He added that, depending on your distance from the blast, you might get 10 to 15 minutes to move to a better shelter — ideally, a windowless basement, where soil and concrete can help block a lot of radiation. But it’s best to hunker down in your blast shelter if you’re unsure whether it’s safe to move, he said.

First, I checked with Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and found a reference which suggested that permitting the gravely wounded to drink water could result in releasing their tension and hastening their death. A soldier then surprised him by saying, “If you give water to the victims, they’ll die.”

With recent tensions between the US and Iran, you might be hearing a fair bit about nuclear weapons. They are considered the most destructive weapons in the world – their explosions are so powerful, just one nuclear bomb could destroy an entire city.

As long as the shelter is buried at least 3 feet underground, it will protect you from the radiation.

about 20,000 years

“The reality is that very little, if anything, will survive a major nuclear catastrophe, so in the longer term, it doesn’t matter really whether you’re a cockroach or not.” Nuclear explosions affect living things in a range of ways, from the impact of the initial blast to the ionising radiation released into the air.

It might take from 10 days to many months for the immune system to recover completely. Surgery also breaks the skin and can damage mucous membranes and tissue under the skin, causing it to be exposed to germs. The wound caused by surgery (the incision) is a common place for infection.