If you see a mushroom cloud DO run why its better to run away from nuclear blast than seek shelter Current U.S. Government advice is to 'shelter in place' but you're probably better off making a run for it A mathematical model of nuclear fallout suggests that sheltering in place is not always the best survival strategy If you can reach higher quality shelter in less than 30 minutes after a nuclear blast, then go for it If you've got nothing, you definitely need to seek shelter immediately By Daily Mail Reporter UPDATED: 16:59, 18 January 2014 Should you be in the unfortunate position of being in the area when a nuclear bomb explodes, new research suggests rather than 'sheltering in place' as many emergency programs insist, your best bet for survival might be to run away from the blast. Sheltering in place is not always the best survival strategy after a nuclear detonation. If you can reach higher quality shelter in less than 30 minutes, you should go for it. If out in the open, you need to find any shelter at all as quickly as possible. See this? Run! New research suggests rather than 'sheltering in place' as many emergency programs insist, your best bet for survival after a nuclear detonation might be to run away from the blast zone A mathematical model of nuclear fallout suggests that sheltering in place (the first option above) is not always the best survival strategy. If you can reach higher quality shelter in less than 30 minutes (the second option), you should go for it. And if you've got nothing, you definitely need to seek shelter immediately (third option) Michael Dillon, an atmospheric scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, created a mathematical model of nuclear fallout survival after his relatives - who were curious about his work - asked what they should do if they saw a mushroom cloud. 'I realized that I really didn't have a great answer,' Dillon said to Science online. The official U.S. government advice is to 'take shelter in the nearest and most protective building.' For most people, that would be the basement of their home. But, Dillon says, 'out in California there just are not that many basements,' offering little protection from fallout. Dillion's research proposes ways to determine the optimal shelter time based on information potentially available following a nuclear detonation. 'If your current shelter is poor and higher quality shelter is less than 5 minutes away, the model suggests that you should run there as soon as you can,' Science online reported. If you have poor shelter but higher quality shelter is available farther away, you should get to that high-quality shelter no later than 30 minutes after detonation. Depending on the size of the city, if everyone follows this advice, it could save between 10,000 and 100,000 lives. Advice: The official U.S. government advice is to 'take shelter in the nearest and most protective building.' For most people, that would be the basement of their home For those people, the official recommendations suggest 'early transit' to find better shelter, ideally one with thick layers of concrete over your head and plenty of food and water. If you spend too much time outside in the fallout, you're a gonna. For low-yield nuclear detonations, you can do far better than just sheltering in place, but you'll need a watch and good knowledge of your surroundings. Dillon's research focused on a single low-yield nuclear detonation like those that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world's nuclear arsenal has grown far more powerful - today's warheads can inflict thousands of times more damage - but security experts believe portable, low-yield bombs are the most likely terrorist threat. Not everyone is on board with Dillon's run-like-the-wind strategy, however. 'I disagree with the conclusions,' says Lawrence Wein, an operations research scientist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. He fails to account for several important issues that are vitally important for policy recommendations. Such as, most injured, confused and panic-stricken people likely won't be able to execute a flawless evacuation strategy.