Curiosity 49: Bomb shelters

The last two nights I've watched shows (one movie, Leave the World Behind; one series, Six Feet Under) on TV that featured bomb shelters, aka fallout shelters, as part of the plot. 

It reminded me of a bomb shelter I visited as a teenager, down the street in Santa Monica, built in 1963 at the height of the Cold War. I got a tour of it a few years later by the shelter-builder's son and my classmate, David. I remember climbing about fifteen feet down into the grassy back yard—into a narrow corridor, lots of solid metal fixtures, cans of provisions, a small, claustrophobic room. I was happy to emerge into the fresh air again. 

The builder was a national defense expert who helped develop the MIRV (multiple independent reentry vehicle) missile system. I guess he knew there was plenty to be paranoid about.

In 2001, almost forty years later, the bomb shelter exploded, killing the now-85-year-old builder. He was doing maintenance at the time. Authorities said the explosion was caused by a leak from a propane tank that fueled the shelter's electrical generator, but his family suspected leaking hydrogen gas from the shelter's batteries. 

When I look up fallout shelters, I am surprised to find that many—many!—still exist. One website (I know not how authoritative), TruePrepper, has maps of the shelters one can find today in New York (250 labeled ones), Washington, Detroit and surroundings,  Georgia and Alabama, and even Eugene, Oregon (well, as of 1968; maybe not so many anymore). 

TruePrepper also lists the various attributes that one should consider when constructing a fallout shelter:

As the US Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization put it in a 1959 publication titled The Family Fallout Shelter, "We do not want a war. We do not know whether there will be war. But we know that forces hostile to us possess weapons that could destroy us if we were unready. These weapons create a new threat—radioactive fallout that can spread death anywhere. That is why we must prepare."

Smithsonian Magazine published a story a while ago titled "How a Fallout Shelter Ended Up at the American History Museum." It's an interesting read.  

I'd like to think we could get past the need for such shelters, but as recent events worldwide continue to make clear, we humans are incapable of peace and tranquillity. It's a tragedy.

So we should all probably bookmark this 2017 Popular Mechanics article: "6 Safe, Strong—and Chic—Bomb Shelters You Can Buy Now." Subtitle: "Bomb shelter styles are as varied as the paths to annihilation." Starting at only $40,000!