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Nuclear Bomb Shelters Direct From Factory To Your Site - Installation Available - Bush Already Has His - RI10
posted Saturday, 22 April 2006
Nuclear Bomb Shelters
Direct From Factory
To Your Site -
Installation Available -
Bush Already Has His - RI10
Do you remember what George W. Bush, The Commander & Chief, did on September 11, 2001, when he found out about the terrorists’ attacks? First, he froze like a deer in the headlights. Then he flew halfway across the country in Air Force One in a circuitous route to escape. He did not rush in to save us, he did not get on the phone to issue orders and coordinate the military response; he ran away like the coward he is!
George W. Bush’s Whirlwind Tour on 9/11 – Chasing Bad Guys Or Hiding Out? And Did He Know In Advance?
http://tabacco.blog-city.com/george_w_bushs_whirlwind_tour_on_911__chasing_bad_guys_or_hi.htm
Published December 14, 2005
On cannot demonstrate personal courage unless one is personally vulnerable. On September 11th, George W. Bush felt personally vulnerable. He demonstrated his own fear and cowardice.
In the weeks, months, and years to follow, Bush has talked tough, stood on the decks of military vessels, and posed for the cameras. In all of these situations, he felt no vulnerability or fear because he was protected by the U. S. military and the Secret Service, and, more importantly, nobody was taking down large skyscrapers on those days. The one chance he had to show personal courage was the one time we saw him for what he truly is: a sniveling, pretentious, cowardly blowhard.
If nuclear weapons hail down on New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago or Atlanta, George W. Bush will be as far away as he can get – hiding out on Air Force One or inside his own private Nuclear Bomb Shelter. You can be absolutely positive that if New York City is under nuclear attack, George won’t be rushing to any other major U. S. city to offer aid and sustenance. George only exhibits courage when he is in no danger himself.
Bush’s reactions on September 11th did prove one thing: HE, HIMSELF, DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN ON 9/11. This doesn’t prove he was totally unaware of an impending catastrophe, but he did not know the specifics. If he had, he would have behaved in a more authoritarian manner for the cameras. His administration, however, may have been completely aware and decided to elicit a more sincere response from the President by NOT telling him the details in advance. George’s acting skills improve with repetition; but he is never very good first time around.
So for the rest of us mere citizens, who do not have an Air Force One, who are not protected by the Secret Service, and who will be sitting ducks if the North Koreans, the Chinese or the Iranians nuke the United States, Tabacco presents your only option for survival.
Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
Seven Days In May
Fail-Safe
On The Beach
The Day After
Testament
The Atomic Café (paperback)
Unfortunately, if you live in an apartment, condo, co-op or hotel and/or do not have a serviceable backyard, or you simply cannot afford a shelter, you are at the mercy of GWB and the people around the globe that he has made mad enough to kill you. To you unfortunates I say, “Good luck”.
A sign pointing to an old fallout shelter in New York City.
Tabacco: “Fallout Shelter” sounds so much nicer than “Nuclear Bomb Shelter” or “Nuclear Tomb” – don’t you think?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_shelter
Fallout shelter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A fallout shelter is a civil defense measure intended to reduce casualties in either a nuclear war or a serious nuclear accident.
Weapons nuclear fallout is radioactive dust created when a nuclear weapon explodes. The explosion vaporizes any material within the fireball, including the ground if it is nearby. Much of this material is exposed to neutrons from the explosion, absorbs them, and becomes radioactive. When this material condenses in the cloud, it forms dust and light sandy material that resembles ground pumice. The fallout emits both beta particles and gamma rays. Much of this highly radioactive material then falls to earth, subjecting anything within the line of sight to radiation, a significant hazard. A fallout shelter is designed to allow its occupants to avoid exposure to harmful fallout until radioactivity has lowered to a safer level.
By contrast, the bulk of the radioactivity in nuclear accident fallout is more long-lived than that in weapons fallout. A good table of the nuclides such as that provided by the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute includes the fission yields of the different nuclides. From this data it is possible to calculate the isotropic mixture in the fallout (due to fission products in bomb fallout). The mixture of radioisotopes present in used power reactor fuel can be more complex because neutron activation of fission products is possible; a good example of this is the cesium isotropic signature. In terms of activity (Bq or curies) it is the case that the activity in a power reactor fuel one hour after shutdown tends to be more long lived because the majority of the short-lived fission products will have had time to decay.
For example, imagine that some fissile material is used in a bomb, and that in 1012 fissions an equal number of 131I and 137Cs atoms are formed. Because the 131I has such a short half-life when compared with the 137Cs, the activity ratio of 131I to 137Cs will be very much in favor of the 131I one hour after the fission event.
If, on the other hand, a lump of fuel in a power reactor undergoes 1012 fissions, which will generate a given amount of 131I, if the reactor was run at a constant power for one year then the majority of the 131I will have had time to decay. However the vast majority of the 137Cs atoms will not have had time to decay. So the 131I to 137Cs ratio is more in favor of 137Cs than the mixture formed.
Different types of radiation emitted by fallout
Alpha
In the vast majority of accidents and in all atomic bombs the threat due to beta and gamma emitters is far greater than that posed by the small amount of alpha emitters in the fallout. The alpha radiation can be very harmful, but only if they are ingested or inhaled. The particles can be blocked easily by a sheet of paper.
