By Jenni Hesterman – What if the bad guys are somehow able to defeat us and set off a nuclear weapon in downtown LA? Not a dirty bomb, but an actual 10 kiloton nuclear device that results in the stereotypical mushroom cloud over the city.
How should first responders plan for this attack? What are the key actions that should be taken in the first hour, the second hour and beyond? How can we educate our public on what to do in the event of this attack?
This briefing was conducted at the Radiological or Nuclear Incident & Clinical Application Seminar. It is presented by Brooke Buddemeier from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and Global Security. Buddemeier works with DHS on preparation of cities for a nuclear detonation. He is a Certified Health Physicist and radiation safety specialist.
I think you will agree this is an eye opening presentation and I encourage you to watch it from beginning to end and absorb some critical information we don’t often see in the public domain.
Some key points:
Technical:
- A 10 KT detonation gives of the light of 1,000 midday suns up to a mile away for about 15 seconds
- A 10 KT detonation is the equivalent of 5000 Oklahoma City truck bombs
- Creates a 600 foot crater
- 3 miles out of from the epicenter, glass is still breaking in buildings -800,000 people in LA affected within the 3 mile circle
But, it’s not all bad news – if you can get to shelter you could survive the fallout and there is particle decay as time goes by.
Read Full Article – Counter Terror Forum
Jenni Hesterman - Counter Terror Forum
Jenni Hesterman is a retired Air Force colonel, a contributing editor for The Counter Terrorist magazine, a full professor of counter terrorism studies at American Military University and a senior Analyst for the MASY Group, a global intelligence and risk management firm.
In addition to this, she is the author of the blog: www.counterterrorforum.com and contributor to National Terror Alert.
Her blog, Counter Terror Forum highlights items of interest regarding threats to national security, terrorism, transnational crime, organized crime, and gangs.
The site also serves to support the law enforcement and intelligence community with open source reporting and analysis.
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DEFENSE TO NUCLEAR ATTACK IN LOS ANGELES
The situation is bad with many random variables and little certainty. Some suggested points of action for citizens when under Nuclear Attack:
The Flash Moment:
Sensing a BLINDING LIGHT:
DIVE for COVER to also avoid blast shrapnel and infrared radiation burns. As frequently counseled: Do not look at the Sun; do not look at the Blinding Light.
If your clothing catches fire, that is OK, you are alive, just roll on the ground to put it out.
The initial radioactivity is not as important as the blast: for if you are close enough to get a high radioactive dose, then you are close enough to be vaporized. Put on your latex gloves, First aiders/ responders would have these on their person. You don’t want to later touch any radioactive dust. Having a dust mask and eye goggles would be helpful (in any blast crisis). If you carry a hat and a fold up pocket plastic raincoat, put them on, it will prevent radioactive particles from getting close to your skin. Rubber boots or rubber galoshes to fit over shoes would be good, but who carries those in these fashionable times? Making body covers with plastic, say garbage bags is useful. Think of safety procedures in an asbestos dust environment. Stay away from panic and maniacs as they will get you killed. With pre-warning, taking iodine tablets is a help to prevent radioactive Iodine 131 induced thyroid cancer.
In the Car:
If in a Car and close to the blast center, upon the brilliant flash of light, turn you car side-on to the blast and its blast particles, duck down and wind/ get down all the side windows (both sides). Wait for the first Blast wave to rush through. Stay down until the second (suction) wave rushes through your car going back to the Blast Center. Now wind up your windows, hopefully the glass is intact and you can seal in. Before you move off: Work out your route out of the area in consideration that panic and traffic will jam all major routes outward from ground Zero.
Evacuation:
As the blast will not be in the air but at ground level, it will be a ‘dirty’ bomb, dirty in that radioactive fallout from ground particles sucked up into the cloud will later fall on the landscape. Depending on weather conditions, the mushroom cloud particles should start falling within say half an hour. Once it has fallen, as the dust will be ordinary and not glowing it may be difficult to see it. It is best to seek shelter and seal off air access as best you can, rather than wander around till you actually pass through the radioactive dust that it is so important to avoid. This is where a radio comes in handy. By procedures, instrumented teams should enter the region taking radioactive readings to ascertain just where the fallout has settled and broadcasting to the public where to go and where not to go. That will take time. Keep a small radio with you plus extra batteries to receive these messages. The government might also broadcast to mobile phones, if it has set a system up to do so. Electronic equipment, mobile phones may be affected by the blast.
In Los Angeles:
For Los Angeles, if you are near the coast during a fair weather day and the blast occurs in the morning, the general low level wind direction will be towards the coast. If evacuating therefore go away from Ground Zero and towards inland (but best to listen to government directions). If the ballast occurs in the afternoon: the general low level wind direction will be towards the inland, so therefore evacuate away from Ground Zero and towards the coast. To avoid radioactive fallout much depends on wind direction, so observe or obtain information on that if you can. Knowing your daily local wind/ weather forecast in advance is a plus.
In Summary:
Avoid the Light and the Blast. You can get radioactive later: if stupid enough to wander through a radioactive cloud/ particle area. Stay deep in solid shelter if you can find it. Obey the authorities.