# Using Lead Blanket to retrofit and protect your home from radiation?



## pioneerwife

Hello All!

Please forgive me for not going through all jillion of your postings looking for this, if the question has been asked and answered already, could you please send me the link to where?

In wanting to have a place in my home safe from radiation, I am wondering, is it worthwhile to retrofit a room to be a "safe room" by lining it with lead blankets for radiation shielding? the kind I'm thinking about you can view here: http://www.zzmedical.com/zencart/24...7.html?zenid=1b637deebf168d51ad50774cd5fbfd4e

It seems the popular method is building a bomb shelter of thick concrete. For those without tons of money, that just seems like a collosal undertaking. Ever hear of anyone doing the lead blanket thing? I would think the price would be comparable, without needing all the excavation.

Any insights, or links you can provide would be appreciated!

Cheers!
Pioneerwife


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## NaeKid

Lead will protect you from radiation ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_protection

The problem isn't just that radiation from initial nuclear-burst, but, the continuing radiation getting into your food supply (meat and vegitables) and into your water suppy (lakes, rivers, streams). For an old geezer like me, the radiation won't have time to do its dirty-work, but, for the young children, there will be lots of time.

When Chernobyl popped, the direct radiation killed off many people, the lasting effects are high levels of cancers in those who were very young at the time. The radiation attributed to Chernobyl reached the eastern-side the USA and it has been reported that a high percentage of the young at that time have had treatment for thyroid cancers. Some have put the blame on Three Mile Island causing the cancers, but, either way, it is long-term exposure mostly through air and food intake.

Unless you are capable of building a bomb-shelter for your young children and have the ability to de-radiate tomatoes (seems to soak up radiation the best) and other vegitables, the long-term effects are almost worse than the initial ones.

Right now, I am more worried about the young ones (like kyhoti's children) who may experience the full effects of Japan's nuclear reactors spewing radiation into the atmosphere. With the prevailing winds, my area of Alberta (southern) missed most of the radiation, but, the northerns side (towards Edmonton) seemed to have higher levels of recordable radiation soon after the Japan disaster.


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## backlash

Check into leaded drywall.
Used in X-Ray rooms and is very effective and installs like any other drywall.


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## pioneerwife

Thanks so much for your ideas! Can you recommend any books on surviving radiation exposure? Or other references?

Obviously, I'm just at the tip of the iceberg here and need to get much deeper knowledge before I can move ahead.


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## NaeKid

I would suggest that the best protection would come from a personal dosimeter - the NukAlert is one that seems to have a really good following and a decent review.






You can get them from http://www.nukalert.com/ or many other online and some brick-n-morter stores. If there is radiation, you will have the warning that it is there before you might hear anything about it on the radio giving you time to get away quickly and safely before the hordes get word of the fallout.

Most of the information I have gathered about radiation (and its effects), I got from Wikipedia or HowStuffWorks or from YouTube. Alot of that information is also hosted here on PS and we have members here who have first-hand-knowledge of radiation protection having their own fallout shelters (bunkers) or their own cold-war missile-silos that have been converted into shelters. We have members here (who might speak-up) who can give you more info about gieger-counters and how they work ...


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## tac803

+1 on the nukalert. Good for about 5 to 10 years constant on, and battery replacement is available at the factory. I don't know that a lead lined room would be practical, but earth and water are both very good at absorbing radiation.


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## Tweto

I can recommend these books;

Life after Doomsday by Bruce D. Clayton PH.D
Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearny
Suviving Doomsday by Bruce Sibley
No Such Thing as Doomsday by Phillip L Hoag 

These books are most likely out of print now but if you can get them they will tell you everything you need to know about radiation. 

Technically speaking the key chain bob in the You Tube video is a geiger counter not a dosimeter. A dosimeter records a cumilative radiation exposure. A geiger counter reports second to second radiation and does not record the exposure. I used both in a real world situation when I worked in a nuclear power plant. There is a lot more to detecting radiation correctly but I don't think that any one wants me to drone on. 

Also, I would not recommend the key bob because radiation can go from high levels to zero levels in a hundred feet, and unless you hung the key bob next to your ear you would never know it.


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## NaeKid

Tweto said:


> I can recommend these books;
> 
> Life after Doomsday by Bruce D. Clayton PH.D
> Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearny
> Suviving Doomsday by Bruce Sibley
> No Such Thing as Doomsday by Phillip L Hoag
> 
> These books are most likely out of print now but if you can get them they will tell you everything you need to know about radiation.
> 
> Technically speaking the key chain bob in the You Tube video is a geiger counter not a dosimeter. A dosimeter records a cumilative radiation exposure. A geiger counter reports second to second radiation and does not record the exposure. I used both in a real world situation when I worked in a nuclear power plant. There is a lot more to detecting radiation correctly but I don't think that any one wants me to drone on.
> 
> Also, I would not recommend the key bob because radiation can go from high levels to zero levels in a hundred feet, and unless you hung the key bob next to your ear you would never know it.


Please drone-on ... I would love to hear more about it! :2thumb:


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## longtime

Tweto said:


> Also, I would not recommend the key bob because radiation can go from high levels to zero levels in a hundred feet, and unless you hung the key bob next to your ear you would never know it.


I have the nukaleart and it is loud enough that you can hear it when it is in your pocket without any problem..

