Nuclear apocalypse in real life.

[ModelV]

Hes starting to drift into insanity and not even reading my posts. Can we just say Ive won now and spare all of us the pain?

[phoenix777]

Actually I didn't get your latest post as I suffer from Lag .

 

Also Yes I can A. fly a plane, B. fix a plane, I grew up next to an international airport and went to aviation college where I learnt both.

Also pay attention to what I post not read the first line then jump to next paragraph as I didn't mention only distilling. I didn't say makeshift filter I said make HUGE difference.

 

I have access to DISUSED bunkers that are still government owned as I and other government employees carry out *checks*

I know of bunkers that only top brass know of, never mind access codes,

only surface bunkers are targets as deep bunkers would take too many strikes to penetrate,

surrounded has a expiration date,

 

small airfields aren't worth targeting when there is only light aircraft if any, there is plenty useful at a civilian airport not just communications, I have already mentioned some of the these points,

 

Raiding a building will not result in dead just because, it depends on the value of said building,

 

NOT ALL survival skills would be useful when what they WERE useful for no longer exists,

Always necessary to kill someone who wants to kill you = not dead, you cannot fully silence a weapon and directional sound will still attract people in an environment which is devoid of background sounds,

 

Also I am not insane - maybe you are, 1,2,3 I have learnt through training not reading a book or internet and information always changes and updates so your training must be out of date which pretty much voids all your arguments,

 

Also you have yet again not answered my question, are you avoiding it? Who are you and new question, what do you do?

 

Also because I can't be arsed in arguing with you over Radioiodines and Isotopes heres a simple link How To Remove Radioactive Iodine-131 From Drinking Water Edit:link address.

Edited December 10, 2011 by phoenix777

[minngarm]

Actually the skills to fly and repair aircraft in this country are quite common. Most tech schools teach both aviation and avionics (which I majored in.) And the instructors are also 9/10 licensed not only to fly but to instruct others on how to fly. Then there is the military as well which churns out pilots and grease monkeys by the thousands on a yearly basis.

 

I know in europe its not that common but here in the US, its one of the more common blue collar trades. Also in the small town I live in alone (about 15k ppl.) Theres a city airfield, a tech college airfield, and 3 personaly owned airfields, as well as a corporate airfield owned by habitat. Most small towns in the US support at least one or two small airfields, also every interstate by law is build to traffic aircraft in an emergency. And our interstates run all over bum f*** nowhere. As I said before, the knowledge, equipment, and space is there. Just few people care enough to go out and learn it, find it, use it, see it and all that.

 

And as for the Eggs, well thats the Mexicans, seriously, most of the produce sold in the US comes from out of country not local made.

Edited December 1, 2011 by minngarm

[ModelV]

Im right everyone else is wrong! I know everything!

 

Here is a thought if it was that easy to get rid of radioactive particles in water they would have done that in all these nuclear disaster zones. Simple logic. And whatever your going to make is going to be makeshift since you arent a factory. Whatever you make is going to be hand made.

 

And you think that they are just going to let you in such an event or even be able to get there in time? Naive. You cant have half Anarchy.

 

 

So your a pilot and techy and have access to brass level info and are stuck doing ground jobs and also are talking to me right now over these forums? Lets say you find a plane. Just how would that assist you? And how would you repair it? Lets go with hit by an EMP and thats the only aircraft in this small field. Im sure if your familiar enough with an aircraft youll know which systems are likely to get fried by that.

 

Raiding a building is Anarchic irrational activity. In the only situation youd find yourself in where that is necessary youd be screwed. Your chances of survival are very slim when every human you meet has a high chance of trying to kill you. The gun situation is the same. Traveling and exposing yourself to radiation is the last thing youd want to be doing. A real survivalist would know that its best to stay right where he is at until supplies run out to let the fallout fade and it doesnt help to add to the chaos.

 

 

What do you think is going to happen when one of those bombs drop a complete re-right of the laws of Physics? If its a skill that can help keep you alive its always going to be a skill to help keep you alive regardless of circumstances. A few exceptions but im referring to real survival skills not skills used in a civil environment.

 

 

No you cant fully silence a weapon but you can kill the directional sound so even if they heard it they dont know where it came from. Thats what silencers do if they didnt they wouldnt be used.

 

 

The only information that could possibly be dated was the bit about "nuke water" in that the only thing that could possibly change is them learning exactly whats going on with the water.Reading is an important skill. And besides books ARE a good way to learn as most of the time those people training you are reading from a book.

 

 

I dont even know who you are and I dont give a damn about your links all it shows is you dont actually know the information and you are the one copying it off of websites. Your ear covering "Im right your wrong blah blah blah im not listening" argument tactic doesnt work. I know what Im talking about and if you knew what you were talking about youd see that. You keep bashing me about using google to get all my information(which im not again I can can barely find anything using that thing.) and your the one posting all the links.

 

 

@Minngarm

Problem persists.

[phoenix777]

Everyone else isn't wrong! I don't know everything! but you are wrong and don't know everything

Hes starting to drift into insanity and not even reading my posts. Can we just say Ive won now, I know everything

I can make it look like people said stuff too...

 

 

Here is a thought if it was that easy to get rid of radioactive particles in water they would have done that in all these nuclear disaster zones.

It is easier to import bottled water

Simple logic. And whatever your going to make is going to be makeshift since you arent a factory. Whatever you make is going to be hand made.

Make shift = A temporary or expedient substitute for something else. adj. Suitable as a temporary or expedient substitute: used a rock as a makeshift hammer. To make is permanent, a factory is just a large workshop as anything which isn't production line is handmade, aircraft are part handmade, they are put together by hand.

 

And you think that they are just going to let you in such an event or even be able to get there in time? Naive. You cant have half Anarchy.

If there is time it is easy when most places are disused and even if they aren't, when you have access codes you can just unlock the door

 

 

So you're a pilot and techy and have access to brass level info and are stuck doing ground jobs and also are talking to me right now over these forums? Lets say you find a plane. Just how would that assist you? And how would you repair it? Lets go with hit by an EMP and thats the only aircraft in this small field. Im sure if your familiar enough with an aircraft youll know which systems are likely to get fried by that.

I'm not stuck doing ground jobs stupid. An electromagnetic pulse (sometimes abbreviated EMP) is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field. The resulting rapidly changing electric fields and magnetic fields may couple with electrical/electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges.

In military terminology, a nuclear bomb detonated hundreds of kilometers above the Earth's surface is known as a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) device. Effects of a HEMP device depend on a very large number of factors, including the altitude of the detonation, energy yield, gamma ray output, interactions with the Earth's magnetic field, and electromagnetic shielding of targets.

Several major factors control the effectiveness of a nuclear EMP weapon. These are;

The altitude of the weapon when detonated;

The yield and construction details of the weapon;

The distance from the weapon when detonated;

Geographical depth or intervening geographical features;

The local strength of the magnetic field of the Earth.

Beyond a certain altitude a nuclear weapon will not produce any EMP, as the gamma rays will have had sufficient distance to disperse. In deep space or on worlds with no magnetic field (the moon or Mars for example) there will be little or no EMP.

Nuclear EMP is actually an electromagnetic multi-pulse. The EMP is usually described in terms of 3 components. The E1 pulse is a very fast pulse that generates very high voltages. E1 is the component that destroys computers and communications equipment and is too fast for ordinary lightning protectors. The E2 component of the pulse is the easiest to protect against, and has similarities in strength and timing to the electrical pulses produced by lightning. The E3 pulse is very different from the E1 and E2 pulses from an EMP. The E3 component of the pulse is a very slow pulse, lasting tens to hundreds of seconds, that is caused by the nuclear detonation heaving the earth's magnetic field out of the way, followed by the restoration of the magnetic field to its natural place. The E3 component has similarities to a geomagnetic storm caused by a very severe solar flare.

It is important to note that nuclear EMP cannot be understood without an understanding of the differences between the E1 and E3 components of nuclear EMP. Many otherwise intelligent technologists have caused an enormous amount of confusion by making statements without any clear understanding of the vastly different components generated by nuclear EMP.

Many vehicles that one would expect to be disabled by an EMP due to their dependence on sensitive electronics might be shielded well enough to continue to operate. Automotive electronic ignition systems in general are much better shielded and protected against EMP than other electronics. (After all, the purpose of an electronic ignition is to make high-voltage sparks.) Circuits in the automobile outside of the electronic ignition are actually the most vulnerable. Actual tests on vehicles in simulators have been very inconsistent.

