GOOD SHELTERS COULD CUT LOSSES IN A-BOMB ATTACKS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23316, 27 July 1950, Page 7

GOOD SHELTERS COULD CUT LOSSES IN A-BOMB ATTACKS

(N.Z P.A.—Reuter—Copyright.) g LONDON, July 25. A picture of what British cities may have to face under atom bomb attacks is painted in a document issued by the Home Office today.

It forms part of the civil defence manual of basic training and is based on the known effects of the type of bombs used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“The protection against the lethal results of radio activity is a practical proposition." says the pamphlet. “Protection against radio-active dust can be achieved by wearing suitable clothing. The direct effects of blast on persons tire less than might he expected and protection against it would not present an insoluble problem. “Japanese air-raid shelters,'even of the poorest construction, stood up well and underground shelters gave com pbte protection.” The pamphlet says that the damage to buildings would extend in varying degrees over some two to two and a half miles from the point under the burst of the atom bomb. Various forms of radiation sickness are described and it is stated that the cause of death is usually a combination of infection, loss of h’ood and anaemia “The namphlet says a radiation meter for civil use. looks like a fountain pen and can be carried like one. The wearer can from time to time take readings to determine the presence of radio-activity and thus keep a constant check on his own safety. Confidence In Defence “While the situation that might be created by the use of atomic bombs would be ot the utmost severity, involving many casualties and heavy destruction to property, it can be said with confidence that defensive measures which are being and will continue to be gradually developed, backed up by sound teaching and good training, will enable the effects to be greatly reduced,” says the pamphlet. The Prime Minister. Mr. C. R. Attlee. in ;t foreword declares: “It is. of course, our earnest hope that we never have to experience the horrors of atomic attack. Ever since the Washington declaration Britain has pressed for international agreement to ensure that atomic energy should be used only for peaceful purposes, but any such agreement would be illusory without a most rigorous system of international control which Russia rejected. In the meantime, we must proceed with civil defence preparations on the basis that, in event of war. we might be subjected to atomic attack” ,

The document says: "If people in our cities are caught, as were the Japanese, without warning before any evacuation has taken place and with no suitable shelters, the casualties caused by a high air-burst bomb would be formidable.

“The British mission to Japan estimated that, under these circumstances, as many as 50,000 people might lose their lives in a typical British city, r “Much can be done, however, to mitigate the effects of the bomb and save life and it is certain that, with adequate advance preparations, including the provision of suitable shelters and with good civil defence services, the lives lost could be reduced to a fraction of the number estimated by the British mission." Three Major Effects The document points out that three major effects of atomic bomb explosion are, blast, flash-burn and radiological effects. The heat flash is stated to be capable of. directly igniting inflammable material up to nearly two miles from the centre of the damage. When to fire-raising dangers of the heat flash are added those of secondary fires "it will be seen that the atomic bomb is a very potent fireraising weapon." Flash-burn also causes death or scri ous burns to a radius of at least one mile among people directly exposed to the bomb. However, it is relatively easy to protect people against its effects since even fight materials give substantial protection. Gamma rays have an effective danger range of about one and a quarter to one and a half miles from the centre of damage. Thev do not, however, render radio-active the materials through which they pass. All unprotected persons within half a mire of the centre of the damage would receive a fatal dose of radiation and fully exposed people at three-quarters of a mile would have a SU-5U chance of survival. -