The experts' step-by-step guide to surviving a nuclear attack: How to stop your skin melting, why to keep your mouth open so your eardrums don't burst, use soap but not conditioner, and what you REALLY need after the blast...

12.05am: Nato becomes aware of the threat and alerts national governments.

12.10am: News channels and radio stations start broadcasting an emergency warning to the public to seek shelter.

12.13am: Britain's Ministry of Defence restricts citizens' access to 'base transceiver stations', stopping phones from sending messages. This affords the Government, via a secure network, a clear line of communication to every UK-registered device.

12.15am: The Home Office sends a signal to every British mobile phone, warning of the threat.

12.18am: Perhaps half the UK population knows what is coming. The time it takes to boil a kettle, if that, is all most of us have to prepare for a nuclear bomb.


So what should you do with your two minutes? And the 24 hours after that? And the weeks and months of 'nuclear winter' that would likely follow, in which radioactive fallout will have decimated the food chain, contaminated the water supply and caused the total breakdown of civil order?

The first thing to make clear: you can't outrun a nuclear bomb. As newsreader Peter Donaldson warned in his Cold War-era message on behalf of the BBC in the event of a nuclear attack: 'Remember, there is nothing to be gained by trying to get away.'

A nuclear attack on Britain from a hostile state such as Russia is most likely to involve one or more 'atom bombs' with an explosive yield equivalent to one megaton of dynamite. This is 80 times the strength of the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima, which had a yield equivalent to just 15 kilotons of dynamite and killed up to 140,000 people.

According to modelling by the website NukeMap, a single bomb on this scale would likely kill everyone and destroy all buildings within a 1.4 mile 'heavy blast radius.  As far as seven miles from the impact zone, anyone outdoors can expect third-degree burns, with exposed limbs requiring amputation. If the bomb were to hit Parliament Square in Central London, for example, immediate fatalities would be recorded as far away as Wembley, Wimbledon and Woolwich, with a northerly breeze taking lethal radioactive fallout as far as Newcastle within an hour.

You have two minutes, then. And you need to find suitable shelter. Your best option is the basement of a large, multi-storey concrete building with as few windows as possible — these will shatter within seconds of impact. If you have no access to a basement or underground car park, head for the most structurally integral point in a building, such as the central staircase in a block of flats, away from exterior walls. The greater the density of material you can put between yourself and the blast, the better your chance of survival. A lead-lined bunker is the ideal — but not possible for most. In the 1980 Government pamphlet Protect And Survive, families were urged to bundle themselves into kitchen cupboards in their homes. This theory remains sound.

Avoid hunkering down in a timber structure such as a shed. This would be like seeking safety in a bonfire. Stay away from long corridors and hallways, too, which will only serve as wind tunnels for the imminent 'pressure wave'. Keep away from tall furniture such as wardrobes, as these will likely topple. Lie face down, with your arms and hands tucked under your body. The United States Centre for Disease and Control Prevention advises this as the best position to shield exposed skin from the oncoming 'thermal pulse' (a blast of heat energy).

When the bomb hits, the first thing you'll notice from your position on the floor is a dazzling burst of light. In clear weather, this 'atomic flash' can permanently blind someone 10 miles away, burning through their retinas. At night, when our pupils are dilated, the 'blinding radius' is even greater. Do not look up. Shortly after the first flash, a second one will appear as light previously trapped behind the bomb's 'shockwave' escapes.

Within ten seconds of impact, a fireball 5,700ft across, with a temperature five times hotter than the sun's core (which is 15 million degrees Celsius) will roar across the landscape. As it rises rapidly, it forms into a terrifying mushroom cloud. Then you can expect the pressure wave — an unstoppable battering ram of highly compressed air travelling at 784mph, faster than the speed of sound. Irwin Redlener, an American expert in public health and disaster response, advises keeping your mouth open 'so your eardrums don't burst' as a result of the sudden increase in pressure.

The thermal pulse will ignite any flammable materials within several miles of Ground Zero, including dry leaves, curtains, newspapers and clothes. Wearing pale colours will reduce the risk of your own clothes catching fire, as they will reflect rather than absorb this heat. Within ten to 12 minutes, lethal radioactive debris known as 'fallout' will begin to rain down from the sky like a sandstorm.

It's time to make a decision: stay put and trust in the integrity of your shelter, or make a break for it, hoping to escape the fallout zone — which could stretch as far as 250 miles from the blast. In all but the most extreme circumstances, it's best, as the Government recommends in its current official slogan, to: 'Go in. Stay in. Tune in.'

If you have an electric car, this will be useless due to the electromagnetic pulses (EMP) — sharp bursts of electricity — emitted by the bomb, which have caused voltage surges and destroyed components. In any case, few roads will be passable and cars for several miles from Ground Zero are just scraps of charred metal.