Tests done on 37 automobiles (that used electronic ignition systems) by the EMP Commission showed that all of the tested cars would still run after a simulated EMP, although most sustained some (mostly nuisance) electronic damage. Individuals associated with the EMP Commission have stated that their tests on vehicles were somewhat misleading since the EMP simulator pulses were started at low levels and repeated until the vehicle experienced some sort of electronic upset. After that point was reached, the vehicle was not tested at higher levels since the vehicles were borrowed, and the Commission was liable for any damage to the vehicles. So we don't know at what point the automobiles would have been permanently damaged.

 

Additional tests were done on 18 trucks, ranging from light pickup trucks to large diesel trucks. Results were generally similar to the tests on automobiles, although one pickup could not be re-started at all after the simulated EMP and had to be towed to a garage for repairs.

 

Only about one in every ten million civilian automobiles and light trucks in use today have been tested in an EMP simulator. That is a very tiny sample size. Many cars that would run after an actual EMP would probably have to be started in an unconventional manner (such as temporarily jumping wires under the hood) due to damage of control circuits.

 

Reports about the effects of the 1962 Starfish Prime test that have been declassified in recent years state that some of the automobiles in Hawaii had their old non-electronic ignition systems damaged by the EMP, Those reports, however, were based upon unconfirmed verbal reports made years after the incident. Most of the people whose cars were damaged by the Starfish Prime test probably never related their car ignition problems to the nuclear test. The damage to diesel generators in the 1962 Soviet nuclear EMP tests indicates that some of the electrical damage doesn't show up right away. Although many people would like to know exactly which vehicles would continue to function after an EMP, the number of variables are enormous, and include the orientation of the vehicle with respect to the detonation point at the particular time that the device is detonated.

 

Even for vehicles that are not disabled by an EMP attack, some very bizarre things might happen. I have had the experience myself of getting locked out of my vehicle at a mountaintop transmitter site by RF fields. In that case, RF electromagnetic energy from several nearby high-power transmitters caused the doors to lock while the keys were in the ignition and the engine was running. Of course, this occurred during one of the few times that I didn't have an extra set of keys with me. I have also heard of windshield wipers suddenly coming on in recent-model vehicles when driven near high-power radio transmitters.

 

In addition to the large-area (nearly continent-wide) effect of nuclear EMP attacks, there is an imminent threat from much smaller electromagnetic weapons that could do only localized damage. Many of these are relatively easy to construct and are very likely to be used in coming years in the U.S. by terrorists, as well as by ordinary vandals. An electromagnetic truck bomb in a small truck or van would not necessarily destroy the truck, which might be able to drive away, but could do millions of dollars in damage to the computer systems inside a building.

 

Electrical and communications lines carried on overhead poles would be most susceptible to EMP. Although fiber optic lines will not pick up EMP-induced currents, as the Soviet Union learned in 1962, underground telephone and electrical lines would not be completely immune.

 

A big problem would be the electronic communications systems. EMP will cover the wide geographic region within line of sight to the nuclear weapon. It has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures and thus to the very fabric of society, as well as to the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power.

 

The common element that can produce such an impact from EMP is primarily electronics, so pervasive in all aspects of our society and military, coupled through critical infrastructures. Our vulnerability is increasing daily as our use of and dependence on electronics continues to grow. The impact of EMP is asymmetric in relation to potential protagonists who are not as dependent on modern electronics.

 

Even if power grid transformers survive an EMP attack, the power grid is extremely vulnerable to EMP and other attacks because of control and monitoring devices called SCADAs, which would be easily knocked out even with a relatively small weapon.

 

The EMP Commission's testing of automobiles was only done up to a level of 50,000 volts per meter, and in most cases, the EMP levels were not even taken up nearly that high. The EMP Commission did not take the level up to see at what level the automobiles would fail to run. From everything that is published in open (non-classified) English-language scientific papers, 50,000 volts per meter is about the maximum electric field strength that can be produced by first and second generation nuclear weapons of any size

That said, there are some methods which will help to protect circuits from EMP and give you an edge if you must operate ham radios or the like when a nuclear attack occurs. Design considerations include the use of tree formation circuits (rather than standard loop formations); the use of induction shielding around components; the use of self-contained battery packs; the use of loop antennas; and (with solid-state components) the use of Zener diodes. These design elements can eliminate the chance an EMP surge from power lines or long antennas damaging your equipment. Another useful strategy is to use grounding wires for each separate instrument which is coupled into a system so that EMP has more paths to take in grounding itself.

Some electrical equipment is innately EMP-resistant. This includes large electric motors, vacuum tube equipment, electrical generators, transformers, relays, and the like. These might even survive a massive surge of EMP and would likely to survive if a few of the above precautions were taking in their design and deployment.

One "survival system" for such sensitive equipment is the Faraday box.

 

A Faraday box is simply a metal box designed to divert and soak up the EMP. If the object placed in the box is insulated from the inside surface of the box, it will not be effected by the EMP traveling around the outside metal surface of the box. The Faraday box is simple and cheap and often provides more protection to electrical components than "hardening" through circuit designs

Which can't be (or haven't been) adequately tested.

 

Many containers are suitable for make-shift Faraday boxes: cake boxes, ammunition containers, metal filing cabinets, etc., etc., can all be used. Despite what you may have read or heard, these boxes do NOT have to be airtight due to the long wave length of EMP; boxes can be made of wire screen or other porous metal.

 

The only two requirements for protection with a Faraday box are: (1) the equipment inside the box does NOT touch the metal container (plastic, wadded paper, or cardboard can all be used to insulate it from the metal) and (2) the metal shield is continuous without any gaps between pieces or extra-large holes in it.

 

Grounding a Faraday box is NOT necessary and in some cases actually may be less than ideal. While EMP and lightning aren't the "same animal", a good example of how lack of grounding is a plus can be seen with some types of lightning strikes. Take, for example, a lightning strike on a flying airplane. The strike doesn't fry the plane's occupants because the metal shell of the plane is a Faraday box of sorts. Even though the plane, high over the earth, isn't grounded it will sustain little damage.

 

In this case, much the same is true of small Faraday cages and EMP. Consequently, storage of equipment in Faraday boxes on wooden shelves or the like does NOT require that everything be grounded. (One note: theoretically non-grounded boxes might hold a slight charge of electricity; take some time and care before handling ungrounded boxes following a nuclear attack.)

 

The thickness of the metal shield around the Faraday box isn't of much concern, either. This makes it possible to build protection "on the cheap" by simply using the cardboard packing box that equipment comes in along with aluminum foil. Just wrap the box with the aluminum foil (other metal foil or metal screen will also work); tape the foil in place and you're done. Provided It is kept dry, the cardboard will insulate the gear inside it from the foil; placing the foil-wrapped box inside a larger cardboard box is also wise to be sure the foil isn't accidentally ripped anywhere. The result is an "instant" Faraday box with your equipment safely stored inside, ready for use following a nuclear war.

 

Copper or aluminum foil can help you insulate a whole room from EMP as well. Just paper the wall, ceiling and floor with metal foil. Ideally the floor is then covered with a false floor of wood or with heavy carpeting to insulate everything and everyone inside from the shield (and EMP). The only catch to this is that care must be taken NOT to allow electrical wiring connections to pierce the foil shield (i.e., no AC powered equipment or radio antennas can come into the room from outside). Care must also be taken that the door is covered with foil AND electrically connected to the shield with a wire and screws or some similar set up.

Another "myth" that seems to have grown up with information on EMP is that nearly all cars and trucks would be "knocked out" by EMP. This seems logical, but is one of those cases where "real world" experiments contradict theoretical answers and I'm afraid this is the case with cars and EMP. According to sources working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, cars have proven to be resistant to EMP in actual tests using nuclear weapons as well as during more recent tests (with newer cars) with the US Military's EMP simulators.

 

One reason for the ability of a car to resist EMP lies in the fact that its metal body is "insulated" by its rubber tires from the ground. This creates a Faraday cage of sorts. (Drawing on the analogy of EMP being similar to lightning, it is interesting to note that cases of lightning striking and damaging cars is almost non-existent; this apparently carries over to EMP effects on vehicles as well.)

 

Although Faraday boxes are generally made so that what is inside doesn't touch the box's outer metal shield (and this is especially important for the do-it-yourself since it is easy to inadvertently ground the Faraday box--say by putting the box on metal shelving sitting on a concrete floor), in the case of the car the "grounded" wiring is grounded only to the battery. In practice, the entire system is not grounded in the traditional electrical wiring sense of actually making contact to the earth at some point in its circuitry. Rather the car is sitting on insulators made of rubber.

 

It is important to note that cars are NOT 100 percent EMP proof. Some cars will most certainly be effected, especially those with fiberglass bodies or located near large stretches of metal. (I suspect, too, that recent cars with a high percentage of IC circuitry might also be more susceptible to EMP effects.)

