Things To Do To Survive A Nuclear Explosion

It all starts with a bright flash more than the sun. All trees, fences, people and even animals catch fire immediately. Millions of people die by just an explosion. Also, the nuclear weapons can also cause great damage by what is called nuclear fallout. It refers to a process where radioactive materials are carried by the wind and consequently, more damage is caused. However, there are some few things that you can do so that you survive. Look at the following:

What do you do if you are outside when the bomb drops? The first thing you don't want to do is look in the direction of the explosion since the flash of light from it will blind you. Also, you need to drop your face down flat on the ground and cover yourself if you can. Once you feel the wave is over, go to find shelter. Move to the deepest part of the building. It is safe if there are more than one layer between you and the radioactive material. If you can go underground, it becomes safer. Carefully remove your clothing and put it in a plastic bag and seal it up as best you can. Removing your clothing will remove 90% of the radioactive material. Remove the bag as far away from people and animals as possible. Take a shower with soapy water making sure not to scrub or scratch your skin. Shampoo your hair but do not use any conditioner. Conditioners will cause radioactive particles to stick to your hair. Gently clean your ears with a clean wet cloth, do not insert a cotton swab into your ear as you may push radioactive material into your ear canal. Gently blow your nose. If showering is not an option, you can use baby wipes to clean with.

If you are aware that a nuclear blast is coming try to find the safest building you can for protection. Remember the more layers between you and the radioactive material the better. When relocating to a different area, the decision of taking a vehicle is a bad idea. Try to make it to a place you can quickly walk to. Plan on sheltering in the place for at least 24 hours.

If you can afford to build a blast shelter or fallout shelter, it might be an investment to consider. A blast shelter and a fallout shelter are not the same. As the name suggests, a blast shelter is designed to protect against the initial blast whereas a fallout shelter is designed to protect against the radioactive fallout after the blast. Keep in mind that if you are in the immediate area of the blast, no blast shelter is going to protect you. A fallout shelter doesn't need to be fancy; it can be any space with enough material which is dense to keep you safe.

After the Chernobyl accident, potassium iodine tablets were widely used and found to be more effective in children than formerly thought. Potassium iodine tablets are designed to help protect the thyroid glands from radioactive iodine by blocking or reducing the chances of it entering the thyroid gland. If you don't have any, it may be a good idea to get them now because in the event of nuclear fallout they may be hard to find.

Gas masks can protect you from inhaling radioactive particles which are where most of the damaging effects of fallout will come from. You should learn how to use the gas masks even before buying them. It is good to have better radiation suits, and once you afford one, then you will be safe. For the rest of us, just like going to a shelter, the more layers, the better. Any protection is better than no protection. If you do have all the fancy gear, don't think that you are immune to the radiation. You still need to limit your exposure.

Remember to make sure to listen to any and all communication devices you have. Ths is because you don't know what will be functional. It must be done the moment you get away from the affected area. If you can survive the initial blast and take the right actions you can survive.

Electromagnetic Radiation Found in Low Frequency Devices

Electromagnetic radiation is the radiation produced by electronic particles moving through the air in oscillating waves. It surrounds computers, mobile devices, satellites, appliances, power lines, and radios - anything that requires a signal or electrical surge to operate. While no dose of radiation is good to be exposed to, there are varying degrees of danger characterized within the electromagnetic spectrum according to frequency. Low-frequency radiation appearing in radio waves, microwaves and infrared waves present one set of health concerns, while higher frequency radiation, such as ultraviolet (UV), x-rays and gamma rays present another.

The length of the wave defines the amount of radiation that is produced. Longer wavelengths are less intense and emit lower levels of electromagnetic radiation. Shorter waves oscillate more quickly and therefore diffuse greater levels of electromagnetic radiation.

Most people come across low-frequency waves in their daily lives. This is because low-frequency electromagnetic radiation blankets everyday devices, such as laptops, cellphones, tablets, hair dryers, televisions, and microwaves.

For instance, according to the Mail Online, mobile phone users check their cell phone an average of 150 times per day, which works out to about once every six-and-a-half minutes. The frequency in which mobile users are talking on the phone, checking their email, updating social networks and playing games on their device is quite high and can directly affect their exposure to electromagnetic radiation.

Cell phone use in the United States has increased by six times in the last ten years, and users report having a hard time going without their phone throughout the day. An article in the San Francisco Chronicle reports a study in which 83% of respondents said cell phones have made life easier, with the Internet in second place at 76%. As the use of the devices continues to climb, there is an increased vulnerability to electromagnetic radiation.

In addition to cell phones, worldwide Internet use has also increased since it can be accessed on smartphones, laptops, desktop computers and tablet devices emitting highly similar radiation as cell phones. The exposure to these electromagnetic waves is not ideal. Although the electromagnetic radiation produced is on the lower side on the electromagnetic spectrum, it still presents heath dangers.

