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85-502: DEMA is capable of deploying abroad on request from another state or an international organisation. The decision to render assistance is taken in co-counsel with the Danish Foreign Ministry . DEMA can give support in instances of natural disasters and accidents, technological events and crises and civil wars. It is able to react quickly in acute situations and leave its home base within hours on smaller missions, and have

170-538: A 2003 article in The New York Times states that many scientists consider the group's work controversial, with little credibility with the scientific establishment, while some scientists consider it "good, careful work". In an April 2014 article in Popular Science , Sarah Fecht argues that the group's work, specifically the widely discussed case of cherry-picking data to suggest that fallout from

255-474: A factor of about 530. In other 1954 tests, including Yankee and Nectar, hot spots were mapped out by ships with submersible probes, and similar hot spots occurred in 1956 tests such as Zuni and Tewa . However, the major U.S. " DELFIC " (Defence Land Fallout Interpretive Code) computer calculations use the natural size distributions of particles in soil instead of the afterwind sweep-up spectrum, and this results in more straightforward fallout patterns lacking

340-429: A factor of ten for every seven-fold increase in the number of hours since the explosion. He presents data showing that "it takes about seven times as long for the dose rate to decay from 1000 roentgens per hour (1000 R/hr) to 10 R/hr (48 hours) as to decay from 1000 R/hr to 100 R/hr (7 hours)." This is a rule of thumb based on observed data, not a precise relation. The United States government, often

425-432: A given material, such as 90 cm (36 inches) of packed earth, which reduces gamma ray exposure by approximately 1024 times (2 ). A shelter built with these materials for the purposes of fallout protection is known as a fallout shelter . As the nuclear energy sector continues to grow, the international rhetoric surrounding nuclear warfare intensifies, and the ever-present threat of radioactive materials falling into

510-683: A heavy dose, contaminating reindeer herds in Lapland, and salad greens becoming almost unavailable in France. Some sheep farms in North Wales and the North Of England were required to monitor radioactivity levels in their flocks until the control was lifted in 2012. During detonations of devices at ground level ( surface burst ), below the fallout-free altitude, or in shallow water, heat vaporizes large amounts of earth or water, which

595-569: A more comprehensive study of the elements found in the teeth collected showed that children born after 1963 had levels of strontium-90 in their baby teeth that was 50 times higher than that found in children born before large-scale atomic testing began. The findings helped convince U.S. President John F. Kennedy to sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the United Kingdom and Soviet Union , which ended

680-433: A person is exposed in a non-homogeneous manner then a given dose (averaged over the entire body) is less likely to be lethal. For instance, if a person gets a hand/low arm dose of 100 Gy, which gives them an overall dose of 4 Gy, they are more likely to survive than a person who gets a 4 Gy dose over their entire body. A hand dose of 10 Gy or more would likely result in loss of the hand. A British industrial radiographer who

765-445: A person's chances for survival if they were unprepared. The central idea in these guides is that materials like concrete, soil, and sand are necessary to shield a person from fallout particles and radiation. A significant amount of materials of this type are necessary to protect a person from fallout radiation, so safety clothing cannot protect a person from fallout radiation. However, protective clothing can keep fallout particles off

850-434: A radiation cloud at high altitude is exposed to rainfall, the radioactive fallout will contaminate the downwind area below. Agricultural fields and plants will absorb the contaminated material and animals will consume the radioactive material. As a result, the nuclear fallout may cause livestock to become ill or die, and if consumed the radioactive material will be passed on to humans. The damage to other living organism as

935-501: A recovery period and can perform non-demanding tasks for about six days, after which they relapse for about four weeks. At this time they begin exhibiting symptoms of radiation poisoning of sufficient severity to render them totally ineffective. Death follows at approximately six weeks after exposure, although outcomes may vary. Late or delayed effects of radiation occur following a wide range of doses and dose rates. Delayed effects may appear months to years after irradiation and include

