In the previous article "Useless Civil Defense", we found out that in the event of a nuclear war, we, firstly, will not be warned of a nuclear strike, and, secondly, we will not have time to run to the shelters. Ballistic missiles have such a short flight time that they do not allow any effective protective measures to be taken.
At the same time, the question remains: what should we do? On this score, I will present my considerations, which, perhaps, are fundamentally different from everything that is written about this in manuals, recommendations and other legal documents on civil defense.
The most important point that makes all of these recommendations unusable is that a nuclear attack on civilians will most definitely be sudden in the most literal sense of the word. The fact is that before the explosion of a warhead delivered by a ballistic missile, there are no sounds warning of danger. There is no roar of bombers, no howling of a falling bomb or the whistle of a projectile, sounds that usually warn of the beginning of a bombing or shelling, give a chance to take cover. A greenish ball in the sky opens soundlessly. This, by the way, can be clearly seen in the footage of nuclear tests.
The rumble occurs some time later, when the shock wave approaches. During this time, all those who were in the "burn radius" (the radius at which light radiation causes severe burns) and stood in an open area already have time to get severe burns or even die.
For an observer who does not see the light sphere of the explosion and does not fall under its rays (for example, is in a room or under the cover of a house, in its shadow), a light flash, obviously, will most of all resemble a very strong and close discharge of bluish-red lightning shade. Only lightning is unusual, occurring without a thunderstorm and not accompanied by an immediate thunder. If you saw this, it means that you have already come under a nuclear explosion, grabbed a dose of penetrating radiation, and you have very little time to hide from the shock wave.
Three important consequences follow from this circumstance. First, what you are wearing protects you from a nuclear explosion. Second, survival and the extent of your injuries depends on where you are and where you are in relation to a nuclear explosion. Third, you can only use what is directly with you.
Favorable location
Let's start with the second point, which requires some clarification. It is known that the probability of death and injury in a nuclear explosion depends on the location in relation to the epicenter. That is, from whether you are far or close to it, whether there are any buildings and structures that can protect against light radiation and a shock wave.
This factor, combined with the suddenness of a nuclear explosion, gives survival under a nuclear attack the character of a lottery: whoever is lucky. If someone finds a nuclear explosion in a zone of severe destruction and "burn radius", in an open place, for example, on the street, he will die. But if such a person turns around the corner before the explosion and ends up under the protection of a building, then he will most likely survive and may not even receive serious injuries. The repeatedly mentioned Japanese corporal Yasuo Kuwahara survived about 800 meters from the epicenter of a nuclear explosion because he was behind a large reinforced concrete fire tank. He was pulled out from under the rubble by soldiers who were at the time of the explosion in a solid reinforced concrete building of a military hospital.
Who will live and who will die in a nuclear explosion? This largely determines a random confluence of factors. But still, you can slightly increase the chances if you roughly determine the most likely place of the explosion, the danger zone and your position in it.
Where will a nuclear warhead explode? Only an approximate answer can be given to this question, since the exact plans for a nuclear war and the coordinates of targets are secret. But still: what will be affected in the event of a nuclear war?
The nuclear powers, primarily Russia and the United States, declare a counterforce strategy for nuclear strikes, that is, they declare that nuclear warheads are aimed at military facilities, silos, missile positions, and so on. However, if one analyzes the logically possible course of a nuclear war, one has to doubt this. First, a successful counterforce strike is possible only with an absolutely sudden attack. But there will be no surprise strike, since the missile launch will be detected by satellites and radars of the missile attack warning system. The attacked side still has enough time to launch its missiles, that is, to make a retaliatory strike.
So, the attacking side knows that the attacked side will detect the missile launch and fire a return salvo even before its missile positions are destroyed. That is, the strike will have to hit the mines and installations that have already fired their missiles. In this case, their defeat is pointless, the ammunition will be wasted. Accordingly, the attacked side also faces a situation when its enemy has already fired its missiles, and the defeat of their starting positions is also meaningless. A retaliatory strike must have some other target list for it to be effective. So the counterforce strategy under the existing conditions is ineffective and, apparently, exists more to intimidate the enemy.
