times a radioactive piece of matter from a nuclear explosion death in the area where they fall to begin with it may be surprising to know that radiation is something we live with every day far back in time back before there was an earth why there were flaming fireballs in space we call them stars and there are millions upon millions of eight stars like our own sun is a raging nuclear furnace to choose out showers matter as we can see that along with invisible forces that we call radiation this radiation and these particles travel through space at fantastic speeds until they strike some other matter which may make new flavors of radioactivity they strike wandering asteroids moons and planets such as our own everything in space background radiation is all around us in tiny quantities later even planted unstable adults deep inside the earth itself they decay one by one here and there in a barrage of inconceivably small and silent explosion each explosion is another spark of radiation all life on earth has reached its present form in company with radiation from this naturally occurring radioactivity extremely thin with extremely low level intensity it has always been with us it is nothing  we don't worry about the small amounts of natural background radiation is for the radioactive adams produced in the explosion joined with the particles of earth and debris mushroom shaped cloud forms climbs higher it now contains billions of highly radioactive particles of matter that we call fallout the strong some of the lightest particles remain suspended in the upper atmosphere as time passes their radioactivity grows weaker so that the longer they remain a lot the less dangerous they are but the heavier particles spread by high altitude when fall to the ground within twenty four hours several miles from the explosion they are about the size of table salt are fine say these are the most dangerous because they carry the greatest number of radioactive atoms and so emit the largest amount of nuclear radiation which brings us to an all important fact deadly as radiation can be a this gives us an invaluable ally time so close a nuclear explosion takes place at twelve noon by one o'clock the total force of the residual radiation is at a high level by seven o'clock it's down to one tenth in two days although still dangerous it's only one one hundred but in two weeks it's only one with this decay rate in mind consider radioactive fallout conditions which might confront us after a massive attack within an hour fallout would be a serious problem in the vicinity of explosions which occur on or near the ground by seven hours after the attack the fallout area covers more more of the country as the prevailing winds expand the fallout in a downwind pattern twenty four hours forty eight hours without shelter millions would face death a few days later those who have taken shelter will survive in many areas people can even leave shelter for brief periods of time to carry out important tasks within two weeks most people can leave their shelters for longer periods as the radioactivity decays to lower levels the lesson is obvious we must feel ourselves from radiation through the dangerous period to do this we need more than time fortunately we have another ally distance the greater our distance from the fallout particularly the less radiation we recei you would receive less radiation in the middle of a tall building then you would receive on the top or bottom floors because there would be more distance and partitions between you and the source of the radiation the fallout of particles which would cover the roof on the ground around the building only an insignificant amount would get inside and finally along with the cane rate and distance we have still another and very important ally mass when highly radioactive fallout covers our immediate area we can shield ourselves to the most dangerous period by using the here weight of any material like the protecting the tiller must be heavy to shield out some ninety nine percent of the radiation you would need about five and a half feet of wood or two feet of earth or one  a third feet of concrete or i have put a steel even though the thickness of these materials varies they all weigh the same taking a house as an example it offers a small amount of mass and distance from radiation but not enough protection in an area of heavy fall the solution is play fallout shelters are the best defense against nuclear radiation whether in a home for a single family or a large community type in an apartment building they offer the kind of protection from radiation you would probably need in case of a nuclear attack but the best shelter would be worthless unless it was used most people find it hard to understand how silent invisible rays which cannot even be felt could be so damaging let's see what happens when radiation penetrates the body and attacks the cells what is a cell and what happens when it is attacked it's a simple organism which reproduces itself by dividing our bodies are made up of millions of cells there the building blocks of our blood and tissues now powerful radiation strikes and cells are injured or destroy if radiation stuff ops before the accumulated dose is too great almost all of the damage eventually will be repaired if radiation continues there are some cells less able to function the top officials should the body fall behind in its recovery severe illness or death could result meter and instead of miles per hour we measure the rate in rent can spur our we need another device called a dosimeter