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"Hmm, interesting. So in case of a nuclear strike, we are supposed to go inside and stay there for 14 days? Wonder how they came up with that number of days to stay inside? And what constitutes 'inside'? Wouldn't radiation go through window glass?"
Agreed that the media is over-hyping the situation but:
If there is a nuclear fallout situation (aka the event has already happened), you are better off sheltering in place somewhere with minimal radiation shielding than you are going outside to travel to a place with good radiation shielding because the danger is in the particles in the outside air. The best place in most homes is to stay in an interior hallway because it has about twice as much shielding as the bedrooms on either side of it. Put wet towels on the floor in doorways to minimize exposure to outside air particles that find their way inside. Of course, all doors and windows have to remain closed. After a length of time (I guess 14 days) the worst of the radiation is over. Most of the people who survived the fallout in Japan in some kind of shelter lived full lives. There are several recorded instances of people with unlucky itineraries who survived BOTH blasts, one just dying recently from old age. It is generally considered that the A-bombs N. Korea has produces only half as much energy and radiation than what was dropped on Japan during WWII.
Well, considering we get the occasional tsunami, hurricane and earthquakes, it doesn't hurt to be prepared to take care of ourselves for a week or two if necessary. Not sure what the differences between sheltering from those sorts of things versus a nuclear strike would be, though. Other than direct destruction, there's the radiation. With most of the others, it's just preparing for the direct destruction. With an earthquake, though, it's mostly just picking up the mess afterwards and building so things can shake.
We're getting ready to build a new house, so maybe actually building one of those 'safe rooms' the code talks about might be something to do. We can always use it for a wine cellar or extended pantry if nothing else. If we're gonna plan on living in it for two weeks, though, we could put access to a bathroom and some internet there as well. Although if there's enough havoc that we're sheltering for two weeks, more than likely the internet is down as well. Guess we'd better put it next to the library and add some crackers to go with the wine.
There has been a lot of studies done on the folks from Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as Three Mile Island and the one in Russia. Apparently, if they survive the initial radiation, their lifespans aren't shortened by as much as we usually think. Nor as much mutations or anything else like we popularly think. Guess reality isn't as good in a movie script.
Location: not sure, but there's a hell of a lot of water around here!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 10 2 4
There was a quote I heard years ago that goes something like this;
"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in YOU".
Not carrying about Korea doesn't divert attention away from you, it just neuters you and your ability to safeguard yourself.
Well, at least my cats have had their revenge.
And, quite honestly, I could give less of a s**t about north korea. But, if you want to worry about it for those of us who live in Hawaii, mahalo for the effort
Hmm, interesting. So in case of a nuclear strike, we are supposed to go inside and stay there for 14 days? Wonder how they came up with that number of days to stay inside?
There is no set amount of time to shelter after a nuclear strike. It all depends on the yield and nature of the blast and where one is in relation to the detonation.
In this scenario, Honolulu is the obvious target. In the Hawaiian Islands, the prevailing winds are trades from the northeast. This would carry fallout from a Honolulu blast to the southwest. So, someone living on the Big Island - depending in the precise winds at the time - would probably be a good shape, physically.
As far as how long is needed to shield oneself from fallout, there is what is known as the 7/10 rule - as radioactive material decays exponentially with time, so does the dose rate of radioactive material. For fallout from ground-bursts (defined as any blast in which the fireball touches the ground, even if the device itself was elevated at detonation) the dose rate from fallout will decrease roughly by a factor of 10 every 7 hours. Thus, 7 hours post-blast, the fallout is about 1/10th as strong as it was initially. After 49 hours, it is another 1/10th as strong still (or, 1% of the initial dose). And so on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hotzcatz
And what constitutes 'inside'? Wouldn't radiation go through window glass?
Prompt radiation, yes - that burst of radiation that instantaneously pulses out from a nuclear blast - that is not going to be stopped by a window. No worries, though, because if you're close enough to get killed by blast radiation, you weren't going to survive the physical blast wave and thermal radiation, anyway.
Fallout? Absolutely, a window will stop that. You'll need to stay indoors. Again, for how long is entirely dependent on the what/where/when.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SunAndRain808
This North Korea threat is just a bunch of garbage. Seriously.
This is fear-mongering to the max.
I highly doubt N. Korea will even fire an ICBM towards Hawaii or Alaska.
Kim Jong-In is not that stupid. He know that his "kingdom" will be in complete ashes if he dares to shoot any missile at the US.
Once again, just plain stupid fear-mongering.
While it is prudent to consider the possibilities, you are quite correct. Nuclear weapons serve as deterrents. They're a card that says IF YOU PLAY THIS CARD, YOU LOSE EVERYTHING, so they're only playable once your fate is sealed. Which is rather the whole point - North Korea is seeking its trump card.
Quote:
Originally Posted by terracore
It is generally considered that the A-bombs N. Korea has produces only half as much energy and radiation than what was dropped on Japan during WWII.
Not that it matters much, but this is not the case. Little Boy and Fat Man had yields of 15kt and 21kt, respectively. Estimates of the last North Korean test shot (last September) by various institutes and organizations varied from 18kt to 30kt. And the radiation produced is a direct result of the yield and how the device is used (air-burst or ground-burst, etc.).
Quote:
Originally Posted by whtviper1
If a nuclear strike happened- and you survived - 12 to 18 hours is all you need to emerge from your shelter. 14 days, no.
You people who think there is some set period time haven't the foggiest idea of how radioactive decay works or the myriad pertinent variables. Do you really think someone 15 miles downwind from a blast is going to have to hunker down as someone 100 miles upwind?
[quote=hotzcatz;48962137]Although if there's enough havoc that we're sheltering for two weeks, more than likely the internet is down as well.
Gee, ya think?
Again, however, this is an extremely unlikely eventuality.
"Well, considering we get the occasional tsunami, hurricane and earthquakes, it doesn't hurt to be prepared to take care of ourselves for a week or two if necessary."
This is some of the best advice I've read here. A big earthquake in California could disrupt our supply chain for longer than a big earthquake here would.
Natural disasters are rarely singular events. "Katrina" was a hurricane AND levy breaks/flooding (and to a controlled degree, civil unrest). Fukushima was earthquakes, tsunamis, AND radiation emergencies. Mt. Saint Helens was volcanic explosion, pyroclastic flows, clogged rivers, and ash fall.
Iselle was just a tiny blip on the natural disaster radar, and we had to help neighbors with food and water. These were people with only 1-2 days worth of "planning" which was essentially no planning at all, just "emptying the fridge" when it quit working when the power was out.
You people who think there is some set period time haven't the foggiest idea of how radioactive decay works or the myriad pertinent variables. Do you really think someone 15 miles downwind from a blast is going to have to hunker down as someone 100 miles upwind?
A hundred miles?? Ha ha ha ha ha - regardless, for a geography lesson, Oahu is about 40 miles long and 18 miles wide. Upwind???? Ha ha ha - on top of the luck without GPS technology, unless it's a bizarre Kona wind day which you can typically count on one hand per year, a strike on Honolulu by definition would quickly blow fallout to the ocean - and maybe 3,000 miles later hit Tahiti.
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