 

The bottom line is that all vehicles probably won't be knocked out by EMP. But the prudent survivalist should make a few contingency plans "just in case" his car (and other electrical equipment) does not survive the effects of EMP. Discovering that you have one of the few cars knocked out would not be a good way to start the onset of terrorist attack or nuclear war.

 

Most susceptible to EMP damage would be cars with a lot of IC circuits or other "computers" to control essential changes in the engine. The very prudent may wish to buy spare electronic ignition parts and keep them a car truck (perhaps inside a Faraday box). But it seems probable that many vehicles WILL be working following the start of a nuclear war even if no precautions have been taken with them.

So to answer your question, small prop aircraft would suffer little damage from an EMP as they have very little electronics which are mostly for navigation at any rate, the main components consist of pedals, cables and a piston engine which its electronics is high voltage generating spark plugs. So to round that up - most forms of piston engine transport would be only mildly affected if at all.

 

Raiding a building is Anarchic irrational activity. In the only situation youd find yourself in where that is necessary youd be screwed. Your chances of survival are very slim when every human you meet has a high chance of trying to kill you. The gun situation is the same. Traveling and exposing yourself to radiation is the last thing youd want to be doing. A real survivalist would know that its best to stay right where he is at until supplies run out to let the fallout fade and it doesnt help to add to the chaos.

YOU said raid, not me. Using a building is not anarchic or irrational, using a cave when there is a suitable building is and anyway;

Definition of ANARCHIC

 

1

a : of, relating to, or advocating anarchy

b : likely to bring about anarchy <anarchic violence>

2

: lacking order, regularity, or definiteness <anarchic art forms>

 

Definition of ANARCHY

 

1

a : absence of government

b : a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority

c : a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government

2

a : absence or denial of any authority or established order

b : absence of order : disorder

 

 

What do you think is going to happen when one of those bombs drop a complete re-right of the laws of Physics? If its a skill that can help keep you alive its always going to be a skill to help keep you alive regardless of circumstances. A few exceptions but im referring to real survival skills not skills used in a civil environment.

So you think polar skills will work in a desert environment = dumb. Skills depend on climate, types of climate = polar, tundra, northern coniferous forest, decious forest, temperate grasslands, mediterranean regions, tropical forests, Savannah, and desert are the basic types, using skills for one region in another = DEAD in most cases. So you think all these areas would still exist? If just one doesn't then every skill for that area is obsolete.

 

 

No you cant fully silence a weapon but you can kill the directional sound so even if they heard it they don't know where it came from. Thats what silencers do if they didnt they wouldnt be used.

Would still attract people to the area your in. They are called mufflers for a reason

 

 

The only information that could possibly be dated was the bit about "nuke water" in that the only thing that could possibly change is them learning exactly whats going on with the water.Reading is an important skill. And besides books ARE a good way to learn as most of the time those people training you are reading from a book.

You won't learn everything from a book, you learn by doing. books are a good starting point but after that you need to do.

 

 

I dont even know who you are and I dont give a damn about your links all it shows is you dont actually know the information and you are the one copying it off of websites. Your ear covering "Im right your wrong blah blah blah im not listening" argument tactic doesnt work. I know what Im talking about and if you knew what you were talking about youd see that. You keep bashing me about using google to get all my information(which im not again I can can barely find anything using that thing.) and your the one posting all the links.

My links are reference to show you your wrong. I can't prove or give reference to what is in my head, anyone would have to refer to an external source which you haven't done. The internet is the quickest way to reference material when your already on the internet. Your ear covering "I'm right your wrong blah blah blah I'm not listening" argument tactic doesn't work. I know what I'm talking about and if you knew what you were talking about you would see that.

You must live in a non-European country or you would know of the 1000's of disused airfields from WWII which have just been converted or just left to nature, a lot of which are in mountainous areas and would be easy to convert to a useable site.

Also what are you? 14? Because you really do act the part, also your grammar is atrocious which hints at a poor level of education. Also it takes me a long time to reply as I type everything not just copy and paste which is the other reason for not seeing you had replied already as the page hadn't updated because I was still typing a reply. BTW google is easy to use, maybe you lack the intelligence to use it because your so used to txt speak and only capable of using your thumb. You haven't even stated your career yet you spew out information as if your an expert in nuclear medicine and physics. As I've already said I'm an Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineer serving in the British army.

I don't even check these forums that often which is why I have posted very little in all the time I've been here, you have created an argument to which I will reply.

 

 

@Minngarm

Your Problem persists.

Edited December 10, 2011 by phoenix777

[phoenix777]

I would die because I live about a half an hour from Philadelphia and about 20 minutes from Fort Dix so...

 

You and everyone else thats posted on here save marharth and myself.

 

Survive in a bunker: not DEAD

 

Use nearby non radiated building: not DEAD

 

Craft a working water purifier: not DEAD

 

Think its not necessary to kill people: DEAD

 

Think its necessary to kill people: not DEAD

 

My other assorted imaginary ideas about nuclear attack: DEAD

 

Knowledge of survival skills, nuclear strategy, preparedness and FACT: not DEAD

Edited December 2, 2011 by phoenix777

[phoenix777]

Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes. This radioactive dust, consisting of material either directly vaporized by a nuclear blast or charged by exposure, is a highly dangerous kind of radioactive contamination. It can lead to the contamination of aquifers and devastate the effected ecosystem years after the initial exposure.

 

Types

 

There are many types of fallout, ranging from the global type to the more area-restricted types of fallout.

 

Worldwide

After an air burst, fission products, un-fissioned nuclear material, and weapon residues vaporized by the heat of the fireball condense into a fine suspension of small particles 10 nm to 20 µm in diameter. These particles may be quickly drawn up into the stratosphere, particularly if the explosive yield exceeds 10 kt.

 

 

Atmospheric nuclear weapon tests almost doubled the concentration of radioactive 14C in the Northern Hemisphere, before levels slowly declined following the Partial Test Ban Treaty.

Initially little was known about the dispersion of nuclear fallout on a global scale. The AEC assumed that fallout would be dispersed evenly across the globe by atmospheric winds and gradually settle to the Earth's surface after weeks, months, and even years as worldwide fallout. Nuclear products that were deposited in the Northern Hemisphere are becoming "far more dangerous than they had originally been estimated."

The radio-biological hazard of worldwide fallout is essentially a long-term one because of the potential accumulation of long-lived radioisotopes (such as strontium-90 and caesium-137) in the body as a result of ingestion of foods containing the radioactive materials. This hazard is less pertinent than local fallout, which is of much greater immediate operational concern.

 

Local

In a land or water surface burst, heat vaporizes large amounts of earth or water, which is drawn up into the radioactive cloud. This material becomes radioactive when it condenses with fission products and other radio contaminants that have become neutron-activated. Most of the isotopes in the table below mostly decay into the isotopes that many people are more familiar with. Some radiation would taint large amounts of land and drinking water causing formal mutations throughout animal and human life.

 

A surface burst generates large amounts of particulate matter, composed of particles from less than 100 nm to several millimetres in diameter—in addition to very fine particles that contribute to worldwide fallout. The larger particles spill out of the stem and cascade down the outside of the fireball in a downdraft even as the cloud rises, so fallout begins to arrive near ground zero within an hour. More than half the total bomb debris lands on the ground within about 24 hours as local fallout. Chemical properties of the elements in the fallout control the rate at which they are deposited on the ground. Less volatile elements deposit first.

Severe local fallout contamination can extend far beyond the blast and thermal effects, particularly in the case of high yield surface detonations. The ground track of fallout from an explosion depends on the weather situation from the time of detonation onwards. In stronger winds, fallout travels faster but takes the same time to descend, so although it covers a larger path, it is more spread out or diluted. So the width of the fallout pattern for any given dose rate is reduced where the downwind distance is increased by higher winds. The total amount of activity deposited up to any given time is the same irrespective of the wind pattern, so overall casualty figures from fallout are generally independent of winds. But thunderstorms can bring down activity as rain more rapidly than dry fallout, particularly if the mushroom cloud is low enough to be below ("washout"), or mixed with ("rainout"), the thunderstorm.

Whenever individuals remain in a radiological contaminated area, such contamination leads to an immediate external radiation exposure as well as a possible later internal hazard from inhalation and ingestion of radio contaminants, such as the rather short-lived iodine-131, which is accumulated in the thyroid.

 

 

Factors affecting fallout

 

Location

 

There are two main considerations for the location of an explosion: height and surface composition. A nuclear weapon detonated in the air, called an air burst, produces less fallout than a comparable explosion near the ground.

