Fallout shelter
Nuclear weapons |
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Background |
Nuclear-armed states |
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A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designated to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War.
During a nuclear explosion, matter vaporized in the resulting fireball is exposed to neutrons from the explosion, absorbs them, and becomes
Much of this highly radioactive material falls to Earth, subjecting anything within the line of sight to radiation, becoming a significant hazard. A fallout shelter is designed to allow its occupants to minimize exposure to harmful fallout until radioactivity has decayed to a safer level, over a few weeks or months.
Principle
A fallout shelter is designed to protect its occupants from:
- the mechanical and thermal effects of a nuclear explosion (or nuclear accident);[1]
- radioactive fallout, allowing them to survive for a period of time deemed sufficient to allow them to escape safely.
History
North America
The
In the U.S. in September 1961, under the direction of
In November 1961, in
The United States ended federal funding for the shelters in the 1970s.[9] In 2017, New York City began removing the yellow signs since members of the public are unlikely to find edible food and usable medicine inside those rooms.[10]
Atomitat
The
Europe
Similar projects have been undertaken in Finland, which requires all buildings with area over 600 m2 to have an NBC (nuclear-biological-chemical) shelter, and Norway, which requires all buildings with an area over 1000 m2 to have a shelter.[14]
The former
Germany has protected shelters for 3% of its population, Austria for 30%, Finland for 70%, Sweden for 81%,[16] and Switzerland for 114%.[17]
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a network of fallout shelters were built across the country, underground. [18]
Bosnia
The
The facility is now under the authority of the
Another underground facility is
Switzerland
Switzerland built an extensive network of fallout shelters, not only through extra hardening of government buildings such as schools, but also through a building regulation requiring nuclear shelters in residential buildings since the 1960s (the first legal basis in this sense dates from 4 October 1963).[26] Later, the law ensured that all residential buildings built after 1978 contained a nuclear shelter able to withstand a blast from a 12-megaton explosion at a distance of 700 metres.[27] The Federal Law on the Protection of the Population and Civil Protection still requires that every inhabitant should have a place in a shelter close to where they live.[17]
The Swiss authorities maintained large communal shelters (such as the Sonnenberg Tunnel until 2006) stocked with over four months of food and fuel.[27] The reference Nuclear War Survival Skills declared that, as of 1986, "Switzerland has the best civil defense system, one that already includes blast shelters for over 85% of all its citizens."[28] As of 2006, there were about 300,000 shelters built in private residences, institutions and hospitals, as well as 5,100 public shelters for a total of 8.6 million places, a level of coverage equal to 114% of the population.[17]
In Switzerland, most residential shelters are no longer stocked with the food and water required for prolonged habitation and a large number have been converted by the owners to other uses (e.g.,
Details of shelter construction
Shielding
A basic fallout shelter consists of shields that reduce gamma ray exposure by a factor of 1000. The required shielding can be accomplished with 10 times the thickness of any quantity of material capable of cutting gamma ray exposure in half. Shields that reduce gamma ray intensity by 50% (1/2) include 1 centimetre (0.4 in) of lead, 6 cm (2.4 in) of concrete, 9 cm (3.5 in) of packed earth or 150 metres (500 ft) of air. When multiple thicknesses are built, the shielding multiplies. Thus, a practical fallout shield is ten halving-thicknesses of packed earth, reducing gamma rays by approximately 1024 times (210).[29]
Usually, an expedient purpose-built fallout shelter is a trench; with a strong roof buried by 1 m (3 ft) of earth. The two ends of the trench have ramps or entrances at right angles to the trench, so that gamma rays cannot enter (they can travel only in straight lines). To make the overburden waterproof (in case of rain), a plastic sheet may be buried a few inches below the surface and held down with rocks or bricks.[30]
Blast doors are designed to absorb the shock wave of a nuclear blast, bending and then returning to their original shape.[31]
Climate control
Dry earth is a reasonably good thermal insulator, but over several weeks of habitation, a shelter will become dangerously hot.[32] The simplest form of effective fan to cool a shelter is a wide, heavy frame with flaps that swing in the shelter's doorway and can be swung from hinges on the ceiling. The flaps open in one direction and close in the other, pumping air. (This is a Kearny air pump, or KAP, named after the inventor, Cresson Kearny.)