But if you do decide to flee, travel upwind to avoid being chased by the fallout cloud. If your upwind course takes you towards Ground Zero, travel cross-wind instead. High doses of radiation melt the body from the inside. Vomiting begins within 30 minutes of exposure and is followed by diarrhoea and loss of consciousness. Death can take just hours. At lower doses, symptoms of radiation poisoning include severe weight loss, internal bleeding, hair loss, hypotension (low blood pressure) and total loss of bowel control. Terminal cancers such as leukaemia may develop.

You must therefore try to prevent radioactive material from entering your lungs. Cover your nose and mouth with a cloth or ideally a P2-grade face mask. Breathe through your nose: mucus-covered nasal hairs are capable of filtering 95 per cent of foreign particles exceeding five micrometers in diameter (0.005mm). Wear glasses or goggles. Stick cotton wool in your ears and cover any open wounds. If you remain in your shelter, try to ensure it is as secure as possible. Seal off any units — such as air conditioning and fireplaces — that let in air from the outside. This is your home now. Place mattresses against shattered windows and cover door frame gaps with gaffer tape.

Do not go looking for loved ones or pets. Buildings have been destroyed, corpses litter the roads. Going outside will inevitably end in panic, disorientation and death. Anyone who hopes to join you in your shelter must decontaminate. Nobody can touch them or their clothes until they've washed, ideally with warm water and soap.....

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13300673/experts-advice-survive-nuclear-attack-soap-drink-water-panic.html

I'm not saying we won't get our hair mussed....

If you are in London, you are fucked.

If you are anywhere in GB, you are fucked.

I'm a fighter and a survivor, but I think if we had an all out nuclear war, it would be best to be taken out immediately--unless you were in a place far away and upwind if a blast.

I grew up in WA within 20 miles of Boeing.  We used to do the nuclear drills right along with the earthquake and fire drills.  We all knew that if a bomb hit, were were all gonna be shadows.

I'm GenX for time perspective.

KAB - kiss arse buh-bye.  In fifth grade I figured out the bomb and realized we were at Ground Zero.  In the SF Bay Area we had Alameda Naval Air Station that was home to three carriers, Presidio where the US Sixth Army was HQ, Concord Naval Weapons Station, Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard, Mare Island Naval Shipyard and Nike Air Defense sites in Marin County.  There was no escape so why worry?

Threads thread

documentary here :

There's an old B&W civil defense movie that shows a man using a newspaper to cover his face from a nuclear blast.  

Supposedly, Eisenhower said that if we ever had a nuclear exchange, there wouldn't be enough bulldozers to clear all the dead.

Article is pointless for me.

Bob’s Carpet Emporium is in my town.  I’d be gone in the first strike.

Heh.  I can see Naval Base San Diego from my back yard.

Attached File





Q:  Do you know what British Nuclear Engineers eat?




A:  Fission Chips

Step Three: step away from the bar? fuck that shit, if the world is ending I'm pouring myself a glass of the good stuff.

Daily Mail .thanks

you should research just who was behind that movie

I gotta chuckle when they always compare modern nukes to the Little Boy. Even the device at Trinity had a higher yield than Little Boy. Little Boy was a pretty small device, relative to nearly every other device used in atmospheric testing.

If they nuke Chicago, which will likely happen, I'd probably be ok from the initial blast if it's in the 1-10 megaton range. A Tsar Bomba sized device (which is extremely unlikely) would be a very gnasty day though. I'd get cooked from the heat out here.

Now, if they also nuke Elgin (which I have no idea the likelihood of that) then I'm fucked. If they hit Byron nuclear plant, I'm in the direct path of the fallout. And there are a few plants to the south of me that might be a problem too. So yeah, it still doesn't look good for me.

Honestly the initial effects are likely pretty survivable depending on your location. Most Russian warheads have shrunk in size, and very few big warheads remain in service.  So unless you are within a few miles of ground zero you are gonna be fine. Most of their targets will be military and then some industrial stuff. So if you are within a few miles you have problems. Beyond like 10mi it gets way more survivable. The other big question is ground vs airburst and then the resulting fallout. But that's mostly staying in sealed basement as long as you can. I.e. have water, food for like 2 weeks and bam you too can now leave your vault and enter the brave new world of Fallout 6, real life!

The most common soviet nuke is 100kt (mirv) much less common are 500kt and 800kt ones. If you want to play with nuke map.

Chima nukes are in the MT range but they have far fewer of them.

Realistically the UK has all of a handful of targets worth striking in a counterforce attack. No land-based deterrent, so just targets on air bases and their sub base.

Most of the country would be unaffected. Their economy and the resulting lack of systems for food distribution would be the real killers, not radiation or overdressed.

Neither Russia nor China have the geopolitical need to conduct a countervalue attack on the UK. And the UK's SSBNs aren't sufficient in and of themselves to deter either country.

Does Walmart sell Iodine tabs? Asking for a friend.

Will my eclipse glasses allow me to watch the detonation without melting my eyes?

Amazon does. Cheap too.

Tbh probably. Lots of 50s films with dudes looking at em with dark glasses.

Try it and report back.

That's an expert?

only one way to find out.

I think Oppenheimer showed them watching Trinity thru welding glass?

