Urban Survival - Radioactive Threat from Japan,....Is It Real?

There is some discussion on several of the Survival Forums about radiation protection in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami damage to one of Japan's nuclear energy plants causing radiactive fallout here in the U.S.  I have received more than a couple e-mails asking for information on radiation detection, protection and human propholaxis (such as the postassium iodine tablets). For the people who asked about potassium iodine sources and required doses ,I posted some information earlier on this site,...see it here. But for the record, I am not taking potassium iodine nor do I feel particular threatened by radioactive fallout from the Japanese disasters.

In en effort to put this matter to rest, I am posting an article from Yahoo! News - The Lookout which is also available to read here. I agree with the threat assessment from this article. The only benefit this has caused is to get people thinking more on generally preparedness.

We are much more likely to face radioactive threats from terrorist or terrorist state sponsored introduction and detonation of devices in our ports or on the ground inside this country.

Should Americans worry about radiation from Japan?

The EPA is stepping up efforts to monitor radiation levels in the United States following reports of elevated levels across the country as a result of Japan's nuclear reactor meltdown. Two states—Washington and California—reported finding trace amounts of radiation in milk this week. However, federal officials and nuclear experts have repeatedly assured the public that individuals in the United States do not face increased risk of radiation poisoning.

After the jump, we explore some common questions about the risks of radiation exposure both in the day-to-day and during a nuclear disaster.

How did radiation from Japan make its way into milk produced on the West coast?

Radioactive particles traveled through the atmosphere to the United States, where they settled on grass and in water that was consumed by some cows. The radiation passed through the cows and into the milk.

Should I be worried about radiation exposure from dairy products?

According to both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration, no. The milk samples taken in Washington and California contained radioactive particles at concentrations 5,000 times lower than the limit that the FDA has deemed safe for human consumption. FDA senior scientist Patricia Hansen told CNN that the radiation levels found in recent milk samples are "miniscule" compared to the exposure that people face in their daily lives. What's more, the particles found in the samples come from an isotope known as radioactive iodine, or iodine-131, which has a relatively short lifespan.

Should I be worried about food imported from Japan?

The FDA has banned all imports of fruits, vegetables and dairy products from the area of Japan near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Food products from Japan make up less than 4 percent of all U.S. imports, and the FDA has said that the risks to human health are still low if radiation-tainted products are consumed in moderation. Americans only face risk, the agency says, if they consume excessive amounts of such products.

How much radiation am I exposed to in my daily life?

As Peter Caracappa, a radiation safety officer and professor of nuclear engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute pointed out on NPR recently, radiation is a part of nature. "Everything that's living has some amount of radiation coming from it," noted Caracappa. "Plus there's radiation in the ground and the air."

Where might I encounter radiation in the course of an ordinary day?

Well, bananas, as Caracappa points out, contain radioactive potassium. And as this handy, tongue-in-cheek infographic shows, even sharing a bed with someone for a night will expose you to some radiation (about half the amount found in a single banana).

Is there a type of radiation that's particularly harmful to humans?

Ionizing radiation—the type of radiation people get exposed to in small doses when they receive an X-ray and in much larger doses via a nuclear catastrophe like the one in Japan—is able to alter the chemical makeup of human cells. Cellphones and microwave ovens produce much less harmful forms of non-ionizing radiation (though there has been much discussion about the possibility that radiation from cell phones can affect the brain). Most people are exposed to ionizing radiation through radon gas in the air we breathe.

What is radon?

Radon is a radioactive gas that can cause cancer. According to the EPA, it causes many thousands of deaths each year. It is odorless, has no taste, and is found all over the U.S. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water.

Americans are most at risk of radon exposure at home, particularly in basements, where it can seep in through cracks and holes in a home's foundation. The EPA encourages everyone to test their home for radon, and says that inexpensive radon reduction systems can reduce radon levels in a home by up to 99 percent.

What could exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation do?

Despite conservative firebrand Ann Coulter's recent claims—that exposure to radiation is good for the body, meaning the Japanese will actually benefit from the nuclear meltdown—the biological effects of high levels of radiation exposure are quite severe. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) notes that just about every form of cancer imaginable has been linked to exposure to ionizing radiation.

Is there a level of exposure to ionizing radiation that is considered to be most deadly?

Because everyone reacts to radiation in different ways, the USNRC says that it's "not possible to indicate what dose is needed to be fatal." The most extreme examples of mass exposure to ionizing radiation were the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945 and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Many of the victims in those incidents who were exposed to extremely high doses of ionizing radiation died within days, weeks, or months of radiation poisoning. Such poisoning essentially leads to the bodily organs shutting down one by one. The Mayo clinic chart shown at left illustrates what such radiation poisoning can do to the body.