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1020-533: A result of a Castle Bravo surface burst of a 15 Mt thermonuclear device at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954, a roughly cigar-shaped area of the Pacific extending over 500 km downwind and varying in width to a maximum of 100 km was severely contaminated. There are three very different versions of the fallout pattern from this test, because the fallout was measured only on a small number of widely spaced Pacific Atolls. The two alternative versions both ascribe

1105-451: A result to nuclear fallout depends on the species. Mammals particularly are extremely sensitive to nuclear radiation, followed by birds, plants, fish, reptiles, crustaceans, insects, moss, lichen, algae, bacteria, mollusks, and viruses. Climatologist Alan Robock and atmospheric and oceanic sciences professor Brian Toon created a model of a hypothetical small-scale nuclear war that would have approximately 100 weapons used. In this scenario,

1190-487: A total of 1.5 Gy are not incapacitated. People receiving doses greater than 1.5 Gy become disabled, and some eventually die. A dose of 5.3 Gy to 8.3 Gy is considered lethal but not immediately incapacitating. Personnel exposed to this amount of radiation have their cognitive performance degraded in two to three hours, depending on how physically demanding the tasks they must perform are, and remain in this disabled state at least two days. However, at that point they experience

1275-410: A variable period of time until the development of delayed radiation effects, in a portion of the exposed population, following low dose exposures. The unit of actual exposure is the röntgen , defined in ionisations per unit volume of air. All ionisation based instruments (including geiger counters and ionisation chambers ) measure exposure. However, effects depend on the energy per unit mass, not

1360-451: A wide variety of effects involving almost all tissues or organs. Some of the possible delayed consequences of radiation injury, with the rates above the background prevalence, depending on the absorbed dose, include carcinogenesis , cataract formation, chronic radiodermatitis , decreased fertility , and genetic mutations . Presently, the only teratological effect observed in humans following nuclear attacks on highly populated areas

1445-515: Is microcephaly which is the only proven malformation, or congenital abnormality, found in the in utero developing human fetuses present during the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Of all the pregnant women who were close enough to be exposed to the prompt burst of intense neutron and gamma doses in the two cities, the total number of children born with microcephaly was below 50. No statistically demonstrable increase of congenital malformations

1530-439: Is residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast , so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes. The amount and spread of fallout is a product of the size of the weapon and the altitude at which it is detonated. Fallout may get entrained with

1615-625: Is 1 cGy. Some lower values reported for the amount of radiation that would kill 50% of personnel (the LD 50 ) refer to bone marrow dose, which is only 67% of the air dose. The dose that would be lethal to 50% of a population is a common parameter used to compare the effects of various fallout types or circumstances. Usually, the term is defined for a specific time, and limited to studies of acute lethality. The common time periods used are 30 days or less for most small laboratory animals and to 60 days for large animals and humans. The LD 50 figure assumes that

1700-472: Is a 100% volunteer center the only exception being the chief officer and some teachers offering courses to private rescue firms. All the other centers are staffed by conscripts who are controlled by a single officer and a couple of sergeants. Besides from the regional support centers there were also (from 2000 to 2012) some minor support points that had equipment paid for by DEMA, but were staffed by municipal volunteer firefighters. These support points were, like

1785-450: Is a small amount of carcinogenic material with a long half-life . The second, depending on the height of detonation, is a large quantity of radioactive dust and sand with a short half-life. All nuclear explosions produce fission products, un-fissioned nuclear material, and weapon residues vaporized by the heat of the fireball. These materials are limited to the original mass of the device, but include radioisotopes with long lives. When

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1870-416: Is almost exclusively concerned with protection from radiation. Radiation from a fallout is encountered in the forms of alpha , beta , and gamma radiation, and as ordinary clothing affords protection from alpha and beta radiation, most fallout protection measures deal with reducing exposure to gamma radiation. For the purposes of radiation shielding, many materials have a characteristic halving thickness :

