"Duck and cover" has always been about as good advice as you can get.<p>Now I grew up in the '60s, within 30 miles of a cluster of Titan missile silos, practically surrounded by them (one of them blew up in the '80s! What fun that was!) So I knew that I could duck and cover till the cows came down and it wouldn't do any good. Because I'd be incandescent gas.<p>However, in my grade school and teenage nightmares it was Russian HBombs that I was obsessing about. Terrorist bombs are likely to be much smaller, closer to the size of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. Or smaller. So "assuming the position" is actually pretty good advice if you aren't killed instantly.<p>Staying put to avoid fallout is another issue. It depends on how close to the blast you are, and what the prevailing winds are doing. If I were in a good spot, say a building basement or the subway, I'd probably stick with it. In a car or a heavily damaged frame building, I dunno. The roads are likely to be impassable, so the best bet might be to head for a larger, building basement or other underground structure.<p>Assuming the current inhabitants are taking in stragglers...<p>The article is amazingly light on analysis and actual advice.<p>Well, another reason to keep those wind up radios around.
From the practical point of view:<p>wouldn't it be the easiest to make a TV entertainment series that would play in a nuclear apocalyptic scenario and include 60-ish style warnings of what to do when you see a mushroom?<p>Maybe something fallout style? This would not make anyone panic, as it's entertainment, but the message would go into subconsciousness to most.
back in the 1960s, USDA drew up several sets of plans for ag facilities, and homes, that contain fallout shelters. LSUAgCenter has a few of them still posted...<p>Three Bedroom House with Emergency Shelter
<a href="http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/Biological_Ag_Engineering/Features/Extension/Building_Plans/residential/3_br/Three+Bedroom+House+with+Emergency+Shelter.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/Biolog...</a><p>Bunker-type Fallout Shelter (for beef cattle)
<a href="http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/Biological_Ag_Engineering/Features/Extension/Building_Plans/beef/equipment/Bunkertype+Fallout+Shelter.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/Biolog...</a><p>Stall Barn & Fallout Shelter
<a href="http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/Biological_Ag_Engineering/Features/Extension/Building_Plans/dairy/housing/Stall+Barn++Fallout+Shelter.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/Biolog...</a><p>Fallout Shelter, Dairy Barn & Family Center
<a href="http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/Biological_Ag_Engineering/Features/Extension/Building_Plans/dairy/housing/Fallout+Shelter+Dairy+Barn++Family+Center.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/departments/Biolog...</a>
Finally. Some sense has been added to radiation attacks. Getting inside a building or making sure there is any sort of barrier between you and ionizing radiation is the best thing you can do.