Is there any chance of someone in the United States contracting radiation poisoning from Japan?

No. Every expert on the subject has unequivocally ruled out such a risk. Americans do face a possible risk of future cancers related to minimal exposure, but even that appears to be an extremely remote possibility at this point. The EPA is seeking to prevent such exposure via increased monitoring of radiation levels in potential sources such as milk, rain, and drinking-water supplies.

Urban Survival - Questions on Survival Priorities

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com receives anywhere from 6 to 15 questions via e-mail each week. I try to, but usually don’t answer all of them. Some I will answer and some of them I turn into articles or posts. However I think it is telling that about 75% of the questions I receive are for Survival weapons or firearms and on the procurement of Silver (and sometimes Gold). I am going to answer the majority of the last few week’s of e-mails in this post.

Question:   Silver is very high now (UrbanMan’s note: currently at $37.81). I can’t afford very much at all. I know I should have bought some when it was around $20 a ounce (or lower), but given the high price and the fact that many analysts think it will not higher, should I spend my sparse survival preparation dollars on Silver?

UrbanMan’s Answer:  Having Silver and/or Gold is important. Not so important to substantially do into debt to procurement or to otherwise leave other categories of survival preparedness empty. Silver may not come back down, at all, so how would you feel three months from now if Silver is $50 an ounce, then you thought “wish I would have bought some Silver when it was $38 an ounce”? I bought the majority of my silver when it ws $4.50 an ounce. Even today I still buy Silver, even though my last purchase was at $35.35 an ounce or so. In another couple weeks, I’ll head down to the brick and mortar store and buy what else I can. It may be 4 ounces,..it may be eight or ten,…not sure yet, but I will still buy some one ounce rounds. Junk silver,..that is pre ’65 silver coins for silver melt value, may also be an option for you. I also have a collection of old U.S. silver coins,….just in case. Isn’t that why we are doing all this survival prep for anyway?,…just in case?

Question:  If I had $1000 to spend on Survival firearms what would be the better way to go? Buy several lower end weapons such as a handgun, shotgun and .22 LR rifle, or, buy a M-4 carbine or battle rifle?

UrbanMan’s Answer:  If I did not have any firearms at all, I would be much more inclined to procure several different firearms to fill the diverse survival needs or protection, hunting and training, and, be able to equip more people with at least one weapon, then I would be spending all of my money earmarked for Survival weapons on one gun. $1000 will certainly buy you an M-4, especially if you shop wisely, however does not leave a lot of money for a stock of ammunition and a decent amount of magazines or other accessories. With that same $1000, you could (again shopping wisely, buy a handgun in a decent caliber (9mm, .40 S&W and such), a 12 gauge shotgun (preferably a pump action) and a .22 LR rifle and have enough money to buy a couple handgun mags and a decent amount of ammunition for all three.

Question:  I am looking at buying a dehydrator. However, I would also like a vacuum packing machine (UrbanMan Notes: Food Saver type device) and a solar oven. How would you prioritize these purchases?

UrbanMan’s Answer:  Good question. My priorities if I did not have any of these items for my survival plan would be: 1 – vacuum packer, 2 – dehydrator, 3 – solar oven, in this order. You can make a field expedient dehydrator and a solar oven, but would be hard to make your own vacuum packer. I use my vacuum packer quite a bit. My vacuum packaged foods are one of many branches of stored food I have stocked for the bad times ahead (MRE's, bulk items, pantry canned goods, dehydrated food in vacuum packed #10 cans and Mainstay bars are others). I can easily make a solar oven, but even then propane and wood cooking will be my mainstay. In fact, put some rice and beans in a zip lock bag or glass jar, fill with water and let stand in the Sun for a few hours will produce a warm, edible meal, especially if you had the foresight to store spices as well. A field expedient dehydrator is easy to make as well. So my priorities would be first the vacuum packer, which I also use to vacuum pack spare clothes and other items for Bug Out Bags or my Survival Gear Kit Bags.

Urban Survival Planning - Reader Question on a Backyard Survival Garden

UrbanSurvivalSkills.comReceived an e-mail from Carol who had the following comments and questions: ”Dear Urban Survival Skills website, We have been looking at your site and others for the past 4 or 5 months after our son in law kind of exposed us to survival preparation. My husband Bill is a Vietnam era crewman on helicopters and no stranger to guns. We both are almost retired completely and are trying to get a bit more prepared in case something does happen like a great depression. We both logically think something bad can happen and may even result in chaos. I bought canning supplies and we have bought several buckets of prepared survival food from Costco and some dehydrated camping meals from the sporting goods store. We are now looking at doing some gardening in our back yard. We live in a suburban area and have a wooden fence around our backyard. We do not have a lot of space to grow vegetables, but certainly want to try just in case we’ll need the food. What suggestions can you give us? Thanks you in advance. Carol. P.S. My husband just loves the map reading how to’s!