1955-473: Is between 1 and 30 days, with long term fallout occurring after that. Examples of both intermediate and long term fallout occurred after the 1986 Chernobyl accident , which contaminated over 20,000 km (7,700 sq mi) of land in Ukraine and Belarus . The main fuel of the reactor was uranium , and surrounding this was graphite, both of which were vaporized by the hydrogen explosion that destroyed

2040-639: Is drawn up into the radioactive cloud . This material becomes radioactive when it combines with fission products or other radio-contaminants, or when it is neutron-activated . The table below summarizes the abilities of common isotopes to form fallout. Some radiation taints large amounts of land and drinking water causing formal mutations throughout animal and human life. A surface burst generates large amounts of particulate matter, composed of particles from less than 100 nm to several millimeters in diameter—in addition to very fine particles that contribute to worldwide fallout. The larger particles spill out of

2125-405: Is reduced by 50% in the first hour after a detonation, then by 80% during the first day. As a result, early gross decontamination , such as removing contaminated articles of outer clothing, is more effective than delayed but more thorough cleaning. Most areas become fairly safe for travel and decontamination after three to five weeks. One hour after a surface burst, the radiation from fallout in

2210-445: Is reduced where the downwind distance is increased by higher winds. The total amount of activity deposited up to any given time is the same irrespective of the wind pattern, so overall casualty figures from fallout are generally independent of winds. But thunderstorms can bring down activity as rain allows fallout to drop more rapidly, particularly if the mushroom cloud is low enough to be below ("washout"), or mixed with ("rainout"),

2295-626: Is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark . The officeholder is in charge of Danish ( Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland ) foreign policy and international relations . The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen . This article about politics in Denmark is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Nuclear fallout Nuclear fallout

2380-403: Is unlikely to cause significant damage to internal organs (although if contamination is ingested, inhaled or on the skin, and thus in close proximity to tissues and organs, the effect of these 'massive' particles may be catastrophic). The high penetrating power of gamma and neutron radiation , however, easily penetrates the skin and many thin shielding mechanisms to cause cellular degeneration in

2465-546: The 2011 Fukushima accident caused infant deaths in America, is " junk science ", as despite their papers being peer-reviewed, independent attempts to corroborate their results return findings that are not in agreement with what the organization suggests. The organization had earlier suggested the same thing occurred after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident, though the Atomic Energy Commission argued this

2550-556: The Crossroads underwater test, it was found that wet fallout must be immediately removed from ships by continuous water washdown (such as from the fire sprinkler system on the decks). Parts of the sea bottom may become fallout. After the Castle Bravo test, white dust—contaminated calcium oxide particles originating from pulverized and calcined corals —fell for several hours, causing beta burns and radiation exposure to

2635-553: The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) 's 2015 report: Occupational Radiation Protection in Severe Accident Management. The danger of radiation from fallout also decreases rapidly with time due in large part to the exponential decay of the individual radionuclides. A book by Cresson H. Kearny presents data showing that for the first few days after the explosion, the radiation dose rate is reduced by

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2720-581: The Office of Civil Defense in the Department of Defense , provided guides to fallout protection in the 1960s, frequently in the form of booklets. These booklets provided information on how to best survive nuclear fallout. They also included instructions for various fallout shelters , whether for a family, a hospital, or a school shelter were provided. There were also instructions for how to create an improvised fallout shelter, and what to do to best increase

2805-526: The crater region is 30 grays per hour (Gy/h). Civilian dose rates in peacetime range from 30 to 100 μGy per year. For yields of up to 10 kt , prompt radiation is the dominant producer of casualties on the battlefield. Humans receiving an acute incapacitating dose (30 Gy) have their performance degraded almost immediately and become ineffective within several hours. However, they do not die until five to six days after exposure, assuming they do not receive any other injuries. Individuals receiving less than

