AN ATOM-AGE GLOSSARY

Blast Wave, also referred to as the shock wave, is the wall of pressure generated by a nuclear explosion. It speeds outward from the explosion point at 2,000 m.p.h., slows as the distance increases.

CONELRAD is an abbreviation for Control of Electromagnetic Radiation. It is an emergency communications system in which all commercial broadcast stations will leave the air except those assigned to instruct the public at 640 and 1,240 kilocycles. It is intended to nullify enemy equipment that uses radio signals to pinpoint targets.

Dosimeter. An instrument that indicates the amount of radiation a person has absorbed.

Gamma Rays, generated by a nuclear explosion, are similar to X rays and form the radiation that is most dangerous to life. They are the main reason for fallout shelters.

Ground Zero is the point on earth closest to the center of the nuclear explosion.

Kiloton, a unit used in measuring the energy of a nuclear weapon, is equivalent to the energy released by the explosion of 1,000 tons of TNT. A megaton is equivalent to 1,000,000 tons. The Hiroshima bomb was a 20-kiloton bomb.

NAWAS, standing for National Warning System, is a civil defense warning network, controlled from North American Defense Command headquarters in Colorado Springs, linking 449 cities, military bases and other defense points by 45,000 miles of telephone lines and microwave radio circuits.

NEAR, standing for National Emergency Alarm Repeater, is a home warning system still under study. In NEAR, a 240-cycle signal carried on regular 110-volt power lines would set small buzzers, plugged into alternating current outlets, to squawking. NEAR units could be installed in each home for a few dollars, might give warning to all within one minute after the discovery of an oncoming attack.

Overpressure is the number of pounds per square inch (p.s.i.) above normal atmospheric pressure exerted by the blast wave of a nuclear explosion. An overpressure exceeding 20 p.s.i. can be fatal to a human being.

Ratemeter is an instrument similar to a dosimeter, except that it indicates the rate at which the radiation is being absorbed by a person.

Roentgen is a unit used in measuring gamma and X rays. It is named after Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen, a German physicist who discovered X rays in 1895.

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