Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

In a nuclear accident, is it safer to say in your house or skip town?

Dear Matthew:

Sponsored
Sponsored

During a nearby nuclear accident (like the ones recently in Japan and Korea), is it safer to stay in your house until the authorities say it's okay to leave, or should one skip town a.s.a.p.?

-- Curious, North Park

We've collected this week's questions in our "Apocalypse Now" file so we could handle them all at once in our little salute to the Y2K frenzy. The elves plan to spend New Year's Eve under their beds with their fingers in their ears. They've stockpiled Oreos and canned chili, just in case.

And just in case of a nuclear event of some kind, no matter what anybody says, most of you would hop in the car and boogie. FEMA, the federal disaster folks, know this from experience. I suggest we might stay put if there's something good on TV. But FEMA, the federal disaster folks, suggest we calm down and follow orders, which would be broadcast over the Emergency Broadcast Network. Most likely those orders would be to close windows, doors, vents, chimney flues, and stay where you are. And it would probably only apply to people within ten miles or so of the event. But, as usual, it all depends. Depends on what type of nuclear accident it is, what type of radiation (if any) has been released beyond the concrete barriers, how windy or rainy it is, which direction the wind is blowing, how far away from the accident you are. Most radiation couldn't penetrate the walls of your house. But the biggest thing FEMA and the Nuclear Regulaory Commission know is that ever since Three Mile Island, nobody believes anything said by the government or the businesses that operate sites with fissionable material. (The Japan event wasn't in a power generator like San Onofre, it was in a facility similar to General Atomic.) The odds on a Chernobyl in the U.S. are minuscule. But when we think "nuclear accident," we imagine mushroom clouds and two-headed frogs and glowing vegetables, no matter what anybody says. And that apparently translates into "Let's make a run for it, Ethel!"

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024

Dear Matthew:

Sponsored
Sponsored

During a nearby nuclear accident (like the ones recently in Japan and Korea), is it safer to stay in your house until the authorities say it's okay to leave, or should one skip town a.s.a.p.?

-- Curious, North Park

We've collected this week's questions in our "Apocalypse Now" file so we could handle them all at once in our little salute to the Y2K frenzy. The elves plan to spend New Year's Eve under their beds with their fingers in their ears. They've stockpiled Oreos and canned chili, just in case.

And just in case of a nuclear event of some kind, no matter what anybody says, most of you would hop in the car and boogie. FEMA, the federal disaster folks, know this from experience. I suggest we might stay put if there's something good on TV. But FEMA, the federal disaster folks, suggest we calm down and follow orders, which would be broadcast over the Emergency Broadcast Network. Most likely those orders would be to close windows, doors, vents, chimney flues, and stay where you are. And it would probably only apply to people within ten miles or so of the event. But, as usual, it all depends. Depends on what type of nuclear accident it is, what type of radiation (if any) has been released beyond the concrete barriers, how windy or rainy it is, which direction the wind is blowing, how far away from the accident you are. Most radiation couldn't penetrate the walls of your house. But the biggest thing FEMA and the Nuclear Regulaory Commission know is that ever since Three Mile Island, nobody believes anything said by the government or the businesses that operate sites with fissionable material. (The Japan event wasn't in a power generator like San Onofre, it was in a facility similar to General Atomic.) The odds on a Chernobyl in the U.S. are minuscule. But when we think "nuclear accident," we imagine mushroom clouds and two-headed frogs and glowing vegetables, no matter what anybody says. And that apparently translates into "Let's make a run for it, Ethel!"

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”
Next Article

Memories of bonfires amid the pits off Palm

Before it was Ocean View Hills, it was party central
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader