A US Navy nuclear test on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
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Some experts are concerned about President Vladimir Putin and whether he may be willing to use nuclear force to achieve his aims.
If a nuclear bomb were headed toward the US, residents would have 30 minutes or less to shelter.
Actions immediately following a blast, like showering or staying indoors, could save your life.
As Russian forces take losses on the battlefield in Ukraine, fears are growing that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has made repeated threats, could resort to nuclear force. US leadership, among others, has warned of the risk of nuclear war and pushed for de-escalation.
Putin said he would use “all available means” to defend Russian territory — which he claims includes parts of eastern Ukraine — in the same breath baselessly accusing the West of “nuclear blackmail.” He has said that his willingness to escalate is “not a bluff.”
Though US officials say they have no evidence that Russia is moving any nuclear assets, on October 6 President Joe Biden raised the possibility of a nightmare scenario: an all-out nuclear war. He doubled down in a CNN interview on October 11, saying that while he didn’t think it would happen, “mistakes” and “miscalculations” could “end in Armageddon.”
Some expert observers see Putin’s rhetoric as an attempt to scare away Western support for Ukraine, while others take it as a significant increase in the risk of nuclear attacks. One historian called this moment more threatening than the Cuban missile crisis.
In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, Vladimir Putin gestures as he addresses the nation in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, September 21, 2022.
Russian Presidential Press Service via AP
A nuclear attack remains highly unlikely, but it’s not out of the question, experts say.
Russia’s nuclear arsenal is capable of striking just about anywhere on the planet. Were Russia to launch a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile at the US, residents would have roughly 30 minutes, or less, to find shelter, assuming they were immediately warned of the attack. Some weapons, such as submarine-launched missiles, could potentially have shorter delivery times. If Russia launched a weapon from international waters just off the East Coast, people in cities like New York, Boston, and Washington, DC, might have just 10 to 15 minutes to prepare.
“You wouldn’t even have time to go get your kids from school,” Irwin Redlener, a public-health expert at Columbia University who specializes in disaster preparedness, told Insider earlier this year.
The minutes to hours after a nuclear blast are a critical window. The potential for radiation exposure decreases 55% an hour after an explosion and 80% after 24 hours, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Immediate actions during those first few hours, like covering your eyes or hunkering down in an indoor shelter, could mitigate your risk of death or serious injury. Here’s how to protect yourself in a worst-case scenario.
First 30 minutes: Avert your eyes and shield your face
A fan shields their eyes during sunset at Glastonbury Festival in the UK.
Mick Hutson/Redferns
The US doesn’t have a sufficient warning system for nuclear threats, Redlener said.
Hawaii learned this lesson in 2018, when the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency sent out an erroneous push alert to people’s smartphones, warning of an inbound ballistic-missile threat.
“Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill,” the warning read. An employee at the agency had sent the alert by mistake.
A combination photograph shows screenshots from a cell phone displaying an alert for a ballistic missile launch and the subsequent false alarm message in Hawaii January 13, 2018.
Hugh Gentry/Reuters
“It caused chaos,” Redlener said, adding: “Some people just totally ignored it, and some people went into panic mode and were jumping down sewer drains with their children.”
Redlener said the best way to learn of an impending nuclear attack would probably be TV or radio. Those without immediate access to news reports could hear sirens, he said, but the noise might be confusing. By the time you googled the sirens or called the police department, your time would have run out, he said.
The best course of action is simply to avert your eyes. When a nuclear bomb strikes, it sets off a flash of light and a giant orange fireball. A 1-megaton bomb (about 80 times larger than the “Little Boy” atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan) could temporarily blind people up to 13 miles away on a clear day and up to 53 miles away on a clear night.
People demonstrate taking shelter with their hands covering their eyes and ears while keeping their mouth open, during a drill in Taipei, Taiwan, July 22, 2022.
Ann Wang/Reuters
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends dropping to the ground with your face down and your hands tucked under your body to protect from flying debris or sweltering heat that could burn your skin. If you have a scarf or handkerchief, cover your nose and mouth.
But make sure to keep your mouth open, so your eardrums don’t burst from pressure.
First 45 minutes: Seek shelter indoors away from windows
People attend an excursion at the Underground Sevastopol museum at a functioning nuclear bunker in Sevastopol, Crimea, on October 16, 2018.
Sergei Malgavko/TASS/Getty Images
A single nuclear weapon could result in tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of immediate deaths in a major city like New York or Washington. The number of casualties depends on the size of the weapon, where it’s detonated, and how many people are upwind of the blast.
Survivors of a nuclear attack would have about 15 minutes before sandlike radioactive particles, known as nuclear fallout, reached the ground. Exposure to fallout can result in radiation poisoning, which can damage the body’s cells and prove fatal.
A sign for a nuclear fallout shelter on a residential block in Brooklyn.
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People should ideally look for shelter in the opposite direction of fallen buildings.
“You’d want to go in the direction away from the wind,” Redlener said, adding: “Get as far away as you can in the next 10 to 15 minutes, and then immediately seek shelter before the radiation cloud descends.”
The best shelters are buildings like schools or offices with few to no windows and a basement for camping out. If there aren’t sturdy buildings nearby, it’s still better to be indoors than outside.
If you take cover in a multistory building, choose a central location and steer clear of the top and bottom floors. If the building has windows, stand in the center of a room. Shock waves can shatter windows up to 10 miles away from an explosion, resulting in flying glass that could injure people nearby.
First 24 hours: Rinse off in the shower and stay inside until further notice
People who were outside during an explosion should shower as soon as possible.
Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
The hours after a blast are critical for reducing radiation exposure.
Doctors can often treat radiation damage with substances such as potassium iodide, though “there are certain dose levels that you can’t do anything about,” Kathryn Higley, a professor of nuclear science at Oregon State University, told Insider.
But in a disaster scenario, there may not be enough physicians or hospital beds to care for everyone.
“There are not enough empty burn beds in all of the United States to deal with even a single nuclear attack on one city in the US,” Tara Drozdenko, the director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Global Security Program, told Insider.
People who were outside during an explosion should shower as soon as possible, making sure the water is warm and soap is applied gently. Scrubbing too hard could break your skin, which acts as a natural protective barrier. You should also cover any cuts or abrasions while rinsing off.
Don’t use conditioner, body lotion, or face cream after exposure to a nuclear blast, since these products can bind to radioactive particles and trap them in your skin and hair.
Rescuers take care of a wounded person during a simulation exercise of a nuclear accident at the Areva nuclear plant in Beaumont-Hague, France, on December 8, 2011.
Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images
Blow your nose and wipe your ears and eyelids, since debris could get stuck in these places. The CDC also recommends sealing outer layers of clothing in a plastic bag, along with any tissues or cloths used to wipe your body or face.
It’s safe to consume food from sealed containers such as packages, bottles, or cans, according to the CDC. You can also eat items from your pantry or refrigerator, as long as you wipe off containers, cookware, counters, and utensils. But anything left uncovered, such as fruits or veggies from a garden, would be unsafe to eat.
Unless you’re told to go outside, it’s best to stay put until the risk of contamination has gone down. The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends staying indoors for at least 24 hours after a nuclear explosion.
This story, which was originally published in March 2022, has since been updated and republished amid Russia’s continued nuclear threats.