For instance - the key is to stay indoors and secure your area, treat water, and know that in the event of the Nuclear tragedy we all need to get hold of Stable iodine - tablets.
What to do in a Nuclear Emergency
If there is an accident, exposure to gamma radiation, which is very similar to x-rays - what are you supposed to do?
An accident firstly must be identified as something not expected or intended, and causing harm and or injury. In this instance with the cause being nuclear we must prepare for radioactive fall out.
If radioactive material escapes it will affect the area closest to it. The larger/faster the escape - the larger the area. Wind will factor into this, as will current if the incident occurs in the ocean or worse - a local harbour. If on land the soil will also be contaminated. Drainage through the area will further disperse toxins into other areas, the further the distance the more the contamination will be reduced.
What to do?
- All things are logical and in the first instance keep calm and listen to the publicly broadcasted announcements on either radio or TV.
- Think of radiation like a scorching sun, stay out of it, but unlike the sun dust particles are to be avoided. If your house has any rooms that do not have an outside wall like the hallway - you will be camping in your small space for 3 days - 14 days Listen to a radio for your timeline. The rooms that DO Not have an outside wall will have around 30% more protection. The further away from outside walls and roofs the better off you will be. Instead of SPF, RPF.
- Stay calm. Have your vehicle reverse parked on the driveway leaving the road clear for emergency vehicles and you an easy get away. Got a garage? Put in inside - even better. Have the windows up tight, a radio active leak will not screw with your computer but the dust will gather on the vehicle so do not touch it without gloves.
- If you are outside get inside - leave your jacket and shoes outside so they don't track dust in, bring in any pets and discard outer clothing - shower and shampoo your head thoroughly cleaning your fingernails if possible, then scrub the bath and once clean fill up the bath with clean water.
- Scrub quickly and then fill up the basins - we are looking for capturing 3 weeks of water if you can, hey just to be safe. If it can be covered fill up pots and containers first.
- Do not use the washing machine for possibly contaminated clothing - put it in a rubbish bag and stick it outside. Do not use up the water in the pipes for washing clothes - they can wait. Conserve the water.
- DO NOT venture out doors if you are in a secure area. Close windows and doors. Switch off ventilation systems. Close the flu in your chimney. Keep the dust out is key here, stay away from the areas around previously opened doors and windows.
- DO NOT smoke, eat, drink or place hands near mouth; to wash hands, shower
and change clothes when possible to avoid inadvertent ingestion. Smoking will bring the radioactive isotope things directly to you - make sure you kill all flames, pilot lights, fires, cooking with gas is out - switch off all fires, dampen all fires. Got It?
- Do Not eat any vegetables grown outside or drink rainwater. If you must only eat the heart of the veggie, eggs may be ok if the chicken was not exposed, milk may be ok if from your fridge but not opened near an open window. See a website page I found on fall out in the growing season. T throw out all unpackaged foods if you feel they may have gathered dust and wash all air tight tins or containers with soapy water before you open them, make sure you've washed the tin opener at the same time. Then scrub the table and all eating utensils and plates before you use them.
- Avoid dusty areas or activities that will generate dust, causing you to breath in particles you are unsure of.
- Boil any uncovered water until you hear otherwise. Apparently a bit of iodine in the water in the form of salt will make you feel better, and maybe make the water boil at a higher temperature.
IF Civil Defence is going from door to door in tee shirts and jeans, relax. If hazmat suits are deploying start being cautious. Please always remember: Radiation accidents are more common than nuclear accidents. A Radiation accident is likely at a hospital, or a spill, walked on, driven through or touched etc.
Things not to do specifically: do not smoke, ingest, inhale, absorb or inject radioactive contaminated toxins. Tritiated water - should glow - avoid it. By the way - The emitted electrons from small amounts of tritium make self-powered lighting devices called trasers, I have them on my Sony remote control for my sound system, also on watches and exit signs. So it's not all bad! - How often have we as a global community had to deal with the above issues in the last ten years? These emergencies are NOT common.
What is next.
- Do not overload the telephones, you will not get through so only try if you understand the concept of life and death.
- Do not leave the area unless you are advised to do so - again logically get out before it happens, and if you know how the helicopters look down in times of crisis, don't be the idiot who needs to pack the stupid stuff, and expect the roads to be blocked with other people. Simply take soap, water, food, tarpaulins, rope, blankets, jackets, clean warm clothes (non contaminated clothes) I like the movie with the trail bike, but then he didn't have kids. Was your car in the garage? No then it's covered in radioactive particles, gloves will be a good idea.
- Take Potassium Iodate tablets if told to do so - this will work for you, helping your thyroid gland - you need this. If you haven't received yours - Iodine rich salt - most NZ house holds have this - maybe grab a salt gargle or make your own fish and chips (light no fires to cook with, don't eat the salt straight - this is all possible ineffective advice but you have nothing better to do - try reading a book if you have one handy the best thing you have is time). Good luck. Get the tablets!
- Do not panic.
