Why build a shelter at all?  Isn’t the Cold War over?

One Answer:
After the former Soviet Union spent itself into the poor house building mountains of offensive weaponry, the United States declared “victory” and began spending the peace dividend.  The Warsaw Pact dissolved and the Russians lugged most of their tanks, aircraft, and nuclear weapons home.  This is a good thing, especially for Europe.  The Russians also scrapped their old nuclear delivery systems (they never throw anything away) to save money for upgrading and maintaining their newer third and fourth generation strategic missiles. 

Russia might not be able to regularly pay Red Army soldiers, but is still lavishing funds on maintaining a 6,000 warhead first-strike capability. In addition, they still have a number of active nuclear warhead production facilities, while the U.S. cannot produce a single new nuclear warhead…our production facilities have been closed more than a decade. 

In addition to maintaining a powerful offensive nuclear capability, Russia continues to build huge underground complexes, some of which are as large as Washington DC (Yamantau Mountain).  It is known that there are over 200 large facilities constructed for the ruling elite, each housing from one thousand to more than 80,000 officials and their families.  Inquiries from the U.S. Congress and the Pentagon about Yamantau Mountain have been met with responses ranging from silly to flat denial. 

Also consider that Russia has built millions of shelter spaces for civilians and has a civil defense (CD) program that is still taught in their schools.  This CD program combined with the worlds largest (and well tested) anti-ballistic missile system leads many to ask:  “Is the Cold War really over?”

Another Answer:

It is a feeling of safety and security for your loved ones from natural disasters.  Also, there is knowledge of increasing global threats.  There are many enemies of the West and what it stands for.  Dirty bombs, man-made pandemics, bio-terrorism, chemical warfare are just a few of our countries worries.  We can hope that there will never be another terrorist attack on US soil, however we should be better safe than sorry.  There is nothing wrong with being preparred.

Radiation and Fallout

Fallout is simply the dirt and dust which falls to the ground following a nuclear explosion.  It will be "charged" with radiation and will eventually "burn" itself out - a process that will take several days.

Radioactive fallout will fall in a manner similar to that following a volcanic eruption.  It will be flaky in appearance and its size may reduce to dust particles or smaller.  Expect it to be thicker near the detonation site and thinner as it travels down wind.

The bad news about fallout is that it's radioactivity can penetrate thick surfaces (including steel, wood, and earth) even though the actual dust from the fallout can not.  In short, if you are exposed outside a shelter to an amount of just 400 R/hr, you will be dead within a few hours.  The good news is that fallout's radioactive properties reduce to near normal levels around about 48 - 60 hours.

This is where an underground bomb shelter comes into play.  Ideally following a nuclear explosion in which you have survived the initial blast, you would simply collect your family inside your "by-the-book" constructed shelter and wait it out.  Four days later, you come out and start rebuilding your lives.

Understanding fallout and what you need do to be near 100% free of its dangers is critical.  The construction of your underground bomb shelter should satisfy the amount of barrier you need to survive.   

Underground Bomb Shelter Materials 

The materials you use in constructing your underground disaster shelter can range from cement block or stone, wood, poured reinforced concrete, and steel.  The most important factors are strength and support.  The shelter must be strong enough to withstand the pressures exerting around it, while supporting the three feet of soil above it.  Understand that soil becomes heavier as it gets soaked from rain and snow.  Basically, you should build your shelter so its roof is at least 48 inches underground (36 for undisturbed soil).  Whether you use steel-reinforced concrete or a layer of lead, the 3 to 4 feet of soil will provide effective protection and act as the first barrier for keeping radioactive elements from entering your body.

CONCRETE SHELTERS:

Concrete shelters are comfortable and can be designed to accommodate large numbers of people.   The Swiss, almost exclusively, build concrete shelters that are placed in deep underground basements of homes, hospitals, schools, hospitals, public buildings, hotels, and most all other buildings.   The entire population of Switzerland can reach a shelter in a matter of minutes. These concrete shelters are built to last for hundreds of years.  Homes and buildings in Switzerland are built to the same standard; therefore, the shelters do not need to be re-built. On the other hand, the expected life of steel shelters is only 100 years.  However, the average life expectancy of homes and buildings in America is approximately 70 years.  Therefore, it would not be cost effective for the United States to mandate a national concrete shelter program under our homes and buildings.      

Swiss shelters for private homes must be built to a minimum code of 1 atmosphere (15 psi), and government civil defense shelters are built to a 45-psi code. Military and critical mission personnel in Switzerland are assigned to heavy blast shelters in the 200-psi plus level. Please take note that our ‘All Hazard’ steel shelters, if installed correctly, also protect to the 200-psi level. We believe these Swiss codes should set the standard for shelters in the United States.

 People in America mistakenly believe that shelter ceilings and wall slabs of an 8-inch thickness will protect them from the effects of radiation and blast.  They have been misinformed.   Eight inches of concrete, with no building overhead, will give a radiation PF of less than 8.  Even in low radiation risk areas, this level of protection is not adequate to save lives.  The accumulated dose for one week would reach between 200 rads and 600 rads, with an expected probable death rate between 50% and 100%.