Shelters are anti-radiation. Means of collective and individual protection in case of radiation accidents

Radiation monitoring carried out at industrial enterprises and nuclear power plants does not exclude the possibility of a catastrophe. Therefore, everyone needs to know how to protect their life and health in this situation. Our article contains basic information on this issue.

What is a PRI

In the event of a radiation catastrophe, special shelters are used - anti-radiation shelters (abbreviated as PRU). They serve to protect the population from ionizing radiation, which are observed when the area is contaminated with radiation. In addition, they are used to protect against penetrating radiation (including neutron flux), light radiation, shock wave (partially), contact with human clothes and skin of poisonous, radioactive substances, as well as biological (bacterial) agents.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations shall periodically inspect the checkpoint. Moscow, for example, has several thousand shelters, some of which are surrendered to commercial organizations. In order to control at the level of enterprises, districts and districts where they are located, special commissions are created. They include representatives of various executive authorities, BTI and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Moscow - the capital of our country, so the state of the PSU in it is often checked. It is necessary to ensure that they do not break the tightness.

Materials and premises for the PRI

Radiation shelters are most often arranged in the basement floors of various buildings. Sometimes prefabricated freestanding shelters can be constructed. For this purpose, industrial building materials such as brick, prefabricated reinforced concrete elements, rolled products, as well as local materials (stones, wood, etc.) are used. The thickness of the walls should be sufficient to protect it. Than they are thicker, the more reliable the shelter will be. In treeless places, if there are no other building materials, it is possible to build PRU from fascia, which is made from cane, brushwood, straw, cane, sunflower, corn stalks.

All buried rooms, suitable for the purpose of protection, can be adapted under the shelter of anti-radiation. These are cellars, cellars, caves, underground workings, vegetable stores. Suitable and ground buildings, the walls of which are made of materials that have protective properties. The area of the room can be different.

Sealing

To improve the protective properties, the window openings are closed, as well as additional doorways. On the overlapping pour a layer of soil. If necessary, on the outside of the protruding above the earth surface of the walls make a subsoil.

Sealing is achieved by careful sealing of holes, cracks and cracks in the ceiling and walls, at the junction of door and window openings, the entry of water pipes and heating pipes. It also provides for fitting doors, which should be furred with felt, and seal the seal with a roller of felt or some other dense soft cloth.

Ventilation

If the area of the room is small, the ventilation of such shelters, designed to accommodate no more than 30 people, occurs naturally through the exhaust and supply ducts. The first to create traction is about 1.5-2 m higher than the second. In addition, they build canopies on ventilating boxes (their external terminals). At the input, densely fitted dampers are made, with the threat of falling radioactive fallout being closed.

Internal organization

If the room that adapts to the shelter is not equipped with sewerage and running water, water tanks are put in it. It should be approximately 3-4 liters per person per day. A toilet with a cesspool or a portable container is also being built. In the shelter, racks, benches or lari intended for food are made. The room is illuminated either by portable electric lights or from an external power network.

Protection factor

The protective properties of anti-radiation shelters are different. To measure them, an indicator such as the protection factor is used. He talks about how many times this shelter reduces the dose of radiation. This factor is influenced by a number of factors: the thickness of the walls, the material from which they are made, the degree of sealing, etc. The additional equipment of the internal premises or basement floors of buildings can increase their protective properties by several tens or even hundreds of times. For example, in the equipped cellars of houses made of wood, the protection factor reaches 100, and in stone - 1000. About 7-12 times the radiation of unequipped cellars weakens, and the equipped ones reduce its impact by 350-400 times. So, shelters of the simplest type have a low coefficient of protection, and more reliable - higher.

How to behave in shelters

There are certain rules of conduct in the field distributor. Radiation shelters are filled quickly and organized. In the first place, children, elderly people and women with children are passed through the shelter. They are placed in places reserved for them. A person in a shelter should take a food stock with him for two days (in a plastic bag). Also, he must have documents, toilet accessories, personal protective equipment (we'll talk about them later) and a minimum of personal belongings.