2890-683: The stratosphere , may take months or years to settle, and may do so anywhere in the world. Its radioactive characteristics increase the statistical cancer risk, with up to 2.4 million people having died by 2020 from the measurable elevated atmospheric radioactivity after the widespread nuclear weapons testing of the 1950s, peaking in 1963 (the Bomb pulse ). Levels reached about 0.15  mSv per year worldwide, or about 7% of average background radiation dose from all sources, and has slowly decreased since, with natural background radiation levels being around 1 mSv . Radioactive fallout has occurred around

2975-677: The Civil Defense, and a lot don't know what DEMA is. The primary firefighting work in Denmark is done by municipal fire departments and all municipalities are required by law to have a fire department. Before 1992 the municipal fire department were controlled by " Statens Brandinspektion " ( Governmental Fire Inspection Agency ), but with the law-change in 1992 the responsibility was given to the Civil Preparedness Division of DEMA. The municipalities do not have to do

3060-692: The Interior, however as of 1 February 2004 it is under the Ministry of Defence. By means of a number of political agreements supported widely by the parties in the Danish Parliament, the rescue preparedness has been continuously developed and adapted to the changing demands made by the society and the changes in the security-policy situation. When the Civil Air Defense was created the vehicles were old gray trucks, and this truck-color

3145-617: The U.S. conducted hundreds of nuclear weapon tests. Atmospheric testing took place over the US mainland during this time and as a consequence scientists have been able to study the effect of nuclear fallout on the environment. Detonations conducted near the surface of the earth irradiated thousands of tons of soil. Of the material drawn into the atmosphere, portions of radioactive material will be carried by low altitude winds and deposited in surrounding areas as radioactive dust. The material intercepted by high altitude winds will continue to travel. When

3230-634: The ability to deploy a mobile hospital in only 24 hours. By the Danish Preparedness Act ( Beredskabsloven ), which came into force on 1 January 1992, the former WW2 era wartime civil defense corps was changed into a peacetime "Emergency Management Agency", that could primarily work in peacetime. The Danish Emergency Management Agency was created out of the two agencies responsible for these former services, namely "Civilforsvarsstyrelsen" (Civil Defense Agency) and "Statens Brandinspektion" (Governmental Fire Inspection Agency). The Civil Defence

3315-444: The above-ground nuclear weapons testing that created the greatest amounts of atmospheric nuclear fallout. Some considered the baby tooth survey a "campaign [that] effectively employed a variety of media advocacy strategies" to alarm the public and "galvanized" support against atmospheric nuclear testing, , and putting an end to such testing was commonly viewed as a positive outcome for a myriad of reasons. The survey could not show at

3400-484: The agency has around 450 conscripts every 9 months. Unlike the military where the normal service length is 4 months and there are no operational tasks, conscription service in DEMA is 9 months in length. Also the conscripts are made part of the national emergency response after 1 month of service and are often participation in firefighting and rescue operations. The conscripts get a full firefighters education and are trained in

3485-421: The air, called an air burst , produces less fallout than a comparable explosion near the ground. A nuclear explosion in which the fireball touches the ground pulls soil and other materials into the cloud and neutron activates it before it falls back to the ground. An air burst produces a relatively small amount of the highly radioactive heavy metal components of the device itself. In case of water surface bursts,

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3570-415: The base surge typically contains only about 10% of the total bomb debris in a subsurface burst, it can create larger radiation doses than fallout near the detonation, because it arrives sooner than fallout, before much radioactive decay has occurred. Meteorological conditions greatly influence fallout, particularly local fallout. Atmospheric winds are able to bring fallout over large areas. For example, as

3655-507: The beginning of the '90s. Some notable missions are: The Nuclear Division's responsibilities include: The chemical division's responsibilities include: The Danish Preparedness Act stipulates that each ministry, agency, or other authority in the Danish government is required to carry out relevant planning within their respective sector to deal with a serious adverse impact on critical functions of society. CPD helps facilitate planning within

