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Surviving a Nuclear Attack on Washington, D.C.
National Journal ^ | June 24th 2005 | By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.

Posted on 06/24/2005 10:54:52 AM PDT by ExSoldier

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To: ExSoldier; All

BTTT for Sat. p.m. FReepers and lurkers.

+* +* +*
SHELTERING IN PLACE INFO --

SNIP:

If you do not want to trust in weather and traffic, the alternative is what the experts call “sheltering in place.” You want to be in a building, as solid as possible to block the gamma rays, as airtight as possible to keep out radioactive dust. You need to turn off air conditioning, close vents, seal the seams around windows and doorways. If you wondered what former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was talking about, this is what you need the duct tape for. Abandon rooms with windows broken by the blast.

The dust that does not seep into the building will settle outside, on the roof and on the ground, emitting gamma rays. A car with an intact windshield stops 30 to 50 percent of the radiation — probably not enough, however, to save someone who’s inside the car and stuck in traffic a few miles downwind of ground zero.

A wood-frame house, similarly, stops just 30 to 60 percent of gamma rays. A windowless basement stops 90 percent. The middle floors of a concrete apartment building, safely away from both roof and ground, stop 99 percent or more. But there is no 100 percent protection.

For those whom evacuation and shelter fail — or for those, like the thousands fleeing in blind panic, who never try either — there is still decontamination. A lethal dose of radiation takes time to build. The sooner the radioactive dust is off the skin, the better. And it is not that hard to remove. “Radiation contamination is easier than chemical,” said Col. David Jarrett, a medical doctor and the director of the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute in Bethesda. “Simply removing the clothes and washing takes off up to 90 percent.”

Every major Washington-area hospital has some decontamination facilities, but 10,000 radiation patients in one day would swamp them. So mass decontamination falls to fire departments, with their mobile pumps and generators; their protective gear; their hazardous-materials experience; and, because both Maryland and Virginia have nuclear power reactors, their years of radiation training. Area firefighters can quickly set up special decontamination tents, and they have plans to take over buildings that have lots of showers — so high school gyms, for example, are a good place to head for. In the chaos of those first hours, said Michael Cline, state coordinator at the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, “the real key is to make sure people go to those facilities.” It will take every firefighter available to man the decontamination sites, and every cop to control the crowds pouring in panic out of the city.

END OF SNIP
===


401 posted on 08/19/2006 6:58:28 PM PDT by JockoManning (Listen Online http://www.klove.com)
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To: ExSoldier
It sure doesn't help that the greater Washington area is chuck full of cul-de-sacs.

My advice to you DC Mero folks is get a New York City state of mind. Grow up and stop fretting. Cancel the delivery of the Sunday Washington Post.

402 posted on 08/19/2006 7:03:32 PM PDT by bvw
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To: RedStateRocker
IMHO no elected official should ever be out of rifle range of their constituents

That thought was on my mind when I suggested an area where a higher percentage of people own guns and know how to use them. Shhhh!
403 posted on 08/19/2006 7:40:25 PM PDT by backtothestreets
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To: aShepard
Yeah, then the fallout could spread for 1500 miles east, and wipe out the entire east coast!

I presume you're referring to the fallout of liberal politician remnants being scattered over the entire east coast. That might act as an anti-venom and bring the present east coast liberals back to the real world.

If you're referring to nuclear fallout, it would be no different then if Denver, Colorado were hit, the second largest concentration of federal bureaucracy in the nation.
404 posted on 08/19/2006 7:49:22 PM PDT by backtothestreets
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To: ExSoldier

Bumpity-Bump!


405 posted on 08/20/2006 6:46:12 AM PDT by Inge_CAV
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To: Don Joe
Dean Ing's "Pulling Through

Never heard of it...

406 posted on 08/21/2006 8:48:30 AM PDT by GOPJ (AIDS- the ONLY "disease" that's 99.9% preventable and blamed solely on conservative Presidents...)
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To: GOPJ

Dean Ing's "Pulling Through

Never heard of it...


There are about a half-dozen reader reviews here:

Pulling Through

(Buy a used copy cheaper (I think I paid a buck or two) on ebay.)

407 posted on 08/22/2006 12:14:41 AM PDT by Don Joe (We've traded the Rule of Law for the Law of Rule.)
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To: All

BTTT


408 posted on 12/08/2006 1:52:51 AM PST by JockoManning (http://www.bebroken.com)
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To: ExSoldier
Bookmark
409 posted on 10/10/2008 6:04:57 AM PDT by ExSoldier (Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.)
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To: ExSoldier; nw_arizona_granny; Joya

Ping and BTTT.


410 posted on 02/02/2009 8:44:22 PM PST by Joya (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner.)
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To: Joya
Thanks. It's definitely an OLDIE but it's also still a GOODIE!!! Probably more relevant today than when I first posted the thread.
411 posted on 02/02/2009 8:51:09 PM PST by ExSoldier (Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.)
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To: Peanut Gallery

ping


412 posted on 02/02/2009 8:54:09 PM PST by Professional Engineer (You don't know the power of the Dork Side. | Can he lead a normal life? No, he'll be an engineer.)
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To: ExSoldier

Sigh.

Joel Rosenberg wrote a novel not too long ago that had the USA being nuked. IIRC, the nuke bombs were broght to just offshore on ships and launched from there.

I pray it never really happens.

But folks who insist it won’t or can’t are whistling past the graveyard.

God bless you, FRiend.


413 posted on 02/02/2009 9:09:07 PM PST by Joya (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner.)
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To: ExSoldier; Joya

I missed this the first time around... now with the mooselimb in power, it makes sense to BTTT!


414 posted on 02/02/2009 10:13:30 PM PST by JDoutrider
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To: JDoutrider; All

Here is a “it’s been three weeks since this has been bumped” BUMP.


415 posted on 02/23/2009 10:29:50 AM PST by Joya (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner.)
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To: Pellegrino

Ping.


416 posted on 03/30/2009 12:55:53 PM PDT by Joya (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner.)
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To: Joya

Excellent, thank you. Potassium Iodide tablets would also come in handy.


417 posted on 03/30/2009 4:18:34 PM PDT by Pellegrino
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To: Joya

Excellent, thank you. Potassium Iodide tablets would also come in handy.


418 posted on 03/30/2009 4:20:49 PM PDT by Pellegrino
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To: ExSoldier
Assume the bomb goes off. Now what?

Frank is gone, Dodd is gone, Pelosi is gone, HObama is gone, Biden is gone.........I don't see a problem.

419 posted on 03/30/2009 4:25:46 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (This country isn't going to hell in a handbasket, it's riding shotgun on an Indy car....)
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To: Hot Tabasco
Wow, this thread is still going? That's what I call a long life! Essentially, I would agree with your assessment and we could toss in some major ummmm urban renewal as another benefit. Somebody tell the (not so) Rev Jesse and his buddy Al to move in before it's too late!
420 posted on 03/30/2009 6:22:55 PM PDT by ExSoldier (Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.)
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