Nuclear war survival skills

This book brings together field-tested instructions that, if followed by a large fraction of Americans during a crisis that preceded an attack, could save millions of lives. Myths and facts about consequences of a massive nuclear attack are discussed. The main emphasis, however, is on preparations that could be made in the last few days of a worsening crisis. This book includes chapters on psychological preparations, warning and communications, and evacuation. These chapters describe the building of expedient shelters, their ventilation and cooling, the purification and storage of adequate water, the processing and cooking of whole grains and legumes, fallout meters, protection against fires and carbon monoxide, and expedient furnishings for shelters. Other chapters cover sanitation and preventive medicine, medical advice for nuclear survivors lacking the help of doctors, improvised footwear and clothing, and advice on minimum preparations that can be made at low cost and should be made before a crisis arises. One appendix gives detailed, field-tested instructions for building six types of earth-covered expedient fallout shelters, with criteria to guide the choice of which shelter to build. The design features of several types of expedient blast shelters are described in another appendix. Two others contain instructions for making an efficient shelter-ventilating pump and a homemade fallout meter that is accurate and dependable using inexpensive materials found in most households. The report is primarily a compilation and summary of civil defense measures and inventions developed at ORNL over the past 14 years and field-tested in six states, from Florida to Utah, for use by untrained citizens