Be prepared
As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure, and the chances of surviving a disaster before it strikes or when it is about to strike are much better if you are well prepared.
When there is a danger of a nuclear leak occurring near you, the first thing to do is to check with the authorities to find out the location of a shelter near you. The U.S. Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency has set a standard for nuclear evacuation facilities, which is 2.5 percent of the radiation exposure for people in the evacuation centers. Typically, evacuation centers can be hospitals, schools, police station basements, subways, and so on.
An emergency kit is also necessary to prepare for possible hazards. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the following items should be included in an emergency kit in the event of nuclear radiation:
Foods with a long shelf life: canned goods (remember to bring a can opener), compressed cookies, and so on. It is a good idea to store an amount that will provide 3 days of food for each family member.
Drinking water: either bottled water or water stored directly from the tap (make sure the water is not contaminated). Each family member needs at least 1 gallon (about 3.7 liters) of water per day. If possible, prepare 3 days of drinking water for each family member as well.
Flashlight with spare batteries and a radio.
First aid kit, as well as essential personal medicines and hygiene items.
Paper towels, paper cutlery, plastic bags: Since the water source used to wash dishes is likely to be contaminated, disposable cutlery can be used to avoid contamination. Plastic bags, on the other hand, are important items for collecting waste and keeping it clean.
Pipe tape and large plastic film: After entering the shelter, you can use tape and plastic film to seal the doorways.
In the event of a nuclear leak
In a radiation emergency, the first thing to do is to find out if you are contaminated. By contaminated, I mean that radioactive material is on your body surface or has entered your body. In this case, the contamination can spread very quickly, and when you move around or expel bodily fluids, the contamination spreads as you move around. To limit the spread of contamination, the CDC has made the following recommendations:
Also, staying home after a nuclear leak isn't always the best option. This is because when someone enters a house from a contaminated area, radioactive particles stuck to the body can be transferred as the body moves around and comes into contact with tables, chairs, and furniture, exposing the house to radioactive contamination. In the absence of an effective assessment of the radioactivity in the house, it is better to move to a safe nuclear shelter as soon as possible.
When the situation is stabilized, medical personnel can assess the extent to which you have been sickened or poisoned by radiation through symptom checking, blood tests, or Geiger counters used to locate radioactive particles. Depending on the severity of the exposure, there are many different types of medical treatment: In addition to decontamination, Prussian
blue and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) can help relieve the symptoms of radiation exposure.
Prussian blue is a dye that binds radioactive elements such as cesium or thallium, which helps the body speed up the elimination of radioactive particles, thus reducing the amount of radiation that cells may absorb, while DTPA binds radioactive metal elements such as plutonium, americium, and curium, which allows the radioactive particles to pass through the urine, also reducing the amount of radiation absorbed.
This accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant does not affect China, so there is absolutely no need to panic. But knowing the exact location of the surrounding human defense facilities can also be helpful in dealing with other disasters, such as earthquakes.
Learn more:
The cartoon in the picture is from Bethesda
Softworks' game "Fallout 3."
For a professional look at Japan's earthquakes and nuclear meltdowns, click on the Nutshell Earthquake feature: