A proposed new handbook for the Federal Emergency Management Agency: Radiation safety in shelters

A proposed replacement for the portion of the current Handbook for Radiological Monitoring that deals with protection of people in shelters from radiation from fallout resulting from nuclear war is presented. Basic information at a high school level is given on how to detect nuclear radiation, how to find and improve the safest places in a shelter, the necessity for and how to keep records on individual radiation exposures, and how to minimize exposures. Several procedures are introduced, some of which are based more on theoretical considerations than on actual experiments. These procedures include: (1) the method of time averaging radiation readings taken with one instrument in different locations of a large shelter while fallout is coming down and radiation levels ar climbing too rapidly for direct comparison of readings to determine the safest location; (2) the method of using one's own body to obtain directionality in radiation readings taken with a standard Civil Defense survey meter; (3) the method of using mutual shielding to reduce the average radiation exposure to shelter occupants; and (4) the ratio method for estimating radiation levels in hazardous areas.