Beta
It is likely that even a light structure will give good protection against most beta emitters, but it is important to note that small particles of fallout can cause localised radiation injuries known as beta burns. It is thought that if a person entering a fallout shelter was to change their footwear and leave their outer clothing outside the main area then the persons inside will be protected from these beta burns. The beta rays are more penetrating than alpha rays, but internal exposure will tend to do less damage because the LET is lower.
Three centimeters of aluminum can block the beta emissions from even a high-energy beta emitter such as 90Sr, while a lower energy beta emitter such as tritium or 14C will be stopped by even more thin objects.
Gamma
These are not a charged particle, and are thus more able to pass through objects and may pose a large threat to a person in a fallout shelter. Most of the design of a fallout shelter is intended to protect against gamma rays. The rays' intensity can be reduced by dense materials such as lead, steel, concrete or packed earth.
It is important to note that the fallout from either a weapon or an accident is a complex mixture of many radioisotopes. For weapons fallout the photon energy is assumed to be the same as the gamma rays from 60Co. Data collected after the Chernobyl accident can serve in a simulation of fallout shelter efficacy, reconstructing the contribution of different radioisotopes to the radiation dose over time. The simulation detailed below assumes that no chemical separation occurred during the transport of radioactivity to the site where the fallout fell (this in real life is not true), and that no decontamination or removal of fallout (e.g. weathering) occurs.
No shielding
The contributions made by the different isotopes to the dose (in air) caused in the contaminated area in the time shortly after the accident. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, and the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual'.
Using the data for the source term (radioactive release) from Chernobyl, and other literature data it is possible to estimate how much protection a wall of concrete will offer in the event of a Chernobyl like accident. These calculations are for a room with no windows, or doors. The radioactivity dust on the roof, and the windows and doors will make the estimation of the protection factor more difficult.
10 cm concrete shielding
These graphs show that thicker walls increase the protection factor. The protection factor is the ratio of the dose rate suffered by a person inside the shelter divided by the dose rate in the open. It is important to note that the protection factor changes as a function of time. This is because some of the short-lived isotopes such as Zr-95/Nb-95 generate very high-energy gamma photons, while the longer lived Cs-137 have a lower photon energy.
It is also important to note that as the wall is made thicker the average gamma photon energy for those photons, which pass through the wall, becomes higher. So each additional layer of concrete has a smaller effect on the dose rate.
The contributions made by the different isotopes to the dose (in air) caused in the contaminated area in the time shortly after the accident with 10 cm of concrete shielding. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
The protection factor provided by 10 cm of concrete shielding where the source is the idealised Chernobyl fallout. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
20 cm concrete shielding
The contributions made by the different isotopes to the dose (in air) caused in the contaminated area in the time shortly after the accident with 20 cm of concrete shielding. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
The protection factor provided by 20 cm of concrete shielding where the source is the idealised Chernobyl fallout. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
30 cm concrete shielding
The contributions made by the different isotopes to the dose (in air) caused in the contaminated area in the time shortly after the accident with 30 cm of concrete shielding. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
The protection factor provided by 30 cm of concrete shielding where the source is the idealised Chernobyl fallout. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
It is important to note that as the shield becomes thicker the very high photon energy emitters such as 140Ba/140La and 95Zr/95Nb become more and more important.
Other matters and simple improvements
In the long term it is important to consider the protection, which is offered by a person's home in the months and years after an event such as the Chernobyl accident. While the person's home may not be a purpose-made shelter, it can be thought of as a shelter if any action is taken to improve the degree of protection.
Measures to lower the beta dose
The main threat from beta emitters is from a hot particle, which is in contact or close to the skin of the person. Also a swallowed or inhaled hot particle could cause beta burns. As it is important to avoid bringing hot particles into the shelter, one option is to remove one's outer clothing on entry.
Measures to lower the gamma dose rate
It is likely that the gamma dose rate due to the contamination brought into the shelter on the clothing of a person is unlikely to be significant unless the shelter has very good shielding on the walls and roof (or if the person was very badly contaminated).
* Roofs and gutters should be cleaned to lower the dose rate in the house.
* The top inch of soil in the area near the house should be either removed or dug up and mixed with the deeper layers of soil. This reduces the dose rate, as the gamma photons have to pass through the soil before they can irradiate a person.
* Nearby roads can be rinsed and washed down to remove dust and debris; the contaminated materials would collect in the sewers and gutters for easier disposal. In Kiev after the Chernobyl accident a program of road washing was used to control the spread of radioactivity.
* Windows can be bricked up, or the sill raised to reduce the hole in the shielding formed by the wall.
* Gaps in the shielding can be blocked using water cans, such as bottles of water. While water only has a density, which is one tenth that of lead, it is still able to absorb gamma rays.
* Earth can be heaped up against the exposed walls of the building; this forces the gamma rays to pass through a thicker layer of shielding before entering the house.
* Nearby trees can be removed to reduce the dose due to fallout, which is on the branches and leaves. It has been suggested by the US government that a fallout shelter should not be dug close to trees for this reason.