To avoid any risk associated with low-frequency electromagnetic radiation, there are some ways to minimize exposure. Cutting back on the use of mobile phones and laptop computers can help reduce exposure times for the user. Other ways to lower the risk of low-frequency radiation exposure is by turning a device off and storing it away when not using it or by investing in a state of the art laptop shield, which you can find through online retail specialists.

How electromagnetic radiation affects us?

Have you ever wondered about the high-tech world we live in, where things work wirelessly? We often wonder what will appear in the next years to be used as often as cell phones. How safe are electromagnetic radiation in the environment? How bad are they for human cells? How did harm they produce? How many radiations are we exposed daily, being surrounded by so many devices that produce electromagnetic radiation?

Do not you remember that when you were children, adults said not to get too close to the TV? The reason was the TV, as also the computer, emits all kinds of electromagnetic radiation, including microwaves, radio waves, ultraviolet, X-rays, infrared, electrical and magnetic fields of low frequency. But the truth is that the most dangerous is to stand behind the TV, where most of the radiation can escape.

However, computer or TV is not the only source of electromagnetic radiation in homes and offices. Particularly sunlight and X-rays can cause some principal activities of free radicals. Free radicals are unbalanced molecules fragments that appear in the body through normal breathing and digestive processes. Scientists have found that an excess of free radicals in the human body can lead to decreased immunity and cells function, which results in aging, heart disease, cancer and other degenerative diseases.

Some vitamins and minerals classified as antioxidants reduce free radical activity and protect cells from premature aging. The antioxidants can include vitamin C, vitamin E (in seeds and nuts), beta carotene (carrots) and selenium.

There are many ways that we are exposed to electromagnetic radiation, including power cords of appliances. Stronger magnetic fields and the highest devices come in much lower electricity interfering with our bodies. Magnetic fields induce weak electric fields on electrical conductors - our bodies are conductors. This process, called induction, is one of the ways in which such fields can affect body chemistry.

Creates static electricity and an increased average of positive ion charge, which is not good for human health. We must balance our environment by adding a positive ionization, which will make us to feel better and to limit the action of positive ions. Also, the chemicals from photocopiers, electronic equipment, plastics, etc., can lead to our poor health.

Nuclear Medicine And Radiation

One of the recent branches of medical science is the nuclear medicine. Besides various elements, nuclear medicine uses radiation for generating diagnostic information relating to the functioning of specific organs. Such radiation is also utilized for treatment of ailing organs. Such diagnostic processes have now become a routine affair in medical science.

Use of Radioisotopes and Radiotherapy

Radioisotopes for radiotherapy are severally used in the treatment of

• Cancer of any type.
• Tumors and other external and internal disfigurations in human anatomy.
• It targets the damaged, effected, or ailing cells and destroys them.
• Since use is painless the demands are growing rapidly.

Use of Radioisotopes in Nuclear Medicine

In nuclear medicine, the radioisotopes are used for detecting the specific functions of the organs or for treating the diseases. The reasons for its widespread use are

• Diagnosis is quick and accurate about the illness of the patient.
• Organs like thyroid, bones, heart, and liver can get damaged pretty easily, and disorders in their functioning can be detected using radiations.
• As many as five Nobel laureates were associated with development of radioisotopes based detecting methods in medical science.
• More than ten thousand hospitals across the globe use radioisotopes in medicine.
• 90% of these uses are for diagnostic purposes.

Commonly radioisotope utilized in diagnosis is the technetium-99 that is practiced in over thirty million procedures a year accounting for over 80% of all medicine procedures in the world.

After most of all the nuclear-applied medicine procedures, it is usually great to drink a good amount of fluids and urinate as numerous as you can. This helps one to flush all the remaining radioactivity out of one's body. The length of period you need to do it will depend on the radiopharmaceutical that was used. Again, it is best to inquire your doctor.

Frequencies of Radioisotopes Use

26% of the world population resides in developed countries. The frequency of use of nuclear medicines and therefore radioisotopes in these countries come to 1.9% per annum. Over 18 million frequencies are used in the United States alone for around 305 million people. Such frequencies in Europe come to about ten million for 500 million people. Use of radioisotopes comes to around 560,000 in Australia for 21 million people.

Specific Use of Radioisotopes in Medical Procedures

36% of the total radiation exposure is used for the computed X-ray tomography or CT scan as they are popularly known. According to the US National Council on the Radiation Protection and Measurements Report of the year 2009, the exposure to radiation in has increased from 3.6 millisieverts to that of 6.2 millisieverts during 1980-2010.

Nuclear Cardiology has gained great popularity world wide. Nuclear Medicine for the therapeutic objectives is currently being used for medication of cancers, various medical conditions affecting the thyroid gland, and scar - tissue removal.

