[headquarters]

Q: what to do if a nuke goes of ?

A: the blast and heat wave from a nuclear weapon is hard to protect yourself from.The blast can reach an enormous strength .The heatwave will incinerate anything within the first few hundred meters.Your only real chance of survival is to put distance and cover between yourself and the blast .Very few structuress are rated capable of sustaining direct hits from nukes.(But they do exist).

Protection from radiation is possible however .

These are divided in to two types because its easier.

Initial and residual radiation.

There are several kinds of radiation emitted; these types include gamma, neutron, and ionizing radiation, and are emitted not only at the time of detonation (initial radiation) but also for long periods of time afterward (residual radiation).

Initial nuclear radiation is defined as the radiation that arrives during the first minute after an explosion, and is mostly gamma radiation and neutron radiation. If very close to the blast you dont stand a chance.

There is a bz-zzzap! But what does 2000 rads matter when there is a
C:10000 B:5000 dmg roll to be made by the GM simultanously?


The level of initial nuclear radiation decreases rapidly with distance from the fireball to where less than one roentgen may be received five miles from ground zero.

In addition, initial radiation lasts only as long as nuclear fission occurs in the fireball. Initial nuclear radiation represents about 3 percent of the total energy in a nuclear explosion.

You can shield yourself very effectively by putting some cover or distance between you and the blast .Studies indicate that you can cut your radiation doze from initial radiation by over 99% just by crawling into a deep ditch.A sewer, a cellar , whatever puts the most mass around you is the best bet.
Even a whitepainted plywood door or similar will help .

Duck and cover !!

Though people close to ground zero may receive lethal doses of radiation, they are concurrently being killed by the blast wave and thermal pulse. In typical nuclear weapons, only a relatively small proportion of deaths and injuries result from initial radiation.

Q:What radiation is the one to worry about then ?

A: short answer is fallout.

If you survive the blast and the initial rads,fallout will be a PROBLEM. The first of it will start to come down from the fireball only minutes after the blast .Over the next 24 hours over half will come down .

BUT! the wind and precipitation etc can bring it down sooner or later than this .Some might stay in the stratosphere for years ,falling down and killing someone on the other side of the planet 7 years later.Unpredictable stuff really.

Tiny specs of radiated ashes,dust,waterdrops etc get around with the wind or carried on vehicles,under your boots,in clothing ,in gear..you name it .

The residual radiation from a nuclear explosion is mostly from the radioactive fallout. This radiation comes from the weapon debris, fission products, and, in the case of a ground burst, radiated soil.

It can be in water.It can be in the system of an animal that have drunk the water.It can be in the milk from the cow that looks healthy but drank from the water two days ago...It can be a tiny fragment in your food.You can inhale it as a speck of dust that cant be seen by the eyes alone...

There are over 300 different fission products that may result from a fission reaction. Many of these are radioactive with widely differing half-lives. Some are very short, i.e., fractions of a second, while a few are long enough that the materials can be a hazard for months or years. Their principal mode of decay is by the emission of beta particles and gamma radiation.

A particle passing through your intestines -or worse -lodging itself there - can emit enough radiation to kill ,maim or make you sick.

Fallout can irradiate the skin if it is in the soil you work with or the the dust you crawl through..Keeping out of the rad dust is trendy and high fashion in post apocalyptica.

Q: what to eat and drink ?

A: anything that has been kept away from the residual radiation or fallout is a good bet .Canned goods that have been made BEFORE the blast.Bottled water from BEFORE the blast.Water from underground wells that draw from levels well below ground ( NOT surface water ) ,is more than likely safe too.
The clue is that radioactive fallout is much the same as other pollution or poison -if your food has had no contact with it it is possibly safe.Anything fresh or close to fresh is risky .At least for a few weeks and in some cases -years.Fallout can be washed away by rains etc ,but there will always be a little left .

If no canned /prepackaged goods are available ,some livestock ,greens and tubers/roots are safe.enough.It all comes down to fallout exposure.If you can wash away all fallout ,and peal/skin/clean the food thouroughly it will be safer.Roots and tubers that grow below ground are safest if pealed and cleaned.Stay away from internalø organs,digestionary tracts etc of animals and tissue just below the skin .

Beware of crops that grow in fallout areas- they may absorb strontium-90 from the soil as they grow!If already near harvest time , pick as soon as possible and clean .Do not allow to grow further in contaminated soil.

Animals should not be eaten if they display signs of radiation sickness! Livestock that survive the blast can be eaten if they are fed fodder that is uncontaminated, and you allow enough time to pass.For milk and butter ,eggs etc allow app 14 days and throw out produce from the first few days of exposure.The more time that pass,the safer.Butter etc canbe stored and radiation will dissipate over time.Stayu away from internal organs .These accumulate radiation.

Dont forget -that goes for all pots and pans and utensils too.Metal absorb more radioation due to its mass /density.