A basic fallout shelter consists of shields that reduce gamma ray exposure by a factor of 1000. Since the most dangerous fallout has the consistency of sand or finely ground pumice, a successful fallout shelter need not filter fine dust from air. The fine dust poses less risk because it emits relatively little radiation (the intensity of the radiation increases as the cube of the particle size), and because it does not settle to the earth, where the fallout shelter is.
The required shielding can be accomplished with 10 times the amount of any quantity of material capable of cutting gamma ray effects in half. Shields that reduce gamma ray intensity by 50% (1/2) include 1 cm (0.4 inches) of lead, 6 cm (2.4 inches) of concrete, 9 cm (3.6 inches) of packed dirt or 150 m (500 ft) of air. When multiple thicknesses are built, the shielding multiplies. Thus, a practical fallout shield is ten halving-thicknesses of packed dirt. This reduces gamma rays by a factor of 1024, which is 2 multiplied by itself ten times. This multiplies out to 90 cm (3 ft) of dirt.
Usually, an expedient purpose-built fallout shelter is a trench, with a strong roof buried by ~1 m (3 ft) of dirt. The two ends of the trench have ramps or entrances at right angles to the trench, so that gamma rays cannot enter (they behave like invisible light).
To make the overburden waterproof (in case of rain), a plastic sheet should be buried a few inches below the surface and held down with rocks or bricks.
Earth is an excellent thermal insulator, and over several weeks of inhabitation, a shelter will be completely warmed by body heat. Without good ventilation, the inhabitants are likely to suffer heat prostration.
The simplest form of effective fan to cool a shelter is a wide, heavy frame with flaps that swings in the shelter's doorway and can be swung from hinges on the ceiling. The flaps open in one direction and close in the other, pumping air. Attach a rope, and take turns swinging it. (This is a Kearney Air Pump, or KAP, named after the inventor.)
Any exposure to fine dust is far less hazardous than exposure to the gamma from the fallout outside the shelter. Dust fine enough to pass the entrance will probably pass through the shelter.
Effective public shelters can be the middle floors of some tall buildings or parking structures, or below ground level in most buildings with more than 10 floors. The thickness of the upper floors must form an effective shield, and the windows of the sheltered area must not view fallout-covered ground that is closer than 1.5 km (1 mi).
Inhabitants should plan to remain sheltered for at least two weeks, then work outside for gradually increasing amounts of time, to four hours a day at three weeks. The normal work is to sweep or wash fallout into shallow trenches to decontaminate the area. They should sleep in a shelter for several months. Evacuation at three weeks is recommended by official authorities.
A battery-powered radio is very helpful to get reports of fallout patterns and clearance. In many countries (including the U.S.) civilian radio stations have emergency generators with enough fuel to operate for extended periods without commercial electricity.
It is possible to construct an electrometer-type radiation meter from plans with just a coffee can or pail, gypsum board, monofilament fishing line, and aluminum foil. Plans are in the reference "Nuclear War Survival Skills" by Cresson Kearny.
If available, inhabitants should take potassium iodide at the rate of 130mg/day per adult (65mg/day per child) as an additional measure to protect the human thyroid gland from the uptake of dangerous radioactive iodine, a component of most fallout and reactor waste. (for more info, including storage, and use of an inexpensive saturated solution, see potassium iodide)
Idealized American fallout shelter from around 1957
External links
* SurvivalRing.org This website offers dozens of free downloadable digitized documents on fallout shelter plans, regulations, standards, technical specifications, and more, as well as US targeting info as provided by FEMA.
* Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine This website offers the entire online version of Nuclear War Survival Skills with full graphics and web navigation, created with the permission of the author Cresson Kearny. This manual has proven technical info on expedient fallout shelter, shelter habitation, and assorted shelter system needs that can be created from common household items. OISM also offers free downloads of other civil defense and shelter information as well.
* SurvivalBlog.com A daily web log devoted to survival and preparedness topics. Has articles that describe the construction and stocking of fallout shelters, storm shelters, and panic rooms.
* FEMA Civil Defense Shelters - A state of the Art Assessment - 1986 This 25 megabyte PDF file is the complete 300 page plus report on civil defense fallout shelter and shelter systems as compiled under contract for FEMA. Includes information on the design, construction, testing and cost of blast and fallout shelters, and includes a bibliography of over 1000 documents. Hosted by SurvivalRing.org.
* Fallout Shelter Surveys: Guide for Architects and Engineers 58 page PDF document - Provides a guide for architects and engineers with procedures and standards for evaluating potential fallout shelter areas in existing buildings. Hosted by SurvivalRing.org.
* FEMA Fallout Shelter Management Handbook 22 page PDF document - "The safety and well-being of the people in this shelter depend on capable leadership. If a civil defense shelter manager is not present, anyone seeing this handbook who has leadership experience can and should TAKE CHARGE IMMEDIATELY." Hosted by SurvivalRing.org.
* FEMA Underground Fallout Shelter Plan H-12-1 9 page PDF document. Actual FEMA plan for a backyard underground fallout shelter. Hosted by SurvivalRing.org.
