Nuclear Survival Skills
Every emergency situation requires different skills
to cope with the crisis. Being prepared is essential
to your survival. The following is the most basic nuclear
survival skills that everyone should know, and practice
in order to be prepared for survival.
Skills are the fundamental skills of survival
that will be needed for nearly every survival
Nuclear Survival Articles and Guides
Apocalyptic Survival Guide
[a resource for long term survival]
You Survive Doomsday?
[a resource that includes 20 myths about nuclear survival]
What to if a nuclear disaster is imminent!
[a guide from KI4U on nuclear survival]
When An ill Wind Blows From Afar!
[Information about how the US and others can get fallout from around the globe via air currents]
The good news about nuclear distruction.
[about nuclear myths and how life can go on]
[Reprinted as permitted
by U.S. Department of the Army from field manual FM
Prepare yourself to survive in a nuclear
environment. Know how to react to a nuclear hazard.
Effects of Nuclear
The effects of nuclear weapons are
classified as either initial or residual. Initial effects
occur in the immediate area of the explosion and are
hazardous in the first minute after the explosion. Residual
effects can last for days or years and cause death.
The principal initial effects are blast and radiation.
Defined as the brief and rapid movement
of air away from the explosion's center and the pressure
accompanying this movement. Strong winds accompany the
blast. Blast hurls debris and personnel, collapses lungs,
ruptures eardrums, collapses structures and positions,
and causes immediate death or injury with its crushing
The heat and light radiation a nuclear
explosion's fireball emits. Light radiation consists
of both visible light and ultraviolet and infrared light.
Thermal radiation produces extensive fires, skin burns,
and flash blindness.
Nuclear radiation breaks down into
two categories-initial radiation and residual radiation.
Initial nuclear radiation consists
of intense gamma rays and neutrons produced during the
first minute after the explosion. This radiation causes
extensive damage to cells throughout the body. Radiation
damage may cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,
and even death, depending on the radiation dose received.
The major problem in protecting yourself against the
initial radiation's effects is that you may have received
a lethal or incapacitating dose before taking any protective
action. Personnel exposed to lethal amounts of initial
radiation may well have been killed or fatally injured
by blast or thermal radiation.
Residual radiation consists of all
radiation produced after one minute from the explosion.
It has more effect on you than initial radiation. A
discussion of residual radiation takes place in a subsequent
Types of Nuclear Bursts
There are three types of nuclear bursts--airburst,
surface burst, and subsurface burst. The type of burst
directly affects your chances of survival. A subsurface
burst occurs completely underground or underwater. Its
effects remain beneath the surface or in the immediate
area where the surface collapses into a crater over
the burst's location. Subsurface bursts cause you little
or no radioactive hazard unless you enter the immediate
area of the crater. No further discussion of this type
of burst will take place.
An airburst occurs in the air above
its intended target. The airburst provides the maximum
radiation effect on the target and is, therefore, most
dangerous to you in terms of immediate nuclear
A surface burst occurs on the ground
or water surface. Large amounts of fallout result, with
serious long-term effects for you. This type of burst
is your greatest nuclear hazard.
Most injuries in the nuclear environment
result from the initial nuclear effects of the detonation.
These injuries are classed as blast, thermal, or radiation
injuries. Further radiation injuries may occur if you
do not take proper precautions against fallout. Individuals
in the area near a nuclear explosion will probably suffer
a combination of all three types of injuries.
Blast injuries produced by nuclear
weapons are similar to those caused by conventional
high-explosive weapons. Blast overpressure can produce
collapsed lungs and ruptured internal organs. Projectile
wounds occur as the explosion's force hurls debris at
you. Large pieces of debris striking you will cause
fractured limbs or massive internal injuries. Blast
over-pressure may throw you long distances, and you
will suffer severe injury upon impact with the ground
or other objects. Substantial cover and distance from
the explosion are the best protection against blast
injury. Cover blast injury wounds as soon as possible
to prevent the entry of radioactive dust particles.