In case of water surface bursts, the particles tend to be rather lighter and smaller, producing less local fallout but extending over a greater area. The particles contain mostly sea salts with some water; these can have a cloud seeding effect causing local rainout and areas of high local fallout. Fallout from a seawater burst is difficult to remove once it has soaked into porous surfaces because the fission products are present as metallic ions that chemically bond to many surfaces. Water and detergent washing effectively removes less than 50% of this chemically bonded activity from concrete or steel. Complete decontamination requires aggressive treatment like sandblasting, or acidic treatment. After the Crossroads underwater test, it was found that wet fallout must be immediately removed from ships by continuous water wash down (such as from the fire sprinkler system on the decks).

Parts of the sea bottom may become fallout. After the Castle Bravo test, white dust – contaminated calcium oxide particles originating from pulverized and calcined corals – fell for several hours, causing beta burns and radiation exposition to the inhabitants of the nearby atolls and the crew of the Daigo Fukuryū Maru fishing boat. The scientists called the fallout Bikini snow.

For subsurface bursts, there is an additional phenomenon present called "base surge". The base surge is a cloud that rolls outward from the bottom of the subsiding column, which is caused by an excessive density of dust or water droplets in the air. For underwater bursts, the visible surge is, in effect, a cloud of liquid (usually water) droplets with the property of flowing almost as if it were a homogeneous fluid. After the water evaporates, an invisible base surge of small radioactive particles may persist.

For subsurface land bursts, the surge is made up of small solid particles, but it still behaves like a fluid. A soil earth medium favours base surge formation in an underground burst. Although the base surge typically contains only about 10% of the total bomb debris in a subsurface burst, it can create larger radiation doses than fallout near the detonation, because it arrives sooner than fallout, before much radioactive decay has occurred.

 

 

Meteorological

 

Comparison of fallout gamma dose and dose rate contours for a 1 Mt fission land surface burst, based on DELFIC calculations. Because of radioactive decay, the dose rate contours contract after fallout has arrived, but dose contours continue to grow

Meteorological conditions greatly influence fallout, particularly local fallout. Atmospheric winds are able to bring fallout over large areas. For example, as a result of a Castle Bravo surface burst of a 15 Mt thermonuclear device at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954, a roughly cigar-shaped area of the Pacific extending over 500 km downwind and varying in width to a maximum of 100 km was severely contaminated. There are three very different versions of the fallout pattern from this test, because the fallout was only measured on a small number of widely spaced Pacific Atolls. The two alternative versions both ascribe the high radiation levels at north Rongelap to a downwind hotspot caused by the large amount of radioactivity carried on fallout particles of about 50-100 micrometers size.

After Bravo, it was discovered that fallout landing on the ocean disperses in the top water layer (above the thermocline at 100 m depth), and the land equivalent dose rate can be calculated by multiplying the ocean dose rate at two days after burst by a factor of about 530. In other 1954 tests, including Yankee and Nectar, hotspots were mapped out by ships with submersible probes, and similar hotspots occurred in 1956 tests such as Zuni and Tewa.

However, the major U.S. 'DELFIC' (Defence Land Fallout Interpretive Code) computer calculations use the natural size distributions of particles in soil instead of the afterwind sweep-up spectrum, and this results in more straightforward fallout patterns lacking the downwind hotspot.

Snow and rain, especially if they come from considerable heights, accelerate local fallout. Under special meteorological conditions, such as a local rain shower that originates above the radioactive cloud, limited areas of heavy contamination just downwind of a nuclear blast may be formed.

 

 

Effects

 

A wide range of biological changes may follow the irradiation of animals. These vary from rapid death following high doses of penetrating whole-body radiation, to essentially normal lives for a variable period of time until the development of delayed radiation effects, in a portion of the exposed population, following low dose exposures.

The unit of actual exposure is the röntgen, defined in ionisations per unit volume of air. All ionisation based instruments (including Geiger counters and ionisation chambers) measure exposure. However, effects depend on the energy per unit mass, not the exposure measured in air. A deposit of 1 joule per kilogram has the unit of 1 gray (Gy). For 1 MeV energy gamma rays, an exposure of 1 röntgen in air produces a dose of about 0.01 gray (1 centigray, cGy) in water or surface tissue. Because of shielding by the tissue surrounding the bones, the bone marrow only receives about 0.67 cGy when the air exposure is 1 röntgen and the surface skin dose is 1 cGy. Some lower values reported for the amount of radiation that would kill 50% of personnel (the LD50) refer to bone marrow dose, which is only 67% of the air dose.

 

 

Short term

 

The dose that would be lethal to 50% of a population is a common parameter used to compare the effects of various fallout types or circumstances. Usually, the term is defined for a specific time, and limited to studies of acute lethality. The common time periods used are 30 days or less for most small laboratory animals and to 60 days for large animals and humans. The LD50 figure assumes that the individuals did not receive other injuries or medical treatment.

In the 1950s, the LD50 for gamma rays was set at 3.5 Gy, while under more dire conditions of war (a bad diet, little medical care, poor nursing) the LD50 was 2.5 Gy (250 rad). There have been few documented cases of survival beyond 6 Gy. One person at Chernobyl survived a dose of more than 10 Gy, but many of the persons exposed there were not uniformly exposed over their entire body. If a person is exposed in a non-homogeneous manner than a given dose (averaged over the entire body) is less likely to be lethal. For instance, if a person gets a hand/low arm dose of 100 Gy, which gives them an overall dose of 4 Gy, they are more likely to survive than a person who gets a 4 Gy dose over their entire body. A hand dose of 10 Gy or more would likely result in loss of the hand. A British industrial radiographer who got a lifetime hand dose of 100 Gy lost his hand because of radiation dermatitis. Most people become ill after an exposure to 1 Gy or more. The foetuses of pregnant women are often more vulnerable to radiation and may miscarry, especially in the first trimester.

One hour after a surface burst, the radiation from fallout in the crater region is 30 grays per hour (Gy/h). Civilian dose rates in peacetime range from 30 to 100 µGy per year.

Fallout radiation decays exponentially relatively quickly with time. Most areas become fairly safe for travel and decontamination after three to five weeks.

For yields of up to 10 kt, prompt radiation is the dominant producer of casualties on the battlefield. Humans receiving an acute incapacitating dose (30 Gy) have their performance degraded almost immediately and become ineffective within several hours. However, they do not die until five to six days after exposure, assuming they do not receive any other injuries. Individuals receiving less than a total of 1.5 Gy are not incapacitated. People receiving doses greater than 1.5 Gy become disabled, and some eventually die.

A dose of 5.3 Gy to 8.3 Gy is considered lethal but not immediately incapacitating. Personnel exposed to this amount of radiation have their performance degraded in two to three hours, depending on how physically demanding the tasks they must perform are, and remain in this disabled state at least two days. However, at that point they experience a recovery period and can perform non-demanding tasks for about six days, after which they relapse for about four weeks. At this time they begin exhibiting symptoms of radiation poisoning of sufficient severity to render them totally ineffective. Death follows at approximately six weeks after exposure, although outcomes may vary.

 

Long term

 

Late or delayed effects of radiation occur following a wide range of doses and dose rates. Delayed effects may appear months to years after irradiation and include a wide variety of effects involving almost all tissues or organs. Some of the possible delayed consequences of radiation injury are life shortening, carcinogens, cataract formation, chronic radio dermatitis, decreased fertility, and genetic mutations.

 

 

Isotopes of caesium

 

Caesium (Cs) has 40 known isotopes. The atomic masses of these isotopes range from 112 to 151. Only one isotope, 133Cs, is stable. The longest-lived radioisotopes are 135Cs with a half-life of 2.3 million years, 137Cs with a half-life of 30.1671 years and 134Cs with a half-life of 2.0652 years. All other isotopes have half-lives less than 2 weeks, most under an hour.

 

Beginning in 1945 with the commencement of nuclear testing, caesium isotopes were released into the atmosphere where it is absorbed readily into solution and is returned to the surface of the earth as a component of radioactive fallout. Once caesium enters the ground water, it is deposited on soil surfaces and removed from the landscape primarily by particle transport. As a result, the input function of these isotopes can be estimated as a function of time.

Standard atomic mass: 132.9054519(2) u

 

Caesium-133

 

Caesium-133 is the only naturally occurring and only stable isotope of caesium. It is also produced by nuclear fission in nuclear reactors. One specific quantum transition in the Caesium-133 atom is used to define the second, a unit of time.

 

Caesium-134

 

Caesium-134 has a half-life of 2.0652 years.

It is not produced by nuclear weapons because 133Cs is created by beta decay of original fission products only long after the nuclear explosion is over.

 

Caesium-135

 

Caesium-135 is a mildly radioactive isotope of caesium, undergoing low-energy beta decay to barium-135 with a half-life of 2.3 million years. It is one of the 7 long-lived fission products and the only alkaline one.