It follows from this, if we proceed from the desire of both sides for the most effective nuclear strike, that initially most missiles are not aimed at enemy missile positions. Some of them can be designed to destroy command centers, large air and naval bases, but there are relatively few such targets. The damage must be done as much as possible. In general, in my opinion, nuclear warheads are aimed at objects of the fuel and energy complex: large thermal and nuclear power plants, oil and gas chemical plants, large nodes of energy networks, nodes of oil and gas pipelines. Almost all of these objects are easily hit by nuclear weapons, most of them burn well, and their destruction inflicts an overturning blow on the entire economic and transport system, and it will take several months to restore the power system at least partially.
Some of these facilities are located in or near cities. Based on this, it is not difficult to identify the most threatened areas. It is enough to take a sufficiently detailed map, for example, a Yandex map, find your house or place of work on it, as well as the nearest large power plant, and measure the distance. If the place where you constantly or regularly stay for more or less a long time of the day is less than 2 km from the probable target (the radius at which the shock wave inflicts fatal injuries is about 2000 meters for a 400-kiloton charge), then you have there is cause for concern. If the location is within 2 to 7 km of the likely target, then you will most likely survive, but you can get injured, injured or burned, and at a distance of more than 5 km, the probability becomes minimal. Your position over 7 km from the nearest probable target means that nothing threatens you. Even if the warhead deviates from the aiming point, neither the light radiation, nor the shock wave, nor the penetrating radiation will be able to reach you.
In general, it is necessary to demand that the RF Ministry of Defense or the RF Ministry of Emergency Situations draw up detailed diagrams of the most threatened parts and districts of settlements and cities. This would greatly simplify the process of preparing for survival in the event of a nuclear strike. But such an assessment can be made on an individual basis, since the necessary electronic cards are freely available.
Due to this circumstance, everything that will be said below concerns those who are often and for a long time in the most threatened zone, which is two radii from the probable epicenter: up to 2 km - a zone of severe danger, from 2 to 5 km - a zone of medium danger.
Home is a refuge
The suddenness of a nuclear explosion leaves no chance to run to the shelter. But this does not mean that people in hazardous areas are completely defenseless. It is also known from the experience of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that being in solid reinforced concrete buildings is much better than in open areas. The solid building completely protects against light radiation (with the exception of some areas irradiated through windows), and also provides good protection against shock waves. The house will, of course, collapse, but unevenly. The façade of the building facing the epicenter of a nuclear explosion will suffer the most, while the side and back facades will suffer little, mainly from the shock wave flowing around the building. However, if there are other buildings, structures or trees in front of the facade facing the epicenter, then the shock wave will greatly weaken and this will give chances of survival.
Rooms with windows facing the direction of a probable nuclear explosion can be strengthened somewhat. First, stick a transparent film or tapes made of transparent film on the glass so that the shock wave squeezes them out entirely and does not break into fragments. Second, hang a thick white cotton curtain. A number of tests have shown that white fabric provides good protection against light radiation. You can paint the windows with white paint. Thirdly, the safest place in such a room is lying under the window opening, standing or sitting in the partition between the window openings. The wall will protect from light radiation, the shock wave will travel above or from the side. You can get serious injuries from shrapnel, debris and shockwaves reflected from the walls of the room, but the chances of surviving are slightly increased.
For rooms with windows facing the side opposite to the epicenter of a probable explosion, the greatest threat is glass fragments broken by a flowing or reflected shock wave. They can also be reinforced with transparencies.
Will the house collapse under the shock wave? Perhaps, but it all depends on the construction of the house and the strength of the concrete. Through the efforts of the party and the government, the main buildings in Russian cities are reinforced concrete, the most resistant to a nuclear explosion. The most durable and stable houses are block and monolithic.
