Evacuation kills, not radiation.
This isn't an exaggeration, but the number from the FOCP reference scenario « large »: 1–2 deaths from acute radiation exposure (facility personnel only), but about 180 deaths total—mostly from evacuation itself: traffic accidents, stress, delayed rescue. Fukushima confirms the pattern: no acute radiation deaths, but elevated mortality among evacuated elderly from stress and delayed help. The instinct to get away as fast as possible is exactly the danger.
Why staying inside is right.
The official instruction for a nuclear plant incident is « execute protected stay »: seek a building, close windows and doors, shut off ventilation, check exposure via Alertswiss or Teletext 680—and take iodine tablets only on official orders. Concrete works: a good basement cuts exposure many times over — massive buildings and lower floors by up to roughly a factor of 200. Iodine protects only the thyroid, not from external radiation, which concrete helps with.
What really happens in 72 hours
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04:00 — The incident begins.
A cooling line rupture at the nuclear plant. The containment initially holds—there follows a roughly nine-hour lead phase. Zone 1 (3–5 km) is evacuated preemptively, before anything escapes. From the mall in Zone 2, no one knows anything.
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12:58 — The siren.
General alarm: a rising and falling wail, one minute long, parallel to Alertswiss and the mandatory radio message. The signal says: turn on the radio, seek shelter. It doesn't say what to do—that comes via radio, Alertswiss, and Teletext 680.
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13:00 — The release.
An unfiltered release begins and lasts about two hours. Downwind, even indoors up to about 50 km, elevated exposure is possible. This is exactly when your Saturday unfolds—and whoever drives out now drives into it.
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13:15–14:30 — The instinct.
The crowd heads toward exits and the garage. Cell network collapses under the flood of calls. Now the decision falls: in the car home for tablets (feels right, is deadly) or seek shelter in the building (center announcement, basement).
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from 15:00 — The wait.
The release ends. Now: wait for the real all-clear, not a rumor. Those outside took dose and contamination; those inside emerged with low exposure. Orderly, protected evacuation—if needed—comes later, on orders.
The deadliest mistakes
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In the car and home for iodine tablets.
The deadliest instinct. In a car barely protected, in the open completely exposed, and exit roads are jammed—that's where the accidents happen that dominate the death toll in the FOCP scenario. Tablets at home don't help if you never arrive. Stay where there's concrete above.
Protects you: Danger: Radioactivity Protection Shelter Switzerland
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Swallow iodine tablets too early.
Iodine protects only the thyroid and only in the right window—just before or at the moment of danger, only on official orders. Swallowed too early, the effect fades. The facility as a plant in the zone has its own tablets in reserve; the rule stands: first the order, then the tablet.
Protects you: Iodine Tablets Done Right
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« Fresh air » outside for the children.
The well-intended inside mistake: an open window or door undermines the building's protective envelope. The announcement says it clearly—windows and doors closed, ventilation off. Inside with closed envelope, the air for the children is safer than outside.
Protects you: Protection Shelter Switzerland Danger: Radioactivity
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Follow a rumor instead of the all-clear.
« It's supposed to be over » isn't an all-clear. Leaving early during or just after release means: back into exposure. Wait for the confirmed official instruction via radio and Alertswiss—even if the children complain and waiting is hard.
Protects you: Situation Switzerland Radio & Information
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Just a quick step out—to grab something.
The stuffed toy in the car, the dog at the bike rack, the jacket in the trunk: the short trip feels harmless, because you see nothing and smell nothing. But during a release, every unprotected minute outdoors counts—and « two minutes » is never two minutes. What's outside stays outside until the all-clear comes.
Protects you: Danger: Radioactivity Protection Shelter Switzerland
Radio in the blackout — your fallback
No radio—but the same question: how do you know what applies? Four channels matter in the game as in reality, and in the building the most reliable turns out to be exactly the one you don't have with you :
- Radio (SRF). The mandatory message brings the official situation and later the iodine order. A battery or hand-crank radio receives even when the cell network has collapsed. In the car clear via the roof antenna.
- Alertswiss and Teletext 680. Alertswiss pushes official alerts to the phone—as long as the network holds. Via Teletext 680 you check whether your municipality or sector is affected. With mass calling, the cell network becomes unreliable; don't rely on it alone.
- Center announcement. In the building, the most concrete source: management announces where shelter is (basement, garage) and when the facility distributes iodine tablets. In the garage your phone is dead—the announcement reaches you anyway. That's the lesson: the safe place is where your phone is useless.
- Call home. Emotionally the most important—and practically the least reliable. The network is overloaded, the call often busy, and each attempt costs battery, time, and nerves. A quick « we're okay » instead of long calls saves both.
Maxim (in the game as in reality): The siren informs, it doesn't instruct—turn on the radio and Alertswiss and follow the instructions. Stay inside, windows and ventilation closed, and take iodine tablets only on official orders. Concrete protects, haste kills.
More in our radio section: Danger: Radioactivity Iodine Tablets Radio & Information
Frequently asked questions
Is the scenario realistic?
The sequence follows the FOCP reference scenario of a nuclear plant incident and the FOPH emergency protection zones: roughly nine hours lead phase, one unfiltered release of about two hours, zones of 3–5 km (Zone 1) and about 20 km (Zone 2) with 120° hazard sectors. The mall, the characters, and the exact wind direction are fictional. Important: FOCP numbers are a planning projection, not measured statistics from an actual Swiss incident.
Is it true that radiation barely kills?
Yes—the FOCP reference scenario « large » calculates 1–2 acute radiation deaths (facility personnel only), but about 180 total, mostly from evacuation: traffic accidents, stress, delayed rescue. Fukushima shows the same pattern: no acute radiation deaths, but elevated mortality among evacuated elderly from stress and delayed help. That's why in the game acute radiation death is an extraordinarily rare exception—death comes almost always from the accident.
When do you take iodine tablets?
Only on official orders, only in the right window—just before or at the moment of danger. Taken too early, the effect fades. Iodine protects exclusively the thyroid, mainly children's, adolescents', and pregnant women's, and not from external radiation. Pre-distributed tablets are at home; facilities in the zone keep them in reserve.
What protects best?
Stay inside and close the building envelope. A good basement cuts exposure many times over — massive buildings and lower floors by up to roughly a factor of 200; a protection shelter cuts it further still. Seek the building, close windows and doors, shut off ventilation, check exposure via Alertswiss or Teletext 680—and wait for orders. The concrete protection factor is the most powerful lever of the whole day.
Does the game save data?
No. No cookies, no account, no login, no tracking. Your game progress is only in the address (URL) of this page—close the tab and it's gone. You can share the URL or bookmark it; it contains no personal data, only your decisions.
Why exactly two hours?
Because the critical phase of such an incident lasts that long: the unfiltered release lasts about two hours in the reference scenario. The game starts with the siren alarm at the start of this phase and ends when it's clear who was protected. Deliberately one afternoon, not days of survival—the most important decisions happen in these two hours.