Have you ever wondered what you should do if you were in the vicinity of an area where a nuclear bomb was recently detonated?
Michael Dillon, a researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, made some calculations to clarify this issue, and his results were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
First of all, let's describe the scenario: you are in a big city that has recently been subjected to a low-energy nuclide detonation that has between 0.1 and 10 kilotons (that is, a smaller than the Hiroshima bomb).
Studies have indicated that you and about 100,000 other citizens can save you if you are exposed to low radiation. This means that you and those who are with you can find a good place to hide until a rescue team moves to the area.
The problem is that not all buildings provide shelter against radiation of this kind. For example, in the USA about 20% of homes are made of lightweight materials and do not have basements.
The best shelters have brick or concrete walls and do not have windows, just like a bunker.
This infographic helps us get an idea of how much protection we could have depending on where we are hiding.
So if you are hiding in the basement of a concrete block you will be exposed to only 1/200 of the amount of radiation. Instead, if you go to the living room's living room, the radiation will be reduced by only half, and if you stay close to where the explosion took place, this shelter will not benefit you much.
So what do you do if there is no good shelter nearby? Should you be content with a less secure shelter, or better to risk exposing yourself to radiation going for a better place? And how much longer would you let go of looking for a better shelter?
To determine what is the best option, scientists have created computerized models,
If, when the bomb is triggered, you are in a solid shelter or near it, stay there until you are evicted by specialized teams. If you are not already in a shelter, but you know a good one within five minutes (say, you see a large block that has a basement on a nearby street), the calculations suggest that you should turn to that place faster.
But if you're in the safe area for about 15 minutes, then you could stay a little in the shelter that offers poor protection, but not before letting go for 30 minutes.