3740-520: The biosphere. Fallout alters the quality of our atmosphere, soil, and water and causes species to go extinct. During the Cold War , the governments of the U.S., the USSR, Great Britain, and China attempted to educate their citizens about surviving a nuclear attack by providing procedures on minimizing short-term exposure to fallout. This effort commonly became known as Civil Defense . Fallout protection

3825-407: The blast and thermal effects, particularly in the case of high yield surface detonations. The ground track of fallout from an explosion depends on the weather from the time of detonation onward. In stronger winds, fallout travels faster but takes the same time to descend, so although it covers a larger path, it is more spread out or diluted. Thus, the width of the fallout pattern for any given dose rate

3910-536: The dark blue uniform may often be mistaken as military or police in other countries, and this has given some unfortunate situations. The only current deployment where the uniform is used is the UNIFIL deployment in Lebanon, where a special uniform has been developed for the hot climate. Although DEMA hasn't been called Civil Defense (Civilforsvaret) for more than 15 years, the general public still often refers to it as

3995-687: The different sectors and the coordination between the different sectors. This includes responsibility for national emergency planning, publication of guidance materials, courses, and other activities to strengthen the cooperation between the different actors in the Danish civil preparedness establishment. Most recently the education for both firefighters and fire chiefs has been completely revised in 2009 and 2010. Insignia used by DEMA Foreign Minister of Denmark The Minister for Foreign Affairs ( Danish : Udenrigsminister , Faroese : Uttanríkisráðharra , Greenlandic : Nunanut Allanut Ministeri )

4080-515: The downwind hot spot. Snow and rain , especially if they come from considerable heights, accelerate local fallout. Under special meteorological conditions, such as a local rain shower that originates above the radioactive cloud, limited areas of heavy contamination just downwind of a nuclear blast may be formed. A wide range of biological changes may follow the irradiation of animals. These vary from rapid death following high doses of penetrating whole-body radiation, to essentially normal lives for

4165-451: The environment. Dust, smoke, and radioactive particles will fall hundreds of kilometers downwind of the explosion point and pollute surface water supplies. Iodine-131 would be the dominant fission product within the first few weeks, and in the months following the dominant fission product would be strontium-90 . These fission products would remain in the fallout dust, resulting in rivers, lakes, sediments, and soils being contaminated with

4250-431: The event of a nuclear fallout. Over time the groundwater could become contaminated with fallout particles, and would remain contaminated for over 10 years after a nuclear engagement. It would take hundreds or thousands of years for an aquifer to become completely pure. Groundwater would still be safer than surface water supplies and would need to be consumed in smaller doses. Long term, cesium-137 and strontium-90 would be

4335-403: The exposure measured in air. A deposit of 1 joule per kilogram has the unit of 1 gray (Gy). For 1 MeV energy gamma rays, an exposure of 1 röntgen in air produces a dose of about 0.01 gray (1 centigray, cGy) in water or surface tissue. Because of shielding by the tissue surrounding the bones, the bone marrow only receives about 0.67 cGy when the air exposure is 1 röntgen and the surface skin dose

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4420-491: The fallout would linger in soil, plants, and food chains for years. Marine food chains are more vulnerable to the nuclear fallout and the effects of soot in the atmosphere. Fallout radionuclides' detriment in the human food chain is apparent in the lichen-caribou-eskimo studies in Alaska. The primary effect on humans observed was thyroid dysfunction. The result of a nuclear fallout is incredibly detrimental to human survival and

4505-412: The fallout. Rural areas' water supplies would be slightly less polluted by fission particles in intermediate and long-term fallout than cities and suburban areas. Without additional contamination, the lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and runoff would be gradually less contaminated as water continued to flow through its system. Groundwater supplies such as aquifers would however remain unpolluted initially in