The animation below shows a uranium-235 nucleus with a neutron approaching from the top. As soon as the nucleus captures the neutron, it splits into two lighter atoms and throws off two or three new neutrons (the number of ejected neutrons depends on how the U-235 atom happens to split). The two new atoms then emit gamma radiation as they settle into their new states. There are three things about this induced fission process that make it especially interesting:
* The probability of a U-235 atom capturing a neutron as it passes by is fairly high. In a reactor working properly (known as the critical state), one neutron, ejected from each fission, causes another fission to occur.
* The process of capturing the neutron and splitting happens very quickly, on the order of picoseconds (1x10-12 seconds).
* An incredible amount of energy is released, in the form of heat and gamma radiation, when a single atom splits. The two atoms that result from the fission later release beta radiation and gamma radiation of their own as well. The energy released by a single fission comes from the fact that the fission products and the neutrons, together, weigh less than the original U-235 atom. The difference in weight is converted directly to energy at a rate governed by the equation E = mc2.
Something on the order of 200 MeV (million electron volts) is released by the decay of one U-235 atom (if you would like to convert that into something useful, consider that 1 eV is equal to 1.602 x 10-12 ergs, 1 x 107 ergs is equal to 1 joule, 1 joule equals 1 watt-second, and 1 BTU equals 1,055 joules). That may not seem like much, but there are a lot of uranium atoms in a pound of uranium. So many, in fact, that a pound of highly enriched uranium as used to power a nuclear submarine or nuclear aircraft carrier is equal to something on the order of a million gallons of gasoline. When you consider that a pound of uranium is smaller than a baseball, and a million gallons of gasoline would fill a cube 50 feet per side (50 feet is as tall as a five-story building), you can get an idea of the amount of energy available in just a little bit of U-235.
In order for these properties of U-235 to work, a sample of uranium must be enriched so that it contains 2 percent to 3 percent or more of uranium-235. Three-percent enrichment is sufficient for use in a civilian nuclear reactor used for power generation. Weapons-grade uranium is composed of 90-percent or more U-235.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power2.htm
http://www.bombshelters.com/index.php
P6 Disaster Shelter
The P6 was specifically designed and developed to protect people during and after disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, storms, forest fires, power failures, nuclear power plant accidents, nuclear/chemical terrorism, and full-scale protracted nuclear, chemical and biological war.
The P6 is a totally self-contained 20-150 psi ribbed paraboloid (egg shape) underground disaster shelter designed to protect 6 adults for long periods or 10 people for short durations such as during tornadoes. A tremendous effort has been made to think of every conceivable incident that shelterists could face in the P6 shelter. Many geometrical shapes were experimented with before finalizing the P6.
The P6 includes the fiberglass paraboloid structure, fiberglass entranceway, fiberglass/composite hatch, HEPA filter, 90-gallon fiberglass septic tank, 180-gallon fiberglass water tank, fiberglass center floor beam, fiberglass counter, fiberglass shower housing, fiberglass battery housing, fiberglass carbon filter housing, toilet, floor, nine 12-volt deep-cycle batteries, air blower, fiberglass gray water tank, all wiring, all plumbing, etc. The P6 requires approximately 3 man-hours to connect the entranceway and water tank.
Design
The P6 is a third generation disaster shelter designed and developed by Walton W. McCarthy, M.E., author of PRINCIPLES of PROTECTION, U.S. Handbook of NBC Weapon Fundamentals and Shelter Engineering Standards.
Entranceway
The geometry of the P6 allows the much-preferred straight-in entranceway. This has the advantage of extremely quick and easy entry plus it provides the most efficient escape for moisture and heat. The entranceway also contains an Emergency Escape Manway (EEM), which allows a fiberglass manway cover to be removed from inside the entranceway so shelterists can dig their way 3 feet to the surface if debris falls on top of the hatch. If the shelter is located in ground subject to frost, the area around this EEM should be backfilled with crushed stone.
Leaching Septic Tank
Shelter Facilities
Air Filtration
Hatch Dome
Tabacco: For these features and other specifications, go to website above.
http://www.disastershelters.net/images/shelter1.jpg
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-71-274-1462/conflict_war/cold_war/clip3
Wanna buy a bomb shelter? CBC Radio interviews one New York City salesman throwing forth his best sales pitch. A shelter, he says, will protect homeowners from rampant radiation following a nuclear attack. It can also double as a cold cellar, a fire-protected room, or a spare room. In this day and age it's just another necessary means of insurance.
Tabacco: If you’ve read this far, go to the website and listen to the audio broadcast from 50 years ago. It’s very worthwhile!
http://hometown.aol.com/rafleet/fallout.htm
NOTICE: This page still under construction....many graphics are missing, and the text is incomplete, but there IS useful information right now....If you wish to be notified when this file is finished, please email the author:
Richard Fleetwood rafleet@aol.com
If we don’t take back control of Congress in November, 2006, then elect a Democrat for President in November, 2008, you may have to understand all this stuff. But don’t worry; you will have lots of time to study this Article while waiting it out in your new “Fallout Shelter”. After all, what else will you have to do except Read and Pray.
In 1981's 'Body Heat', Kathleen Turner said, "Knowledge is power".