to record how much radiation a person has accumulated over a period of time in the same way we recorded accumulated distance in miles the dosimeter records accumulated dose in r in an average lifetime a person might expect to accumulate about ten rankin's from his natural environment not enough to affect his he the same healthy person would need medical care if he received more than two hundred rand kins within a few days three hundred rankin's in the same period would cause severe radiation sickness or possibly death and as we go beyond three hundred rankin's the danger of death increases rapidly so now we see why shelter is vital the difference between accumulating a large dose because of little or no shielding a small dose because of adequate shielding is the difference between death and life no clothing of course could possibly provide enough however if you were to be in the open during fallout conditions clothing would keep the particles from touching your skin there is no such thing as a fallout suit but ordinary clothing would help until you could reach the safety of a shelter then the fallout particles can be brushed off and outer clothing removed if fallout settles on your food the food itself is not harmed since radiation damages only living tissue and you can easily decontaminated using almost the same method you use in everyday food preparation actually even if you accidentally swallowed some fallout particles it wouldn't kill you the effect of any probably wouldn't show up for years still since there is a possibility of long term effects such as shortened lifespan cancer or hereditary damage it's wise to remove the radioactive particles by simply washing wiping or peeling but it's vital to remember this neither water nor chemicals can destroy radioactivity the fallout  les can only be moved or washed away only time can reduce their potency and a lot of water well here again the same rules apply if necessary you could drink water containing fallout particles without worry or immediate harm the chances are you wouldn't have to for a long water helps to wash itself through the natural processes of sedimentation and filtration in still waters most particles would settle quickly to the bottom others might remain suspended in the water for a long time while a small percent of the radioactivity would dissolve the normal processing of a water treatment plant would make it safe to drink and water coming from a covered well would be safe from radioactive contamination there is no problem with breathing from entering the pipe and getting inside of course surviving a nuclear attack means more than just waiting in a shelter for radioactivity to decay to safe levels survival reconstruction and recovery would involve decontamination in many areas fall out would have to be removed from important areas by street sweepers and the remaining particles to be flushed out of the way would be a problem after a locally or attack we would first use existing food supplies from shelters markets and surplus food stor in a few areas the land would not be suitable for food but such crops is cut could be grown human consumption would be grown in areas that had received the lea the reason we would be able to grow and planted in this land is the transfer of radioactivity from soil the plant is extremely low and so if nuclear attack should ever come in spite of every effort to avoid we must be able to survive and rebuild for the future but survival can only come through knowledge the basic facts we must all know are relatively simple first there is nothing new about radiation it has always been with us what is new is the vast amount we will be exposed to as a result of nuclear explosion much of this danger would come to us in the form of dollars but we are not without personal weapons or defense one of these is time radiation decays so we would not have to take maximum precautions indefinitely another defense is distance radiati particles fifty feet away for instance would not affect us as much as particles a few feet away and our third defense is mass any material with enough weight will keep the penetrating rays from hurting the greater the weight of the material between us and the particles the safer we would be the best way we can use all three weapons of defense is with an adequate shelter thick enough to shield off a good part of the radiation until it has decay do safer levels when radiation attacks the cells of our body are damaged most of them can repair themselves if the total blows over a period of time is not too high even though the rays penetrate our bodies causing damage they do not infect us and make us or anything else radioactive that's why food remains good no matter how much radiation has passed through the fallout accidentally swallowed with water or food will do you no immediate harm but for a long term safety it's best to wash white or peel the food and filter the water even if you were caught outside under fallout conditions ordinary clothing would keep the radioactive particles from touching your skin but you would still need to find shelter quickly if we remember these back if we act on them intelligently we can increase our chances of surviving nuclear attack and the key to survival is  that is why the federal government has a nationwide fallout shelter program the goal is adequate fallout shelter space for every man woman and child and this goal can be reached for with knowledge of radiation we can face the facts about fallout take action to protect ourselves and learn how to live in the nuclear a