Scientists undertook a study to find the safest location to hide in a “moderate damage zone,” the region where concrete buildings don’t collapse, in event of a nuclear assault after Russian President Vladimir Putin regularly discussed the threat of nuclear war in recent months.
“As for the idea that Russia wouldn’t use such weapons first under any circumstances, then it means we wouldn’t be able to be the second to use them either – because the possibility to do so in case of an attack on our territory would be very limited. Nevertheless, we have a strategy… namely, as a defense, we consider weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons – it is all based around the so-called retaliatory strike. That is, when we are struck, we strike in response,” Putin stated in December.
Saying, “Russia will use all the instruments at its disposal to counter a threat against its territorial integrity—this is not a bluff,” Putin issued the frightening statement, in mid-September.
The analysis concluded that “Obviously, near the nuclear bomb detonation, the devastation would be widespread, and the fatality rate would be practically 100%. However, outside of the severe damage zone (SDZ), the effect of the blast reduces and survivability increases,” as researchers at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, who used computer modeling to simulate a nuclear blast explosion of a 750 kT atomic warhead.
The study states, “The force hitting a standing person indoors is equivalent to several g-forces of body mass acceleration and could lift a person off the ground and throw them to the walls.”
The researchers advise that in the event of a nuclear attack, people should remain inside a concrete structure and, if they must hide in a hallway, they should do so in a corner as opposed to the middle because “the supersonic shock waves arising from the blast undergo expansion as they enter a room through an opening leading to channeling effects.” The researchers note, “the results show that most of the air is directed toward the corridor rather than through the opposite room’s door, leading to high airspeed developed in rooms further down the aisle.”
Author Dimitris Drikakis told The Daily Mail, he said, “If people see the explosion from far away they have to take shelter ASAP.”
In addition, he said, “before our study, the danger to people inside a concrete-reinforced building that withstands the blast wave was unclear.”
Sources: DailyWire, TheDailyMail, Aip.scitation.org, WSJ, CNN