The heat and light the nuclear fireball
emits causes thermal injuries. First-, second-, or third-degree
burns may result. Flash blindness also occurs. This
blindness may be permanent or temporary depending on
the degree of exposure of the eyes. Substantial cover
and distance from the explosion can prevent thermal
injuries. Clothing will provide significant protection
against thermal injuries. Cover as much exposed skin
as possible before a nuclear explosion. First aid for
thermal injuries is the same as first aid for burns.
Cover open burns (second-or third-degree) to prevent
the entry of radioactive particles. Wash all burns before
Neutrons, gamma radiation, alpha radiation,
and beta radiation cause radiation injuries. Neutrons
are high-speed, extremely penetrating particles that
actually smash cells within your body. Gamma radiation
is similar to X rays and is also a highly penetrating
radiation. During the initial fireball stage of a nuclear
detonation, initial gamma radiation and neutrons are
the most serious threat. Beta and alpha radiation are
radioactive particles normally associated with radioactive
dust from fallout. They are short-range particles and
you can easily protect yourself against them if you
take precautions. See Bodily Reactions to Radiation,
below, for the symptoms of radiation injuries.
Residual radiation is all radiation
emitted after 1 minute from the instant of the nuclear
explosion. Residual radiation consists of induced radiation
It describes a relatively small, intensely
radioactive area directly underneath the nuclear weapon's
fireball. The irradiated earth in this area will remain
highly radioactive for an extremely long time. You should
not travel into an area of induced radiation.
Fallout consists of radioactive soil
and water particles, as well as weapon fragments. During
a surface detonation, or if an airburst's nuclear fireball
touches the ground, large amounts of soil and water
are vaporized along with the bomb's fragments, and forced
upward to altitudes of 25,000 meters or more. When these
vaporized contents cool, they can form more than 200
different radioactive products. The vaporized bomb contents
condense into tiny radioactive particles that the wind
carries and they fall back to earth as radioactive dust.
Fallout particles emit alpha, beta, and gamma radiation.
Alpha and beta radiation are relatively easy to counteract,
and residual gamma radiation is much less intense than
the gamma radiation emitted during the first minute
after the explosion. Fallout is your most significant
radiation hazard, provided you have not received a lethal
radiation dose from the initial radiation.
Bodily Reactions to
The effects of radiation on the human
body can be broadly classed as either chronic or acute.
Chronic effects are those that occur some years after
exposure to radiation. Examples are cancer and genetic
defects. Chronic effects are of minor concern insofar
as they affect your immediate survival in a radioactive
environment. On the other hand, acute effects are of
primary importance to your survival. Some acute effects
occur within hours after exposure to radiation. These
effects result from the radiation's direct physical
damage to tissue. Radiation sickness and beta burns
are examples of acute effects. Radiation sickness symptoms
include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue, weakness,
and loss of hair. Penetrating beta rays cause radiation
burns; the wounds are similar to fire burns.
The extent of body damage depends mainly
on the part of the body exposed to radiation and how
long it was exposed, as well as its ability to recover.
The brain and kidneys have little recovery capability.
Other parts (skin and bone marrow) have a great ability
to recover from damage. Usually, a dose of 600 centigrams
(cgys) to the entire body will result in almost certain
death. If only your hands received this same dose, your
overall health would not suffer much, although your
hands would suffer severe damage.
External and Internal Hazards
An external or an internal hazard can
cause body damage. Highly penetrating gamma radiation
or the less penetrating beta radiation that causes burns
can cause external damage. The entry of alpha or beta
radiation-emitting particles into the body can cause
internal damage. The external hazard produces overall
irradiation and beta burns. The internal hazard results
in irradiation of critical organs such as the gastrointestinal
tract, thyroid gland, and bone. A very small amount
of radioactive material can cause extreme damage to
these and other internal organs. The internal hazard
can enter the body either through consumption of contaminated
water or food or by absorption through cuts or abrasions.
Material that enters the body through breathing presents
only a minor hazard. You can greatly reduce the internal
radiation hazard by using good personal hygiene and
carefully decontaminating your food and water.
