The town of Sillamäe in the east of Estonia was part of a Soviet military industrial complex. It was the location of a secret uranium enrichment plant as well as metal and chemical factories. The town was founded following the discovery of a deposit of uranium in the late 1940s. The workforce was imported from Russia, and Sillamäe was closed to outsiders up to the end of the Soviet Era.
The Romantic Geographic Society (RGS) and the School of Esoteric Geography conducted a joint expedition to the Republic of Estonia in April 2008. The expedition members were J. Kivi, O. Kochta-Kalleinen and M. Leppänen.
Underground Gallery
Sillamäe was the site of one of the most important focuses of the research: an abandoned underground bomb shelter that had housed a civil defence education poster exhibition.
Most of the exhibition material was still in the bunker. Some of it had suffered from the damp, and some had been vandalised. The education material dealt with different aspects of civil defence, such as first aid, fire suppression, preparing for chemical warfare and nuclear strikes. The main emphasis was on activities prior to and after a nuclear attack.
A selection of this abandoned material was saved by the Documentation and Antiquities Departments of the RGS.
The result is a significant collection of Soviet poster art comprising about 80 works. Thematically the collection remains extremely topical. Preparing for a nuclear attack and nuclear fallout, as well as the hypothetical principles of any subsequent measures, are practically identical all over our planet.
NUCLEAR STRIKE DISASTER ZONE
The disaster zone is the area of damaged and destroyed buildings and structures caused by a nuclear explosion, in which large-scale destruction of people, livestock and vegetation has occurred.
CIVIL DEFENCE FIREFIGHTING CORPS
A series of 24 instructional placards (cover page)
Publishing house "Depth", Moscow 1974
SHOCKWAVES AS A FIRE HAZARD
The shock wave of a nuclear explosion is a powerfully compressed area of air that expands very quickly in every direction from the point of impact.
As it expands, it destroys buildings and other structures, breaks containers with flammable liquids and gases, knocks over gas, propane, and oil burners, electric heaters and open hearths, and causes short circuits in electric lines connected to a live current, which lead in turn to fires.
Initial fires and fires ignite when shock wave overpressure exceeds 0.1 kPa/ m2.
ASSESSING THE EXTENT OF RADIATION IN THE NUCLEAR STRIKE AREA
Placard 4
A nuclear strike above ground shoots radioactive particles to a height of 10-20 kilometres and beyond. Large-sized particles fall to the surface within 30-40 minutes of the blast, but the great majority stays floating in the clouds formed by the explosion, where they are transported hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away by the air current.
Placard 14
USING VEHICLES FOR FIRE FIGHTING IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
Fire truck AN-30 (130)
Tanker truck ABZ-2000
Street washing vehicle
Placard 6
COLLECTIVE PROTECTION MEASURES
Collective protection measures – civil defence shelters and other protective structures – are a safe way to protect a large group of people simultaneously from a shock wave, radiation capable of permeating solid matter, chemical and bacteriological weapons, firebombs and mines dropped from airplanes, and collapsing buildings. Civil defence shelters and other protective structures are built from monolithic reinforced concrete, reinforced concrete elements, wood structures or locally available material.
If the fire fighting equipment does not have a dedicated protective structure able to withstand shockwaves and light radiation, natural fissures in the terrain can be utilized for this purpose and test runs should be made to determine suitable lowlands and holes beforehand.
A simple radiation shelter for fire fighting corps personnel can reduce the effects of radiation by 200-300 per cent. Shelters of this kind can be built with material found in the immediate area.
Placard 16
LARGE-SCALE FIRE RECONNAISSANCE MEASURES
[text under picture with mushroom cloud:]
Zone with burning and smouldering building ruins, 50 cal/cm2
[text somewhere in the centre:]
Zone with area fires, 20 cal/cm2
[subtitle under picture:]
Work of the reconnaissance teams
[left box:]
Mapping out potential boundaries and dissemination routes for area fires
[centre box:]
Estimating need for extinguishing in rescue and clearance work in certain areas
[right box:]
Estimating water availability for extinguishing large-scale fires and defining isolation boundaries for area fires
[lower corner titles from left to right:]
Terrain reconnaissance
Reconnaissance on rivers and from the sea
Air reconnaissance
Placard 17
FIRE FIGHTING CORPS PROTOCOL DURING MARCH
Preparing personnel and equipment to drive through contaminated terrain
Placard 15
TYPES OF LARGE-SCALE FIRES
BUILDING FIRES
Large-scale fires that create hazardous areas of thermal radiation are called building fires.
AREA FIRES
Large-scale fires that create common hazardous areas of thermal radiation are called area fires
Firestorms are one kind of area fire.
Placard 19
WORK OF THE CIVIL DEFENCE FIRE FIGHTING CORPS AT THE NUCLEAR STRIKE AREA
Safeguarding entry of the civil defence units through the fire areas to reach the area they are to work in
Safeguarding and implementing rescue services in fire areas
The primary task of the civil defence fire fighting corps in a nuclear strike area is to safeguard the transport of other civil defence units and evacuation of victims through the area with large-scale fires.
Placard 20
WORK OF THE CIVIL DEFENCE FIRE FIGHTING CORPS TO ISOLATE AREA FIRES
Isolating a spreading fire to a wide traffic way
Safeguarding evacuation from fire areas
Placard 23
DECONTAMINATION OF FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT
PARTIAL DECONTAMINATION
TOTAL DECONTAMINATION
Removing radioactive particles from surfaces that fire fighting personnel have come into contact with is called decontamination of the fire fighting equipment. Decontamination can reduce the risk of radiation sickness to insignificant amounts or remove the risk completely.