T.A.B.A.C.C.O. (Truth About Business And Congressional Crimes Organization)
Direct From Factory
To Your Site -
Installation Available -
Bush Already Has His - RI10
Do you remember what George W. Bush, The Commander & Chief, did on September 11, 2001, when he found out about the terrorists’ attacks? First, he froze like a deer in the headlights. Then he flew halfway across the country in Air Force One in a circuitous route to escape. He did not rush in to save us, he did not get on the phone to issue orders and coordinate the military response; he ran away like the coward he is!
George W. Bush’s Whirlwind Tour on 9/11 – Chasing Bad Guys Or Hiding Out? And Did He Know In Advance?
http://tabacco.blog-city.com/george_w_bushs_whirlwind_tour_on_911__chasing_bad_guys_or_hi.htm
Published December 14, 2005
On cannot demonstrate personal courage unless one is personally vulnerable. On September 11th, George W. Bush felt personally vulnerable. He demonstrated his own fear and cowardice.
In the weeks, months, and years to follow, Bush has talked tough, stood on the decks of military vessels, and posed for the cameras. In all of these situations, he felt no vulnerability or fear because he was protected by the U. S. military and the Secret Service, and, more importantly, nobody was taking down large skyscrapers on those days. The one chance he had to show personal courage was the one time we saw him for what he truly is: a sniveling, pretentious, cowardly blowhard.
If nuclear weapons hail down on New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago or Atlanta, George W. Bush will be as far away as he can get – hiding out on Air Force One or inside his own private Nuclear Bomb Shelter. You can be absolutely positive that if New York City is under nuclear attack, George won’t be rushing to any other major U. S. city to offer aid and sustenance. George only exhibits courage when he is in no danger himself.
Bush’s reactions on September 11th did prove one thing: HE, HIMSELF, DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN ON 9/11. This doesn’t prove he was totally unaware of an impending catastrophe, but he did not know the specifics. If he had, he would have behaved in a more authoritarian manner for the cameras. His administration, however, may have been completely aware and decided to elicit a more sincere response from the President by NOT telling him the details in advance. George’s acting skills improve with repetition; but he is never very good first time around.
So for the rest of us mere citizens, who do not have an Air Force One, who are not protected by the Secret Service, and who will be sitting ducks if the North Koreans, the Chinese or the Iranians nuke the United States, Tabacco presents your only option for survival.
Movies You Might Want To Own Or Rent That Are Relevant To Your New Bomb Shelter And Lifestyle
Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
Seven Days In May
Fail-Safe
On The Beach
The Day After
Testament
The Atomic Café (paperback)
Unfortunately, if you live in an apartment, condo, co-op or hotel and/or do not have a serviceable backyard, or you simply cannot afford a shelter, you are at the mercy of GWB and the people around the globe that he has made mad enough to kill you. To you unfortunates I say, “Good luck”.
A sign pointing to an old fallout shelter in New York City.
Tabacco: “Fallout Shelter” sounds so much nicer than “Nuclear Bomb Shelter” or “Nuclear Tomb” – don’t you think?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_shelter
Fallout shelter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A fallout shelter is a civil defense measure intended to reduce casualties in either a nuclear war or a serious nuclear accident.
Weapons nuclear fallout is radioactive dust created when a nuclear weapon explodes. The explosion vaporizes any material within the fireball, including the ground if it is nearby. Much of this material is exposed to neutrons from the explosion, absorbs them, and becomes radioactive. When this material condenses in the cloud, it forms dust and light sandy material that resembles ground pumice. The fallout emits both beta particles and gamma rays. Much of this highly radioactive material then falls to earth, subjecting anything within the line of sight to radiation, a significant hazard. A fallout shelter is designed to allow its occupants to avoid exposure to harmful fallout until radioactivity has lowered to a safer level.
By contrast, the bulk of the radioactivity in nuclear accident fallout is more long-lived than that in weapons fallout. A good table of the nuclides such as that provided by the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute includes the fission yields of the different nuclides. From this data it is possible to calculate the isotropic mixture in the fallout (due to fission products in bomb fallout). The mixture of radioisotopes present in used power reactor fuel can be more complex because neutron activation of fission products is possible; a good example of this is the cesium isotropic signature. In terms of activity (Bq or curies) it is the case that the activity in a power reactor fuel one hour after shutdown tends to be more long lived because the majority of the short-lived fission products will have had time to decay.
For example, imagine that some fissile material is used in a bomb, and that in 1012 fissions an equal number of 131I and 137Cs atoms are formed. Because the 131I has such a short half-life when compared with the 137Cs, the activity ratio of 131I to 137Cs will be very much in favor of the 131I one hour after the fission event.
If, on the other hand, a lump of fuel in a power reactor undergoes 1012 fissions, which will generate a given amount of 131I, if the reactor was run at a constant power for one year then the majority of the 131I will have had time to decay. However the vast majority of the 137Cs atoms will not have had time to decay. So the 131I to 137Cs ratio is more in favor of 137Cs than the mixture formed.
Different types of radiation emitted by fallout
Alpha
In the vast majority of accidents and in all atomic bombs the threat due to beta and gamma emitters is far greater than that posed by the small amount of alpha emitters in the fallout. The alpha radiation can be very harmful, but only if they are ingested or inhaled. The particles can be blocked easily by a sheet of paper.