 

Caesium-137

 

137Cs with a half-life of 30.17 years is one of the two principal medium-lived fission products, along with 90Sr, which are responsible for most of the radioactivity of spent nuclear fuel after several years of cooling, up to several hundred years after use. It constitutes most of the radioactivity still left from the Chernobyl accident. 137Cs beta decays to barium-137m (a short-lived nuclear isomer) then to non-radioactive barium-137, and is also a strong emitter of gamma radiation. 137Cs has a very low rate of neutron capture and cannot be feasibly disposed of in this way, but must be allowed to decay. 137Cs has been used as a tracer in hydrologic studies, analogous to the use of 3H.

 

Other isotopes of caesium

 

The other isotopes have half-lives from a few days to fractions of a second. Almost all caesium produced from nuclear fission comes from beta decay of originally more neutron-rich fission products, passing through isotopes of iodine then isotopes of xenon. Because these elements are volatile and can diffuse through nuclear fuel or air, caesium is often created far from the original site of fission.

 

 

Iodine-131

 

131I decays with a half-life of 8.02 days with beta and gamma emissions. This nuclide of iodine atom has 78 neutrons in the nucleus, the stable nuclide 127I has 74 neutrons. On decaying, 131I most often (89% of the time) expends its 971 keV of decay energy by transforming into the stable 131Xe (Xenon) in two steps, with gamma decay following rapidly after beta decay:

+ 606 keV

+ 364 keV

The primary emissions of 131I decay are thus beta particles with a maximal energy of 606 keV (89% abundance, others 248 – 807 keV) and 364 keV gamma rays (81% abundance, others 723 keV). Beta decay, as always in this process, also produces an antineutrino, which carries off variable amounts of the beta decay energy.

The beta particles, due to their high mean energy (190 keV, with typical beta-decay spectra present) have a tissue penetration of 0.6 to 2 mm.

131I is a fission product with a yield of 2.878% from uranium-235, and can be released in nuclear weapons tests and nuclear accidents. However, the short half-life means it is not present in significant quantities in cooled spent nuclear fuel, unlike iodine-129 whose half-life is nearly a billion times that of I-131.

 

 

Effects of exposure

 

Per capita thyroid doses in the continental United States resulting from all exposure routes from all atmospheric nuclear tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site from 1951-1962.

Iodine in food is absorbed by the body and preferentially concentrated in the thyroid where it is needed for the functioning of that gland. When 131I is present in high levels in the environment from radioactive fallout, it can be absorbed through contaminated food, and will also accumulate in the thyroid. As it decays, it may cause damage to the thyroid. The primary risk from exposure to high levels of 131I is the chance occurrence of radiogenic thyroid cancer in later life. Other risks include the possibility of non-cancerous growths and thyroiditis.

The risk of thyroid cancer in later life appears to diminish with increasing age at time of exposure. Most risk estimates are based on studies in which radiation exposures occurred in children or teenagers. When adults are exposed, it has been difficult for epidemiologists to detect a statistically significant difference in the rates of thyroid disease above that of a similar but otherwise-unexposed group.

The risk can be mitigated by taking iodine supplements, raising the total amount of iodine in the body and, therefore, reducing uptake and retention in tissues and lowering the relative proportion of radioactive iodine. However, such supplements were not distributed to the population living nearest to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the disaster, though they were widely distributed to children in Poland.

Within the USA, the highest 131I fallout doses occurred during the 1950s and early 1960s to children having consumed fresh sources of milk contaminated as the result of above-ground testing of nuclear weapons. The National Cancer Institute provides additional information on the health effects from exposure to 131I in fallout, as well as individualized estimates, for those born before 1971, for each of the 3070 counties in the USA. The calculations are taken from data collected regarding fallout from the nuclear weapons tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site.

On 27 March 2011, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported that 131I was detected in very low concentrations in rainwater from samples collected in Massachusetts, USA, and that this likely originated from the Fukushima power plant. Farmers near the plant dumped raw milk, while testing in the United States found 0.8 Pico-curies per litre of iodine-131 in a milk sample, but the radiation levels were 5,000 times lower than the FDA's "defined intervention level." The levels were expected to drop relatively quickly

 

Treatment and prevention

 

A common treatment method for preventing iodine-131 exposure is by saturating the thyroid with regular, non-radioactive iodine-127, as an iodide salt. Free elemental iodine should not be used for saturating the thyroid because it is a corrosive oxidant and therefore is toxic to ingest in the necessary quantities. The thyroid will absorb very little of the radioactive iodine-131 after it is saturated with non-radioactive iodide, thereby avoiding the damage caused by radiation from radioiodine. The most common method of treatment is to give potassium iodide to those at risk. The dosage for adults is 130 mg potassium iodide per day, given in one dose, or divided into portions of 65 mg twice a day. This is equivalent to 100 mg of iodide, and is about 700 times bigger than the nutritional dose of iodide, which is 0.15 mg per day (150 micrograms per day).

The ingestion of prophylaxis iodide & iodate, is not without its dangers, There is reason for caution ,bout taking potassium iodide or iodine supplements, as their unnecessary use can cause conditions such as the Jod-Basedow phenomena, and the Wolff-Chaikoff effect, trigger and/or worsen hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism, and ultimately cause temporary or even permanent thyroid conditions. It can also cause sialadenitis (an inflammation of the salivary gland), gastrointestinal disturbances, allergic reactions and rashes. Potassium iodide is also not recommended for those who have had an allergic reaction to iodine, and people with dermatitis herpetiformis and hypocomplementemic vasculitis, conditions that are linked to a risk of iodine sensitivity.

The administration of known goitrogen substances can also be used as a prophylaxis in reducing the bio-uptake of iodine (whether it is non-radioactive iodine-127 or radioactive iodine-131, as the body cannot discern between the different iodine isotopes). Perchlorate ions, a common water contaminant in the USA due to the aerospace industry, have been shown to reduce iodide uptake. Perchlorate is a competitive inhibitor of the process by which iodide, is actively deposited into thyroid follicular cells. A study involving healthy adult volunteers determined that at levels above 0.007 milligrams per kilogram per day (mg/(kg•d)), perchlorate begins to temporarily inhibit the thyroid gland’s ability to absorb iodine from the bloodstream ("iodide uptake inhibition", thus perchlorate is a known goitrogen). The purposeful addition of ~ 250 ppb of perchlorate ions to a regions water supply, for approximately three months, immediately after a radio iodine release, could thus be beneficial to the population in preventing radio iodine bioaccumulation, independent of the availability of Iodate or Iodide drugs. In the event of radio iodine release the ingestion of potassium iodide or iodate, if available, would rightly take precedence and would be the first line of defence in protecting the population from a radio iodine release. However in the event of a radio iodine release too massive and widespread to be mediation by the limited stock of iodide & iodate prophylaxis drugs, then the addition of perchlorate ions to the water supply would serve as a cheap, efficacious, second line of defence against radio iodine bioaccumulation.

The ingestion of goitrogen drugs is also not without its dangers, such as hypothyroidism. In all these cases however, despite the risks, the prophylaxis benefits of intervention with iodide, iodate and perchlorate outweigh the serious cancer risk from radio iodine bioaccumulation in conditions of radio iodine contamination of the environment.

 

 

Strontium-90

 

90Sr finds extensive use in medicine and industry, as a radioactive source for thickness gauges and for superficial radiotherapy of some cancers. Controlled amounts of 90Sr and 89Sr can be used in treatment of bone cancer. As the radioactive decay of strontium-90 generates a significant amount of heat, and is cheaper than the alternative 238Pu, it is used as a heat source in many Russian/Soviet radioisotope thermoelectric generators, usually in the form of strontium fluoride. It is also used as a radioactive tracer in medicine and agriculture.

A study of hundreds of thousands of deciduous teeth, collected by Dr. Louise Reiss and her colleagues as part of the Baby Tooth Survey, found a large increase in 90Sr levels through the 1950s and early 1960s. The study's final results showed that children born in 1963 had levels of 90Sr in their deciduous teeth that was 50 times higher than that found in children born in 1950, before the advent of large-scale atomic testing. An article with the study's initial findings was circulated to U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961, and helped convince him to sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the United Kingdom and Soviet Union, ending the above-ground nuclear weapons testing that placed the greatest amounts of nuclear fallout into the atmosphere.

 

Fission product

 

90Sr is a product of nuclear fission. It is present in a significant amount in spent nuclear fuel and in radioactive waste from nuclear reactors and in nuclear fallout from nuclear tests. For thermal neutron fission as in today's nuclear power plants, the fission product yield from U-235 is 5.8%, from U-233 6.8%, but from Pu-239 only 2.1%.

 

Biochemistry

 

Together with caesium isotopes 134Cs, 137Cs, and iodine isotope 131I it was among the most important isotopes regarding health impacts after the Chernobyl disaster.

