This Sunday it was learned that the White House had authorized Ukraine to use missiles ATACMS on Russian territory. This morning, Ukraine made its first attack with sayings ballistic missileswhich have a range of 300 kilometers, against a military installation in the Russian border region of Bryansk. And hours later, Putin has signed a decree expanding the Russian nuclear doctrine to new circumstances. ‘Aggression against the Russian Federation and its allies by any State that does not have nuclear weapons with the participation or support of a nuclear-armed State will be considered a joint attack’says the document that had been drafted since last September.
This escalation increases concern about a eventual use of nuclear weapons by Russiawhich has been threatening this since the beginning of the invasion, and conveys to the citizens the concern of how to respond to such a situation. If there comes a time when Russia or another country launches a nuclear weapon in your citysomething that for several decades after the Cold War has been unthinkable, what should you do?
On this issue, the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, perform a series of recommendations to try to minimize the human damage causedboth due to the explosion itself and the radiation to which the survivors would be exposed, and which was updated in 2018.
How to act after a nuclear detonation
The first thing to keep in mind is that an attack of this type would occur without warning or it would be known with very few minutes in advance to impact. Those who are in the area occupied by the initial fireball and strong shock wave they would not survive: only from the area affected by the most moderate shock wave twould have options to survive.
The impact areas of a nuclear explosion depend on several factors, including orography and power. For reference, the detonation of the Tsar Bombtested by the Soviet Union in 1961 and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever built at 50 megatons, would generate a fireball with a diameter of 9.24 kma strong shock wave of 17.82 kma moderate of 41.4 km and another light 108km in diameter, according to estimates by nuclear weapons historian Alex Wellerstein, available in NUKEMAP.
The agency recommends immediately seek shelter. Enter the nearest building, better if it is brick and even better concreteto protect against the effects of the blast wave and radiation. If possible, you have to take refuge in the basement or at least in the most central part of the structure. Radioactive fallout takes about 10 minutes to fall after the explosion, so you must be inside a shelter in that time frame.
If it takes longer, once at the shelter you have to remove contaminated clothing and wash skin with soap and water. You must stay at least 24 hours within it, unless the authorities inform otherwise. If they have pets that may have received radioactive fallout, they must also be bathed, cleaned and brushed to eliminate radioactive particles.
FEMA recommends being prepared by identifying in advance the places near our usual routes that could provide shelter in these circumstances and remember that the Outdoor areas, vehicles and mobile homes are not adequate shelters.
It is also important to have a emergency kit Prepared food that includes water, packaged food, emergency medications, a battery-operated or hand-cranked radio for information even when the power is out, a flashlight, and extra batteries for essential items.
If the detonation catches you outside and without the possibility of accessing a building, you should use anything that offers protection, even minimal, and lie face down on the ground to protect yourself from heat and debris thrown by the blast wave.