Editing Nuclear fallout (section)

===United States government guides for fallout protection===
[[File:Risks hazards A State by State Guide FEMA196 0017-map.jpg|thumb|One of many possible fallout patterns mapped by the United States [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] that could occur during a nuclear war (based on 1988 data)]]
The United States government, often the [[Office of Civil Defense]] in the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]], provided guides to fallout protection in the 1960s, frequently in the form of booklets. These booklets provided information on how to best survive nuclear fallout.<ref name="protection">{{cite book |title=Fallout Protection: What to Know and Do About Nuclear Attack |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015041235329;view=1up;seq=3 |via=Hathi Trust Digital Library |series=Its &#91;Handbook&#93; H-6 |year=1961 |publisher=Department of Defense, Office of Civil Defense |access-date=April 11, 2019 |archive-date=October 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008184936/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015041235329;view=1up;seq=3 |url-status=live }}</ref> They also included instructions for various [[fallout shelter]]s, whether for a family, a hospital, or a school shelter were provided.<ref name="school1">{{cite book |title=School Shelter; An Approach to Fallout Protection |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015041235329;view=1up;seq=3 |via=Hathi Trust Digital Library |series=Its &#91;Handbook&#93; H-6 |year=1961 |publisher=Department of Defense, Office of Civil Defense |access-date=April 11, 2019 |archive-date=October 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008184936/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015041235329;view=1up;seq=3 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="school3">{{cite book |last1=Mann |first1=Albert |title=A Guide to Fallout Protection for New York State Schools |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924013369107;view=1up;seq=2 |via=Hathi Trust Digital Library |publisher=Cornell University |access-date=April 11, 2019 |archive-date=January 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125090748/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924013369107;view=1up;seq=2;a=zoom:1 |url-status=live }}</ref> There were also instructions for how to create an improvised fallout shelter, and what to do to best increase a person's chances for survival if they were unprepared.<ref name="protection2">{{cite book |title=Fallout Protection for Homes with Basements |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015041763437;view=1up;seq=7 |via=Hathi Trust Digital Library |series=H-12 |publisher=Department of Defense, Office of Civil Defense |access-date=April 11, 2019 |date=1967-07-28 |archive-date=2022-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125090749/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/imgsrv/html?id=mdp.39015041763437;seq=7 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The central idea in these guides is that materials like concrete, soil, and sand are necessary to shield a person from fallout particles and radiation. A significant amount of materials of this type are necessary to protect a person from fallout radiation, so safety clothing cannot protect a person from fallout radiation.<ref name="protection2" /><ref name="protection" /> However, protective clothing can keep fallout particles off a person's body, but the radiation from these particles will still permeate through the clothing. For safety clothing to be able to block the fallout radiation, it would have to be so thick and heavy that a person could not function.<ref name="protection" />

These guides indicated that fallout shelters should contain enough resources to keep its occupants alive for up to two weeks.<ref name="protection" /> Community shelters were preferred over single-family shelters. The more people in a shelter, the greater quantity and variety of resources that shelter would be equipped with. These communities’ shelters would also help facilitate efforts to recuperate the community in the future.<ref name="protection" /> Single family shelters should be built below ground if possible. Many different types of fallout shelters could be made for a relatively small amount of money.<ref name="protection" /><ref name="protection2" /> A common format for fallout shelters was to build the shelter underground, with solid concrete blocks to act as the roof. If a shelter could only be partially underground, it was recommended to mound over that shelter with as much soil as possible. If a house had a basement, it is best for a fallout shelter to be constructed in a corner of the basement.<ref name="protection" /> The center of a basement is where the most radiation will be because the easiest way for radiation to enter a basement is from the floor above.<ref name="protection2" /> Two of the walls of the shelter in a basement corner will be the basement walls that are surrounded by soil outside. Cinder blocks filled with sand or soil were highly recommended for the other two walls.<ref name="protection2" /> Concrete blocks, or some other dense material, should be used as a roof for a basement fallout shelter because the floor of a house is not an adequate roof for a [[fallout shelter]].<ref name="protection2" /> These shelters should contain water, food, tools, and a method for dealing with human waste.<ref name="protection2" />

If a person did not have a shelter previously built, these guides recommended trying to get underground. If a person had a basement but no shelter, they should put food, water, and a waste container in the corner of the basement.<ref name="protection2" /> Then items such as furniture should be piled up to create walls around the person in the corner.<ref name="protection2" /> If the underground cannot be reached, a tall apartment building at least ten miles from the blast was recommended as a good fallout shelter. People in these buildings should get as close to the center of the building as possible and avoid the top and ground floors.<ref name="protection" />

Schools were the preferred fallout shelters according to the Office of Civil Defense.<ref name="school3" /><ref name="school1" /> Schools, not including universities, contained around one-quarter of the population of the United States when they were in session at that time.<ref name="school1" /> The distribution of schools across the nation reflected the population density, and they were often the most suitable building in a community to act as a fallout shelter. Schools also already had organization with leaders in place.<ref name="school1" /> The Office of Civil Defense recommended altering current schools and the construction of future schools to include thicker walls and roofs, better-protected electrical systems, a purifying ventilation system, and a protected water pump.<ref name="school3" /> The Office of Civil Defense determined that around 10 square feet of net area per person were necessary in schools that were to function as a fallout shelter. A normal classroom could provide 180 people with area to sleep.<ref name="school1" /> If an attack were to happen, all the unnecessary furniture was to be moved out of the classrooms to make more room for people.<ref name="school1" /> It was recommended to keep one or two tables in the room if possible to use as a food-serving station.<ref name="school1" />

The Office of Civil Defense conducted four case studies to find the cost of turning four standing schools into fallout shelters and what their capacity would be. The cost of the schools per occupant in the 1960s were $66.00, $127.00, $50.00, and $180.00.<ref name="school1" /> The capacity of people these schools could house as shelters were 735, 511, 484, and 460 respectively.<ref name="school1" />

The US Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in coordination with other agencies concerned with public protection in the aftermath of a nuclear detonation have developed more recent guidance documents that build on the older Civil Defense frameworks. Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation was published in 2022 and provided in-depth analysis and response planning for local government jurisdictions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Federal Emergency Management Agency |first=(FEMA) |date=2022-07-07 |title=Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation, Third Edition |url=https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_nuc-detonation-planning-guide.pdf}}</ref>