How to Survive a Nuclear Bomb Video Series

In addition to the Tin Hat Ranch videos I suggest anyone downloading and reading the book “Nuclear War Survival Skills” by Cresson Kearny. It is a free download here: http://www.oism.org/nwss/

This book covers what I have covered in great detail and goes well beyond what can be put in a youtube video.

Upon seeing the initial flash begin counting. The length of the flash is a good indicator as to the yield of the bomb.

Table from an US army field manual regarding illumination time and bomb yield.

After the flash subsides continue counting. The time from the flash to the bang indicates the distance to ground zero. In larger bombs the bang may arrive sooner than the chart indicates as in the initial moments of the explosion the shockwave will be travelling faster than the speed of sound.

As of March 2013 there are a few culprits that could possibly send over a nuke to the US. Very small bombs are likely to be terror weapons that may or may not be backed by a sovereign state. If North Korea or Iran have missile technology (doubtful) to reach the US their bombs would be very small as well. The vast majority of Russian warheads ride as MIRV’s (multiple independent re-entry vehicles) on top of ICBM’s (Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles). Russian Warheads would be in the 150kt to 700kt range. Chinese weapons are generally in the megaton range as their ICBM’s do not have the CEP to hit their targets with great precision.

Once you have calculated the yield and distance to the blast you must next determine whether or not the bomb was a surface or air burst weapon. Most attacks from nations like Russia or against non-hardened targets will be air bursts. Airbursts will not have the fallout issues of surface burst weapons. If you survived the blast and the heat you will probably be OK…but …determining a surface burst vs. an air burst is not an exact science. My advice would be to continue treating the bomb like a surface burst until you receive confirmation from authorities that it is safe. It is my belief that most terrorist weapons would be surface burst for two reasons, first, they know the effects of fallout and the goal is to kill as many as possible, two, their bombs are probably too heavy to get an aircraft large enough to facilitate an air burst.

Here is a picture of a surface burst, notice the dark mushroom cloud:

Here are some airburst pictures. Notice the lighter color of the mushroom cloud and the lack of a stem:

Another

Fallout can vary greatly from bomb to bomb. Here are the fallout maps from some of the bombs the US has detonated. All are surface bursts.

This one is from the Trinity test, a 16kt fission bomb detonated on a small tower (still a surface burst pretty much):

This is the other extreme. This is the Castle Bravo shot. A 15MT thermonuclear surface burst. This in my opinion would be unlikely at this time but shows just how bad a nuclear weapon can be. Improvised sheltering would probably not help in this case and sheltering would be required even out past 300 miles directly down wind. However, you will probably not face this scenario. It is highly unlikely that a bomb of this size would ever be used let alone surface bursted. This may change in the next 10 years though as rogue states may develop thermonuclear technology.

I have also included in this download a report from the US government on just about every open air detonation at the Nevada Test Site. It shows the bomb type, yield, detonation type and fallout.

The 7-10 rule. Fallout will decrease by a factor of 10 for every 7 times the amount of time that has passed. For example, if the initial radiation is 1000r/hr after 7 hours it will be 100r/hr. After 49hrs (7x7) it will be 10r/hr. After 343 hours (7x7x7) it will be 1r/hr.

Improvised Sheltering- Remember, as fallout arrives you will need to put barriers in between you and the gamma radiation. Gamma radiation is deeply penetrating. You have to put as much mass in between you and the sources as possible. A certain amount of mass of material will have the radiation being received on the other side of it, this is known as a halving thickness. Generally speaking the more dense a material the better it will perform.

.4” of lead will halve the radiation.

.8” of lead will halve it again

Here are some common material’s halving thicknesses:

Once you suspect that fallout is certain you must improvise a .

Dirt and sand are probably the two most common materials with a minimum halving thickness. If you have time , in addition to the materials you can pile up in your shelter fill and cover everything with dirt or sand. Alternatively, if you live in a large building in a city, find a center room. If the building has concrete walls or floors the center might offer a ready-made fallout shelter.

Lastly, do not forget about a great source of water that most everyone has in their home: