Word: blasted
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...pulses within a few seconds and would incinerate virtually everything within a five-mile radius. Although fog or industrial smog would greatly decrease the effect, exposed persons would suffer third-degree burns out to ten miles and blistering out to 15. Within seconds after the heat would come the blast wave; reinforced-concrete buildings might remain standing within five miles of ground zero, but conventional frame structures would probably be wrecked up to ten miles away. Flying shards of glass and other debris could kill thousands; even human bodies, catapulted by the blast, could become deadly missiles...
...against radiation that shelters can be most effective. Given between 30 minutes' and an hour's warning of a 150-city thermonuclear attack, an adequate national system of fallout shelters might well cut the death rate from 160 million to 85 million; add an effective blast-shelter system, and the number of deaths could drop to 25 million...
...week supply of both water and food. For drinking, one quart of water per shelter occupant per day is considered necessary; in addition, another daily half-gallon per person is recommended for washing and other sanitation purposes. Although water should be stored in plastic or metal containers-blast might break glass bottles-anything would do in an emergency. The food should be imperishable or long-lasting, and neither salty nor sweet, to inhibit thirst. Says Margaret Moore, nutritionist for the Louisiana Board of Health: "Keep a few canned vegetables you can eat cold, to conserve fuel supply. Decide which canned...
...some areas, special equipment is necessary. Underground shelters in New Orleans, because of the city's high water table, should be watertight or equipped with water pumps. Since a nuclear blast would almost certainly wreck the Mississippi River levees and flood the city, "coning towers," to assure ventilation above the floodline (and also periscope surveillance of the outside) are standard features of New Orleans shelters...
...showcase industrial shelter has been developed by Rohm & Haas, manufacturers of plastics and chemicals, at their Bristol, Pa., plant and at factories in Philadelphia, Knoxville, Tenn., and Houston. The reinforced-concrete shelters protect against blast as well as fallout. The Bristol shelter lies under 40 inches of radiation-resistant material, can house and feed 1.500 employees for two weeks. Water is drawn from underground wells, and a pulsating communications center is equipped to send and receive short-wave messages. The shelter can withstand blast and fallout from a 20-megaton bomb five miles away...