From the Cold War advantage item of the early 1960s , the immediate future appeared to be one of impending nuclear annihilation . The savvy homeowner built a bomb shelter for kinsfolk safe , but how to know when to make out out after the big one fell ? You could n’t see , finger , hear , taste or smell radiation . That ’s where a home radioactive dust meter come in William Christopher Handy . Luckily , Popular Science was there to help oneself the consumer realize how they worked and which one to buy .
In the pages of Popular Science , the post - nuke scenario sound less like the potential remainder of life as we cognise it than an opportunity for plucky do - it - yourselfers to search the exciting world of nuclear skill . understand the two types of radioactive dust meter was as comfortable as a leisurely drive in the family cable car . Ratemeters measured how fast you intoxicate up radiation in R per hour , “ just as a speed indicator on a railroad car measures how fast you are piling up mileage . ” Dosimeters measured one ’s total exposure to radiation in square roentgens , “ the manner the mileage counter on a car tells how far you have trip . ”
A mellow reading on the ratemeter warns of straightaway danger but not necessarily irreparable harm — like seeing the needle touch 95 in a cable car . A high reading on the dosimeter means you ’ve had it — like seeing 95,000 on the odometer of a jalopy .
After the bomb dropped and the family run to safety , they ’d practice the meter ( either type would do ) to survey the fallout shelter itself for leaks ( Popular Science did n’t say what to do if you found one — at least in this article ) and keep individual dose records . “ Gingerly poking the meter out the shelter door — and by and by outside the house door — would break when it was safe to leave . . . and for how long . ”
Popular Science then explained the “ plastered ” requirements set by the U.S. Office of Civil Defense :
A civilian metre must be small , light , almost unbreakable , simple enough for your wife to utilise and your television military man to repair , and evenhandedly accurate ( plus or minus about 25 percent ) even after you have fished it out of a puddle .
Price ranged from $ 100 for a distant mastery meter that allowed the user to remain in the shelter while taking indication outdoors , to $ 3.98 “ gismo ” that the OCD consider “ hazardously inadequate . ” Maybe it was too unmanageable for the trivial lady to operate .
Fallout
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