In an interview in April 2006, Steve Jones explained some of the essentials that he has learned in years of civil defense activism.
Q. What's the single most important life-saving maneuver?
A. Duck and cover. At a DDP meeting, the late Conrad Chester of Oak Ridge National Laboratory emphasized to me that literally millions could be saved. There is a zone around the blast, perhaps half a mile to a mile wide depending on the yield, in which everyone who is standing up will be killed, and everyone who is lying down will have a good chance to survive. It takes 8 times as much force to move somebody who is lying down. This is drilled into soldiers. Returning WWII veterans were sometimes embarrassed because if they heard a loud noise or saw a flash, they reflexively hit the ground.
Q. What does “cover” mean?
A. You want to be under something that would protect you against flying glass and debris if possible, but any kind of cover, even a cloth or a newspaper, would protect against the thermal pulse, which may last for some seconds. Being in a shadow would also save you from severe burns, as was shown at HiroshimA.
Q. Is “duck and cover” only for nuclear explosions?
A. It is protective in any kind of explosion. For example, a seaman who watched the explosion of an ammunition ship through a window was blinded for life when the window shattered. Remember that as with lightning the flash travels with the speed of light; the velocity of the blast wave is a function of the speed of sound.
Q. How could you train schoolchildren?
A. You could simply use a bright light, and practice getting on the floor and covering whenever the light came on. The old “Duck and Cover” animation is available on line ( www.cddc.vt.edu/host/atomic/civildef). It's been downloaded successfully more than 250,000 times. Were all just to view what Wikipedia calls “an example of high camp”?
Q. What about the massive fires started by a nuclear explosion?
A. The risk of fires outside the blast zone can be reduced by simple things, such as keeping your yard uncluttered. Mini-blinds at the windows, turned to reflect light outward, would also help prevent indoor fires. Curtains, in contrast, would catch fire.
Q. You've made more Kearny Fallout Meters (KFMs) than anyone. Any tips?
A. First, you need the right materials. Some of the materials suggested in 1979 are not available, and the unwaxed dental floss used in 1986 is no longer obtainable either.
For the threads, clean human hair is excellent though hard to handle. Also, the hair breaks if you drop the meter. Strips of plastic bags, 2 mm wide, cut with a razor blade, work fine but look ugly. Trilene fishing line works well, but it takes 4 to 5 hours for the antistatic material to dry up after the line is removed from the roll.
I like aluminum soda pop cans for the ionization chamber because you can cut them with scissors. If the can has a rounded bottom, you need to make it one-eighth inch higher than the flat can. The sides of the pop can are, coincidentally, about the same thickness as the 8-ply aluminum foil leaves, and can be used to make the leaves. The cheapest desiccant, for keeping the ionization chamber dry, is from sheet rock. Immediately after you bake it for a minimum of about 20 minutes at 300-400 degrees, you need to put it in a sealed jar so that it will stay dry. Color-indicating silica gel is best; you can buy it at a science supply store or by internet. You can heat it in the microwave (check the color at about 30-second intervals) or by candle or sunlight until it is a deep blue. You can mix a little with the sheetrock if you're making a lot of meters and want to economize. Drierite (gypsum or calcium sulfate with a color indicator) also works, but is powdery. For the charging device, not all types of plastic and paper will work. Plexiglass is best. Newspaper works well. Clean, dry hair and most combs will work. Be sure to hold the plastic with insulating material so your body doesn't discharge it, and pass it over the charging wire (or pin) without touching it.
Q. Who should make the KFM?
A. Preferably a 12-year-old child. Adults, especially if they are well educated, have more trouble; they make it too hard. Be sure to read the instructions aloud!
Q. How accurate is the KFM?
A. A well-made meter is accurate within 10%–at least as good as most instruments you can buy. A poorly made meter is accurate within 25%, better than the original CD meters. You can test it by seeing whether it will hold a charge. A well-built meter will hold its charge for a couple weeks; a serviceable one will go down by less than 1 mm in 3 hr. Even if the leaves fail that test, say dropping 1 mm in an hour, you can still use it if you know how fast it discharges without excess radiation exposure. Gary Sandquist, former head of the nuclear engineering program at the University of Utah, told me that if his life depended on it, he'd prefer a KFM to an electronic meter because the former cannot give a falsely low reading.
Q. What are some common pitfalls?
A. Failure to cut off the corners of the aluminum leaves is the most common error; it won't charge then. And if you're using photocopied instructions, you need to be sure that the scale is accurate. Check it with a millimeter ruler, or make your own scale with the ruler.
Q. Can you/should you obtain a premanufactured KFM?
A. You can buy a ready-to-use KFM from www.nitro-pak.com, or a less expensive kit with everything you need to make your own from www.radmeters4u.com. The $199 list price of the RTU KFM is high–I call it the price of laziness–but remember it will take you up to 15 hours to gather materials and make your first one. You should learn to make your own. Once you know how to do it, write the dose-rate table and the key dimensions down on a card to keep in your wallet. Then you can make a KFM from materials you can find at any McDonald's if you need one.
Q. How do you store your KFM?
A. Keep it, with some extra desiccant, in a sealed glass jar or paint can.
Q. Which nuclear weapons effect would cause the most casualties?
A. Panic. Excessive fear of radiation could shut down all essential services.
The complete interview is available on CD for $5 or can be downloaded, with an edited transcript. If you don't have the instructions to make a KFM (App. C, Nuclear War Survival Skills), download them immediately from our website.
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