 These are particles of radioactive fallout and this is how a single particle looks magnified several hundred times. A radioactive piece of matter from a nuclear explosion. These few particles can't do us any significant harm but should there be a nuclear attack many billions of them would fall from the sky and settle to earth releasing radiation that could cause sickness or death in the area where they fall to begin with it may be surprising to know that radiation is something we live with every day far back in time back before there was an earth there were flaming fireballs in space we call them stars and there are millions upon millions of them each star like our own son is a raging nuclear furnace that shoots out showers of particles too tiny to be matter as we conceive it along with the invisible forces that we call radiation this radiation and these particles travel through space at fantastic speeds until they strike some other matter which may make new flares of radioactivity they strike wandering asteroids moons and planets such as our own everything in space earth included receives this radiation background radiation is all around us in tiny quantities nature even planted unstable atoms deep inside the earth itself they decay one by one here and there in a barrage of inconceivably small and silent explosions each explosion is another spark of radiation all life on earth has reached its present form in company with radiation from this naturally occurring radioactivity extremely thin with extremely low level intensity it has always been with us it is nothing new we don't worry about the small amounts of natural background radiation but to safely handle larger amounts we must keep our distance and shield ourselves as the amounts increase so to the dangers the amount of energy generated by a nuclear explosion is enormous near the crater area there is almost total destruction from blast and heat and now large amounts of pulverized debris and molten earth are pulled up into the mushroom cloud this is where radioactive fallout is formed the radioactive atoms produced in the explosion join with the particles of earth and debris the mushroom shaped cloud forms and climbs higher it now contains billions of highly radioactive particles of matter that we call fallout the strong winds of the upper altitudes go to work on the cloud blowing it off in one or more directions gravity tongues on the particles the larger and heavier ones sink toward the ground while the lighter particles continue to drift with the wind some of the lightest particles remain suspended in the upper atmosphere as time passes their radioactivity grows weaker so that the longer they remain aloft the less dangerous they are but the heavier particles spread by high altitude winds fall to the ground within 24 hours several miles from the explosion they are about the size of table salt or fine sand these are the most dangerous because they carry the greatest number of radioactive atoms and so emit the largest amount of nuclear radiation which brings us to an all important fact deadly as radiation can be and this gives us an invaluable ally time suppose a nuclear explosion takes place at 12 noon by one o'clock the total force of the residual radiation is at a high level by seven o'clock it's down to one-tenth in two days although still dangerous it's only one one hundredth but in two weeks it's only one one one thousand with this decay rate in mind consider radioactive fallout conditions which might confront us after a massive attack within an hour fallout would be a serious problem in the vicinity of explosions which occur on or near the ground by seven hours after the attack the fallout area covers more and more of the country as the prevailing winds expand the fallout in the downwind pattern 24 hours 48 hours without shelter millions would face death a few days later those who have taken shelter will survive in many areas people can even leave shelter for brief periods of time to carry out important tasks within two weeks most people can leave their shelters for longer periods as the radioactivity decays to lower levels the lesson is obvious we must shield ourselves from radiation through the dangerous period to do this we need more than time fortunately we have another ally distance the greater our distance from the fallout particles the less radiation we receive you would receive less radiation in the middle of a tall building than you would receive on the top or bottom floors because there would be more distance and partitions between you and the source of the radiation the fallout particles which would cover the roof and the ground around the building only an insignificant amount would get inside and finally along with decay rate and distance we have still another and very important ally mass when highly radioactive fallout covers our immediate area we can shield ourselves through the most dangerous period by using the sheer weight of any material but the protecting material must be heavy to shield out some 99 percent of the radiation you would need about five and a half feet of wood or two feet of earth or one and a third feet of concrete or a half foot of steel even though the thickness of these materials varies they all weigh the same taking a house as an example it offers a small amount of mass and distance from radiation but not enough protection in an area of heavy fallout the solution is plain fallout shelters are the best defense against nuclear radiation whether in a home for a single family or a large community type in an apartment building they offer the kind of protection from radiation you would probably need in case of a nuclear attack but the best shelter would be worthless unless it was used most people find it hard to understand how silent invisible rays which cannot even be felt could be so damaging let's see what happens when radiation penetrates the body and attacks the cells what is a cell and what happens when it is attacked it's a simple organism which reproduces itself by dividing our bodies are made up of millions of cells they're the building blocks of our blood and tissues how powerful radiation strikes and cells are injured or destroyed if radiation stops before the accumulated dose is too great almost all of the damage eventually will be repaired if radiation continues there are some cells less able to function the top efficiency should the body fall behind in its recovery severe illness or death