What To Do In The Face Of A Nuclear Threat

The thought of a nuclear attack is terrifying.

And with rising geopolitical enemies, the possibilities of a nuclear strike on American soil is something that must be considered.

Here are some steps you can take to save your life in the face of a nuclear threat.

During the Cold War, the fear of a nuclear strike was palpable.

The idea of mutually assured destruction kept the United States and the Soviet Union from nuking each other, although episodes of brinkmanship almost led to disaster.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, many Americans have grown complacent to the threat of a nuclear strike.

However, China and North Korea both have nukes, and they’ve grown more belligerent over the years.

Also, terror groups can’t be neglected in their efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.

With that in mind, Americans need to be more vigilant about defending themselves against a nuclear attack.

First, the safest place to be is away from major cities and military bases.

They will be primary targets if there is a strike.

If the threat level were to be raised, it would be optimal to have a bug-out location ready outside of the city.

Nuclear explosions follow the inverse square laws of physics, meaning the intensity of the blast decreases by the square of the distance.

That means if you’re 5 miles away from ground zero, you will feel 1/25 the impact of someone at the nucleus.

Make sure you stay apprised of the situation because bugging out too late could be catastrophic.

You don’t want to be caught out in the open when a blast hits.

Even if you are out of the blast radius, prevailing winds can spread radioactive material and the inevitable chaos could present resulting dangers.

Ideally, you’ll want to have your very own bunker with food, water, first-aid materials, sanitation, and other well-stocked survival items.

If that’s not possible, you still have options.

Look for structure areas that have heavy, dense material in between you and the fallout.

Steel, concrete, and water are a few things that can insulate you from fallout.

The basement of a two-story house will only expose you to 1/20 the levels of radiation of someone who’s caught outside.

Your city might have public fallout shelters, but you should also be wary of those.

Masses of hysterical people pose other problems.

That said, survival must come first.

A public fallout shelter is better than getting stranded out in the open.

Look for tall buildings that have basements.

Deep underground parking structures also provide good insulation.

However, you’ll need to be prepared to stay put for up two weeks.

Fallout is most lethal within 24 hours.

The radiation levels begin to diminish considerably.

Fallout exposure generally follows the 7:10 Rule of Thumb, meaning each time factor of 7 decreases the exposure rate by a factor of 10.

That means if the radiation level after 2 hours is 400 R/hr (roentgens per hour), after 14 hours, the radiation level will have dropped to 40 R/hr.

Nuclear attacks are undoubtedly terrifying, but they don’t have to be a death sentence if you plan accordingly.