Beta
It is likely that even a light structure will give good protection against most beta emitters, but it is important to note that small particles of fallout can cause localised radiation injuries known as beta burns. It is thought that if a person entering a fallout shelter was to change their footwear and leave their outer clothing outside the main area then the persons inside will be protected from these beta burns. The beta rays are more penetrating than alpha rays, but internal exposure will tend to do less damage because the LET is lower.
Three centimeters of aluminum can block the beta emissions from even a high-energy beta emitter such as 90Sr, while a lower energy beta emitter such as tritium or 14C will be stopped by even more thin objects.
Gamma
These are not a charged particle, and are thus more able to pass through objects and may pose a large threat to a person in a fallout shelter. Most of the design of a fallout shelter is intended to protect against gamma rays. The rays' intensity can be reduced by dense materials such as lead, steel, concrete or packed earth.
Protection offered by the solid walls and roof of a structure
It is important to note that the fallout from either a weapon or an accident is a complex mixture of many radioisotopes. For weapons fallout the photon energy is assumed to be the same as the gamma rays from 60Co. Data collected after the Chernobyl accident can serve in a simulation of fallout shelter efficacy, reconstructing the contribution of different radioisotopes to the radiation dose over time. The simulation detailed below assumes that no chemical separation occurred during the transport of radioactivity to the site where the fallout fell (this in real life is not true), and that no decontamination or removal of fallout (e.g. weathering) occurs.
No shielding
The contributions made by the different isotopes to the dose (in air) caused in the contaminated area in the time shortly after the accident. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, and the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual'.
Using the data for the source term (radioactive release) from Chernobyl, and other literature data it is possible to estimate how much protection a wall of concrete will offer in the event of a Chernobyl like accident. These calculations are for a room with no windows, or doors. The radioactivity dust on the roof, and the windows and doors will make the estimation of the protection factor more difficult.
10 cm concrete shielding
These graphs show that thicker walls increase the protection factor. The protection factor is the ratio of the dose rate suffered by a person inside the shelter divided by the dose rate in the open. It is important to note that the protection factor changes as a function of time. This is because some of the short-lived isotopes such as Zr-95/Nb-95 generate very high-energy gamma photons, while the longer lived Cs-137 have a lower photon energy.
It is also important to note that as the wall is made thicker the average gamma photon energy for those photons, which pass through the wall, becomes higher. So each additional layer of concrete has a smaller effect on the dose rate.
The contributions made by the different isotopes to the dose (in air) caused in the contaminated area in the time shortly after the accident with 10 cm of concrete shielding. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
The protection factor provided by 10 cm of concrete shielding where the source is the idealised Chernobyl fallout. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
20 cm concrete shielding
The contributions made by the different isotopes to the dose (in air) caused in the contaminated area in the time shortly after the accident with 20 cm of concrete shielding. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
The protection factor provided by 20 cm of concrete shielding where the source is the idealised Chernobyl fallout. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
30 cm concrete shielding
The contributions made by the different isotopes to the dose (in air) caused in the contaminated area in the time shortly after the accident with 30 cm of concrete shielding. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
The protection factor provided by 30 cm of concrete shielding where the source is the idealised Chernobyl fallout. Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report, the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual' and 'Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry'
It is important to note that as the shield becomes thicker the very high photon energy emitters such as 140Ba/140La and 95Zr/95Nb become more and more important.
Other matters and simple improvements
In the long term it is important to consider the protection, which is offered by a person's home in the months and years after an event such as the Chernobyl accident. While the person's home may not be a purpose-made shelter, it can be thought of as a shelter if any action is taken to improve the degree of protection.
Measures to lower the beta dose
The main threat from beta emitters is from a hot particle, which is in contact or close to the skin of the person. Also a swallowed or inhaled hot particle could cause beta burns. As it is important to avoid bringing hot particles into the shelter, one option is to remove one's outer clothing on entry.
Measures to lower the gamma dose rate
It is likely that the gamma dose rate due to the contamination brought into the shelter on the clothing of a person is unlikely to be significant unless the shelter has very good shielding on the walls and roof (or if the person was very badly contaminated).
* Roofs and gutters should be cleaned to lower the dose rate in the house.
* The top inch of soil in the area near the house should be either removed or dug up and mixed with the deeper layers of soil. This reduces the dose rate, as the gamma photons have to pass through the soil before they can irradiate a person.
* Nearby roads can be rinsed and washed down to remove dust and debris; the contaminated materials would collect in the sewers and gutters for easier disposal. In Kiev after the Chernobyl accident a program of road washing was used to control the spread of radioactivity.
* Windows can be bricked up, or the sill raised to reduce the hole in the shielding formed by the wall.
* Gaps in the shielding can be blocked using water cans, such as bottles of water. While water only has a density, which is one tenth that of lead, it is still able to absorb gamma rays.
* Earth can be heaped up against the exposed walls of the building; this forces the gamma rays to pass through a thicker layer of shielding before entering the house.
* Nearby trees can be removed to reduce the dose due to fallout, which is on the branches and leaves. It has been suggested by the US government that a fallout shelter should not be dug close to trees for this reason.