UrbanMan’s reply: Great to hear from you Carol. You are doing the right thing trying to be better prepared. Thanks to your son-in-law for that. We have a baseline checklist in the Survival Preparation World,…Food-Water-Shelter and Protection. Got to cover all the basic areas.

All are important. Glad to see you stocking food and desiring to grow some of your own. Hope it won’t come to the point that you have to rely on what you have stored and what you can grow, but “better have it and not need it, then not have it at all.”

A great book is “Square Foot Gardening: by Mel Bartholomew”. It’s all about gardening tips and techniques using containers in your back yard. You don’t have to buy special containers. With your imagination you can figure it out as long as you consider drainage, exposure to the Sun, water and soil requirements, etc. That’s where the book comes in handy.

Currently I have just planted green beans, two different types of squash, cucumbers, beets, egg plant, corn. And will soon plant some carrots, potatoes and tomatoes,…..although I wanted to stay away from the root vegetables because of the soil and depth requirements. I have found that squash is the easiest to grow,…or maybe I’m just having great luck at it. I grow some monster squash and it’s last quite awhile after harvesting.

It would be great if the residents in your neighborhood could all grow vegetables and have some sort of exchange. In fact, knocking on doors in your neighborhood and giving away some vegetables may be a way to get to know people better and perhaps get them started in prepping.

I am growing vegetables in the nooks and crannies of my backyard. Where I had flower beds, I now have vegetable beds. The corn is growing up along side my fence, so it doesn’t take much room at all.

I have purchased several large orders of non-hybrid seeds, but have quite a bit of hybrid seeds and am using those for my pre-collapse survival garden.

I am not a farmer by any means, just am developing some survival skills in this area, but would have to say that growing and producing your own food is a great feeling. Good luck to you Carol and Bill.

Urban Survival Firearms - Is Weapons and Ammunition Standardization a Good Thing?

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received an e-mail question from someone with the call sign Rucksack 42: "UrbanSurvivalguy, would like your opinion of a group standardizing weapons and ammo. My group decided that everyone needed an AR. I was pushing for an M1A1 as the standard gun, but the group voted me down. No sweat, I also have an AR built as a long range varmint gun. One of the guys in the group has a Mini-14 and since it’s in .223 everybody said he was cool. I am the most knowledgeable in the group about guns and shooting as well as the only war veteran ( Afghanistan , 2 tours as an 11B…that’s an Infantryman). I am suggesting a standard round for everyone to buy a minimum amount of. My thinking is that if everyone has different ammunition and zero’ed for that ammunition, that different ammunition will change accuracy if used in other guns. What do you think would be the best .223 round to stock as standard?” Same question on handguns. I have three 9mm and some of the guys don’t own a handgun. One gun says no matter what he is going to carry his .41 magnum." /

UrbanMan replies: Rucksack, great questions. As you know the first rule of a gun fight is to have a gun. Second rule is now how to use it effectively. Another fact is survival is a team sport and you all are doing the right things raising these questions, thinking of standardization and such.

You are right about ammunition standardization. But the great thing about the AR platforms is that there are many different bullet configurations to pick appropriately for the mission,..or rather the intended target. The most prolific bullet weight is the 55 grain FMJ and this is the “all around” round. I would suggest this round, but have a stock of the military 62 grain steel core penetrator (SS109 bullet) for addressing vehicle threats or threats in body armor. Tracers may be handy as well. There are many more as well. So if I had to make one recommendation I would say the 55 grain FMJ and the 62 grain SS109. Zero with the 55 grain and know the different with the other. A minimum amount would be 1,000 rds per gun, although I stock well more than that for my AR’s, but considerable less for my odd guns (bolts, levers, etc.)

As far as accuracy is concerned, less different bullet weights and manufacture will change accuracy. But maybe not enough for your more in-experienced shooters to even determine. Still standardization a good idea.

Same answer for handguns….standardization a good thing, but having a handgun, and a good supply of ammunition on hand, more important. I answered another Urban Survival Group who made handguns in 9mm a requirements and then Survival Group members had their choice of a rifle (any caliber) or shotgun (12 gauge). They had reached their pain threshold and were not willing to either spend more money or make stricter requirements. But they are much better off than a lot of people, as they understood Survival is a Team Sport, and at least they thought about and considered some sort of minimum requirement.

Hey, don’t forget about the .22 either! And my last comment is that various rifles and handguns in odd or non-group standard calibers can be a good thing as it gives you a wider ability to barter for ammunition, use ammunition you “find” and so on.

Good luck Rucksack. By the way, I know what an 11B is,..I was one among other MOS’es. And thank you for your service to this country…I hope you don't think it was for naught – cause it wasn’t!