Unfiltered air is safe, since the most dangerous fallout has the consistency of sand or finely ground pumice.
Locations
Effective public shelters can be the middle floors of some tall buildings or parking structures, or below ground level in most buildings with more than 10 floors. The thickness of the upper floors must form an effective shield, and the windows of the sheltered area must not view fallout-covered ground that is closer than 1.5 km (1 mi). One of Switzerland's solutions is to use road tunnels passing through the mountains, with some of these shelters being able to protect tens of thousands.[33]
Fallout shelters are not always underground. Above ground buildings with walls and roofs dense enough to afford a meaningful protection factor can be used as a fallout shelter.[34]
Contents
A battery-powered radio may be helpful to get reports of fallout patterns and clearance. However, radio and other electronic equipment may be disabled by electromagnetic pulse. For example, even at the height of the Cold War, EMP protection had been completed for only 125 of the approximately 2,771 radio stations in the United States Emergency Broadcast System. Also, only 110 of 3,000 existing Emergency Operating Centers had been protected against EMP effects.[35] The Emergency Broadcast System has since been supplanted in the United States by the Emergency Alert System.
The reference Nuclear War Survival Skills includes the following supplies in a list of "Minimum Pre-Crisis Preparations": one or more shovels, a pick, a bow-saw with an extra blade, a hammer, and 0.1 mm (4 mils) polyethylene film (also any necessary nails, wire, etc.); a homemade shelter-ventilating pump (a
Inhabitants should have water on hand, 4–8 litres (1–2 US gal) per person per day. Water stored in bulk containers requires less space than water stored in smaller bottles.[37]
Kearny fallout meter
Commercially made Geiger counters are expensive and require frequent calibration. It is possible to construct an electrometer-type radiation meter called the Kearny fallout meter, which does not require batteries or professional calibration, from properly-scaled plans with just a coffee can or pail, gypsum board, monofilament fishing line, and aluminum foil.[38] Plans are freely available in the public domain in the reference Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson Kearny.[39]
Use
Inhabitants should plan to remain sheltered for at least two weeks (with an hour out at the end of the first week – see Swiss Civil Defense guidelines), then work outside for gradually increasing amounts of time, to four hours a day at three weeks. The normal work is to sweep or wash fallout into shallow trenches to decontaminate the area. They should sleep in a shelter for several months. Evacuation at three weeks is recommended by official authorities.[citation needed]
If available, inhabitants may take potassium iodide at the rate of 130 mg/day per adult (65 mg/day per child) as an additional measure to protect the thyroid gland from the uptake of dangerous radioactive iodine, a component of most fallout and reactor waste.[40]
Different types of radiation emitted by fallout
Alpha (α)
In the vast majority of accidents, and in all
Beta (β)
Beta radiation consists of particles (high-speed electrons) given off by some fallout. Most beta particles cannot penetrate more than about 3 metres (10 ft) of air or about 3 mm (1⁄8 in) of water, wood, or human body tissue; or a sheet of aluminum foil. Avoiding direct exposure with fallout particles will prevent most injuries from beta radiation.[43]
The primary dangers associated with beta radiation are internal exposure from ingested fallout particles and beta burns from fallout particles no more than a few days old.
Gamma (γ)
Gamma radiation penetrates further through matter than alpha or beta radiation. Most of the design of a typical fallout shelter is intended to protect against gamma rays. Gamma rays are better absorbed by materials with high atomic numbers and high density, although neither effect is important compared to the total mass per area in the path of the gamma ray. Thus, lead is only modestly better as a gamma shield than an equal mass of another shielding material such as aluminum, concrete, water or soil.
