usually deep under ground, in the lowest levels of basement under some high and strong buildings. It becomes hotter every day there, so the shelter must have proper ventilation. 

Shelter must be supplied with food and water. It is necessary to have a radio station to get the information about radiation outside and decreasing of radiation. 

It is good to have Kearny fallout meter. You can make it by yourself using coffee can, gypsum board, fishing line and aluminium foil. 

You could spend weeks or months in a fallout shelter. It depends of decreasing of radiation outside. Usually it takes 3 – 5 weeks for fallout radiation to reduce, but that really depends on the power of the nuclear bomb. If it is war outside, you don't know what is waiting for you. But in this shelter people start to lose their nerves. Try to be strong and helpful to others!

Next: After the disaster