From the questions that DDP is fielding, basic misunderstandings that could prove fatal to millions are commonly held. Here we will try to correct some of the myths and provide some practical information in their place.
There is no magic bullet against radiation: shelter is required. Potassium iodide tablets, for example, block the thyroid so that it does not absorb the radioactive isotopes of iodine in fallout-contaminated food or drink. This could prevent hypothyroidism and late thyroid cancers, but provides no protection against external gamma radiation. Certain nutritional supplements, such as selenium, vitamin E, and other free radical scavengers may increase radiation tolerance, but only marginally.
Heading for an unprepared basement doesn't help much. Piling sandbags on the floor above will improve the protection factor-but only if the floor doesn't collapse. See Nuclear War Survival Skills (NWSS) for tips on how to reinforce it.
Some American families are installing the miniature shelter described in the October 1990 issue of the Fighting Chance Newsletter (now out of print-back issues are available at a premium price). The full article with instructions for this shelter is posted, with permission, at www.oism.org/ddp and printed copies are available from DDP on request. The lives of 10 to 15 persons could be saved at a cost of about $150 per person-``with a minimum in comfort and habitability.''
The shelter room is a steel cylinder 46 inches in diameter, with two cylinders 24 inches in diameter and 3 feet long welded at right angles at the two ends, forming entryways and ventilation ducts. It could be constructed in any steel fabricating shop. A small backhoe could dig the hole for burying it in about an hour; using shovels, it requires no more digging than an expedient shelter from NWSS. Blast protection is afforded by steel caps on the entryways, up to about 50 psi. Water containers drawn up into the entryway after occupancy increase the radiation protection (about 1,000 for initial nuclear radiation, and 10,000 for fallout).
Shelters cannot be ``sealed off'': ventilation is crucial. Parents worried about protection for children at a school thought that sealing off the entrances was necessary to keep out fallout particles. Although a really good shelter will have filters in the ventilation pipes, it is absolutely essential to have adequate air flow through a shelter-an all-too-frequently overlooked necessity. Several expedient air pumping methods are described in NWSS. An exception is that nearby fires may necessitate buttoning up the shelter for some hours to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. The first life-threatening occurrence would then be carbon dioxide asphyxiation; some permanent shelters thus stock a CO2 absorbent such as soda lime, which might be obtained from a diving store. The next threat, oxygen depletion, can be provided for with oxygen tanks. But eventually air circulation is necessary because of body heat.
Calibrated instruments with a high enough dose range are required to measure radiation. Since FEMA ordered States to dispose of their civil defense instruments, most available instruments, designed for peacetime incidents such as radiation spills, are far too sensitive and can be dangerously misleading: An off-the-scale dose-rate could be read as ``zero.'' Meters need to be calibrated periodically. If a State still has the source specially made to calibrate the FEMA meters, it is half exhausted. One cost quotation for getting meters calibrated was $60/instrument. It is now possible to buy calibrated meters, acquired at FEMA auction, from www.radmeters4u.com.
If you already have an instrument and cannot get it calibrated, here are a few suggestions. Mr. Shane Connor of RadMeters4u.com advised testing dosimeters for leaks by charging them fully (``zeroing them out''), placing them in a food dehydrator at a temperature of 120 degrees for five days, and rechecking the readings. They should be within five percent of zero after five days. If they are not, they have a leak and should probably be discarded.
To check whether a survey meter is worth calibrating, put in the battery, warm it up for two to three minutes, perform the circuit-check test (see manual), and move the switch through its entire range. The needle should be within three hatch marks of zero except possibly on the more sensitive scale, where up to six hatch marks of zero is passable. Put the meters under heat overnight to dry them out, remove the little package of desiccant from inside, put it in the oven for 12 to 16 hours at 250 degrees, and then immediately put it back into the unit.
You should acquire at least one calibrated meter that you can rely on. In time of emergency, you can use it to check other meters. If they read high or low, mark a correction factor on the scale. To ``field calibrate'' meters, study the manual instructions detailing the adjustment calibration controls, Mr. Connor advises.
In any event, you should have a Kearny Fallout Meter (KFM). It needs neither batteries nor calibration. Kits can be purchased from RadMeters4u.com, or you can make your own from scratch using the instructions in NWSS. The ionization chamber must be kept dry. Be sure you have enough desiccant, such as Drierite, in a well-sealed container.
Additional information: see the Frequently Asked Questions at www.radmeters4u.com; the January 2002 issue of Whistleblower, the WorldNetDaily magazine, and publications available at the worldnetdaily.com on-line store.
The 19th annual meeting has been scheduled for the Sheraton Hotel in Colorado Springs, CO, for the last weekend in July. We hope to have a tour of the NORAD facility at Cheyenne Mountain on Monday, July 29. Because of the world situation, this may not be possible; we should have a tentative decision within the next month. There may be additional attractions available on Friday-so you might want to keep the date open. The Sheraton is offering a special $99 room rate for single or double occupancy. Reservation number: (800) 325-3535.
An all-star cast of speakers will discuss bioterrorism, strategic missile defense, global warming, energy issues, civil defense, and other hot topics; details next issue.
From the Swiss civil defense web site: ``Where protection of the public is concerned, individual responsibility plays a crucial part. As a matter of principle all protective measures must be taken at the location where the danger exists, since there can be no question of evacuating entire regions in a country as densely populated as Switzerland. Because shelters provide efficient protection both in case of armed conflict and in other exceptional situations, since 1963 Switzerland has adopted the objective of making available to every inhabitant a protected place in an underground shelter with a ventilation system near his place of residence. To ensure that activities that are vital to the economy of the country can continue, protected places situated at the work place are available to part of the working population....''
www.zivilschutz.admin.ch.
DDP, 1601 N. Tucson Blvd. Suite 9, Tucson, AZ 85716, (520)325-2680, www.oism.org/ddp.