4590-481: The firefighting themselves, and a large part of the fire department services are done by the private firm Falck A/S . The agency has a staff of some 600 people. About 170 of these are employed in the central Emergency Management Agency in Birkerød . The rest are employed at the agency's six centers and two schools. It is possible to do conscription-service for the Danish military in the operational section of DEMA and

4675-462: The fires would create enough soot into the atmosphere to block sunlight, lowering global temperatures by more than one degree Celsius. The result would have the potential of creating widespread food insecurity (nuclear famine). Precipitation across the globe would be disrupted as a result. If enough soot was introduced in the upper atmosphere the planet's ozone layer could potentially be depleted, affecting plant growth and human health. Radiation from

4760-497: The following fields: The Emergency Management Centers are located all over the country and almost every part of the country can be reached within one hour of receiving the alarm. The centers are located in: The primary function of the above centers is to assist municipal fire departments at major fires, assist to police, and to take care of the Danish nuclear fallout preparedness, HazMat preparedness, USAR/rescue preparedness and all other relevant tasks. Beredskabsstyrelsen Hedehusene

4845-423: The hands of dangerous people persists, many scientists are working hard to find the best way to protect human organs from the harmful effects of high energy radiation. Acute radiation syndrome (ARS) is the most immediate risk to humans when exposed to ionizing radiation in dosages greater than around 0.1  Gy/hr . Radiation in the low energy spectrum ( alpha and beta radiation ) with minimal penetrating power

4930-434: The high radiation levels at north Rongelap to a downwind hot spot caused by the large amount of radioactivity carried on fallout particles of about 50–100 micrometres size. After Bravo , it was discovered that fallout landing on the ocean disperses in the top water layer (above the thermocline at 100 m depth), and the land equivalent dose rate can be calculated by multiplying the ocean dose rate at two days after burst by

5015-518: The individuals did not receive other injuries or medical treatment. In the 1950s, the LD 50 for gamma rays was set at 3.5 Gy, while under more dire conditions of war (a bad diet, little medical care, poor nursing) the LD 50 was 2.5 Gy (250 rad). There have been few documented cases of survival beyond 6 Gy. One person at Chernobyl survived a dose of more than 10 Gy, but many of the persons exposed there were not uniformly exposed over their entire body. If

5100-478: The inhabitants of the nearby atolls and the crew of the Daigo Fukuryū Maru fishing boat. The scientists called the fallout Bikini snow . For subsurface bursts, there is an additional phenomenon present called " base surge ". The base surge is a cloud that rolls outward from the bottom of the subsiding column, which is caused by an excessive density of dust or water droplets in the air. For underwater bursts,

5185-421: The loss of power and supply lines rupturing. Within the local nuclear fallout pattern suburban areas' water supplies would become extremely contaminated. At this point stored water would be the only safe water to use. All surface water within the fallout would be contaminated by falling fission products. Within the first few months of the nuclear exchange the nuclear fallout will continue to develop and detriment

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5270-477: The major radionuclides affecting the fresh water supplies. The dangers of nuclear fallout do not stop at increased risks of cancer and radiation sickness, but also include the presence of radionuclides in human organs from food. A fallout event would leave fission particles in the soil for animals to consume, followed by humans. Radioactively contaminated milk, meat, fish, vegetables, grains and other food would all be dangerous because of fallout. From 1945 to 1967

5355-499: The nuclear fireball does not reach the ground, this is the only fallout produced. Its amount can be estimated from the fission-fusion design and yield of the weapon. After the detonation of a weapon at or above the fallout-free altitude (an air burst ), fission products, un-fissioned nuclear material, and weapon residues vaporized by the heat of the fireball condense into a suspension of particles 10  nm to 20  μm in diameter. This size of particulate matter , lifted to

5440-695: The particles tend to be rather lighter and smaller, producing less local fallout but extending over a greater area. The particles contain mostly sea salts with some water; these can have a cloud seeding effect causing local rainout and areas of high local fallout. Fallout from a seawater burst is difficult to remove once it has soaked into porous surfaces because the fission products are present as metallic ions that chemically bond to many surfaces. Water and detergent washing effectively removes less than 50% of this chemically bonded activity from concrete or steel . Complete decontamination requires aggressive treatment like sandblasting , or acidic treatment. After

5525-565: The pelvic region, which contains enough regenerative stem cells to repopulate the body with unaffected bone marrow. More information on bone marrow shielding can be found in the Health Physics Radiation Safety Journal article Selective Shielding of Bone Marrow: An Approach to Protecting Humans from External Gamma Radiation , or in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and

5610-455: The products of a pyrocumulus cloud and when combined with precipitation falls as black rain (rain darkened by soot and other particulates), which occurred within 30–40 minutes of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki . This radioactive dust, usually consisting of fission products mixed with bystanding atoms that are neutron-activated by exposure , is a form of radioactive contamination . Fallout comes in two varieties. The first

5695-525: The project collected over 300,000 teeth from children of various ages before the project was ended in 1970. Preliminary results of the Baby Tooth Survey were published in the November 24, 1961, edition of the journal Science , and showed that levels of strontium-90 had risen steadily in children born in the 1950s, with those born later showing the most pronounced increases. The results of

5780-555: The reactor and breached its containment. An estimated 31 people died within a few weeks after this happened, including two plant workers killed at the scene. Although residents were evacuated within 36 hours, people started to complain of vomiting, migraines and other major signs of radiation sickness . The officials of Ukraine had to close off an area with an 18-mile (30 km) radius. Long term effects included at least 6,000 cases of thyroid cancer , mainly among children. Fallout spread throughout Europe, with Northern Scandinavia receiving

5865-515: The regional support points, support centers for the municipal fire departments in case of major fires and other emergencies. With the new political defense agreement of 2012, the Municipal Support Centers were officially closed. Most of the municipal fire departments were offered to buy the equipment at very low costs. The Municipal Support Centers were located at: DEMA has participated in several international operations since

5950-414: The shielding material required to properly protect the entire body from high energy radiation would make functional movement essentially impossible. This has led scientists to begin researching the idea of partial body protection: a strategy inspired by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The idea is to use enough shielding material to sufficiently protect the high concentration of bone marrow in

6035-462: The stem and cascade down the outside of the fireball in a downdraft even as the cloud rises, so fallout begins to arrive near ground zero within an hour. More than half the total bomb debris lands on the ground within about 24 hours as local fallout. Chemical properties of the elements in the fallout control the rate at which they are deposited on the ground. Less volatile elements deposit first. Severe local fallout contamination can extend far beyond

6120-500: The stem cells found in bone marrow. While full body shielding in a secure fallout shelter as described above is the most optimal form of radiation protection, it requires being locked in a very thick bunker for a significant amount of time. In the event of a nuclear catastrophe of any kind, it is imperative to have mobile protection equipment for medical and security personnel to perform necessary containment, evacuation, and any number of other important public safety objectives. The mass of

6205-417: The thickness of a layer of a material sufficient to reduce gamma radiation exposure by 50%. Halving thicknesses of common materials include: 1 cm (0.4 inch) of lead, 6 cm (2.4 inches) of concrete, 9 cm (3.6 inches) of packed earth or 150 m (500 ft) of air. When multiple thicknesses are built, the shielding multiplies. A practical fallout shield is ten halving-thicknesses of

6290-469: The thunderstorm. Whenever individuals remain in a radiologically contaminated area, such contamination leads to an immediate external radiation exposure as well as a possible later internal hazard from inhalation and ingestion of radiocontaminants, such as the rather short-lived iodine-131 , which is accumulated in the thyroid . There are two main considerations for the location of an explosion: height and surface composition. A nuclear weapon detonated in