Strontium-90 is a "bone seeker" that exhibits biochemical behaviour similar to calcium, the next lighter Group 2 element. After entering the organism, most often by ingestion with contaminated food or water, about 70–80% of the dose gets excreted. Virtually all remaining strontium-90 is deposited in bones and bone marrow, with the remaining 1% remaining in blood and soft tissues. Its presence in bones can cause bone cancer, cancer of nearby tissues, and leukaemia. Exposure to 90Sr can be tested by a bioassay, most commonly by urinalysis.

 

Dispersal hazards

 

Accidental mixing of radioactive sources containing strontium with metal scrap can result in production of radioactive steel. Discarded radioisotope thermoelectric generators are a major source of 90Sr contamination in the area of the former Soviet Union.

 

 

Historically, after the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during 1945, many survivors of the blast died of exposure to radioactive fallout. But the vast majority of Dr. Tatsuichiro Akizuki, the Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at St. Francis's Hospital in Nagasaki, survived. Despite being less than a mile from the epicentre of the atomic explosion, the doctor, his staff and his patients avoided radiation sickness by consuming a simple diet of natural brown rice, miso soup, sea vegetables and salt. Akizuki strictly prohibited the consumption of any sugar-based foods and candy.

 

 

Whole grains fight radiation poisoning

 

Because natural whole grains are simple foods they don't have concentrated contaminants often present in meat and fleshy fish. They're less likely to contain radioactive contamination too.

 

High fibre and phosphorous contents in grain help protect against radiation poisoning. The substances bind with toxins—including radioactive ones—and help eliminate them from the body. Plus the "bulking factor" of grains reduces the time that the toxins stay in the gut and eliminate the poison faster.

 

Studies have shown that middle-range pH increases resistance to radiation poisoning. Grains are naturally not too acid or alkaline.

 

More reasons that grains can help you avoid radiation poisoning: their calcium content diminishes absorption of radioactive strontium; contain significant vitamin B6, critical for the thymus; and provide vitamin E and selenium that helps prevent cellular damage caused by the free radicals created by exposure to radiation.

 

 

Foods to avoid

 

If you're in the footprint of a radiation cloud, by all means avoid these foods, they can increase any damage done to your body by exposure,

 

Steer away from all refined and processed foods. Stay clear of any fatty foods such as dairy and meet products and by-products.

 

Do not eat or drink anything with sugar in it. The reason why you must avoid sugar is it robs your body of calcium and the body will replace it with radioactive strontium that has a similar atomic structure to calcium. If that happens it's only a matter of time before you develop bone marrow cancer.

 

 

Radioactive fallout

 

The fallout from a nuclear reactor accident is not the same as that generated by a thermonuclear blast.

 

Nuclear reactors will contaminate the atmosphere with highly radioactive dust-like particles. That deadly debris will be carried on the prevailing winds for hundreds or thousands of miles. When it falls it often combines with water vapour and contaminates rain. Dust can also fall on the ground, cars, roofs of building—and people.

 

The radiation is odourless and invisible. The dust however, can sometimes be detected as a fine grit.

 

Irradiated rainfalls can be more intensely radioactive in some areas than others. Those are called "hot-spots." Unfortunately, there is no known way to determine where hot-spots will occur in advance.

 

If a radioactive plume has been reported arriving in your area, stay indoors—especially if it's raining. If you're caught outdoors take a long, soapy shower as soon as possible and discard your clothing in tightly sealed plastic bags.

 

Experts agree that the greatest health concern after the release of nuclear contaminants from a nuclear power plant will be exposure to radio iodine carried downwind for hundreds, even thousands of miles. Inhaling radio iodine or eating food contaminated with it can poison and eventually lead to cancer and death.

 

To protect your thyroid from radioactive contamination use Potassium Iodide (KI) for protection. Kits are available for sale. You can find the nearest distributor on the Internet or even purchase it over the Internet.

 

Fallout threat

 

Four basic factors affect the threat level of a fallout event: the quantity and type of nuclear isotopes released into the atmosphere; the size, concentration, altitude and speed of the plume; the time and distance until it arrives; and finally, the likelihood of fallout in your specific area.

 

Edit: How dangerous can it be?

 

The Russian Chernobyl disaster affected much of northern and eastern Europe. Children were especially at risk. Many people exposed to the plume even those thousands of miles away died of cancer-related diseases induced by radiation exposure and contamination of the air, water or food.

Edited December 10, 2011 by phoenix777

[marharth]

Copy pasting walls of text from other sites won't help you much here.

[phoenix777]

That may be so but I'm not just copy pasting, I'm selecting the relevant text from actual scientific sources instead of just referencing public sites and as I've said I'm not a Nuclear physicist or in nuclear medicine but at least I can back up what I'm saying.

 

One last wall of text from a couple of books I own and if he still says I'm wrong then he's deluded and incapable of admitting he's wrong.

 

SIMPLE WATER PURIFICATION

(Filtering)

 

The Technical description of water purification is to remove undesirable chemicals, materials and biological contaminants from raw or suspect water.

For our purposes we need a simple purification filtering method to clean any water we intend to drink. Easy to say, not always easy to do.

 

Always pay attention to your environment and where you plan to extract water. Look around, are there lichens growing in the trees? Are there dead vegetation and/or animals anywhere?

What is growing on the ground? You are always better off to pull water from a hillside stream than you are from a pond at the bottom of a valley. That includes the outback as well.

Flowing water, at some point, comes from a relatively clean source. Rainfall in the hills, snow melt, underground stream, at one time this water was quite clean or pure.

 

The fact that it is flowing means it could pick up some contaminants along the way, but more importantly, the water is constantly being oxy generated and exposed to numerous rocks and crevices.

The stream bottom exposure also offers a type of cleaning. Water from valley bottoms tends to concentrate pollutants and elevate levels of bacterial and parasites.

Of course, the water in these reservoirs can be cleaned (filtering, solar still, then pass through purified charcoal), but if you can put the odds in your favour why wouldn't you?

 

Water purification is easy and safe once you know how.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

PURIFICATION OF RADIO ACTIVE WATER

Before I start on the cleaning method for water I just want to state a simple fact:

 

There is no such thing as "radio active" water.

 

Water can not be made "radio active". It can have irradiated particles suspended in it. The water itself will not be radio active... just what is in it. Edit: you will have an radio active solution.

 

In nature, everything wants to be equalized or balanced. That includes water contaminated with radiation. Mother Nature is the ultimate equalizer. She cleans things with distillation, plants and natural filtering.

We will mimic the cleaning effects of nature itself with our water cleaning techniques.

 

I have also designed this method for when you have almost nothing to start with.

 

But: You do have to at least have:

 

- A container.

 

- Some way of starting a fire.

 

- Access to wood (hardwood being the best).

 

- Access to fine powdered clay (river bank clay will do).

 

- And of course - water.

 

In order to purify radio active water two things have to happen.

 

1) Sacrificial particles have to be held in suspension to absorb the abundance of energized radio active molecules.

 

2) A cleansing blanket is added to the water to remove the original sacrificial particles.

 

These 2 steps MUST be done twice for maximum cleaning effect.

 

The best cleansing particles for removing radio active particles is green coal. An excellent second choice is charcoal. Because green or immature coal is not easily found charcoal is our obvious choice.

Charred wood or charcoal can easily be made with any fire. If you are concerned about maximum quantity of carbon rich charcoal you will need to get the fire going and then restrict the air that supplies oxygen for combustion. When charcoal used to be made by hand for the filtering of water or whiskey, sods were used. Sods are green grass with dirt held as a basket in the roots. If sods were not available flat rocks were often the second choice.

 

In essence, you build a fire, and then try to stop 95% of the air from being able to reach it. This burns mainly the combustible gases in the wood and leaves the non oxidized carbon behind. Exactly what we are looking for.

 

Once the fire cools and stops all combustion, take the charcoal and crush it up to a fine powder. This is the active particle source we will be using.

If you do have access to green coal, crush it up and us it the same way as the charcoal.

 

Pour approximately 2 cups of the finely crushed powder in a shallow container. Add your water. Unfortunately, the crushed powder will float on the surface of the water we are cleaning.

To begin with, we will just keep stirring the floating powder into the water about every 10 - 15 minutes. The original carbon powder we added will be used up quite quickly (the effectiveness of the powder will be short because of the strong initial neutralization).

 

After 2 - 3 hours you can either filter out the carbon (charcoal) with a filter set up, or lift the bulk of the charcoal out of the water with a screen or strainer. Obviously filtering is your best option if available.

 

Repeat the process by adding another 2 cups of the carbon (charcoal) and allow it to sit covered for approximately 24 hours.