Placard 24
CLEANING PROTOCOL OF THE FIRE FIGHTING CORPS PERSONNEL
Cleaning the skin 1-2 hours after exposure guarantees the preservation of total work ability. This cleaning can be partial or total.
Partial cleaning removes radioactive materials from the surface of clothing and exposed body parts.
For total cleaning, personnel take hot water DDA or DDP-type disinfection showers.
PARTIAL CLEANING BEFORE REMOVING FIELD GEAR
IN SUMMER, SKIN IS WIPED DOWN WITH A DAMP CLOTH
IN WINTER, SKIN IS CLEANED WITH SNOW
TOTAL CLEANING SHOWER AREA
Placard 3
LIGHT REFRACTION AS A FIRE HAZARD
DEPENDENT ON THE FORCE OF THE BLAST, LIGHT IMPULSES AT A CERTAIN PROXIMITY CAN CAUSE SOME MATERIALS TO IGNITE
The most significant fire hazard is light radiation, also known as electromagnetic radiation, accounting for some 35 per cent of the energy released in a nuclear explosion.
Light radiation spreads large amounts of thermal energy far out in every direction at the speed of light, starting area and building fires, igniting other structures, technical equipment and storage buildings, and inflicting burns and eye damage. The table shown presents light radiation impulses that can cause certain materials to ignite, depending on the force and proximity of the blast and the physical and chemical properties of the material.
Placard 11
IMMEDIATE FIRE PREVENTION MEASURES
A series of immediate fire prevention measures must be carried out in cities, populated areas and areas with major industry when there is a threat of enemy attack.
EXTINGUISHING FIRES IN INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES
Every citizen and fire fighting unit should know the how to extinguish fires at industrial facilities
EXTINGUISHING FIRES AT TRAFFIC ROUTES AND IN THE NUCLEAR STRIKE DISASTER ZONE: Isolating fires and extinguishing methods in the disaster zone
SUBSECTIONS OF RESCUE AND CLEARANCE OPERATIONS
POISONS AFFECTING THE SKIN
MUSTARD GAS: An oily liquid that smells like mustard, mustard gas infiltrates earth, rubber, paint layers, trees, skin, clothes and food. In weapons, it is used as drops or a vapour.
Mustard gas damages skin, respiration organs and eyes. If introduced into the body in food or water, it can damage intestines and cause poisoning of the system. A drop on the skin causes redness within 2-6 hours, after which blisters form that turn into ulcers within 2-3 days.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
The armies of capitalist states include in their arsenal several chemical weapons, primarily poisonous substances that can damage humans and animals and contaminate the air and the environment and everything in it.
ENLARGE: Click the images
Placard 1: RECONNAISSANCE IS IMPORTANT TO
SAFEGUARD EFFECTIVE CIVIL DEFENCE
CLEANING PROTOCOL FOR REMOVING RADIOACTIVE PARTICLES
LEARN,
KNOW,
ACT!
CIVIL DEFENCE DRILL COMPETITION
[text in boxes with roman numerals:]
DRILL 1
Walk along a 6 meter plank, climb through a hole in the wall (0.5m x 0.5 m), jump over a ditch 1.5 meter wide (pretend ditch outlined on the course), jump along marked footprints. Every failed task adds 30 seconds to the drill time. Number of participants: 1.
DRILL 2
Make a bandage from cotton and gauze; tie it on, and run 25 metres. Incorrectly made or tied bandages add 2 minutes to the drill time.
Number of participants: 1.
DRILL 3
Assemble a gas mask, put it on and run 25 metres. Choosing the wrong gas mask size adds 2 minutes to the drill time, wearing it incorrectly adds 30 seconds.
Number of participants: 1.
DRILL 4
Apply first aid to a person posing as a victim and transport this person to a meeting place. Incorrect bandaging adds 1 minute to the drill time, incorrect tourniquet application adds 30 seconds, incorrect splint application adds 1 minute and improper or rough transport adds 1 minute.
Number of participants: 4.
DRILL 5
Find shelter from flying shrapnel for 6 persons and run 50 metres.
Choosing the wrong size shelter adds 1 minute to the drill time and choosing the wrong shelter adds 30 seconds.
Number of participants: 3.
DRILL 6
Run 60 metres with a gas mask on and put a gas mask on a child.
Putting the gas mask on the child incorrectly adds 30 seconds to the drill time.
Number of participants: 1.
[title for four lower pictures:]
CIVIL DEFENCE OBSTACLE COURSE
LEARN,
KNOW,
ACT!
____________________________
NUCLEAR WEAPON
The destructive power of a nuclear weapon is founded on the rapid release of energy from a nuclear reaction.
TYPES OF NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
ATMOSPHERIC EXPLOSIONS
ABOVE GROUND EXPLOSIONS
UNDERGROUND EXPLOSIONS
Underwater explosions
EFFECTS OF A NUCLEAR EXPLOSION
REMEMBER!
The shockwave of a nuclear explosion expands
1000 metres in 2 seconds
2000 metres in 5 seconds
3000 metres in 8 seconds
KNOW!
Radiation that passes through solid matter begins to affect living organisms immediately after the moment of impact, causing radiation sickness in both humans and animals.
ENLARGE: Click the images