Some gamma radiation from fallout will penetrate into even the best shelters. However, the radiation dose received while inside a shelter can be significantly reduced with proper shielding. Ten halving thicknesses of a given material can reduce gamma exposure to less than 1⁄1000 of unshielded exposure.[44]
Weapons versus nuclear accident fallout
The bulk of the
Other matters and simple improvements
While a person's home may not be a purpose-made shelter, it could be thought of as one if measures are taken to improve the degree of fallout protection.
Measures to lower the beta dose
The main threat of
Measures to lower the gamma dose rate
The gamma dose rate due to the contamination brought into the shelter on the clothing of a person is likely to be small (by wartime standards) compared to gamma radiation that penetrates through the walls of the shelter.[45] The following measures can be taken to reduce the amount of gamma radiation entering the shelter:
- Roofs and gutters can be cleaned to lower the dose rate in the house.
- The top inch of soil in the area near the house can be either removed or dug up and mixed with the subsoil. This reduces the dose rate as the gamma rays have to pass through the topsoil before they can irradiate anything above.
- Nearby roads can be rinsed and washed down to remove dust and debris; the Chernobyl accidenta program of road washing was used to control the spread of radioactivity.
- Windows can be bricked up, or the sill raised to reduce the hole in the shielding formed by the wall.
- Gaps in the shielding can be blocked using containers of water. While water has a much lower density than that of lead, it is still able to shield some gamma rays.
- Earth (or other dense material) can be heaped up against the exposed walls of the building; this forces the gamma rays to pass through a thicker layer of shielding before entering the house.
- Nearby trees can be removed to reduce the dose due to fallout which is on the branches and leaves. It has been suggested by the US government that a fallout shelter should not be dug close to trees for this reason.[46]
Fallout shelters in popular culture
Fallout shelters feature prominently in the
The 1961
In the
In 1999, the film Blast from the Past was released. It is a romantic comedy film about a nuclear physicist, his wife, and son that enter a well-equipped, spacious fallout shelter during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. They do not emerge until 35 years later, in 1997. The film shows their reaction to contemporary society.
The
Paranoia, a role-playing game, takes place in a city-sized fallout shelter, which has become ruled by an insane computer.
An episode of the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle features a subplot revolving around Reese and Dewey discovering a previously unknown fallout shelter in their backyard and trapping their father Hal in it, who soon becomes smitten with the shelter's 1960s decor.
The Metro 2033 book series by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky depicts survivors' life in the subway systems below Moscow and Saint-Petersburg after a nuclear exchange between the Russian Federation and the United States of America.
Fallout shelters are often featured on the reality television show Doomsday Preppers.[48]
The Silo series of novellas by Hugh Howey feature extensive fallout-style shelters that protect the inhabitants from an initially unknown disaster.
The 2019 US film The Tomorrow Man centers around a reclusive man whose main preoccupation is tending to his in-home fallout shelter and the conspiracy theories that could put it to use.
See also
- Abo Elementary School
- Ark Two Shelter
- Blast shelter
- Bomb shelter
- Bunker
- Bruce D. Clayton, author of Fallout Survival and Life After Doomsday
- Collective protection
- Command center
- CONELRAD
- Continuity of government
- Project Greek Island
- Vivos (underground shelter)
Nation specific:
- Central Government War Headquarters, The UKs Gov. War Headquarters at Corsham, Wiltshire.
- Diefenbunker
- HANDEL, UK's former national attack warning system
General:
- Fission product
- Retreat (survivalism)
- Sonnenberg Tunnel
- Survivalism
Publications:
Notes and references
- ^ "Un abri antiatomique au fond de votre jardin". Capital.fr (in French). January 27, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
- ^ McFadden, Robert (October 27, 2017). "Robert Blakeley, Who Created a Sign of the Cold War, Dies at 95". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ "Episode 709, Story 3: N.E.A.R Device" (transcript). pbs.com. Oregon Public Broadcasting. 2009. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
- ^ "Civil Defense Museum-Community Shelter Tours Main Page". civildefensemuseum.com. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
- ^ "FALLOUT FEVER: Civil Defense shelters dotted area cities during the Cold War – My Web Times". mywebtimes.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
- ^ "DOE.gov". Archived from the original on November 7, 2009.
- ISSN 2515-0456.
