To answer the question – NO. Best chances are to evac right away or let the people who also have helicopters and M.A.S.H. units in their PSKs pull you out and inform you of your exposure. Most importantly I must stress that Chris K. has the best and most reasonable response. Because of that I want to help nip this thread in the bud as the saying goes. Chris T. explains the reason that a Geiger counter like any other tool is only good if the tool between your ears has the KNOWLEDGE and training to use the other tools to yield rational results. The reasons are many and have been explained by the both Chris K. and Chris T. The surplus Geiger’s work but without training and a real need are nothing but a way to give someone money. An example of the problems is that you must have an accurate source for calibration. That means something like a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) traceable radioactive source and the tools and training to calibrate the Geiger. As a general rule you can figure that a surplus Geiger is pretty much so far out of calibration that it is useless. At the school where I am now, the departments that use surplus Geigers treat them as no more useful without bi-annual calibration than the old aluminum foil trick to detect radiation. In other words, “Well it’s showing some but how much, from where and of what kind who knows.” Don’t waste your time, money or energy worrying about this scenario.
This is the first time I remember a question about survival in a nuclear event on this forum and I hope the last. ETS has a link to another forum where this kind of thing is talked about on a semi-regular basis. As part of where I live now and what I am doing I have friends with serious experience and education in the fields of physics and chemistry. I asked one of these friends to visit the link from ETS and give me his opinion on some of the threads that had been posted on survival and nuclear ‘events’. This friend of mine has two PhDs (physical chemistry and nuclear physics) with previous jobs at the national labs at Argonne, Los Alamos, and Livermore. After reading the posts and laughing his head off at the advice that in his words was ‘so full of ignorance and bad science that the you would be better off sticking your head in the sand’, he offered this advice. “A stolen atomic bomb (not thermo-nuclear) is a possibility but would not create any problems beyond a relatively small geographic area. No EMP beyond the totally destroyed area, no long-term affects on the site, and would allow help to arrive within hours. And the ‘dirty bomb’ is not really possible in the way the media and others use the idea, because not even the US has the technology to make such a weapon.” He pointed me the web site of the “Wisconsin Project” and the “Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists” which have realistic assessments of the dangers of WMD. By the way the ‘expert’ on the linked site is a 14 year old kid – yes you read that right 14 as in not old enough to drive so the question is do you really want to trust the advice of a 14 year old or the people at the Wisconsin Project and the Bulletin. My experience is that after working for a firm where radioactive drugs were being made I can attest to the uselessness of KI. As an MD said to me “Great idea protect your thyroid while the rest of your body gets a fatal dose.” (i.e. if you really have a need for KI your death would be from some other kind of radiation induced cancer.) Don’t believe the hype and as always let the buyer beware.
As always -- Stay safe!
Craig J. in Wisconsin
An aside for Chris T. -- Here in the lead region of Wisconsin we don’t need to stick a Geiger in a box of ‘peanuts’ we can just go outside and put the thing near the ground to make them go ‘ape#*t’. Raw lead ore (Galena) is radioactive. Always freaks out the freshman physics students.
<img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />