Nuclear fallout shelter

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by larryinalabama, Jan 23, 2012.


  1. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++

    With all the recient nuclear posts it got me to thinking what is everyones plan if a fallout shelter becomes necessary?
    My plan is to use a never used septic tank on my property, I have vent pipes ready to install, prpbably not the best shelter but I think it will work.
     
  2. STANGF150

    STANGF150 Knowledge Seeker

    as long as yer not claustrophobic!!!
     
  3. jasonl6

    jasonl6 Monkey+++

    Starting mine in the spring. I bought a 7' squash pipe that is bolted together. By unbolting the lower half i have a 7' wide by 20' long arch. I plan to excavate a piece on my property, poor a footer and slab then use 8" cinder block 5' high to build a base for my arch. The cinder block will be cored and every third row will be the "v" blocks that you can run rebar horizonal. I plan to have two smaller rooms off the main common room that will use 3' diamter pipe built in the same manner. Once will be used for a bathroom/shower stall and the other as a utility closet that will house a water tank, air filtration (still have to do more research here) and 24v power. Water will be spring fed for now but will have a well in the future in case a nuclear issues i can draw water that's deep and less contaminated.

    For power i plan on a 800w 3phase PMA off a water wheel, and another 800w PMA on a Missouri Wind and Solar windmill (for winter in case of deep freeze and my water wheel stops).

    If i get all that done my next think will be to run 2000' of gas line to an old well on the back of my property to use as an additional power/heat source. I will have 9' of center clearance in my hidy hole. I should have room for 8-10 people. Bunks will be arranged so they are single width 3 high with storage under the bottom bunks. Lighting will be 12v DC rope lights in daylight and amber (to give the sense of day and evening).

    Have already spoken for a good sized excavator and should break ground in late May early June once the foliage can camouflage my activity. Of course the government will be reading this and have spy cams to see whats happening.(y)
    Jason
     
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  4. Jeff Brackett

    Jeff Brackett Monkey+++

    Assuming most of you know about this one, but just in case - Cresson H. Kearny of Oak Ridge National Laboratories put out a book in the late 70s & revised in '87. The book is "Nuclear War Survival Skills" & much of it consists of emergency preparedness studies. This includes a section in which average people were given basic fallout & blast shelter schematics, basic hand tools (picks, shovels, etc.) and were then told to build the shelters as shown. The results were pretty awesome.

    The book is available for purchase on all over the internet. Kearney released it to the public domain, pending proper credit and legal notices, so you can legally download it and print it in its entirety.
     
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  5. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    VisuTrac: If this one isn't on your DVD, it should be on the next one for sure.... ......
     
    Cephus likes this.
  6. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    The Cresson H. Kearny book is worth having access to

    The Kearny book is a good, practical primer on building fallout shelters. The solutions are low tech and can be built with the simplest of equipment and the most common of materials. Even a DIY serviceably simple dosimeter and air exchange pump are included. Much of the book is available in part or whole on the internet.
     
  7. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++

    From all that I have studied that it would be safe to go out after 2 weeks for a short perion of time?
     
  8. Jeff Brackett

    Jeff Brackett Monkey+++

    A lot of that depends on strike locations and weather patterns, but two weeks is a rule of thumb that I have also seen repeated in several places. I think I would use that two weeks to improvise some fallout resistant clothing, build myself a KFM, read up closely on how to use it and read the charts, and then make sure it's okay to go out after two weeks.

    Better safe than sorry dead. :)
     
  9. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Best not to rely on guestimates...do your homework.

    The time for safe enough emergence depends on the level of radiation still being emitted by fallout. The amount of fallout that occurs within your area will depend on many factors, such as the kind of devices, how many, what type (conventional nuclear / improvised dirty / fission / fusion etc) yield (megatons/kilotons) whether the detonation was a ground burst or airburst, climatic and weather conditions, topogrophy etc oh...and the rate of decay of the accumulated fallout received.

    Two weeks should be considered only a rule of thumb minimum. Best to have a geiger counter, and each person has their own personal dosimeter (to keep track of accumulated personal exposure to radiation).

    It is a wise idea to, if possible to know what the maximum daily exposure measurement is, given the measured outside unprotected rate of radiation.

    There are possibly circumstances when some part of a survival party may have to sacrifice their personal health to radiation exposure to save the party as a whole...that is specially likely to be the case in the event that your shelter is facing an invasion by the unprepared.
     
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  10. oil pan 4

    oil pan 4 Monkey+++

    Relevant again.
     
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  11. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

  12. Illini Warrior

    Illini Warrior Illini Warrior

    limited exposure from the beginning - especially if you don't need to suit up for any direct contact with the fallout - IE: walk the house interior - can be done periodically on a security/safety basis ...

    I'd keep the exposure limited even after two weeks - definitely sleep in a sheltered situation >>> a lot will depend on a local rad count
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  13. madmax

    madmax Far right. Bipolar. Veteran. Don't push me.

    We (wife and I) want to be ground zero in a nuke war. We'll suffer through any other disaster as best we can. We prepare for that. We educate ourselves and practice living without. But radiation...nope. Rad sickness and death suck as much as burning to death. Only longer.
    They'll find us embraced in our forever.
     
    Peejay likes this.
  14. johnbb

    johnbb Monkey+++

    Having grown up in the 50's I remember the sirens and having to get off the street. In school it was duck and cover------more like kiss your ass good-bye
     
  15. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Let's hope that it never comes to that.

    I guess that 'Alas Babylon' Alas, Babylon - Wikipedia

    and

    'The Day After' et al The Day After - Wikipedia

    May enjoy some renewed interest.
     
  16. Wildbilly

    Wildbilly Monkey+++

    In the 60s and 70s, we had Civil Defense classes in jr. high and high school. I still have some of the materials somewhere, they had some good information on first aid, plans for shelters, and stocking the shelter with food, water, etc.. This was early Preppping, that tended to gloss over the horrors of nuclear war and the aftermath. I guess that they didn't want to traumatize a bunch of kids.
    I have a plan that involves turning my metal barn into a fallout shelter/doomstead. Assuming that I'm not in a targeted area and I might have a few days before fallout hits. I plan on moving everything essential into the barn and sealing any holes or gaps in the structure. It won't be airtight but then I don't want it to be! The barn is situated on high ground with good drainage. The concrete slab is a foot thick, and I propose to cut/drill a 3'x3' hole in the slab and tunnel underneath it to create a shelter. A bunker inside the barn will provide temporary shelter until the tunnel can be dug. The barn has water from a well, wood stove, propane, and generators. The skin of the barn provides protection in the form of distance, while the bunker and tunnel will provide shielding (concrete, gravel, dirt, etc.). It is gonna take a lot of money, work and time to make all of this happen...assuming that it is necessary!
     
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  17. Re: post #15. Interesting you should mention "Alas Babylon" Chell. This book kinda set me on the way to being a "SURVIVALIST". And while I was working out of state, I told wife and daughter to use "Alas Babylon" as a signal to relocate. Told them that my bro would know what it meant.
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  18. oil pan 4

    oil pan 4 Monkey+++

  19. fedorthedog

    fedorthedog Monkey+++

    Its funny until I moved to Washington at 33 I lived the nuke party watch way of dying as a nuclear war prep. I live too close to first strike locations to worry about it. 2 of my homes were within 5 miles of a weapons station with denied nuc storage. I Washington Im so far from targets and the wind blows east it hasnt been a worry. Guess I will need to brush off the topic and consider it.
     
  20. Wildbilly

    Wildbilly Monkey+++

    Huntsville, Alabama is the only city in America that still has a functioning Civil Defense!
     
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