 

Locate a fine clay formation (usually along rivers) and scrape the top 1" - 2" layer away. It is best to use dry clay for the final filtering as this will be easy to sprinkle on the water surface.

We are using a wine clearing technique to pull 99.5% of all the contaminants out of the water. Use about 1/2 - 1/3 cup of this fine clay for each gallon of water and mix thoroughly with the water.

Allow it to sit for about an hour. Attach a 3 foot piece of rope to the container and spin in a circle to drive the cleaning clay towards the bottom of the bucket. (Picture twirling a bucket over your head fast enough for the water to not dump on you). Spin it at a good velocity about 8 - 10 rotations and then let it sit over night. Pour off the mostly clear water from the top. This water will be over 99% clear of radio active particles.

Remove any floating charcoal that remains floating on the top.

 

Please make sure to boil the water before consuming in order to kill any parasites or bad bacteria that may have been introduced when the fine clay was added.

 

At this point, I am not sure whether I should say "Enjoy" or "Drink Up" based on the seriousness of the situation. But it is good to know that if this is the water you are faced with, there is a way to make it clean.

 

Lastly, I am listing some plants which are well known for their ability to clean water of almost anything including radiation, heavy metals along with an assortment of chemical contaminants.

 

- Water Hyacinth - this rapid growing water plant is excellent at purifying at a very fast rate.

 

- Sunflowers - another winner. The sunflower can clean 95% of all toxins out of soil and water usually within 24 hours. An incredible plant, sunflowers were used on floating Styrofoam in the Chernobyl clean up. After 24 hours, the roots contained 8,000 times their volume of strontium radiations which was rapidly reducing the total radio active particle count in the contaminated area.

 

Finally

 

- Cannabis or Marijuana - an excellent contaminant cleaner for water and or soil.

 

I hope you never have to use this knowledge, but, if serious problems occur, you stand a good chance of surviving in a bad situation.

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIGGING A SIMPLE WELL

Digging a water well is not a complicated procedure. Early wells or those dug by pioneers, were relatively shallow holes or pits. These were placed near lakes, streams or springs. The purification or filtering was done by sand or simply the surrounding earth. Water that entered the well had to pass through the ground first. Some filtering, a little micro biotic action and you had clean, tasty water. However, these shallow pits had their drawbacks. They were susceptible to contamination from surface water and were only suitable for low water production. Deeper wells happened by need. As a shallow well ran out of water, it had to be dug deeper, then the earthen sides would start to cave in. The whole idea had to be reworked. This led to medium depth wells with circular fitted rock sides. These were still dug by hand but as the depth increased, hazard to life and limb became a problem.

 

A mixture of hand / machine drilling methods was developed where the operator stayed above ground. Finally machine drilled walls using a variety of drill bits to suit varying ground conditions was created.

 

Almost all walls require a well casing. This stops the sides from collapsing and keeps the well contamination free.

 

For our purposes we will focus on simple shallow wells. Typically dug by hand, but the use of machinery (excavators) speeds things up considerably.

 

This type of shallow well is positioned to take advantage of natural drainages, springs and high water tables and is not suitable for deep applications.

 

Location of Surface Water

 

We are looking for water close or at least somewhat close to the surface of the ground. This is where nature can be our greatest ally. Besides the obvious natural ravines, dips and gullies, you should also be looking for the type of vegetation growing in the area. This will be the real tip off.

 

When you find reeds, cat tails, cotton wood trees, willows or other water loving varieties of plant life growing in patches (or localized in one spot) you have found a probable good location for a simple well. Digging test holes or pits would be the next step. The alternate to this is to dig one large pit that HAS to capture any water in the area.

 

The key element here is "pressure differential". When you dig or start to dig a shallow well you are creating a low pressure location for water to accumulate. This is the same way perforated drain pipes work. Water will be naturally drawn to a depression or hole because it is the path of least resistance.

 

If you are going to dig test holes, wait one day and then check those locations for water. The holes should be at least 12" - 24" deep.

 

If you have decided to dig one large pit or well the approach is a little different. The dug location should be at least 36" deep and 36" or more across. Remember we are trying to capture or draw water into the start of our well. At this point you may notice a trickle of water entering your pit. [Mark that location!] If the water's entry isn't obvious you will have to check your "digs" every hour or so. You are looking for the location (entrance) of water.

 

If the well just seems wet with no obvious entry point you will need to over dig the depth of the spot to create a holding reservoir.

 

Pathway of Water into your Well

 

If the water enters from the side of the well.

 

1) Continue digging to a depth of 6 feet or more.

 

2) Shore up the sides of your well as you dig. You can use 2" x 6" or 2" x 8" lumber to temporarily hold the sides or walls back. Remember you are making a water reservoir to draw water from.

 

3) When you have reached your chosen target depth, you should continue and over dig the centre of the bottom and place bricks or connected flat stones as a base. It is a good idea to wash off these stones or bricks if you can.

 

Once the base is finished, carefully remove the bottom 2" x 6" or 2" x 8" braces. Some soil will slide in. Using large river washed rocks sized from 6" to 18" build a circle which will form the first bottom row of your well casing. If possible, backfill behind the rocks with coarse gravel. This will support the outer wall of the well and allow drainage water flow to fill the pit.

 

Continue with this ring of large rocks until you reach the top of the well. It is preferred that you taper the rock wall casing. Have it smaller at the bottom and slightly larger at the top. This method of construction is two dimensional in approach. Reinforcement around the perimeter of the wall casing and tapered for vertical stability.

 

 

 

If the Water Enters from the Bottom of the Well

 

In this case you want to encourage the water to enter from the bottom. Dig the pit as usual, but, instead of using flat stones on the bottom, use washed river sand and then coarse gravel. This filters incoming water while remaining porous for easy water flow.

 

The construction of the walls of the well casing is the same as for water entering from the side of your well. Please be sure to block or guard against surface water entering your well.

 

Final Conditioning, Cleaning and Preparation of your Well

 

Take a water sample of the water before cleaning the well. Be sure to mark it as the first sample.

 

The you need to draw as much water as possible out of your well a total of three times. This depletion and refilling helps flush out sediments and lighter materials out of the main useable water stream.

 

Take another water sample and mark it "sample #2".

 

Now dump 2 cups of unscented chlorine bleach (if you are able to acquire otherwise filtering will be required) into your well and let it sit for 24 hours. Pump all of the water at least three more times. If chlorine can still be detected (smelled), continue flushing until the scent is gone. Be aware that if chlorine was spilled on the well casing, that may be a source of odour.

 

Once the scent is pretty much gone, take another sample, marking it "sample #3".

 

If possible test all 3 samples for water purity. We are looking for a clean bill of health for our drinking water.

 

Enjoy your well!

Edited December 11, 2011 by phoenix777

[SpartanA128]

That may be so but I'm not just copy pasting, I'm selecting the relevant text and as I've said I'm not a Nuclear physicist or in nuclear medicine but at least I can back up what I'm saying. One last wall of text from a couple of books I own and if he still says I'm wrong then he's deluded and incapable of admitting he's wrong.

 

SIMPLE WATER PURIFICATION

(Filtering)

 

The Technical description of water purification is to remove undesirable chemicals, materials and biological contaminants from raw or suspect water.

For our purposes we need a simple purification filtering method to clan any water we intend to drink. Easy to say, not always easy to do.

 

Always pay attention to your environment and where you plan to extract water. Look around, are there lichens growing in the trees? Is there dead vegetation and/or animals anywhere?

What is growing on the ground? You are always better off to pull water from a hillside stream than you are from a pond at the bottom of a valley. That includes the outback as well.

Flowing water, at some point, comes from a relatively clean source. Rainfall in the hills, snow melt, underground stream, at one time this water was quite clean or pure.

 

The fact that it is flowing means it could pick up some containments along the way, but more importantly, the water is constantly being oxy generated and exposed to numerous rocks and crevices.

The stream bottom exposure also offers a type of cleaning. Water from valley bottoms tends to concentrate pollutants and elevate levels of bacterial and parasites.

Of course, the water in these reservoirs can be cleaned (filtering, solar still, then pass through purified charcoal), but if you can put the odds in your favor why wouldn't you?

 

Water purification is easy and safe once you know how.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

PURIFICATION OF RADIO ACTIVE WATER

Before I start on the cleaning method for water I just want to state a simple fact:

 

There is no such thing as "radio active" water.

 

Water can not be made "radio active". It can have irradiated particles suspended in it. The water itself will not be radio active... just what is in it.

 

In nature, everything wants to be equalized or balanced. That includes water contaminated with radiation. Mother Nature is the ultimate equalizer. She cleans things with distillation, plants and natural filtering.

We will mimic the cleaning effects of nature itself with our water cleaning techniques.

 

I have also designed this method for when you have almost nothing to start with.