The symptoms of radiation injuries
include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. The severity
of these symptoms is due to the extreme sensitivity
of the gastrointestinal tract to radiation. The severity
of the symptoms and the speed of onset after exposure
are good indicators of the degree of radiation damage.
The gastrointestinal damage can come from either the
external or the internal radiation hazard.
Penetrating External Radiation
Knowledge of the radiation hazards
discussed earlier is extremely important in surviving
in a fallout area. It is also critical to know how to
protect yourself from the most dangerous form of residual
radiation--penetrating external radiation.
The means you can use to protect yourself
from penetrating external radiation are time, distance,
and shielding. You can reduce the level of radiation
and help increase your chance of survival by controlling
the duration of exposure. You can also get as far away
from the radiation source as possible. Finally you can
place some radiation-absorbing or shielding material
between you and the radiation.
Time is important to you, as the survivor,
in two ways. First, radiation dosages are cumulative.
The longer you are exposed to a radioactive source,
the greater the dose you will receive. Obviously, spend
as little time in a radioactive area as possible. Second,
radioactivity decreases or decays over time. This concept
is known as radioactive half-life. Thus, a radioactive
element decays or loses half of its radioactivity within
a certain time. The rule of thumb for radioactivity
decay is that it decreases in intensity by a factor
of ten for every sevenfold increase in time following
the peak radiation level. For example, if a nuclear
fallout area had a maximum radiation rate of 200 cgys
per hour when fallout is complete, this rate would fall
to 20 cgys per hour after 7 hours; it would fall still
further to 2 cgys per hour after 49 hours. Even an untrained
observer can see that the greatest hazard from fallout
occurs immediately after detonation, and that the hazard
decreases quickly over a relatively short time. As a
survivor, try to avoid fallout areas until the radioactivity
decays to safe levels. If you can avoid fallout areas
long enough for most of the radioactivity to decay,
you enhance your chance of survival.
Distance provides very effective protection
against penetrating gamma radiation because radiation
intensity decreases by the square of the distance from
the source. For example, if exposed to 1,000 cgys of
radiation standing 30 centimeters from the source, at
60 centimeters, you would only receive 250 cgys. Thus,
when you double the distance, radiation decreases to
(0.5)2 or 0.25 the amount. While this formula
is valid for concentrated sources of radiation in small
areas, it becomes more complicated for large areas of
radiation such as fallout areas.
Shielding is the most important method
of protection from penetrating radiation. Of the three
countermeasures against penetrating radiation, shielding
provides the greatest protection and is the easiest
to use under survival conditions. Therefore, it is the
most desirable method.
If shielding is not possible, use the
other two methods to the maximum extent practical.
Shielding actually works by absorbing
or weakening the penetrating radiation, thereby reducing
the amount of radiation reaching your body. The denser
the material, the better the shielding effect. Lead,
iron, concrete, and water are good examples of shielding
Special Medical Aspects
The presence of fallout material in
your area requires slight changes in first aid procedures.
You must cover all wounds to prevent contamination and
the entry of radioactive particles. You must first wash
burns of beta radiation, then treat them as ordinary
burns. Take extra measures to prevent infection. Your
body will be extremely sensitive to infections due to
changes in your blood chemistry. Pay close attention
to the prevention of colds or respiratory infections.
Rigorously practice personal hygiene to prevent infections.
Cover your eyes with improvised goggles to prevent the
entry of particles.
As stated earlier, the shielding material's
effectiveness depends on its thickness and density.
An ample thickness of shielding material will reduce
the level of radiation to negligible amounts.
The primary reason for finding and
building a shelter is to get protection against the
high-intensity radiation levels of early gamma fallout
as fast as possible. Five minutes to locate the shelter
is a good guide. Speed in finding shelter is absolutely
essential. Without shelter, the dosage received in the
first few hours will exceed that received during the
rest of a week in a contaminated area. The dosage received
in this first week will exceed the dosage accumulated
during the rest of a lifetime spent in the same contaminated
The thickness required to weaken gamma
radiation from fallout is far less than that needed
to shield against initial gamma radiation. Fallout radiation
has less energy than a nuclear detonation's initial
radiation. For fallout radiation, a relatively small
amount of shielding material can provide adequate protection.