6375-514: The time, nor in the decades that have elapsed, that the levels of global strontium-90 or fallout in general, were life-threatening, primarily because "50 times the strontium-90 from before nuclear testing" is a minuscule number, and multiplication of minuscule numbers results in only a slightly larger minuscule number. Moreover, the Radiation and Public Health Project that currently retains the teeth has had their stance and publications criticized:

6460-441: The troposphere and ejected by precipitation during the first month. Long-term fallout can sometimes occur from deposition of tiny particles carried in the stratosphere. By the time that stratospheric fallout has begun to reach the earth, the radioactivity is very much decreased. Also, after a year it is estimated that a sizable quantity of fission products move from the northern to the southern stratosphere. The intermediate time scale

6545-438: The visible surge is, in effect, a cloud of liquid (usually water) droplets with the property of flowing almost as if it were a homogeneous fluid. After the water evaporates, an invisible base surge of small radioactive particles may persist. For subsurface land bursts, the surge is made up of small solid particles, but it still behaves like a fluid . A soil earth medium favors base surge formation in an underground burst. Although

6630-470: The world; for example, people have been exposed to iodine-131 from atmospheric nuclear testing. Fallout accumulates on vegetation, including fruits and vegetables. Starting from 1951 people may have gotten exposure, depending on whether they were outside, the weather, and whether they consumed contaminated milk, vegetables or fruit. Exposure can be on an intermediate time scale or long term. The intermediate time scale results from fallout that has been put into

6715-411: The year 2000, and the old gray uniform was replaced by a new dark blue uniform, called M/2000. The uniform has been edited sometimes, and a new rescue-uniform was created in 2009 for USAR teams. The M/2000 is being replaced by a new uniform currently under development. When on international deployment the DEMA often uses discrete civilian clothing, mostly in a sand/brown color. Experiences have shown that

6800-471: Was a research effort focused on detecting the presence of strontium-90 , a cancer-causing radioactive isotope created by the more than 400 atomic tests conducted above ground that is absorbed from water and dairy products into the bones and teeth given its chemical similarity to calcium . The team sent collection forms to schools in the St. Louis, Missouri area, hoping to gather 50,000 teeth each year. Ultimately,

6885-597: Was created on 1 March 1938, as the State Civil Air Defence (Statens civile luftværn) and was under the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior . The name Civil Defence dates from the first Civil Defence law of 1 April 1949. The municipal fire services and the Governmental Fire Inspection Agency was under the Ministry of Justice . The new Danish Emergency Management Agency came under the responsibility of Ministry of

6970-462: Was estimated to have received a hand dose of 100 Gy over the course of his lifetime lost his hand because of radiation dermatitis . Most people become ill after an exposure to 1 Gy or more. Fetuses are often more vulnerable to radiation and may miscarry , especially in the first trimester . Because of the large amount of short-lived fission products, the activity and radiation levels of nuclear fallout decrease very quickly after being released; it

7055-499: Was found among the later conceived children born to survivors of the nuclear detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The surviving women of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who could conceive and were exposed to substantial amounts of radiation went on and had children with no higher incidence of abnormalities than the Japanese average. The Baby Tooth Survey founded by the husband and wife team of physicians Eric Reiss and Louise Reiss ,

7140-450: Was kept for many years. The uniform of the Civil Air Defense, and later the Civil Defense was also kept gray, with orange shoulders and blue triangles - The international icon for civil protection . Later the vehicles were painted orange to show that it is a true Civil Defense agency and still are this color - Denmark being one of the only nations left still using the Civil Defense colors and logo to this extent. The uniforms were modernized in

7225-617: Was unfounded. The tooth survey, and the organization's new target of pushing for test bans with US nuclear electric power stations, is detailed and critically labelled as the " Tooth Fairy issue" by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission . In the event of a large-scale nuclear exchange, the effects would be drastic on the environment as well as directly to the human population. Within direct blast zones everything would be vaporized and destroyed. Cities damaged but not completely destroyed would lose their water system due to

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