
Speed in finding shelter is an absolute essential. Thus, a shelter protected by 1 meter (3 ft) of dirt would reduce a radiation intensity of 1,000 cgys (centigrams) per hour on the outside to about 0.5 cgy per hour inside the shelter. Fifteen centimeters will reduce gamma radiation fallout levels to one-eighth its original amount, 20 centimeters to one-sixteenth, and so on. According to this principle, if 5 centimeters of brick reduce the gamma radiation level by one-half, adding another 5 centimeters of brick (another half-value layer) will reduce the intensity by another half, namely, to one-fourth the original amount.


The principle of half-value layer thickness is useful in understanding the absorption of gamma radiation by various materials. Whereas for initial gamma radiation, you need really thick material. For fallout radiation, a relatively small amount of shielding material can provide adequate protection. Fallout radiation has less energy than a nuclear detonation’s initial radiation. An ample thickness of shielding material will reduce the level of radiation to negligible amounts. The thickness required to weaken gamma radiation from fallout is far less than that needed to shield against initial gamma radiation. Shielding material’s effectiveness depends on its thickness and density. A thick blanket of dirt will also greatly reduce the effects of radiation. Keep these materials in mind when you build a nuclear shelter. Lead and its alloys offer excellent radiation shielding because of a high degree of application flexibility, an extreme level of stability, and high atomic number. Lead is one of the best and scientifically tested material for protection against radiation. Also, this is why dentists place a lead blanket on patients receiving x-rays of their teeth.

Barriers of lead, concrete, or water provide very good protection from all types of penetrating radiation. This is why certain radioactive materials are stored under water or in concrete or lead-lined rooms. You will have to use a sufficient quantity of any material to protect against the radiation. Literally, all materials provide radiation protection to some extent, some might provide less protection and some provide more. Best Shielding Materials to Build a Nuclear Shelter Therefore, speed in finding shelter is an absolute essential. The dosage received in this first week will exceed the dosage accumulated during the rest of a lifetime spent in the same contaminated area. Without shelter, the dosage received in the first few hours will exceed that received during the rest of a week in a contaminated area. The most penetrating and destructive radiation you’ll have to deal with. The primary reason to find or build a nuclear shelter is to get protection against the high-intensity Gamma fallout. But at the same time, it will quickly become less dangerous as it exhausts itself (radioactive decay). The blast and fire protection require very strong and usually underground structures, but even simple earthen shelters built in the backyard can give enough protection from a 1 MT (1000 kilotons) surface blast as close as 2 miles. Radioactive fallout is extremely dangerous because it’ll give you radioactive injuries which are difficult to heal. For all other areas, more than 95% of the country, protection from fallout should be the only concern. Simple measures taken immediately after a nuclear detonation can prevent agonizing death and injuries from radiation.įor ground zero, where the bomb was actually dropped, protection from the blast, fire, and fallout would be required. Well over 90% of those potential casualties from fallout are avoidable too. That too only if you are super fast and find/make or rush to a shelter. However, if you are in the adjacent area, you might have a survival chance. If by luck you are in epicenter (ground zero) and already not in a nuclear shelter/bunker, you are most likely to die in the first minute either by blast or by high-intensity radiations. Why You Need a Shelter in Case of a Nuclear Blast?Įvery nuclear blast (either nuclear attack by other countries or a nuclear disaster in your own) will consist of a ground zero and its adjacent area.

Well over 90% of those potential casualties from fallout are avoidable simply by educating the masses.