Strongly smelling and flammable substances should not be brought into the Probe. Also, you should not bring your pets with you, take bulky things. You can not walk around the rooms unnecessarily. Do not need to light homemade lamps, candles, kerosene lamps without permission. People who are in shelter must comply with all instructions and requirements of the commander.

The withdrawal from the shelter is made either by necessity, or after the signal "End". If the main outputs are blocked, it is carried out via the emergency exit. In the absence of the latter, measures should be taken to clear the obstruction and open the doors with the forces of people in cover.

How to protect yourself from radiation?

All sources of radiation carry a high risk. Despite this, there are ways to protect against radiation. The purpose of the anti-radiation shelter is to minimize the negative effects of radiation. However, it can not completely eliminate harmful effects. It must be remembered that there are other ways to protect yourself from it. They can be divided into 3 types: distance, time and personal protective equipment. Let us briefly examine each of them.

Time protection

The essence of this method of protection is to minimize the duration of a person's stay near the source of radiation. Harm to our health the more, the longer we are near the source of radiation. This method of protection was used, in particular, in the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The liquidators of the consequences were given only a few minutes to complete their work and return to a safe area. To very sad consequences results the excess of time during which one can be in the affected area. The level of irradiation increases, as a result of which radiation sickness can develop.

Distance Protection

If an object is found that is a source of radiation that poses a danger to human health and life, it is necessary to move away from it to a distance where the radiation and radiation background do not exceed the permissible standards. In addition, the radiation source can be taken out for burial or placed in a safe area.

Individual protection means

Sometimes it is necessary to carry out some activities in places with an increased radiation background. For example, this can not be avoided during the elimination of the consequences of an accident at an NPP or when working in various industrial enterprises in which radiation sources exist. In such areas, permanent radiation monitoring should be carried out. There you can not be without means of protection. This is dangerous for health and even for human life. For such cases, personal protective equipment was created from radiation. These are screens made of materials that detain certain types of radiation. In addition, personal protective equipment includes overalls.

There are several types of radiation, depending on the charge and the nature of the radiation particles. Therefore, the protective equipment is made of various materials, which allow to resist certain types of radiation.

In order to protect yourself from alpha radiation, you can wear rubber gloves, a normal respirator or use a "barrier" of paper. If beta radiation predominates, then a screen of a thin sheet of aluminum, glass or plexiglas will be needed. An ordinary respirator is not able to protect the human respiratory system from this type of radiation. In this case, you need a gas mask.

From gamma radiation to protect yourself the most difficult. Uniforms that are protected against this type of radiation must be made of steel, cast iron, lead, tungsten or other metals having a large mass. During the work at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, clothes made of lead were used.

Various kinds of barriers from polyethylene, polymers and even water can protect you from harm caused by the action of neutron particles.

Food additives and products

Nutritional supplements are often used to protect against radiation in conjunction with screens and work clothes. They need to be taken inside either before entering the radiation zone, or afterwards. In many cases, they help reduce the negative impact of radionuclides on the human body.

Some foods also help reduce the harmful effects of radiation. Among them, wheat, white bread, nuts and radish should be noted. To a small extent, these products can reduce the effects of radiation on human beings due to the presence of selenium in them, which prevents the formation of tumors caused, among other things, by radiation irradiation. In the fight against it, the bioadditives made on the basis of algae (chlorella, laminaria) are also very good. Rid of the body of radioactive nuclides, penetrated into it, in part capable of even garlic and onions.

"Ginseng root" is an effective herbal preparation against radiation. It is sold in every pharmacy. It should be used in amounts of 40-50 drops twice before meals. In addition, to reduce the concentration of radionuclides in the human body helps extract eleutterococcus. It should be consumed in an amount of 0.25-0.5 teaspoon per day with tea in the morning and at lunch. To protect against radiation, medinitsa, zamaniha and levzeya are useful, which are also sold at pharmacies.

It should be noted that no drug is able to completely eliminate the harmful effects of radiation. The best way to protect against it is to avoid contact with contaminated objects and leave places that have an increased radioactive background as soon as possible. Vaults and anti-radiation shelters can significantly reduce the negative impact of radiation in the event that it is impossible to leave a dangerous place.