Bomb shelters, dating back to WWII or the Cold War, are found across Europe. Fallout shelters protect against radioactive particles from atomic bombings. Switzerland has the highest refugee-to-people ratio, with a bomb shelter for every community. Myths include the need for expensive concrete shelters and that fallout radiation takes years to dissipate.
A bomb shelter is a place where people can take refuge during a bombing raid. There are many bomb shelters across much of Europe, dating back to WWII or the Cold War. With the end of the Cold War, many of these are in ruins. Some of the largest were segments of the London Underground that were converted into massive bomb shelters that could hold 170,000 people or more. To meet the challenge of disease, portable toilets were installed and reinforced sluice gates were available in many shelters, to protect them from flooding should the river banks burst due to bomb damage.
Although the historic bomb shelter had its primary role during World War II, many other bomb shelters have been created since the 1950s to address the risk of nuclear war. These special shelters are usually fallout shelters and bomb shelters, capable of protecting the occupants from radioactive particles that would descend from the sky in the event of an atomic bombing on the ground. Contrary to popular belief, there would be no need to filter the air in such a bomb shelter, as most radioactive particles would be too large to hang in the air. In any case, a great risk to life and limb is likely to come from poor ventilation or contaminated food and water rather than contaminated air.
Several countries around the world, especially in Europe, have made it a national policy to build a bomb shelter for every community. The leader is Switzerland, which has the highest refugee-to-people ratio of any nation, enough to provide refuge for its entire population for up to two years in the aftermath of a nuclear war. In Finland, every structure larger than 600m2 must have a bomb shelter, and in Sweden, every structure larger than 1000m2 must have one. The essential feature of any fallout shelter is sufficient shielding to protect its inhabitants from the radiation emitted by any “hot” fallout particles on the outside ground.
There are several myths about bombs and fallout shelters that would put the public at greater risk during a nuclear war. The first is that only an expensive, concrete, purpose-built shelter can protect a family during a nuclear war. This isn’t true: even a hand-dug trench in a backyard can provide adequate protection against fallout as long as it’s covered by three feet of earth and has entrances at ninety-degree angles to the main trench. The gamma rays from the fallout only travel in straight lines, so as long as the occupants are sufficiently shielded from the new fallout, they should survive. Another myth is that it would take years or centuries for the fallout radiation to dissipate. In reality, a couple of weeks would probably be sufficient in most cases and a couple of months only in the worst cases.
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