Of course, we all hope that nuclear weapons are never used, but what if they are?
In the 536 comments to an article in the Daily Mail about how to build a shelter for £72, almost all said they wanted to die immediately.
In Prague, people are prepared to live. The photograph at this link shows the blast doors in a Prague metro station. This is part of Prague’s Metro Protection System (Ochranny System Metra, or OSM), built in 1974, a network of hardened shelters designed to safeguard people during a nuclear, chemical, or biological attack, and to isolate sections of the metro in the event of a major flood.
The system could shelter 320,00 people for 72 hours. Tests are done every night to assure readiness. Calls to decommission the system because of cost have fallen silent since the onset of hostilities in Ukraine.
As the Daily Mail article shows, civil defense in the U.S. and UK is do it yourself. The information provided on expedient shelter building is accurate and tested. Even a couple of elderly women were able to construct a shelter, as videotaped in Oregon.
Commenters did make some valid points: Many city dwellers will not have enough land even for a small shelter, or the government might punish them for digging a hole without an unobtainable permit. Also, these shelters are not permanent.
However, they evidently believe many myths, e.g., that everyone will die of radiation sickness if not instantly vaporized.
Most people will NOT be close enough to Ground Zero to be instantly killed. Getting under a desk, or just lying down, will not help you if you are—but it can save you from being killed or seriously injured by the blast wave even if your only warning is a blinding flash, if you are outside the zone of complete destruction. Fallout is easily visible and rapidly decays. Putting mass (e.g., brick walls, sandbags, water) and distance between yourself and the fallout for a few days would likely be adequate. We are taught to panic over tiny radiation doses that might even be beneficial. This would prevent necessary immediate work.
The aftermath of war is terrible. Americans might end up with living conditions as bad as much of the world now endures. They would have to work very hard. They might end up picking up rubble with their bare hands as German women did after WW II. And what about Hiroshima? It is now a thriving modern metropolis.
For governments to engage in “nuclear chicken” is evil and insane. But we all have duties to our posterity and our community and must not abandon them.
Additional Information:
- An indoor core shelter
- Typical radiation doses (SIRAD RADTriage™ cards are sold out, but safe/not safe “Oh Shucks! Meters” using that technology are still available at www.ki4u.com)
- “The Good News about Nuclear Destruction”
- “The ‘Bomb’: a Terror Weapon