3 FEET OF DIRT FOR SURVIVAL

Year Published: 1955

Format: 16mm

Description: Produced by Byron for the Office of Civil Defense, this 1955-vintage film illustrates some of the FACTS ABOUT FALLOUT from nuclear explosions. It was originally screened at community meetings and a pamphlet with the same name handed out. The film includes the infamous statement at the 7:15 mark that "3 feet of dirt" above your fallout shelter is all you need to survive. In an era before the hydrogen bomb, such a statement was not altogether ludicrous but once the H-bomb was a reality, death was all but certain. Still, for a brief time, assurances such as these spurred many Americans to construct shelters in their backyards and underneath their homes. The film does concede that radiation can make a person sick and even kill them. The three best defenses as illustrated in the film are distance, mass, and time. In other words, get as far from the fallout as possible, which may mean going to the middle of a large building rather than near its outside; have concrete and other materials between you and fallout; and, allow for the fact that radioactive material loses its potency over time: e.g., two weeks after an explosion, it's at 1/1000th of its initial strength. Fallout shelters are the best civil defense: the federal government has a program to ensure adequate fallout shelters for all. In the United States, the sheer power of nuclear weapons and the perceived likelihood of such an attack, precipitated a greater response than had yet been required of civil defense. Civil defense, something previously considered an important and common sense step, also became divisive and controversial in the charged atmosphere of the Cold War. In 1950, the National Security Resources Board created a 162-page document outlining a model civil defense structure for the U.S. Called the "Blue Book" by civil defense professionals in reference to its solid blue cover, it was the template for legislation and organization that occurred over the next 40 years. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the Cold War civil defense effort was the educational effort made or promoted by the government. In Duck and Cover, Bert the Turtle advocated that children "duck and cover" when they "see the flash." Booklets were also common place such as Survival Under Atomic Attack, Fallout Protection and Nuclear War Survival Skills. The transcribed radio program Stars for Defense combined hit music with civil defense advice. Public service announcements including children's songs were created by government institutes and then distributed and released by radio stations to educate the public in case of nuclear attack. The United States and Soviet Union/Russia nuclear stockpiles, in total number of nuclear bombs/warheads in existence throughout the Cold War and post-Cold War era. However total deployed US & "Russian" strategic weapons(ready for use) were far less than this, reaching a maximum of about 10,000 apiece in the 1980s. The US President Kennedy(1961-63) launched an ambitious effort to install fallout shelters throughout the United States. These shelters would not protect against the blast and heat effects of nuclear weapons, but would provide some protection against the radiation effects that would last for weeks and even affect areas distant from a nuclear explosion. In order for most of these preparations to be effective, there had to be some degree of warning. In 1951, Control of Electromagnetic Radiation was established. Under the system, a few primary stations would be alerted of an emergency and would broadcast an alert. All broadcast stations throughout the country would be constantly listening to an upstream station and repeat the message, thus passing it from station to station.

Complete Record:

Transcription

all-out an increasingly important word in the atomic and hydrogen age a word that often causes questions uneasy speculation about what it is and what we can do about it the facts from federal civil defense tell us that fallout could hurt you might even kill you but that knowledge of a few simple rules and definite precautions might save your life you of course are more than one person you're an entire family made up of all the people who are puzzled by fallout but who will be able to cope with it effectively when you know what to do but initially your puzzle concern is understandable because fallout seems mysterious although actually it is not but it is true that you can't taste it you can't hear it can't smell it can't feel it often you can't even see it so it's no wonder you're a bit perplexed ready to ask civil defense well what about it mister what is this fallout stuff the answer is simply this when an enemy a bomb or an h-bomb explodes close to the ground thousands of tons of earth and debris would be sucked upward sometimes to 80 thousand feet or more they help form the mushroom cloud fallout is nothing more than particles of matter in the air made radioactive by nuclear explosions the larger radioactive particles spill out in the immediate area of the explosion right away but others although you may not see them may be carried by the upper winds for many miles sooner or later however they settled to earth this is fallout and it can be very dangerous if you don't know what to do about it well do you know what to do about it grandpa not yet young man but I will what I'd like to know is what's the relationship of this fallout to the other aspects of an atomic explosion okay grandpa to get that answer let's go back to the explosion there are four major characteristics of an a-bomb or h-bomb explosive they are blast heat initial radiation and residual radiation the last of these residual radiation is given off by the fallout from the explosion the first three occur almost simultaneously depending on how far you are from the point of explosion your chief protection from these would be the distance you are from the center of the explosion plus adequate shelter but radioactive fallout will fall back to earth over a much larger area than that affected by heat blast and initial radiation the radioactive cloud would spread mostly downwind from the explosion winds at all altitudes particularly those in the upper atmosphere would carry the fallout over a large area the size of the area and the distance would depend on the size of the bomb and the speed and direction of the winds fallout in dangerous concentrations can be carried by the winds for 200 miles or more this is important to remember son because most of us live within 200 miles of a city whose destruction might be important to an enemy and while fallout loses some of its radioactivity before it eventually reaches the ground it's still dangerous to you and your family even for days weeks or longer after the explosion it's a threat not only to humans but also to animals and crops and to the people who depend on them it can contaminate your home car yard and water supply normally these could not be used until the radiation had decayed to an acceptable level or they had been decontaminated all this clear so far sister sure but you've talked about fallout from enemy bombing now how about fallout from our own testing of atomic weapons in the father that I read about in the newspaper our government very carefully tests only small nuclear devices in the United States these tests are not conducted unless weather conditions are favorable and there will be no danger to animals crops property industry or people the scientists check weather conditions carefully to assure that the small amounts of fallout carried by the winds travel only over open country away from people well I'm still worried about people my people my family how do we protect ourselves from fallout from enemy bombing there is defense against radioactive fallout shelter almost any kind of cover will afford some protection just getting indoors can cut the radiation hazard in half in an alert civil defense officials will tell you what to do to protect yourselves prediction of the fallout area will be made by civil defense and weather bureau personnel so that people in those areas where fallout might occur can be given advance warning outside the actual bombs on your survival chances against dangerous fallout are excellent if you take suitable shelter one of your best protections is an outdoor underground shelter covered with at least three feet of earth the earth will cut the radiation rate inside to approximately one five thousand of the rate above ground it's important to get under cover fast it may be a day or even a week before it's safe to come out except for short periods depending on the radiation level another good bet is a basement shelter where the radiation level would be 110 or even less of that outside your shelter would meet the specifications recommended in the FC da publications if you don't have a prepared shelter your basement alone will offer considerable protection and if your house has no basement close the windows and stay on the first floor in an ordinary frame house the fallout radiation level would be only about one-half of what it would be outdoors in a brick or stone house it would be even less but if you're caught in open country almost any kind of cover will give you some protection against the worst effects of get into a barn a car under trees anything and stay there until you get word to come out in a pinch dig a foxhole and make a cover of branches or board don't let radioactive dust touch your skin of course you can't stock a foxhole but you can stock you're prepared shelter in advance with a seven-day supply of food water two gallons for each person and an extra gallon for junior blankets first-aid kit flashlight with extra batteries and a battery operated radio so you can receive civil-defense instructions as to when it's safe to come out remember dangerous radioactive fallout is like dust and can be removed like dust leave your badly contaminated clothing outside until radiation decays before washing them wash with soap and water take a shower if possible uncovered food or water which might have been contaminated should not be used wash on open containers before opening the food will be safe perhaps you can sweep roofs or flush them with a wholeness but only after you've been instructed by your civil defense radiological monitor so these are the facts that should reassure and encourage you encourage families all over America and the facts mostly hinge on effective use of shelters learn about shelters and other means by which you can protect yourself and your family from radioactive fallout available at your local civil defense headquarters be ready to assist in defense preparations in your community if your help is needed for Fallout is only one of the problems which the nation must be prepared to meet if it is to survive in the nuclear age

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