

Subject: Radiation common sense


Most nuclear reactors are designed to shut down automatically above a given 
level of earthquake.  Hopefully the quakes will increase gradiently enough near 
PS that most will be shut down automatically and the rest will be shut down 
manually.

For those cases of radiation leakage whether due to radiation dump site leakage, 
nuclear rector damage, missile silo damage, or nuclear missile accidental 
launching, or war because of a starving country, .... some common sense basic 
information will need to understand such as:

3 ft of dirt between you and the fallout will reduce the radiation by a factor 
of .0002.  For 9" thick wall of concrete use a factor of .007-.09   Use air and 
water filtration as fine as you can get, 2 micron or less is preferred. Test 
regularly for radiation before use. Most common radiation measurement devices to 
use are dosimeter, and Geiger counter.  Can be picked up on the surplus market.

Radiation fallout depends on wind patterns and generally does the same thing as 
volcanic activity.  It falls out down wind (usually east) from the source.  
Normally it takes about two weeks for a fallout cloud to go around the planet 
carried by prevailing easterly winds.  Safest places are the equator and the 
north and south poles which receive .001 the amount of fall out that latitude 45 
degree receives.

The air in the northern hemisphere seldom migrates to the southern hemisphere so 
that if all the nuclear accidents occurs in the northern hemisphere then only a 
small percentage will make it to the southern hemisphere and vice versa. During 
PS time anything goes, fallout resulting from high winds and rain will probably 
mix into wide surrounding areas along with the above described fallout patterns. 

How long to stay out of harms way: There is an exponential decay of activity for 
fallout after a nuclear reaction, typical one gets.
7 Hr. .1 of initial radiation
2 days .01 of initial radiation
2 weeks .001 of initial radiation
3 months .0001 of initial radiation
Typically staying underground for 2 weeks is enough.
Note: If no nuclear reaction, then decay is much longer.  Will need to make your 
own tests over time to determine. May need to move out of the area if decay is 
too slow.

Food and water from fallout areas should always be suspect and be test for 
radiation before ingestion.  If the body is deficient in calcium, or any trace 
minerals, then taking in food or water that has fallout in it could become part 
of the body.  What's worse than being exposed to radiation, is getting a small 
particle of mater that is radioactive in the body.  Growing food on fallout 
radioactive soil is not a good idea. 

Radioactive effects on the body accumulate and sum up over time. It is important 
to minimize any exposure.  The vitamin "niacin" (flushing type) in gradient 
amount from 100-3000mg added to other common vitamins can be used to help run 
out radiation sickness.  Anti-oxidants (C, A, zinc, pycnocenol, etc.) in large 
dosages could be used to assist with body cell repair due to ionizing radiation.

This is getting a little too long so I will cut it off saying.....

As a start one should have on hand a "maximum radiation dosage table for the 
body"
Knowledge of how to use measuring devices.
At least one rechargeable dosimeter for each person.
One or more Geiger counters.
Air and water filters.
Write up on symptoms and treatments for radiation sickness.
Description of types of radiation and there penetration amounts.

The above is a quick summary of some notes I made during the cold war years.  
More could be written if anyone thinks it is needed.

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