A fallout shelter is a building designed for survival in the event of nuclear blast. These structures feature thick concrete walls that shield you from radiation exposure.
Shelters like these are usually found in abandoned mine shafts and basements, though they can also be found in other strong concrete buildings, especially those without windows.
Context
A fallout shelter is a special building designed to shield people from nuclear radiation and radioactive particles. They can be found in various places, from underground garages and old mine shafts to high-rise concrete buildings.
During the Cold War, governments around the world began building or selecting facilities as shelters in case of nuclear attack. While some remain standing today and bear their iconic nuclear trefoil logo, others have disappeared forever.
In the 1950s, as public fear of a nuclear exchange grew, President Truman responded by creating the Federal Civil Defense Administration to educate Americans on how to protect themselves. It distributed information about survival techniques mainly to suburbanites who believed cities would be the main targets in case of an attack.
Before 1957, the Eisenhower administration showed little interest in shelters. However, the Gaither Report, which assessed American and Soviet civil defense efforts, caused a surge of public awareness about this topic. Leaked to the press a week after being presented to President Eisenhower, this report highlighted that America’s nuclear capabilities and preparations were far behind those of the Soviet Union.
It was also suggested that Americans construct their own shelters, ideally underground and encased in an impermeable layer of concrete and brick. These materials make excellent insulators and are highly resistant to both fire and radiation.
Unfortunately, these materials were not always readily accessible and many citizens created their own makeshift shelters in basements or crawlspaces. The idea was to create a secure location where people could store food, water, medical supplies and other essentials during an attack.
Unfortunately, public shelter preparations have fallen off the radar since the Cold War ended. But with the return of international tensions, it is becoming more urgent to consider this type of protection.
If you’re uncertain where to locate fallout shelters near you, start by consulting the planning map or state department of emergency management website. They can give an outline of shelter locations and whether they provide food and water. Furthermore, they may offer directions on how to reach the shelter.
Population
Fallout shelters are specially constructed rooms designed to shield people from radioactive debris. Developed during the Cold War as part of civil defense measures, these shelters provided protection in case of nuclear attacks and were built as a precaution against radiation damage.
After the second world war in America, iconic black and yellow shelter signs appeared in public buildings as a warning of where citizens could seek safety during a nuclear attack. By the 1960s, estimates indicated there were around 200,000 fallout shelters nationwide.
As nuclear war waned after the end of the Cold War, fallout shelters near me started to decrease in population. Some were converted into other uses – like Verizon’s Framingham office – while others were destroyed or completely disappeared.
At the Memorial Building in Framingham, a former shelter has been transformed into meeting rooms. While some of its original signs remain on walls, much of its basement has now become storage space.
According to the town of Milford’s website, the Milford school building has been transformed into four classrooms. John Blood, director of communications for the school, stated that while it cannot accommodate a large group, students use it for meetings and classwork.
According to Gothamist, New York state government program required private building owners to install shelters in case of nuclear emergency. Governor Nelson Rockefeller spearheaded this initiative and ordered the construction of tens of thousands of shelters throughout the city.
The program was intended to thwart nuclear weapons between the United States and Soviet Union. It was believed that widespread shelters would help reassure people that nuclear weapons were off limits, thus decreasing their likelihood of launch.
Yet, scientists remained doubtful about the efficacy of fallout shelters as a means to deter nuclear attacks. Their studies suggested even in the best-case scenario where a bomb detonates at ground level in a city center would leave most inhabitants contaminated and exposed to incendiary firestorms for miles around.
Rooms
In case of a nuclear attack, New York City has numerous fallout shelters spread out around town. While these may not be the safest places to hunker down, they’re certainly better than nothing. In fact, some of these former shelters are still used today as laundry rooms and other communal spaces.
As the overseer of your vault, you must construct rooms, assign dwellers to them and supply food, power and water for them. As these inhabitants fill up the rooms with people, keep an eye on their health and productivity levels.
Each room in your vault produces one of three resources: power (electricity), food or water. You must balance production of these necessities according to how many dwellers are currently inside your vault; if one resource runs out too quickly, rooms may shut down abruptly.
Some rooms also have a resource-generating feature that lets you “rush” production of an item or resource if necessary. Although this can be tricky, it could be worth trying if your vault needs extra support in meeting demands.
Upgrade your rooms with caps, a game currency earned through objectives and levelling up dwellers’ experience levels. These caps can then be used to purchase or construct additional rooms in your vault, increasing its size and giving you additional dwellers to work with.
Each dweller possesses their own SPECIAL (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck) attributes which enable them to perform various jobs. For instance, if Johnny Nuclear needs to run the power generator at your facility, you can send him to a strength training room in order to increase his strength so he can handle more work with less fatigue.
Thankfully, rooms can be combined together for even more space; just make sure your building doesn’t obstruct access to other areas. This may prove challenging when creating a large vault that will house more than 200 inhabitants.
Safety
Nuclear bombs are powerful weapons that can do immense damage. Additionally, they produce radioactive fallout which may affect your health for days, weeks or even months.
To keep your family secure, it is best to build a fallout shelter. Doing this helps shield you against radiation that can cause serious illness.
Depending on where you are and how the bomb was detonated, you may have the option of taking refuge in an underground bunker or large building. These structures offer protection from gamma rays and other types of radiation.
If you live in a city, check with local officials to see if any shelters are nearby. That way, if an accident or nuclear attack threatens, you can get to them quickly and safely.
Fallout shelters are typically underground, in abandoned mine shafts or basements. But you may also come across them at high-rise concrete and steel buildings with a thick concrete core which absorbs most of the radiation.
Shelters can accommodate a number of people and are meant to sustain them temporarily. Unfortunately, these facilities tend to be expensive and not available for everyone.
For fallout protection, the ideal shelters are basements or underground areas. However, you can also build your own shelter at a cost of several hundred dollars; this will protect you from radiation exposure for extended periods of time.
Online, you can easily find free fallout shelter plans. These range from underground bunkers and garages to culverts and underground garages.
To safeguard your family against nuclear fallout, it’s essential to make sure you have enough water. Water may be the single most essential factor for survival after a nuclear attack.
Aside from water, you must ensure you have plenty of food and clothes. A shelter to stay in as well as a radiation suit to shield you against the radiation released by nuclear explosion.