I have been considering the RADSticker as a dosimeter.
http://www.ki4u.com/products1.php

Not an expert in this field, so just my opinion.


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## pioneerwife

Tweto,

I would love for you to drone on!


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## Tweto

longtime said:


> I have the nukaleart and it is loud enough that you can hear it when it is in your pocket without any problem..
> 
> I have been considering the RADSticker as a dosimeter.
> http://www.ki4u.com/products1.php
> 
> Not an expert in this field, so just my opinion.


I checked the RADsticker on the web site. The RADsticker is not technically a dosimeter, when I worked at the nuclear plant we called them LTD's. The dosimeters that I used looked like a large pens (on the webb site it's part number CDV 742 and the dosimeter charger part number CDV 750. You need both of these because the dosimeters need to be recharged everyday.

Here's what I used everytime we entered a hot area.

1 geiger counter with a extendable wand (about 6 feet) with the probe on the end.
1 dosimeter
1 LTD (RADsticker)

The geiger counter gave us second to second radiation readings. The dosimeter gave us hour to hour radiation exposures. The LTD (RADsticker gave us personal lifetime exposures.

A nuclear reaction gives you Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Neutron radiation. Alpha can be stopped with a piece of paper, Beta canbe stopped with the thickness of a book. Gamma and Neutron is another matter. The containment domes that have the reactor in them have 6 foot solid reinforced concrete walls. Neutron radiation only occurs during the actual reaction process and is very deadly. When the reactor is working no one is allowed inside the containment dome. So now we are back to Gamma radiation.

In the movies, they get "radiation suits" on and bravely enter radiation zones. If there is any Gamma or Neutron radiation in the area, they would be just as safe naked. The radiation suits are good for fall out (eradiated particles that are similar or just the sam as dust) will be every where after a nuclear explosion. Anybody that has dusted a house or cleaned up after a dust storm will know where the fall out will be.

Now, let me go back to the geiger counter, dosimeter, and RADsticker. All these are carried somewhere near the center of your body. The fallout will be on the your feet, on the ceiling above your head, etc.. As you can see there is no perfect world when it comes to detecting fallout.

Let me give another example. You could be sitting at the dinner table and you have a geiger counter with you. The geiger counter is not detecting anything. A person on the other side of the table is getting a life dose of radiation from uranium on the floor in the other room that happens to be in line of site of that person.

That's all for now.


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## Wanderer0101

Lead is toxic, heavy and expensive. If you had an 8X10 room and covered five sides with the blankets on the link it would cost you about $8600. It doesn't say how thick those blankets are but a 3/4 inch blanket only reduces exposure by 31% and those blankets don't look like they are 3/4 inch. In any case, you would be talking about multiple layers to achieve acceptable protection. Concrete, bricks or sand bags would be a whole lot cheaper and provide better protection.


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## longtime

Tweto said:


> I checked the RADsticker on the web site. The RADsticker is not technically a dosimeter, when I worked at the nuclear plant we called them LTD's.


Thanks for the clarification.

I considered the Radsticker because when I am out in the Moab area my Nukaleart would indicate the lowest level exposure in some locations (I *assumed* it was natural radiation from the old Uranium mines in the area). This got me to thinking that I did not know my total exposure, but I do not want to carry anything bigger.

I think they are worth carrying.

Do you?

End of thread Hi-jack.

Sorry


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## Tweto

longtime said:


> Thanks for the clarification.
> 
> I considered the Radsticker because when I am out in the Moab area my Nukaleart would indicate the lowest level exposure in some locations (I *assumed* it was natural radiation from the old Uranium mines in the area). This got me to thinking that I did not know my total exposure, but I do not want to carry anything bigger.
> 
> I think they are worth carrying.
> 
> Do you?
> 
> End of thread Hi-jack.
> 
> Sorry


I think the RADsticker would be better then the key bob. But, if you have both then it wouldn't hurt. There is back ground radiation every where, even here in Nebraska, I get a dose of about 50mREM/ year, thats .050 REM. Some areas of the US canbe has high as .250 REM a year. The last time I looked, that area was in western Colorado.

Just so you know, I use the term REM rather then RAD as a measurement of radiation. RAD is just a generic measurement and REM is a measurement of how the radiation affects the human body.

BTW LTD stands for Life Time Dose (if my memmory is correct)


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## CdnMtlHd

I just did a quick search and found the nukalert is available through Amazon as well as the RadSticker and a few other things.

My Amazon search-link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...field-keywords=nukalert&sprefix=nukal,aps,209

I didn't realize that some of those items are fairly expensive. Tweto, I didn't see your "pen" thing there unless I missed it. What should I be looking for?


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## Tweto

CdnMtlHd said:


> I just did a quick search and found the nukalert is available through Amazon as well as the RadSticker and a few other things.
> 
> My Amazon search-link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...field-keywords=nukalert&sprefix=nukal,aps,209
> 
> I didn't realize that some of those items are fairly expensive. Tweto, I didn't see your "pen" thing there unless I missed it. What should I be looking for?


Check www.ki4u.com/products1.php parts numbers CDV 742 (Dosimeter) and CDV 750 (charger and recalibation)


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## NaeKid

I just GoogleSearched that pen-thing and found an eHow on it that says that there are better and more modern versions of it, but, it doesn't give a list of products. I don't know if I want cold-war technology if there is something better that will do what is needed. Any hints?


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