- GET INDOORS and stay there. An inner room can be fortified with thick mattresses, furniture, suitcases to give you additional protection. You can construct an area in your hallway with several doors, then place mattresses onto them, and build up as much depth as you can - if you can shore up a metre of thickness good for you, accordingly take shelter under tables after you have insulated them.
- Close windows and doors and attempt to tape any large holes that will risk obvious LARGE ventilation issues - this will not be entirely possible so only go to extremes if you have done all other practical solutions. No house is air tight. Be sensible and logical.
- PUT OUT or damp down fires and boilers remember to close the dampers if you have a chimney even if your fire isn't on. Flames will drag the toxins to the point of the flame - drawing in the outside oxygen is a bad idea. That's also cigarettes, cigars and pipes.
- SHUT DOWN ventilation devices. No Air conditioning units should be on, switch them all off. Get this done now.
Later - Water and detergent washing is effective on removing less than 50% of this fall out from concrete or steel (complete decontamination requires aggressive treatment like sandblasting, or acidic treatment), doing it many times will eventually reduce the contamination but you will never again unconsciously touch your fingers to your mouth with out thinking of the last 50 surfaces they have been in contact with. You will possibly never again wipe your eyes, or the corners of your mouth with out thinking of the harm you may have done subconsciously. Your house, car, bike, letterbox, lamp post, bus stop. Stop thinking now, it's not helping. It's bad enough people don't cover their face when they sneeze - oi!
Much Later - How to check if you will survive, 50% of small laboratory animals will have expired within 30 days, with larger (us like) sized animals being around 60 days, so at 90 days if you are still feeling ok, have enough uncontaminated things to eat, drink and sleep on - you'll possibly be fine. But what are the measures? Read on...
Be Prepared in the case of a Civil Emergency: Food and drink
- Radio
- Batteries, for the torches, radio and camera
- Zip lock baggies for your passport, cell phone, car charger, matches and your personal phone book
- Soap and a nail kit
- Water for 14 days per person (just fill the bath tub, any sinks and try to work on a minimum 14 litres per person, more if you brush teeth, wash etc).
- Tinned food, air tight containers, clear wrap or tin foil for left over rations. Do not leave anything uncovered.
- Tin opener, bottle opneer
- Cuttlery
- Warm clothing, towels
- Sleeping bags, blankets
- Pillows
- Portable stove, fuel
- Saucepans
- Torches with spare batteries
- Bucket with lid, or two for Toilet deposits (not kidding), paper, toothbrush, plastic shopping bags
- Change of clothes
- First Aid kit
- Prescribed Medicines ie asthma inhalers
- Box of sand and teetowels for the dishes
- Gloves and spades for waste removal once it's safe to venture outdoors for 30 minutes Day 3?
- Clock and Calendar
- Note book and pen for working out rations, calculator
- Games, reading material
- Animal food and water if you have pets with you
- MAKE A SUGGESTION - Contact us.
In 1868 Lyttelton was hit by a Tsunami (History of NZ) 4.5 mtr waves were generated from an earthquake of 8.5 over in Peru (now Chile). Gisborne region on 25 March 1947 was hit by a local Tsunami with waves around 10.5 mtrs.
In the event of a nuclear emergency (unlikely for NZ as we are more likely to get hit by a Tsunami) - It is unlikely that tap water, and any food or drink in your house that is covered or sealed, will be affected.
But as we don't know you will be advised after... you've eaten from that tin in your cupboard, drunk unboiled unsalted water from metal pipes, or PVC etc.
Farmers, Fisherman will all be advised afterwards. I understand something to do with water will be contaminated 100 meters deep. The implications of this are horrendous. BUT BUT BUT Chernobyl HAD a 30km EXCLUSION LAND AREA, this area abandoned by humans is now a haven for wildlife, with species previously gone from the area - back and prospering. There is fungus life in the reactor. This accident happened in 1986 April. (Written August 2008)
- If at some later stage you are requested to be evacuated by those hazmat teams, and if you have time, leave a note, grab your pets - obviously your family - blankets and clothes and get.
- Before you tell the Hazmat team your ok, check your petrol or diesel (what ever) - these teams will arrange transportation if they know you are in need. You will how ever have to wait. You will be at risk of panicking once you're associating with the general public. This may be waiting for public transport or in the queues getting out of the cities.
- You will however be more likely to obtain first hand emergency assistance if you are with the public at the evacuation centres..
Damned if you do?
---------------------
Direct exposure to radiation Countermeasures
These are the actions you can take to minimise the effects of exposure to radiation and contamination as the result of a nuclear accident.
- Sheltering - by staying indoors is the best way to protect yourself in the short term. Doors and windows should be closed to help stop direct exposure, inhalation and contamination of surfaces inside buildings that have been contaminated whilst the doors or windows where open.
- Stable iodine - tablets (potassium iodate tablets) can help prevent radioactive iodine from concentrating in the thyroid gland. Issue of these tablets is combined with sheltering and/or evacuation .