Figure 23-1 gives an idea of the thickness of various
materials needed to reduce residual gamma radiation
transmission by 50 percent.
The principle of half-value layer
thickness is useful in understanding the absorption
of gamma radiation by various materials. According to
this principle, if 5 centimeters of brick reduce the
gamma radiation level by one-half, adding another 5
centimeters of brick (another half-value layer) will
reduce the intensity by another half, namely, to one-fourth
the original amount. Fifteen centimeters will reduce
gamma radiation fallout levels to one-eighth its original
amount, 20 centimeters to one-sixteenth, and so on.
Thus, a shelter protected by 1 meter of dirt would reduce
a radiation intensity of 1,000 cgys per hour on the
outside to about 0.5 cgy per hour inside the shelter.
Terrain that provides natural shielding
and easy shelter construction is the ideal location
for an emergency shelter. Good examples are ditches,
ravines, rocky outcropping, hills, and river banks.
In level areas without natural protection, dig a fighting
position or slit trench.
When digging a trench, work from inside
the trench as soon as it is large enough to cover part
of your body thereby not exposing all your body to radiation.
In open country, try to dig the trench from a prone
position, stacking the dirt carefully and evenly around
the trench. On level ground, pile the dirt around your
body for additional shielding. Depending upon soil conditions,
shelter construction time will vary from a few minutes
to a few hours. If you dig as quickly as possible, you
will reduce the dosage you receive.
While an underground shelter covered
by 1 meter or more of earth provides the best protection
against fallout radiation, the following unoccupied
structures (in order listed) offer the next best protection:
- Caves and tunnels covered by more
than 1 meter of earth.
- Storm or storage cellars.
- Basements or cellars of abandoned
- Abandoned buildings made of stone
It is not mandatory that you build
a roof on your shelter. Build one only if the materials
are readily available with only a brief exposure to
outside contamination. If building a roof would require
extended exposure to penetrating radiation, it would
be wiser to leave the shelter roofless. A roof's sole
function is to reduce radiation from the fallout source
to your body. Unless you use a thick roof, a roof provides
very little shielding.
You can construct a simple roof from
a poncho anchored down with dirt, rocks, or other refuse
from your shelter. You can remove large particles of
dirt and debris from the top of the poncho by beating
it off from the inside at frequent intervals. This cover
will not offer shielding from the radioactive particles
deposited on the surface, but it will increase the distance
from the fallout source and keep the shelter area from
Shelter Site Selection and Preparation
To reduce your exposure time and thereby
reduce the dosage received, remember the following factors
when selecting and setting up a shelter:
- Where possible, seek a crude, existing
shelter that you can improve. If none is available,
dig a trench.
- Dig the shelter deep enough to get
good protection, then enlarge it as required for comfort.
- Cover the top of the fighting position
or trench with any readily available material and
a thick layer of earth, if you can do so without leaving
the shelter. While a roof and camouflage are both
desirable, it is probably safer to do without them
than to expose yourself to radiation outside your
- While building your shelter, keep
all parts of your body covered with clothing to protect
it against beta burns.
- Clean the shelter site of any surface
deposit using a branch or other object that you can
discard. Do this cleaning to remove contaminated materials
from the area you will occupy. The cleaned area should
extend at least 1.5 meters beyond your shelter's area.
- Decontaminate any materials you
bring into the shelter. These materials include grass
or foliage that you use as insulation or bedding,
and your outer clothing (especially footgear). If
the weather permits and you have heavily contaminated
outer clothing, you may want to remove it and bury
it under a foot of earth at the end of your shelter.
You may retrieve it later (after the radioactivity
decays) when leaving the shelter. If the clothing
is dry, you may decontaminate it by beating or shaking
it outside the shelter's entrance to remove the radioactive
dust. You may use any body of water, even though contaminated,
to rid materials of excess fallout particles. Simply
dip the material into the water and shake it to get
rid of the excess water. Do not wring it out, this
action will trap the particles.
