Today on this episode we cover:
Food storage and radiation preparedness as well as talk about quite a few other side quests. I will forgo most of the intro and summary to instead post the write-up I had about the crazy scary dream I had that I discussed a bit in the podcast.
I had a bit of a scary dream
A Russian-sponsored group loaded a small 7kt improvised HEU nuclear device with a shit load of Cobalt 60 in it into a small panel van and parked it parallel to the CIA/Drone control building in San Antonio. Using a directional blast pattern they sprayed the whole area in a fan pattern out and away from southeast to northwest.
The initial blast killed 1,930 people with the fallout reaching Kerrville at 1 rad per hour
10 rads per hour was up past Pipe Creek
And 100+ Rads per hour out to Galm Road
Tens of thousands of people would be affected shortly.
We were out and about doing some shopping when the explosion went off, we were far enough that the trees and terrain blocked the brightest of the flash. We turned away and covered our faces anyhow. For some reason, I was wearing a dosimeter and it said we were in an area that had 14 millisieverts. We immediately left and worked our way south, to and then around back to the farm. All while freaking out a bit, naturally.
I had to wake up and Google Cobalt 60 and millisieverts. Up until the dream I had no clue what either was, I even googled them in my dream, and dream google didn’t come up with any clear answer just bullshit. “a radioactive metal’ and ‘a measurement of radiation’ without giving me any useful information.
Cobalt 60 it turns out is a highly radioactive material that’s relatively common and has been used to make what are called ‘salted’ radiation bombs, bombs specifically designed to make a ridiculous amount of radiation and deny the use of an area for an extended period of time while inflicting huge levels of casualties and overwhelm a medical system. It lasts a long time, and is very persistent.
To convert a millisievert to a rad, you basically move a decimal place. Where we were shopping we got 1.4 rads per hour.
A 400 rads dose kills 30-40% of the adult people exposed to it within 30 days.
10 rads can make you sick
100 rads will make you quite ill but you will recover fine… just get cancer in 20 or so years.
Radiation is accumulative, if you are in an area that has 100 rads/hour showing up on a Geiger counter, you can stay there for 4 hours before you have a 30-40% chance of death. But within that first hour, you have basically guaranteed you will get cancer in some decades.
If you are in an area with the background being one rad, you can stay there 400 hours before having a 30-40% chance of death.
The average background radiation you are exposed to each year is 2.4 millisieverts or .24 rads.
Potassium iodide is not a cure-all, but what it does do is it has a very strong affinity for the thyroid. It fills up the thyroid so that your thyroid cannot absorb any radiation. The majority of sub-lethal doses of radiation strongly affect the thyroid causing a great deal of issues. By blocking the radiation's ability to enter the thyroid you solve the biggest problem with the most vulnerable system in the body.
Immediately shut down all air handling, air conditioning, and air in a home or vehicle as it will just bring in radioactive dust. Air and water does not become radioactive. Impurities, such as dust in the air and minerals in the water can though. Anything in a truck bed that is not in an air-tight container is to be considered exposed and must be processed prior to use. A mattress cannot be made safe after exposure to radioactive fallout.
Once you have determined the area to be safe. Before turning back on air conditioning or air handling you must clean the vents with a damp cloth to get all the dust and consider the cloth as contaminated. Then you need to change the filters and consider them to be contaminated. Do not burn contaminated materials as you are just putting fallout back into the air to settle back on you and your equipment. Bury all contaminated materials in a safe place away from water sources.
When a person has been exposed it is necessary to decontaminate them. Step one would be a loading dose of potassium iodide. After that they need to strip and wash themselves in a safe location with good drainage using ample water. They should triple-wash their hair with soap to remove any and all dust/oils that could hold onto dust. The contaminated person needs to start from the top of their head and work their way down. Quickly rinse your body off first to remove any surface contamination then wash your hair three times then wash your face, behind your ears, neck, and so forth down your body to your toes. Be very thorough and do not miss any places, it's your life in the balance. Radiation is accumulative. The water used to wash contaminated people should not be used to water animals or plants or be dumped in an area or allowed to run off into an area where animals and plants designated as food are housed or grown. A septic system is an appropriate place for the water. A French drain away from the area is another good place, or simply over a hole that will later be filled in and buried then marked is another. The contaminated clothing should be disposed of via burial. Items such as jewelry, can be washed by the person decontaminating using a soft brush and dish soap. Items in a wallet such as plastic-coated ID’s shall be washed with soap and water as well. Paper money and the wallet itself should be disposed of.
Any food that is outside and growing should be immediately harvested and washed/processed if outside of an immediately radioactive area. If inside a fall-out area, it should be left to fallow. Farm animals have a much higher tolerance for radiation than humans and should be kept in their barn and fed as clean feed and water as possible. If water pressure is available from a well or other trusted source, washing the roof of your house off every few days is recommended. Food grown in a greenhouse or high tunnel should be reasonably safe as long as it is washed and treated as contaminated prior to being brought into the house for processing and eating.
Anyone showing signs of radiation sickness including vomiting, diarrhea, rashes or skin eruptions should be treated with rehydration therapy and electrolytes with a multivitamin while being limited on solid foods until resolved. Powdered meal replacement drinks are a good option as well as soups and stews.
For several years after a radiological event, dust storms should be treated as life-threatening as they will redistribute radiation over a wide area. Decontamination will need to begin again after each event. In that same light, a good rain or snow should be celebrated as it will move radiation deeper into the soil and aid in its breaking down/trapping for good.
During any disaster, but especially a radiological one any cut or injury should be treated as life-threatening. If people are treated appropriately with potassium iodide they still will take a massive hit to their immune system making secondary infections of the smallest cut a very likely thing. Antibiotics and antibiotic creams are very important to have a supply of. As well as liquid decontaminates such as rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and witch hazel.
Broad-spectrum antibiotics should be administered to anyone with skin eruptions or severe sickness due to radiation. All individuals displaying advanced symptoms should be put on light duty until fully recovered.
Be aware that people who are acutely dosed at 500-1000 rads over a short period of time are fatal and tend to have a period of time of normalcy that will last 24 hours and a few weeks between showing severe symptoms and a very rapid system collapse and death of the proceeding 12 to 24 hours. This can seem a cruel thing as outwardly they seem fine, but inwardly their bone marrow and immune system is collapsing they, are no longer able to make red blood cells or replace any damaged cells in their bodies. Their DNA is literally cooking and they will reach a period where their bodies can no longer compensate and they will rapidly deteriorate and die.
The longer your accumulated exposure the less likely it is to cause you problems. 30 rads in 30 minutes will cause nausea and anemia along with other acute blood changes. 30 rads in 7 days will not likely cause any symptoms. Although radiation is accumulative it is also time-dependent.
People with Acute Radiation Sickness should be managed with a focus on comfort, without access to a specialized care unit their survival chances are zero.
With all that said it is completely possible and relatively easy to survive a radiological event with a bit of preparedness and some forethought. Stay upwind of all radiation sources, stay out of radiation zones, wash all items before you eat them, and avoid exposure to runoff and fall-out dust. This includes staying away from the drip line of trees during the initial hour or two of a rain event. Understand that radiation, radiates out in every direction from every particle and the only safe place is distance or mass. Mass can be dirt, cement, lead, metal the basement of a building etc. Distance can be physical distance such as leaving an area adjacent to a radiological event.
The biggest threat a radiological event poses is a collapse of the global supply chain/economic collapse. Due to the defenses in place, it is unlikely more than 5 weapons would detonate on American soil in the event of a nuclear exchange. What we cannot predict and which will always remain a threat is sponsored terrorist groups with dirty bombs.