could result the key then is the amount the total dose of radiation received we measure radiation the same way speed is measured by a speedometer only instead of a speedometer we have a rate meter and instead of miles per hour we measure the rate in rentkins per hour we need another device called a dose similar to record how much radiation a person has accumulated over a period of time in the same way we record accumulated distance in miles the dose similar records accumulated dose in rentkins with this in mind let's return to background radiation in an average lifetime a person might expect to accumulate about 10 rentkins from his natural environment not enough to affect his health this same healthy person would need medical care if he received more than 200 rentkins within a few days 300 rentkins in the same period would cause severe radiation sickness or possibly death and as we go beyond 300 rentkins the danger of death increases rapidly so now we see why shelter is vital the difference between accumulating a large dose because of little or no shielding and a small dose because of adequate shielding is the difference between death and life no clothing of course could possibly provide enough shielding however if you were to be in the open during fallout conditions clothing would keep the particles from touching your skin there is no such thing as a fallout suit but ordinary clothing would help until you could reach the safety of a shelter then the fallout particles can be brushed off and outer clothing removed if fallout settles on your food the food itself is not harmed since radiation damages only living tissue and you can easily decontaminate it using almost the same method you use in everyday food preparation actually even if you accidentally swallowed some fallout particles it wouldn't kill you the effects if any probably wouldn't show up for years still since there is a possibility of long-term effects such as shortened lifespan cancer or hereditary damage it's wise to remove the radioactive particles by simply washing wiping or peeling but it's vital to remember this neither water nor chemicals can destroy radioactivity the fallout particles can only be moved or washed away only time can reduce their potency and what of water well here again the same rules apply if necessary you could drink water containing fallout particles without worry or immediate harm the chances are you wouldn't have to for long for water helps to wash itself through the natural processes of sedimentation and filtration and swiftly moving rivers like this would carry most fallout particles downstream in still waters most particles would settle quickly to the bottom others might remain suspended in the water for a long time while a small percent of the radioactivity would dissolve the normal processing of a water treatment plant would make it safe to drink and water coming from a covered well would be safe from radioactive contamination there is no problem with breathing for air is not contaminated once the fallout is on the ground fallout is not a poison gas if ventilation is needed in a shelter a simple inverted u-fitting on a ventilating pipe would keep fallout particles from entering the pipe and getting inside of course surviving a nuclear attack means more than just waiting in a shelter for radioactivity to decay to safe levels survival reconstruction and recovery would involve decontamination in many areas a very difficult job unit 8 at elmond morse dose rate 15 rinkins per hour fallout would have to be removed from important areas by street sweepers and the remaining particles could be flushed out of the way would be a problem after a nuclear attack we would first use existing food supplies from shelters markets and surplus food storage when fallout had decayed to safe levels people could begin to work in the fields for limited periods of time in a few areas the land would not be suitable for food but such crops as cotton could be grown crops for human consumption would be grown in areas that had received the least fallout the reason we would be able to grow and eat food planted in this land is that the transfer of radioactivity from soil to plants is extremely low and so if nuclear attack should ever come in spite of every effort to avoid it we must be able to survive and rebuild for the future but survival can only come through knowledge the basic facts we must all know are relatively simple first there is nothing new about radiation it has always been with us what is new is the vast amount we would be exposed to as a result of nuclear explosions much of this danger would come to us in the form of fallout but we are not without personal weapons or defense one of these is time radiation decays and so we would not have to take maximum precautions indefinitely another defense is distance radiating particles 50 feet away for instance would not affect us as much as particles a few feet away and our third defense is mass any material with enough weight will keep the penetrating rays from hurting us the greater the weight of the material between us in the particles the safer we would be the best way we can use all three weapons of defense is with an adequate shelter thick enough to shield off a good part of the radiation until it has decayed to safer levels when radiation attacks the cells of our body are damaged most of them can repair themselves if the total dose over a period of time is not too high even though the rays penetrate our bodies causing damage they do not infect us and make us or anything else radioactive that's why food remains good no matter how much radiation has passed through it fallout accidentally swallowed with water or food will do you no immediate harm but for long-term safety it's best to wash wipe or peel the food and filter the water even if you were caught outside under fallout conditions ordinary clothing would keep the radioactive particles from touching your skin but you would still need to find shelter quickly if we remember these facts if we act on them intelligently we can increase our chances of surviving nuclear attack and the key to survival is adequate shelter that is why the federal government has a nationwide fallout shelter program the goal is adequate fallout shelter space for every man woman and child and this goal can be reached for with knowledge of radiation we can face the facts about fallout take action to protect ourselves and learn how to live in the nuclear age