Details of improvised fallout shelters
A basic fallout shelter consists of shields that reduce gamma ray exposure by a factor of 1000. Since the most dangerous fallout has the consistency of sand or finely ground pumice, a successful fallout shelter need not filter fine dust from air. The fine dust poses less risk because it emits relatively little radiation (the intensity of the radiation increases as the cube of the particle size), and because it does not settle to the earth, where the fallout shelter is.
The required shielding can be accomplished with 10 times the amount of any quantity of material capable of cutting gamma ray effects in half. Shields that reduce gamma ray intensity by 50% (1/2) include 1 cm (0.4 inches) of lead, 6 cm (2.4 inches) of concrete, 9 cm (3.6 inches) of packed dirt or 150 m (500 ft) of air. When multiple thicknesses are built, the shielding multiplies. Thus, a practical fallout shield is ten halving-thicknesses of packed dirt. This reduces gamma rays by a factor of 1024, which is 2 multiplied by itself ten times. This multiplies out to 90 cm (3 ft) of dirt.
Usually, an expedient purpose-built fallout shelter is a trench, with a strong roof buried by ~1 m (3 ft) of dirt. The two ends of the trench have ramps or entrances at right angles to the trench, so that gamma rays cannot enter (they behave like invisible light).
To make the overburden waterproof (in case of rain), a plastic sheet should be buried a few inches below the surface and held down with rocks or bricks.
Earth is an excellent thermal insulator, and over several weeks of inhabitation, a shelter will be completely warmed by body heat. Without good ventilation, the inhabitants are likely to suffer heat prostration.
The simplest form of effective fan to cool a shelter is a wide, heavy frame with flaps that swings in the shelter's doorway and can be swung from hinges on the ceiling. The flaps open in one direction and close in the other, pumping air. Attach a rope, and take turns swinging it. (This is a Kearney Air Pump, or KAP, named after the inventor.)
Any exposure to fine dust is far less hazardous than exposure to the gamma from the fallout outside the shelter. Dust fine enough to pass the entrance will probably pass through the shelter.
Effective public shelters can be the middle floors of some tall buildings or parking structures, or below ground level in most buildings with more than 10 floors. The thickness of the upper floors must form an effective shield, and the windows of the sheltered area must not view fallout-covered ground that is closer than 1.5 km (1 mi).
Inhabitants should plan to remain sheltered for at least two weeks, then work outside for gradually increasing amounts of time, to four hours a day at three weeks. The normal work is to sweep or wash fallout into shallow trenches to decontaminate the area. They should sleep in a shelter for several months. Evacuation at three weeks is recommended by official authorities.
A battery-powered radio is very helpful to get reports of fallout patterns and clearance. In many countries (including the U.S.) civilian radio stations have emergency generators with enough fuel to operate for extended periods without commercial electricity.
It is possible to construct an electrometer-type radiation meter from plans with just a coffee can or pail, gypsum board, monofilament fishing line, and aluminum foil. Plans are in the reference "Nuclear War Survival Skills" by Cresson Kearny.
If available, inhabitants should take potassium iodide at the rate of 130mg/day per adult (65mg/day per child) as an additional measure to protect the human thyroid gland from the uptake of dangerous radioactive iodine, a component of most fallout and reactor waste. (for more info, including storage, and use of an inexpensive saturated solution, see potassium iodide)
Idealized American fallout shelter from around 1957
External links
* SurvivalRing.org This website offers dozens of free downloadable digitized documents on fallout shelter plans, regulations, standards, technical specifications, and more, as well as US targeting info as provided by FEMA.
* Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine This website offers the entire online version of Nuclear War Survival Skills with full graphics and web navigation, created with the permission of the author Cresson Kearny. This manual has proven technical info on expedient fallout shelter, shelter habitation, and assorted shelter system needs that can be created from common household items. OISM also offers free downloads of other civil defense and shelter information as well.
* SurvivalBlog.com A daily web log devoted to survival and preparedness topics. Has articles that describe the construction and stocking of fallout shelters, storm shelters, and panic rooms.
* FEMA Civil Defense Shelters - A state of the Art Assessment - 1986 This 25 megabyte PDF file is the complete 300 page plus report on civil defense fallout shelter and shelter systems as compiled under contract for FEMA. Includes information on the design, construction, testing and cost of blast and fallout shelters, and includes a bibliography of over 1000 documents. Hosted by SurvivalRing.org.
* Fallout Shelter Surveys: Guide for Architects and Engineers 58 page PDF document - Provides a guide for architects and engineers with procedures and standards for evaluating potential fallout shelter areas in existing buildings. Hosted by SurvivalRing.org.
* FEMA Fallout Shelter Management Handbook 22 page PDF document - "The safety and well-being of the people in this shelter depend on capable leadership. If a civil defense shelter manager is not present, anyone seeing this handbook who has leadership experience can and should TAKE CHARGE IMMEDIATELY." Hosted by SurvivalRing.org.
* FEMA Underground Fallout Shelter Plan H-12-1 9 page PDF document. Actual FEMA plan for a backyard underground fallout shelter. Hosted by SurvivalRing.org.
