LibGuides: Nuclear Disaster Preparedness and Civil Defense: Home -- Government Resources (Current)

What to Do in a Nuclear Disaster

Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation (PDF)
Homeland Security Council Interagency Policy Coordination Subcommittee for Preparedness & Response to Radiological and Nuclear Threats, 2009. Includes suggestions for shelter, evacuation, medical care, decontamination, etc.
Nuclear Attack Fact Sheet
US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Includes links to info on "What to Do."
Radiological Attack Fact Sheet: Dirty Bombs and Other Devices
US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Includes links to info on "What to Do."
Emergency Preparedness and Response
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Includes guides "How Can I Prepare for a Radiological Emergency?" and "What Do I Do in a Nuclear Emergency?"
Radiation Emergencies (FEMA)
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Includes info on what to do before, during, and after a nuclear attack.
Radiation Emergencies (CDC)
Center for Disease Control (CDC). Includes "Protecting Yourself and Your Family," "Health Effects and Treatments," and "Radiation and Pregnancy"
Radiological and Nuclear Disaster Preparedness
from the CDC (YouTube video)
Nuclear War Survival Skills [civil defense manual]
Written by Cresson H. Kearny, published by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a facility of the US Department of Energy, updated 1987
Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear response. (Joint Chiefs of Staff)
A 2016 document published by the Joint Chiefs of Staff which "provides joint doctrine for military domestic or international response to minimize the effects of a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear incident."

A note on terms used:

"Nuclear attacks" involve weapons that cause a nuclear explosion resulting in widespread destruction, such as nuclear missiles and large-scale bombs.

"Radiological attacks" involve smaller-scale weapons that can release radioactive material into the environment, such as "dirty bombs" (explosive devices that use conventional explosive material like dynamite to disperse radioactive material over a targeted area).

For the purposes of this libguide, the term "nuclear disaster" involves both nuclear attacks and radiological attacks, as well as events such as nuclear powerplant failure and nuclear waste leakage into the environment.

Current Reports on Nuclear Safety

DOE Occupational Radiation Exposure Report
Updated annually.
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board weekly reports