More Nuclear Info.

With what just happened in Japan, it is even more critical that we start thinking about nuclear survival. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan gave us a small look at what nuclear fallout is about. This could happen in this country and we had better know what to do. Those of you who live close to a nuclear power plant and on a major fault line need to be the most prepared. This is especially true on the coasts where a tsunami is possible after the earthquake. However, anyone living within one hundred miles of a nuclear power plant should prepare for a possible meltdown.

I talked last week about having shelter and a two day supply of food and water. In past entries I have covered how to protect your electronic equipment if it was a war and the bomb was exploded in the atmosphere causing EMP. This time I am going to talk strictly about protecting yourself from fallout. This information will be valid whether it is a bomb exploded in the air, a dirty bomb detonated at ground level of a nuclear accident.

First you will need to think about long term shelter. Right now in Japan they are telling people within a fifty mile radius of the nuclear plant not to go outdoors. They are also considering expanding the area to one hundred miles radius. You must know where you are going to make your stand. As I stated last week, having a root cellar/bunker at your home would be your best possibility. In the first place you could store all of your garden produce and canned goods in the root cellar making it a great place to have to spend time, no shortage of food. You could also store much of your emergency supplies like radios, gas masks, flashlights and anything else you would want to have with you.

Whatever you do for a fallout shelter, having the mass between you and the fallout is the important thing. For the first few hours a person could survive in a large road culvert or a tunnel or even an underground parking garage. However, for long term survival, you need to refer to the above paragraph. You could also fortify an above ground building such as a garage or shed or even a room in your home. Underground is best but you can make many other things work.

One of the things that you need to store a lot of is water. You can live without food a lot longer than you can live without water. The best way would be several fifty-five gallon barrels with lids and lined with plastic bags or sheet plastic. You could also use metal garbage cans with plastic liners if you cannot get barrels. You are going want to add some chlorine bleach to your water to keep it pure. Several drops per gallon of water of unscented bleach will keep the water pure. You could also store several cases of bottled water for drinking. that way the other water could be used for cooking and bathing. There is no such thing as having too much water stored. Having a well close to your shelter with a manual pump on it would be a huge plus. However, you would still have to store enough to get you through until it was safe to go outside.

Sanitary and bathroom facilities in a shelter can be a great concern. For a couple of days a five gallon pail with a lid and a seat will suffice. However, for longer term use something else will have to be done. Here I suggest one of the porta-pots that campers use. You will still have the problem of emptying it when the holding tank gets full. Here is another place where a fifty-five gallon drum or a large garbage can could be used. this should be lined with plastic and have a very tight fitting lid to control the odor. Having a bag or two of barn lime on hand to sprinkle on the top of what is just dumped in will help a lot with odor also. You need to remember that you are going to have to be able to get the container out of the shelter when it is safe to do so. If you have a two wheeled hand truck outside of the shelter this could be used.

There are many plans to make to keep yourself and your family safe in a nuclear disaster, be it a bomb or simply a power plant problem. I will continue next week with things like cooking, weapons and other necessities. Until then, check out my other blog and check out my web store.

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Nuclear Survival

What would do if you knew the possibility of a nuclear attack was possible? What would you do if you knew it was imminent? Are you ready for something like this? Surviving a nuclear blast is not impossible, in fact it is not even close to impossible. That is, you can survive it if you are prepared.

The first thing you would need is a place to be protected from the radiation. You have to know if you are going to stay where you are or leave. Even if you are intending to leave at the first warning, I would suggest that you also prepare a backup plan in case the attack is unexpected and finds you at home. If you live in a house, rather than an apartment, with a basement, it can be as simple as a small area in one corner. Set up what may look like a small flat roofed house in that corner. The flat roof of the house should be below the level of any windows in the basement. The longest side of the shelter should be totally enclosed. the end should be open so you can get in but there should be something that you can pull behind you to shut that off too. Store enough ready to eat food inside the shelter for two days. You should not have to spend more than two days in the shelter. If you live in an apartment in a city, pick the best closet nearest the center of the apartment and use that as your shelter. Again, have two days of food and water in the closet. Whatever you use you need to be sure it is big enough for your entire family to stay in for two days.

Radioactive fallout is carried by particles of dust or smoke caused by the mushroom cloud. These particles float through the air and if there is little or no wind the will not go far. However, there is usually enough wind to carry the particles quite some distance. The closer to ground zero, the more of the fallout will occur. The radiation is not carried in air it needs the particles to carry it and the particles need to land on something to make it radioactive. As the particles fall, the farther away you are the less particles are going to get there. The particles are dangerous because the emit radiation that can penetrate most walls, roofs, clothing, water and most other materials. you need eleven inches of concrete or sixteen inches of earth to stop that radiation completely. You would need over three feet of wood because it is not dense enough to stop the radiation. That is the reason that in a basement you want the shelter below the level of the windows and below the level of the ground surrounding the basement. You can also stack items on top of the shelter to provide even more protection. While the fallout is initially very potent it weakens as time passes. After seven or eight hours it is only about one tenth as potent and after two days it is only about one one hundredth as strong. This is an amount that, if you take proper precautions you can move about in.

What you will need in your shelter beside food and water for two days is flashlights, plates and utensils for eating, something to go to the bathroom in, (a five gallon bucket with a seat and a plastic bag liner and a cover, toilet paper, a radio and any prescription drugs that are needed. this should hold you for the two days that you will need to stay in the temporary shelter. After that it will depend on whether you are going to stay or go as to what you will need.

For those of you that are going to stay put, you may want to think about building a permanent shelter. Those of you who live in the country or very small towns and grow their own vegetables (as all survivalists should) could build a root cellar. At least that is what you could tell anyone that got nosy and wanted to know what you are doing. As I currently do not have a permanent shelter and intend to stay where I am, that is one of my ideas. You could make it as long and wide as you felt necessary for the number of people that are going to use it. I would then dig down about four feet and start from there. I would build a wood structure out of two inch lumber and would cover that with about six inches of concrete and cover that with about eight or ten inches of dirt. I believe that the combination would give me all the protection I would need. A person could use a root cellar/bunker like this to store all of their survival food and a lot of other gear. Putting in shelves and racks for food and supplies would not be difficult with the wood walls. that is one of the reasons that I would go for the wooden structure. You could even go deeper than the four feet if you wanted to. If you went five feet down and two feet above ground, once you put the cement and dirt on top of it you could have a nice rounded area where you could plant grass and it would not look too out of place. Do not forget to put a air vent in the roof. Otherwise you could use up all of the oxygen and suffocate when you had to use it. A six inch length of PVC pipe could be stuck through a hole in the wooden roof and the cement and dirt could be poured around it. Cut it off at ground level and put an elbow on it so that you are not going to get fallout straight down the pipe.

There is much more that needs to be said and I will continue on from here next time. I will not be gone as long as I have been this time. I will try to get everything done in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, check out my other blog at;

http://www.therealamericanpolitics.blogspot.com