Effects of nuclear explosions on human health

Nuclear weapons are the fastest growing threat ever since the end of Second World War and its first ever use in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Like all the conventional weapons, nuclear bombs have their own set of side effects and drawbacks. The problem here is that that their effects are long term and more devastating than the impact of all the conventional weapons combined USSR and USA realized this threat and started the process of disarmament amidst the Cold War. Although the states use nuclear materials mostly for deterrence purposes but the recent use of chemical weapons in Syria have sparked the debate of their effects on human health yet again.

A traditional gun is fired, the bullet hits the target and the target is injured or dead. The story ends there but that is not the case in nuclear explosions. When a nuclear bomb is dropped the radiation has heavy long term consequences for the people affected by it. These bombs have radiations that are particularly damaging for human health.

The most damaging effect is on the human brain. The brain cells do not reproduce so because of the high radiation these brain cells are damaged including nerve cells resulting in seizure and immediate death.

The high amount of radiation from nuclear explosions causes damage to small blood vessels that result in a heart attack or death. These radiations are damaging for the blood system as well. However this does not cause immediate death but it may end up effecting a person’s health for life.

A nuclear explosion also releases heat and blast waves which directly kill every human that comes in their way. They make the air heavier to breath and cause numerous deaths by choking. These are the various short term effects of a nuclear explosion. There are some long term effects as well. In case of the Hiroshima Nagasaki explosion there are a number of long term effects that can be seen. Numerous Children born even years after the explosion suffered with some sort of mental or physical disability. This caused them a life long struggle just because their ancestors were involved in a meaningless war the psychological effects of these explosions often go unnoticed. People suffer the loss of their loved ones and their properties which can have a devastating effect on their mental health for as long as they live.

States need to realize the grave consequences of the use of nuclear weapons so that they can make rational choices before using a tactic with such massive impacts.

How Nuclear Power Work and Nuclear Hazards to The Environment

Nuclear power technology is widely used for generation of electricity. Developed countries like France, Finland, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Sweden, Spain and Switzerland generate more than 30% of their total electric power by using a variety of atomic reactors.

How does it work?

Scientists have long operated the procedure of fission where an atom ruptures into two smaller parts. This occurs by human manipulation as well as naturally. The natural incidence takes a long period of time, but scientists now can make the process faster through induce fission.

The most common element used for nuclear fission is Uranium. For Uranium to undergo fission naturally, millions of years must pass. Uranium has a half-life or the amount of time it takes Uranium to lose half of its mass, of 4.5 billion years.

Uranium occurs naturally in three forms. These three forms are Uranium-238, -235, and -234. All three undergo natural fission when radioactive decay sets in, but scientists have found that they can induce fission when using Uranium-235.

When decaying, Uranium emits alpha particles, which contain two protons and neutrons. These alpha particles break off from the nucleus. When fission is induced, scientists shoot a neutron into the element's nucleus, and the atoms split immediately.

The split results in a high amount of heat and gamma radiation, or electromagnetic radiation caused by the release of photon particles, the most basic particles of light. The two resulting atoms of the fission later create additional gamma radiation and beta radiation on their own.

Nuclear Hazards or Harmful Effects of Nuclear Energy

Though nuclear power has significant benefits, some serious incidents have changed the attitude of people towards the atomic power plants. Atomic energy has following dark sides:

• Nuclear weapons: The nuclear weapons like atomic bombs and missiles have devastating implications. The atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki can never be forgotten. These bombs killed numerous people and destroyed everything.
• Disasters: Use of nuclear energy technology can result in major disasters. One of these is Chernobyl Disaster of 1986 in the east while USSR. The nuclear reactor caught fire and resulted in world's worst nuclear accident that took 10 days to control the runaway reaction. Thousands of people died immediately, 24,000 people received high doses of radiations. After ten years of the incident (1996), it was found that increased rate of thyroid cancer in children was one of the long term effects. Fused fingers (monodactyl) to form a paddle and more than 5 digits (polydactyly) in hands and feet were the other genetic defects observed in Chernobyl.
• Other effects: There are much more kinds of damages from atomic accidents and use of atomic energy. The most common and long-term effect of radiations is the mutation, leading to abnormalities in the offsprings. Leukemia and breast cancer are the two common types of cancers linked to exposure to radiations. The disposal of the atomic waste is another major problem.

In conclusion, if all the nuclear weapons in the world were used, then all the humanity would most likely be destroyed. Later, the world would go into what is called "Nuclear Winter". Global temperature would drop significantly, as well as the amount of sunlight received by the earth. The combination of radioactivity, lack of food, and lowering temperatures cause an atomic Holocaust, with the chances of humans surviving very low.