Does anyone know where to hide if sirens sound?
Nuclear reactors could provide power almost indefinitely. Greenhouses could maintain plant life. Animals could be bred and slaughtered. A quick survey would have to be made of all the available mine sites in the country, but I would guess that dwelling space for several hundred thousands of our people could easily be provided.
A computer could be set and programmed to accept factors from youth, health, sexual fertility, intelligence, and a cross-section of necessary skills. Of course, it would be absolutely vital that our top government and military men be included to foster and impart the required principles of leadership and tradition. Naturally, they would breed prodigiously. There would be much time, and little to do. With the proper breeding techniques and a ratio of say, ten females to each male, I would guess that they could then work their way back to the present Gross National Product within say, twenty years.
https://ia800501.us.archive.org/35/items/NuclearWarSurvivalS...
I'm no expert, but I think the general idea is: don't be caught out in the open when the blasts go off -- you're likely to be blinded and/or burned even before the shock wave gets to you.
If you survive the initial blast, then "skyshine" becomes the main threat. Radioactive elements resulting from the nuclear reaction emit gamma rays that can go through most materials including walls. Best bet is to either be underground or under something made of cement. Basements generally aren't very good shelter, but you might be able to improvise something workable -- like hiding under a sturdy table surrounded and covered by sand bags or whatever dense materials are immediately at hand.
Fires also might be a problem. You might be forced to leave your shelter if everything is burning.
The worst radiation is in the first hour or so, and unfortunately that's time you'd normally be spending trying to get somewhere safe or improvising shelter. It falls off over the next few days or weeks. It's hard to know exactly when it's safe to come out without a device to measure gamma radiation (which can actually be built out of basic materials) or government reports which you might be able to receive by radio or something.
Radioactive ash is a problem. Use masks to avoid breathing it in, and don't eat or drink anything that might be contaminated. Peeling fruit is usually good enough. If you can leave the area, it's probably a good idea to wash yourself thoroughly and throw away your contaminated clothes.
Being near a nuclear blast isn't necessarily certain death. For some people it will be, but there will always be a large radius around the blast where people could survive if they're reasonably lucky and/or do the right things.
If there's a confirmed warhead inbound, I'm standing on a rooftop. I don't want to live in the hellscape that'll follow.
If you're outside 10 minutes after the blast, and it starts snowing, you've probably already gotten a fatal dose and will likely die a painful death from acute radiation syndrome within the next two weeks.
JUST GO INSIDE
Concrete? Brick? Can you just get behind a 6 inch concrete wall and you are OK from the flash and heat wave? What if you dive under the water (in a pool or whatnot)?
Jumping in a pool won't help much if you're in the big part of a pressure wave, I'd guess, since the water would probably all be removed.
Anywhere near a 20 psi overpressure thermonuclear blast near the target is going to be rough. Survivors will likely be on the outskirts of wherever it hits, being honest.
The amount more powerful a modern big fusion bomb is than what we dropped on Japan in 1945 boggles the mind. It's almost impossible to conceive of how bad they are.
Like, if a huge one was dropped on San Fran, about a million people would be dead immediately, plus some unknown potentially large number more due to fallout.
Simulated map here:
https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/?&kt=2300&lat=37.7564509&...
Past that, food becomes a meaningful issue since your topsoil is quite irradiated.
You will probably have a shorter lifespan by a decade or so but obviously much longer than perishing immediately.
Some of the architects of the war might survive in their hardened bunkers, if they are out of the way enough. I'm of a mind that they should not be allowed to outlive their constituents, but this does not seem to be a popular opinion.
Even experienced hunters have bad days. Hunting requires cooking and hunting is a riskier activity for injury. Nobody is around immediately post nuke to sew you back together.
Prepped wisdom is to have a bag ready to go with everything you need to survive for 24 hours after a major incident.
Suddenly a lot of people are going to find wisdom in the second amendment.