- If at all possible and without leaving
the shelter, wash your body thoroughly with soap and
water, even if the water on hand may be contaminated.
This washing will remove most of the harmful radioactive
particles that are likely to cause beta burns or other
damage. If water is not available, wipe your face
and any other exposed skin surface to remove contaminated
dust and dirt. You may wipe your face with a clean
piece of cloth or a handful of uncontaminated dirt.
You get this uncontaminated dirt by scraping off the
top few inches of soil and using the "clean"
- Upon completing the shelter, lie
down, keep warm, and sleep and rest as much as possible
while in the shelter.
- When not resting, keep busy by planning
future actions, studying your maps, or making the
shelter more comfortable and effective.
- Don't panic if you experience nausea
and symptoms of radiation sickness. Your main danger
from radiation sickness is infection. There is no
first aid for this sickness. Resting, drinking fluids,
taking any medicine that prevents vomiting, maintaining
your food intake, and preventing additional exposure
will help avoid infection and aid recovery. Even small
doses of radiation can cause these symptoms which
may disappear in a short time.
The following timetable provides you
with the information needed to avoid receiving serious
dosage and still let you cope with survival problems:
- Complete isolation from 4 to 6 days
following delivery of the last weapon.
- A very brief exposure to procure
water on the third day is permissible, but exposure
should not exceed 30 minutes.
- One exposure of not more than 30
minutes on the seventh day.
- One exposure of not more than 1
hour on the eighth day.
- Exposure of 2 to 4 hours from the
ninth day through the twelfth day.
- Normal operation, followed by rest
in a protected shelter, from the thirteenth day on.
- In all instances, make your exposures
as brief as possible. Consider only mandatory requirements
as valid reasons for exposure. Decontaminate at every
The times given above are conservative.
If forced to move after the first or second day, you
may do so, Make sure that the exposure is no longer
than absolutely necessary.
In a fallout-contaminated area, available
water sources may be contaminated. If you wait at least
48 hours before drinking any water to allow for radioactive
decay to take place and select the safest possible water
source, you will greatly reduce the danger of ingesting
harmful amounts of radioactivity.
Although many factors (wind direction,
rainfall, sediment) will influence your choice in selecting
water sources, consider the following guidelines.
Safest Water Sources
Water from springs, wells, or other
underground sources that undergo natural filtration
will be your safest source. Any water found in the pipes
or containers of abandoned houses or stores will also
be free from radioactive particles. This water will
be safe to drink, although you will have to take precautions
against bacteria in the water.
Snow taken from 15 or more centimeters
below the surface during the fallout is also a safe
source of water.
Streams and Rivers
Water from streams and rivers will
be relatively free from fallout within several days
after the last nuclear explosion because of dilution.
If at all possible, filter such water before drinking
to get rid of radioactive particles. The best filtration
method is to dig sediment holes or seepage basins along
the side of a water source. The water will seep laterally
into the hole through the intervening soil that acts
as a filtering agent and removes the contaminated fallout
particles that settled on the original body of water.
This method can remove up to 99 percent of the radioactivity
in water. You must cover the hole in some way in order
to prevent further contamination. See Figure 6-9 for
an example of a water filter.
Water from lakes, pools, ponds, and
other standing sources is likely to be heavily contaminated,
though most of the heavier, long-lived radioactive isotopes
will settle to the bottom. Use the settling technique
to purify this water. First, fill a bucket or other
deep container three-fourths full with contaminated
water. Then take dirt from a depth of 10 or more centimeters
below the ground surface and stir it into the water.
Use about 2.5 centimeters of dirt for every 10 centimeters
of water. Stir the water until you see most dirt particles
suspended in the water. Let the mixture settle for at
least 6 hours. The settling dirt particles will carry
most of the suspended fallout particles to the bottom
and cover them. You can then dip out the clear water.
Purify this water using a filtration device.
As an additional precaution against
disease, treat all water with water purification tablets
from your survival kit or boil it.
Although it is a serious problem to
obtain edible food in a radiation-contaminated area,
it is not impossible to solve. You need to follow a
few special procedures in selecting and preparing rations
and local foods for use. Since secure packaging protects
your combat rations, they will be perfectly safe for
use. Supplement your rations with any food you can find
on trips outside your shelter. Most processed foods
you may find in abandoned buildings are safe for use
after decontaminating them. These include canned and
packaged foods after removing the containers or wrappers
or washing them free of fallout particles. These processed
foods also include food stored in any closed container
and food stored in protected areas (such as cellars),
if you wash them before eating. Wash all food containers
or wrappers before handling them to prevent further
If little or no processed food is available
in your area, you may have to supplement your diet with
local food sources. Local food sources are animals and
Animals as a Food Source
Assume that all animals, regardless
of their habitat or living conditions, were exposed
to radiation. The effects of radiation on animals are
similar to those on humans. Thus, most of the wild animals
living in a fallout area are likely to become sick or
die from radiation during the first month after the
nuclear explosion. Even though animals may not be free
from harmful radioactive materials, you can and must
use them in survival conditions as a food source if
other foods are not available. With careful preparation
and by following several important principles, animals
can be safe food sources.
First, do not eat an animal that appears
to be sick. It may have developed a bacterial infection
as a result of radiation poisoning. Contaminated meat,
even if thoroughly cooked, could cause severe illness
or death if eaten.
Carefully skin all animals to prevent
any radioactive particles on the skin or fur from entering
the body. Do not eat meat close to the bones and joints
as an animal's skeleton contains over 90 percent of
the radioactivity. The remaining animal muscle tissue,
however, will be safe to eat. Before cooking it, cut
the meat away from the bone, leaving at least a 3-millimeter
thickness of meat on the bone. Discard all internal
organs (heart, liver, and kidneys) since they tend to
concentrate beta and gamma radioactivity.
Cook all meat until it is very well
done. To be sure the meat is well done, cut it into
less than 13-millimeter-thick pieces before cooking.
Such cuts will also reduce cooking time and save fuel.
The extent of contamination in fish
and aquatic animals will be much greater than that of
land animals. This is also true for water plants, especially
in coastal areas. Use aquatic food sources only in conditions
of extreme emergency.
All eggs, even if laid during the period
of fallout, will be safe to eat. Completely avoid milk
from any animals in a fallout area because animals absorb
large amounts of radioactivity from the plants they
Plants as a Food Source
Plant contamination occurs by the accumulation
of fallout on their outer surfaces or by absorption
of radioactive elements through their roots. Your first
choice of plant food should be vegetables such as potatoes,
turnips, carrots, and other plants whose edible portion
grows underground. These are the safest to eat once
you scrub them and remove their skins.
Second in order of preference are those
plants with edible parts that you can decontaminate
by washing and peeling their outer surfaces. Examples
are bananas, apples, tomatoes, prickly pears, and other
such fruits and vegetables.
Any smooth-skinned vegetable, fruit,
or plant that you cannot easily peel or effectively
decontaminate by washing will be your third choice of
The effectiveness of decontamination
by scrubbing is inversely proportional to the roughness
of the fruit's surface. Smooth-surfaced fruits have
lost 90 percent of their contamination after washing,
while washing rough-surfaced plants removes only about
50 percent of the contamination.
You eat rough-surfaced plants (such
as lettuce) only as a last resort because you cannot
effectively decontaminate them by peeling or washing.
Other difficult foods to decontaminate by washing with
water include dried fruits (figs, prunes, peaches, apricots,
pears) and soya beans.
In general, you can use any plant food
that is ready for harvest if you can effectively decontaminate
it. Growing plants, however, can absorb some radioactive
materials through their leaves as well as from the soil,
especially if rains have occurred during or after the
fallout period. Avoid using these plants for food except
in an emergency.
as permitted by U.S. Department of the Army from field
manual FM 21-76]