- ^ Fortune magazine November 1961 Pages 112–115 et al
- ^ Bearman, Sophie (October 6, 2017). "Thinking the unthinkable: Don't rely on these historic fallout shelters in case of a nuclear attack". CNBC. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
- ^ Allen, Jonathan (December 27, 2017). "New York City To Remove Misleading Nuclear Fallout Shelter Signs". Huffington Post. Reuters. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
- ^ "Whatever Happened to the Atomitat?". A Gray Media Group, Inc. KCBD. August 6, 2002. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ^ McDonough, Doug (April 27, 2012). "Atomitat House used in 1966 propaganda film". Plainview Herald. Archived from the original on March 10, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ISBN 978-0415788489. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ "FOR 1995-03-15 nr 254: Forskrift om tilfluktsrom". Lovdata.no. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
- ^ Pile, Tim (January 29, 2021). "Going underground: the cheapest, deepest, oldest subway systems in the world – but which is home to its own mosquito?". South China Morning Post. SCMP Publishers. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
- ^ "Why Sweden is home to 65,000 fallout shelters". The Local Sweden. thelocal.se. November 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ^ Swissinfo, 23 October 2009 (page visited on 5 August 2015).
- ^ Descend Into Great Britain’s Network of Secret Nuclear Bunkers, And meet the determined enthusiast bringing them back to life.by Kate Ravilious September 11, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Titov bunker ARK D0 - Konjic". Visitmycountry.net. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- ^ "ARK – najveće atomsko sklonište bivše Jugoslavije (VIDEO) – Sandžačke novine". Sandzacke.rs. Retrieved October 21, 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c "D-0 ARK Biennial (Bosnia and Herzegovina)". Biennial Foundation. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- ^ "WONDERS OF NATURE WITH: DO KONJIC BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA". January 1, 2011.
- ^ "Zeljava Airbase". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
- ^ "Underground Aircraft Dispersal Bihac Airfield, Yugoslavia 44-50N 015-47E" (PDF). National Photographic Interpretation Center. June 17, 1968. Retrieved July 28, 2022 – via nsarchive2.gwu.edu.
- ^ "Zeljava-jna_jedinice". Retrieved April 27, 2017.
- ^ Le temps, Monday 15 August 2016 (page visited on 15 August 2015).
- ^ a b c Ball, Deborah (June 25, 2011). "Swiss Renew Push for Bomb Shelters". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
- ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- ^ "Halving-thickness for various materials". The Compass DeRose Guide to Emergency Preparedness – Hardened Shelters. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
- ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
The 3-foot thickness of earth shown (or a 2-foot thickness of concrete) will provide an effective barrier, attenuating (absorbing) about 99.9%, of all gamma rays from fallout." "A right-angle turn, either from a vertical or horizontal entry, causes a reduction of about 90%." "...a large piece of 4-mil-thick polyethylene was placed over the mound. This waterproof material served as a "buried roof" after it was covered with more earth.
- ^ "Secret U.S. Bunkers". Lost Worlds. Episode 18. August 29, 2007. The History Channel.
- ^ ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- ^ Foulkes, Imogen (February 10, 2007). "Swiss still braced for nuclear war". BBC News, Switzerland. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
- ^ Monteyne, David. Fallout Shelter: Designing for Civil Defense in the Cold War. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2011. Print.
- ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- PMID 5917900.
- ^ Kearny, Cresson H (1978). The KFM, A Homemade Yet Accurate and Dependable Fallout Meter (PDF). Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2004.
- ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- ^ a b c Note that this image was drawn using data from the OECD report and the second edition of The Radiochemical Manual
- ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- ^ ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- ^ ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- ISBN 0-942487-01-X.
- ^ "site: Robert A. Heinlein - Archives - PM 6/52 Article". www.nitrosyncretic.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2010.
- ^ "Shelter - Doomsday Preppers Article - National Geographic Channel". Archived from the original on April 1, 2015.
Further reading
- Rose, Kenneth D., One Nation Underground: The Fallout Shelter in American Culture, ISBN 978-0814775233