- Evacuation - can help avoid exposure to relatively high doses. It can help protect you from direct exposure and inhalation.
- Food bans - of milk and other foods may be necessary if they have broken seals. This will protect you from ingestion. I can not find more research on this at this point. So tins that can be eaten with out cooking, bring a tin opener and a bottle opener if you have to evacuate, and bring food. What food, I don't know but here are some suggestions. 1 - 3 weeks of a variety of food and the same time frame of water supplies are a must. If your indoors at home, fill up the bath, and any basins. You may not have the convenience of being able to cook, the power may be out, and it may be advised to Not use the gas.
- Here is the Atomic Manual for First Responders to a Radiological Emergency
STAY IN DOORS. One hour after a surface burst, the radiation from fallout in a crater region is 30 grays per hour. A healthy human should not expose themselves - apparently 3.5 Gy will decimate 50% of the population in the exclusion zone. Information has been researched online and below are the resources for you to charge for yourselves.
Most areas become fairly safe for travel and decontamination after three to five weeks.
Chernobyl has regenerated into a wildlife sanctuary since 1986 (time of writing 2008).
Problems - My personal Interpretations (update me if I'm wrong please):
1 joule per kilogram has the unit of 1 gray
1 röntgen in air will produce a dose of about 0.01 gray (1 centigray, cGy) in water or surface tissue. Because of shielding by the tissue surrounding the bones, the bone marrow will only receive about 0.67 cGy when the air exposure is 1 röntgen and the surface skin dose is 1 cGy.
This means the 3.5 Gy = a healthy human (non war diet - vrs 2.5 Gy for war time) 50% population decline for universal exposure ie explosive fall out. For a partial exposure such as at the hospital at 100 Gy you will loose the area exposed such as the limb but may survive. These things are measured over the body, so if you receive 100 to the hand, it may only be 5 in total. Please note a person at Chernobyl survived a 10 Gy exposure. So if a röntgen = .01 cGy then 3.5 Gy will be 350 röntgen's?
1.5 Gy will disable you and only some will die.
Was Chernobyl 1000 röntgen's? NO These can be measured in seconds and hours, so don't get messed up.
Different areas received differing strengths of a blast or fall out.
Fact: Chernobyl was 5.6 röntgen per second (R/s), which is equivalent to 20,000 röntgen per hour (R/h). A lethal dose is around 500 röntgen over 5 hours, so in some areas, unprotected workers received fatal doses within several minutes. You need a dosimeter to measure this, and at Chernobyl some where faulty and others only measured up to 0.001 R/s (3.6 R/h) (seconds/hours).
Pregnant persons will be at risk. Again the obvious should be apparent - stay indoors and listen for emergency bulletins. React sensibly and follow instructions from emergency personale.
An acute incapacitating dose (30 Gy) will slow you down immediately and you will become incapacitated within several hours. However, you will not die until 5 to 6 days after exposure assuming you do not receive any other injuries. You will likely be in a crater and you will likely not feel a thing if this was the case.
5.3 Gy to 8.3 Gy doses will slow you down with in 2 or 3 hours, you will; after 2 or 3 days of being disabled the patient may recover some what - this will last around 6 days and will then relapse for 4 weeks into a state of disability - followed possibly by the eventually death of the exposed person.
Real case: One of the first on the scene at Chernobyl: Lieutenant Vladimir Pravik died. Accident 26th April 1986 - he passed due to acute radiation sickness May 9th of the same year.
Apparently the taste of metal will be apparent, and feelings of pins and needles. The worst time will be within 1 hour of the crisis, 72 hours after I would expect to see most of the clean up underway, with crews going outside for no more than an hour at a time, maybe twice a day. Leaving your clothes outside - don't bring them in here!
Next back to the water. Is it really economical to use Nuclear energy? How far out to sea would be a safe distance, what are the costs? Remember all this is necessary only for persons who have come in contact with
radioactive materials in heavily contaminated areas. What if it's 12 km's out to see, naturally there are issues if it's in international waters.... comments?
WEBSITE RESOURCES
- A Wikipedia timeline of Civilian nuclear issues is found on this page.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fallout
- A Wikipedia Timeline of military nuclear issues is found on this page.
- Also an interesting read: http://www.honors.umd.edu/HONR269J/archive/SurvivalBooklet.html it's main focus: You would
lessen your chances of injury if you promptly shed your clothes immediately before going indoors, and took a bath or
shower - wash your hair and get dirt out from under your finger nails, I can not attest to this accuracy in the article but common sense says it's good.
- This article which started of this page is found in it's entirety at http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.5042
- http://www.ourfood.com/Bioterrorism.html
Convert Salt Water link: http://www.ehow.com/how_2110587_salt-water-freshwater-drinking-water.html Another article with easy and simple pictures on Desalination is found here.
Tricky things like Osmosis and diffusion etc are nicely explained in the website. Thermal Energy etc can be looked up, go back to this excellent index for further ideas.
To see a working demonstration of Osmosis at work take a look at this website. |