 

But: You do have to at least have:

 

- a container.

 

- some way of starting a fire.

 

- access to wood (hardwood being the best).

 

- access to fine powdered clay (river bank clay will do).

 

- and of course - water.

 

In order to purify radio active water two things have to happen.

 

1) sacrificial particles have to be held in suspension to absorb the abundance of energized radio active molecules.

 

2) A cleansing blanket is added to the water to remove the original sacrificial particles.

 

These 2 steps MUST be done twice for maximum cleaning effect.

 

The best cleansing particles for removing radio active particles is green coal. An excellent second choice is charcoal. Because green or immature coal is not easily found charcoal is our obvious choice.

Charred wood or charcoal can easily be made made with any fire. If you are concerned about maximum quantity of carbon rich charcoal you will need to get the fire going and then restrict the air that supplies oxygen for combustion. When charcoal used to be made by hand for the filtering of water or whiskey, sods were used. Sods are green grass with dirt held as a basket in the roots. If sods were not available flat rocks were often the second choice.

 

In essence, you build a fire, then try to stop 95% of the air from being able to reach it. This burns mainly the combustible gases in the wood and leaves the non oxidized carbon behind. Exactly what we are looking for.

 

Once the fire cools and stops all combustion, take the charcoal and crush it up to a fine powder. This is the active particle source we will be using.

If you do have access to green coal, crush it up and us it the same way as the charcoal.

 

Pour approximately 2 cups of the finely crushed powder in a shallow container. Add your water. Unfortunately, the crushed powder will float on the surface of the water we are cleaning.

To begin with, we will just keep stirring the floating powder into the water about every 10 - 15 minutes. The original carbon powder we added will be used up quite quickly (the effectiveness of the powder will be short because of the strong initial neutralization).

 

After 2 - 3 hours you can either filter out the carbon (charcoal) with a filter set up of lift the bulk of the charcoal out of the water with a screen or strainer. Obviously filtering is your best option if available.

 

Repeat the process by adding another 2 cups of the carbon (charcoal) and allow it to sit covered for approximately 24 hours.

 

Locate a fine clay formation (usually along rivers) and scrape the top 1" - 2" layer away. It is best to use dry clay for the final filtering as this will be easy to sprinkle on the water surface.

We are using a wine clearing technique to pull 99.5% of all the contaminants out of the water. Use about 1/2 - 1/3 cup of this fine clay for each gallon of water and mix thoroughly with the water.

Allow it to sit for about an hour. Attach a 3 foot piece of rope to the container and spin in a circle to drive the cleaning clay towards the bottom of the bucket. (Picture twirling a bucket over your head fast enough for the water to not dump on you). Spin it at a good velocity about 8 - 10 rotations and then let it sit over night. Pour off the mostly clear water from the top. This water will be over 99% clear of radio active particles.

Remove any floating charcoal that remains floating on the top.

 

Please make sure to boil the water before consuming in order to kill any parasites or bad bacteria that may have been introduced when the fine clay was added.

 

At this point, I am not sure whether I should say "Enjoy" or "Drink Up" based on the seriousness of the situation. But it is good to know that is this is the water you are faced with, there is a way to make it clean.

 

Lastly, I am listing some plants which are well known for their ability to clean water of almost anything including radiation, heavy metals along with an assortment of chemical contaminants.

 

- Water Hyacinth - this rapid growing water plant is excellent at purifying at a very fast rate.

 

- Sunflowers - another winner. The sunflower can clean 95% of all toxins out of soil and water usually within 24 hours. An incredible plant, sunflowers were used on floating styrofoam in the Chernobyl clean up. After 24 hours, the roots contained 8,000 times their volume of strontium radiations which was rapidly reducing the total radio active particle count in the contaminated area.

 

Finally

 

- Cannabis or Marijuana - an excellent contaminant cleaner for water and or soil.

 

I hope you never have to use this knowledge, but, if serious problems occur, you stand a good chance of surviving in a bad situation.

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIGGING A SIMPLE WELL

Digging a water well is not a complicated procedure. Early wells or those dug by pioneers, were relatively shallow holes or pits. These were placed near lakes, streams or springs. The purification or filtering was done by sand or simply the surrounding earth. Water that entered the well had to pass through the ground first. Some filtering, a little micro biotic action and you had clean, tasty water. However, these shallow pits had their drawbacks. They were susceptible to contamination from surface water and were only suitable for low water production. Deeper wells happened by need. As a shallow well ran out of water, it had to be dug deeper, then the earthen sides would start to cave in. The whole idea had to be reworked. This led to medium depth wells with circular fitted rock sides. These were still dug by hand but as the depth increased, hazard to life and limb became a problem.

 

A mixture of hand / machine drilling methods were developed where the operator stayed above ground. Finally machine drilled walls using a variety of drill bits to suit varying ground conditions was created.

 

Almost all walls require a well casing. This stops the sides from collapsing and keeps the well contamination free.

 

For our purposes we will focus on simple shallow wells. Typically dug by hand, but the use of machinery (excavators) speeds things up considerably.

 

This type of shallow well is positioned to take advantage of natural drainages, springs and high water tables and is not suitable for deep applications.

 

Location of Surface Water

 

We are looking for water close or at least somewhat close to the surface of the ground. This is where nature can be our greatest ally. Besides the obvious natural ravines, dips and gullies, you should also be looking for the type of vegetation growing in the area. This will be the real tip off.

 

When you find reeds, cat tails, cotton wood trees, willows or other water loving varieties of plant life growing in patches (or localized in one spot) you have found a probable good location for a simple well. Digging test holes or pits would be the next step. The alternate to this is to dig one large pit that HAS to capture any water in the area.

 

The key element here is "pressure differential". When you dig or start to dig a shallow well you are creating a low pressure location for water to accumulate. This is the same way perforated drain pipes work. Water will be naturally drawn to a depression or hole because it is the path of least resistance.

 

If you are going to dig test holes, wait one day and then check those locations for water. The holes should be at least 12" - 24" deep.

 

If you have decided to dig one large pit or well the approach is a little different. The dug location should be at least 36" deep and 36" or more across. Remember we are trying to capture or draw water into the start of our well. At this point you may notice a trickle of water entering your pit. [Mark that location!] If the water's entry isn't obvious you will have to check your "digs" every hour or so. You are looking for the location (entrance) of water.

 

If the well just seems wet with no obvious entry point you will need to over dig the depth of the spot to create a holding reservoir.

 

Pathway of Water into your Well

 

If the water enters from the side of the well.

 

1) Continue digging to a depth of 6 feet or more.

 

2) Shore up the sides of your well as you dig. You can use 2" x 6" or 2" x 8" lumber to temporarily hold the sides or walls back. Remember you are making a water reservoir to draw water from.

 

3) When you have reached your chosen target depth, you should continue and over dig the center of the bottom and place bricks or connected flat stones as a base. It is a good idea to wash off these stones or bricks if you can.

 

Once the base is finished, carefully remove the bottom 2" x 6" or 2" x 8" braces. Some soil will sluff in. Using large river washed rocks sized from 6" to 18" build a circle which will form the first bottom row of your well casing. If possible, backfill behind the rocks with coarse gravel. This will support the outer wall of the well and allow drainage water flow to fill the pit.

 

Continue with this ring of large rocks until you reach the top of the well. It is preferred that you taper the rock wall casing. Have it smaller at the bottom and slightly larger at the top. This method of construction is two dimensional in approach. Reinforcement around the perimeter of the wall casing and tapered for vertical stability.

 

 

 

If the Water Enters from the Bottom of the Well

 

In this case you want to encourage the water to enter from the bottom. Dig the pit as usual, but, instead of using flat stones on the bottom, use washed river sand and then coarse gravel. This filters incoming water while remaining porous for easy water flow.

 

The construction of the walls of the well casing is the same as for water entering from the side of your well. Please be sure to block or guard against surface water entering your well.

 

Final Conditioning, Cleaning and Preparation of your Well

 

Take a water sample of the water before cleaning the well. Be sure to mark it as the first sample.

 

The you need to draw as much water as possible out of your well a total of three times. This depletion and refilling helps flush out sediments and lighter materials out of the main useable water stream.

 

Take another water sample and mark it "sample #2".

 

Now dump 2 cups of unscented chlorine bleach into your well and let it sit for 24 hours. Pump all of the water at least three more times. If chlorine can still be detected (smelled), continue flushing until the scent is gone. Be aware that if chlorine was spilled on the well casing, that may be a source of odor.

 

Once the scent is pretty much gone, take another sample, marking it "sample #3".

 

Send all three samples out to be tested for water purity. We are looking for a clean bill of health for our drinking water.

 

Enjoy your well!

 

 

Can I get a tl;dr? Anyone?