Examines amount of nuclear testing fallout radiation in the atmosphere and its effect on humans and agriculture, and considers measures to combat fallout and its effects. Includes HEW report, "Review of Radionuclides in the Food Chain," by James G. Terrill, Jr., June 3, 1963. (p. 71-201).

“Combines terrific suspense with thoughtful depth. . . . Riveting.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) In the summer of 1962, the possibility of nuclear war is all anyone talks about. But Scott’s dad is the only one in the neighborhood who actually builds a bomb shelter. When the unthinkable happens, neighbors force their way into the shelter before Scott’s dad can shut the door. With not enough room, not enough food, and not enough air, life inside the shelter is filthy, physically draining, and emotionally fraught. But even worse is the question of what will — and won’t — remain when the door is opened again.

This handbook is proposed to replace the portion of the current Handbook for Radiological Monitoring that deals with protection of people in shelters from radiation from fallout resulting from nuclear war. Basic information at a high-school level is given on how to detect nuclear radiation, how to find and improve the safest places in a shelter, the necessity for and how to keep records on individual radiation exposures, and how to minimize exposures. Several new procedures are introduced, some of which are based more on theoretical considerations than on actual experiments. These procedures include: (1) the method of time-averaging radiation readings taken with one instrument in different locations of a large shelter while fallout is coming down and radiation levels are climbing too rapidly for direct comparison of readings to determine the safest location; (2) the method of using one's own body to obtain directionality in radiation readings taken with a standard Civil Defense survey meter; (3) the method of using mutual shielding to reduce the average radiation exposure to shelter occupants; and (4) the ratio method for estimating radiation levels in hazardous areas.

The Symposium on Radionuclides in the Food Chain, sponsored by the Interna tional Life Sciences Institute in association with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, was intended to bring together policymakers and other representatives of the food industry with radiation experts involved in measuring and assessing radioactivity in foodstuffs. The symposium was made timely by the problems arising from the nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl, in the USSR, which brought out the lack of international agreement on guidance for responding to such radionuclide contamination of food and foodstuffs. The presentations by the radiation experts covered the sources of radionu clides-natural radioactivity, fallout from nuclear weapons tests, routine releases from nuclear facilities, and various nuclear accidents. The speakers represented a broad distribution in both scientific disciplines and international geographic origin. They summarized the available data on measurements and indicated the current procedures for assessing radiation exposure. It was hoped that the food industry representatives would bring out the problems posed to industry and governments by the presence of radioactivity in food.