Do NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) suits protect against heat? or just radioactivity?

Question

also out of curiosity...if a nuclear explosion happened 20 miles from where I am and I wasn't wearing the suit...would I have time to put it on w/o getting killed?? please answer only if you know! thanks :-)

Answer 1

The NBC suits, and I am no expert on this, are designed to exclude dangerous bio-pathogens and radioactive fall-out along with nerve agents. These suits are not nuclear blast, heat, shock wave proof! In Britain there have been press reports that some of our first Gulf War veterans are suffering from 'Gulf War Syndrome' due to the NBC agents injected into them as a counter chemical warfare measure!

If you were 20 miles away from the nuclear blast you would survive the initial shock wave. As long as you did not look at the fireball, which can cause retina damage if viewed without a dark filter, you would hear an intense distant rumble but otherwise you would be intact. The best response would be to take an iodine tablet to protect your thyroids against radio-iodide fall out and then stay indoors, sealing windows, doors, and vents against fall out dust. Whilst confined indoors, after the explosion you would have to eat stored food and drink bottled water. Finally, you would have to follow your government’s emergency transmission's advice.

Let us hope that such a situation never comes to pass!