True, modern monolithic houses, as a rule, have weak enclosing walls, which, most likely, will be pressed inward by a shock wave. Through skyscrapers with glass walls, a shock wave can go right through, throwing all the contents out. These buildings are the most dangerous. The most common panel houses will, of course, collapse, but primarily on the side facing the epicenter of a probable nuclear explosion. But, unlike indoor gas explosions or bombs, leading to the destruction of entire staircases, the force of the shock wave will be applied from the outside, and the structures of the house will work in compression. It all depends on the strength of the concrete. If it is strong, then the destruction may be limited to the fact that the external enclosing slabs will fall off from the house, staircases and elevator shafts may be destroyed. Thus, people on the lower floors may end up in the rubble, and people on the upper floors will not be able to descend.
It seems that the recommendations for surviving a nuclear strike will be generally similar to the recommendations for surviving earthquakes (a house will experience similar loads during the passage of a shock wave and during an earthquake), with the difference that during a nuclear explosion it is safer to be inside the building. For this reason, a night nuclear attack will be much less effective than a day one, since at night the overwhelming majority of the population is in their homes, protected by reinforced concrete structures.
What's on and what's in your pockets
Surviving a nuclear explosion also depends on what you are wearing. This is in case you had to catch a nuclear explosion in an open place. Light-colored cotton clothing is best protected from light radiation (tests have shown that light-colored cotton fabrics ignite much more slowly than dark or black ones). Jeans and a denim jacket are fine. Woolen fabric protects very well from the heat of light radiation. Ordinary winter clothing, thick and with little heat conduction, will protect you well. The worst is light dark synthetic fabrics. Under the light radiation, synthetics will either flare up or melt, causing severe and very painful burns. So at a time when the likelihood of a nuclear war increases, it is better to change the wardrobe of outerwear and streetwear.
Clothes should be chosen so that as few uncovered parts of the body are left as possible. Then the likelihood of getting extensive burns, wounds and skin cuts is sharply reduced. Summer may not be very comfortable and hot, but you don't want photographs of your burns to be shown later in exhibitions about the horrors of nuclear war.
In the civil defense manuals, it is recommended to put on a gas mask after a nuclear explosion. Moreover, this is written even in modern recommendations. This begs a question for the authors of such works: why don't you leave the house without a gas mask on your side, and your dear GP-5 is always with you? The absurdity of this recommendation is obvious. The suddenness of a nuclear explosion virtually eliminates the likelihood that you will have gas masks, respirators, special cloth masks and similar protective equipment at hand.
But this does not mean that you cannot always have protective equipment with you so as not to swallow radioactive dust. Now, wet wipes (usually made of viscose non-woven fabric) and medical masks, which were not available in Soviet times, have now appeared on wide sale. It is quite possible to always have with you, in your pockets, a small package of wet wipes and 3-4 medical masks. After the shock wave has passed, you can wipe your face and hands from radioactive dust with wet wipes and put on a medical mask that filters the dust well. To leave the area of a nuclear explosion, her capabilities are quite enough. If you do not have a mask, then you can press a damp cloth to your nose and mouth. Wipes and medical masks are a simple and cheap tool available to everyone and everyone, which you can always carry with you.
Thus, personal survival under a nuclear attack is quite possible. Although it is in the nature of a lottery, and someone may be very unlucky, nevertheless, the following principles apply.
First, when in the danger zone of a probable nuclear explosion, it is safer to be in a building than on the street. On the street, it is safer to be not in an open place, but near buildings and structures so that they cover you from the direction of a possible nuclear explosion. Secondly, it is safer to wear clothes made of low-combustible light materials (cotton or woolen fabric), leaving a minimum of exposed parts of the body. Thirdly, it is more advisable to always have a bag of wet wipes and several medical masks with you to protect yourself from radioactive dust.
It slammed, but you stayed on your feet and did not receive serious injuries. Where to go? The two most expedient options. The first is the nearest large hospital, if it is not far away and the road to it is known. The second is to go to the nearest major road or main street and wait for help. First of all, rescuers will appear there, on large streets and roads that are not blocked by blockages.