Nuclear Fission
The animation below shows a uranium-235 nucleus with a neutron approaching from the top. As soon as the nucleus captures the neutron, it splits into two lighter atoms and throws off two or three new neutrons (the number of ejected neutrons depends on how the U-235 atom happens to split). The two new atoms then emit gamma radiation as they settle into their new states. There are three things about this induced fission process that make it especially interesting:
Go to website below to view Animation
* The probability of a U-235 atom capturing a neutron as it passes by is fairly high. In a reactor working properly (known as the critical state), one neutron, ejected from each fission, causes another fission to occur.
* The process of capturing the neutron and splitting happens very quickly, on the order of picoseconds (1x10-12 seconds).
* An incredible amount of energy is released, in the form of heat and gamma radiation, when a single atom splits. The two atoms that result from the fission later release beta radiation and gamma radiation of their own as well. The energy released by a single fission comes from the fact that the fission products and the neutrons, together, weigh less than the original U-235 atom. The difference in weight is converted directly to energy at a rate governed by the equation E = mc2.
Something on the order of 200 MeV (million electron volts) is released by the decay of one U-235 atom (if you would like to convert that into something useful, consider that 1 eV is equal to 1.602 x 10-12 ergs, 1 x 107 ergs is equal to 1 joule, 1 joule equals 1 watt-second, and 1 BTU equals 1,055 joules). That may not seem like much, but there are a lot of uranium atoms in a pound of uranium. So many, in fact, that a pound of highly enriched uranium as used to power a nuclear submarine or nuclear aircraft carrier is equal to something on the order of a million gallons of gasoline. When you consider that a pound of uranium is smaller than a baseball, and a million gallons of gasoline would fill a cube 50 feet per side (50 feet is as tall as a five-story building), you can get an idea of the amount of energy available in just a little bit of U-235.
In order for these properties of U-235 to work, a sample of uranium must be enriched so that it contains 2 percent to 3 percent or more of uranium-235. Three-percent enrichment is sufficient for use in a civilian nuclear reactor used for power generation. Weapons-grade uranium is composed of 90-percent or more U-235.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power2.htm
http://www.bombshelters.com/index.php
P6 Disaster Shelter
The P6 was specifically designed and developed to protect people during and after disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, storms, forest fires, power failures, nuclear power plant accidents, nuclear/chemical terrorism, and full-scale protracted nuclear, chemical and biological war.
The P6 is a totally self-contained 20-150 psi ribbed paraboloid (egg shape) underground disaster shelter designed to protect 6 adults for long periods or 10 people for short durations such as during tornadoes. A tremendous effort has been made to think of every conceivable incident that shelterists could face in the P6 shelter. Many geometrical shapes were experimented with before finalizing the P6.
The P6 includes the fiberglass paraboloid structure, fiberglass entranceway, fiberglass/composite hatch, HEPA filter, 90-gallon fiberglass septic tank, 180-gallon fiberglass water tank, fiberglass center floor beam, fiberglass counter, fiberglass shower housing, fiberglass battery housing, fiberglass carbon filter housing, toilet, floor, nine 12-volt deep-cycle batteries, air blower, fiberglass gray water tank, all wiring, all plumbing, etc. The P6 requires approximately 3 man-hours to connect the entranceway and water tank.
Design
The P6 is a third generation disaster shelter designed and developed by Walton W. McCarthy, M.E., author of PRINCIPLES of PROTECTION, U.S. Handbook of NBC Weapon Fundamentals and Shelter Engineering Standards.
Entranceway
The geometry of the P6 allows the much-preferred straight-in entranceway. This has the advantage of extremely quick and easy entry plus it provides the most efficient escape for moisture and heat. The entranceway also contains an Emergency Escape Manway (EEM), which allows a fiberglass manway cover to be removed from inside the entranceway so shelterists can dig their way 3 feet to the surface if debris falls on top of the hatch. If the shelter is located in ground subject to frost, the area around this EEM should be backfilled with crushed stone.
Leaching Septic Tank
Shelter Facilities
Air Filtration
Hatch Dome
Tabacco: For these features and other specifications, go to website above.
http://www.disastershelters.net/images/shelter1.jpg
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-71-274-1462/conflict_war/cold_war/clip3
Wanna buy a bomb shelter? CBC Radio interviews one New York City salesman throwing forth his best sales pitch. A shelter, he says, will protect homeowners from rampant radiation following a nuclear attack. It can also double as a cold cellar, a fire-protected room, or a spare room. In this day and age it's just another necessary means of insurance.
Tabacco: If you’ve read this far, go to the website and listen to the audio broadcast from 50 years ago. It’s very worthwhile!
http://hometown.aol.com/rafleet/fallout.htm
NOTICE: This page still under construction....many graphics are missing, and the text is incomplete, but there IS useful information right now....If you wish to be notified when this file is finished, please email the author:
Richard Fleetwood rafleet@aol.com
If we don’t take back control of Congress in November, 2006, then elect a Democrat for President in November, 2008, you may have to understand all this stuff. But don’t worry; you will have lots of time to study this Article while waiting it out in your new “Fallout Shelter”. After all, what else will you have to do except Read and Pray.
In 1981's 'Body Heat', Kathleen Turner said, "Knowledge is power".
T.A.B.A.C.C.O. (Truth About Business And Congressional Crimes Organization)
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