The Chi-Coms have moved to lower-yield MIRVed warheads as well. There's going to be very few MT+-range warheads going off, and most of those will be on top of Cheyenne Mountain or equivalent targets.

I'm not saying we're not going to get our hair mussed, but my plan is still to have a soccer-mom harem as I become the Warlord King of the cul-de-sac.

A sound that moves through the air faster than the speed of sound.

Yeah there are tons of photos/videos showing people watching em with some sort of glasses.

I'm being mostly sarcastic about the eclipse ones, but I'd assume they would work from far enough away. But not like you have enough warning to organize a watch party.

Yeah but the Chi-coms still have some big as MT+ ones. The biggest Russians ones in use that I know about are the 500/800kt ones, which well, still pretty bad, but not all that many of those versus the 100kt ones. And yeah the big ones are getting dropped on various military targets, the 100KT ones likely sprinkled onto missile fields and then various secondary counter value targets. The other question is of course how many of the 1700 or so "active" missiles/warheads actually work? Half? 25%? Given the state of Russia who really knows.

I basically have 2 targets near me that will get the big bois, but I'm far enough away and downwind that its kinda an "oh well". I have much nearer hardened countervalue target that I worry about since I work near it. But my house would be fine.

But  the TLDR is that unless you are within a few miles of one of those targets its all very likely survivable near term. Its the longer term end of infrastructure that will fuck everyone the hardest. If you are rural/small town, unless you happen to live near a missile field/military base, or downwind of one, you are in the best spot especially if you have access to off grid water/food. But thats been the case since it all started.

Just keep an old Frigidaire nearby.

Not a sound, a pressure wave (shock wave).  And when pressure rises above atmospheric pressure, I believe the speed of sound increases accordingly.  So yes, it moves faster than the speed of sound at normal atmospheric pressure.

I love these threads.

I get to read everyone's proud responses that their locale is a prime bomb target.

Naval Station Everett
Boeing Everett
Bangor
JBLM
Port of Seattle

I've never been under the illusion of survival...

I will have you know that I live downwind of the 3rd largest manufacturer of aiglets for left-handed shoelaces in Sweden.

It's a prime nuclear target for sure.

I wonder if enough of those eclipse glasses would shield me.

Meh.

Its not like there have never been repeated nuclear tests next to a large city in the desert more than 60 years ago...

Boise/Meridian real estate market is one of the hottest in the country.  Clearly, a critical, strategic, counter value target that will attract multiple Russian RVs.

Not to mention the blue turf at BSUs stadium is another obvious high value target for the Russians (and Chinese).

Wouldn't call that "close".  The Nevada Test Site was 65 miles from Hotel Fremont.

Why? Who is going to be nuking them?  Why would a rational opponent nuke London?  It won't stop a signal from getting to Britain's strategic deterrent.  It won't prevent that deterrent from destroying their opponents (assuming Trident still works, gulp)  It doesn't  help Britain surrender, not if you kill everyone who has the power to enable British forces to stand down.  

So why do it, when most opponents, and here I mean the Russians, are limited in the number of nukes they can throw?  Certainly threatening London, in an attempt to get them to sit a US v Whoever fight, makes sense.  But actually going through with it?  Nah.

This is the second Daily News article regarding a nuclear detonation in the past week.

The first I read was the Pentagon.

Humm?  What’s happening?  

People aren’t scared of a virus anymore?

lol at them thinking the government is going to alert the public.

Shock waves be like they do.  

I am a tad concerned about the recent onslaught of all things nuclear fear, in popular news and media.  It isn't a coincidence, so what are the fuckers planning that needs the Nuclear Boogeyman to lend a helping hand?

If i'm at work, i have 8 miles of fallout shelter right down the stairs from my office.

It's comforting to know that the King and Prime Minister will be safe in their bunkers coordinating the civil recovery response.

People who think the Russians actually maintained their nukes make me laugh.   Their stuff is probably rusted to shit.   Their nuke capability percentage is probably single digit percentage of what they claim.

I would mute the alert without looking at it, or just ignore it like I always do.

It's not helpful on the day to day, but at least this is one small advantage to not being close to anything important.

The relative lack of firearms in Great Britain would be a major issue for me. There are only so many useable weapons that would be found in  police stations and the MoD. The general public would be back to defending themselves with sharp pointy sticks in no time

This was brought up in another thread a while ago based on the disparity in Russkie nuke budgets vs the US.  Even subtracting out trans surgeries, DEI training, and whatnot; either the US is gold plating the shit out of everything or the Russians are letting things slip through the cracks.  Or both.  And the US hasn't even built a new ICBM in 2 generations.

The English long bow is an impressive weapon.

SE Michigan

Multiple automotive factories within 15-20 miles.

Home of Trijicon and Eotech are within spitting distance of those factories.

Stryker and Borgwarner etc are also clustered.

Multiple mirvs will be sent.

Selfridge is also with in an hour drive.

My first grown up job was being an ICBM launch officer.

I’d prefer to be vaporized in the first wave.

No, Russia won't hit MI, they will let the ROP'rs have it.