Specs. for you bunker.

well I was just thinking of what I would build for a bunker in the event of nuclear war and I came up with some questions.

How deep under ground would I have to be to be sheilded from the radiation?

What materials are best for a subterranian shelter?

How long would have to wait, befor I could safely leave to relocate?

How far should I be from major cities?

what are the best ways to deal with waste and air circulation and purification as well as water purification? (specificly relating to subterranian shelters)

Best way to avoid fire ot to deal with fire in a sub terranian shelter?

Cooking in an enclosed space?

Most efficient way to generat power, and what are thebest back ups for those?


any answers would be greatly appreciated thanks.

P.S. If I have anymore questions I will be sure to bring them up.

I would also like to know how to sheild my sub terreanian shelter from Electro Magnetic Pulses.

This handy British brochure says that 18 inches of earth is enough to cut your exposure down to 16 rads in the first hour, from a reasonable "briefcase nuke," which means a total of less that 100 rads in the first 24 hours, which is safely survivable.

I advocate a modified "tornado shelter" (that's what I tell the in-laws and neighbors) that is not under the house itself, but protrudes from it, with one entrance in the basement and the other from the garden. With enough earth on top of it (compost pile), you begin to make some real gains against the rads per hour dosages of fallout. The main thing to consider is what a fallout-trap your house becomes in the days following a radioactive dustcloud. You don't want any of the rainwater from a tarred roof, and you really don't want to breathe air from inside the home after a week or so--the outdoor air will be safer at that point.

The brochure above is quite good.

Here's the link to my thread about building your own fallout meter, which is much more valuable than a geiger counter in figuring out when it's safe to go outside (or stay inside!). And it doesn't use batteries!

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Originally posted by The_Smokeing_Gun
I would also like to know how to sheild my sub terreanian shelter from Electro Magnetic Pulses.

Basically, you want to build a "faraday cage." Look it up on wikipedia to get the basic concept. Frankly, a wire mesh or sheet metal skin around your bunker, properly grounded to . . . it's surroundings, will go a long way to protecting your gear from EMP.

I suspect that an EMP bomb powerful enough to interfere with your brain and body function would probably kill you with the conventional explosive force of being too close to it. Other than that, being totally enclosed in shielding (like a bunker with the door shut) should be enough.

On the other hand, what good will intact electronics do you? GPS radiosources will be out; so will radio and TV. IF you're the only vehicle on the road, you become an automatic target. And the sound of your gasoline generator will be heard for miles in the fresh silence of the post-industrial countryside. Only shortwave radio sources beyond your region will be broadcasting. And much more equipment than a small radio will make you stand out from the crowd . . . .

(edit to add)

I believe army surplus all-metal ammo cans will work as long as they are grounded. They are waterproof too. Great for radios, etc.

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[edit on 8-12-2007 by dr_strangecraft]

In a nuclear event, not being present in the blast or thermal radiation zones is essential. In areas of fallout or thick nuclear radiation, hunkering down for a minimum of 13 days is necessary to allow the half-life cycle to render a radiated area safe.

Shelter Material Minimums for Protection:

Iron and Steel- .7 inches
Concrete- 2.2 inches
Brick- 2.0 inches
Dirt- 3.3 inches
Ice- 6.8 inches
Wood- 8.8 inches
Snow- 20.3 inches

Originally posted by Anubis Kanubis
In areas of fallout or thick nuclear radiation, hunkering down for a minimum of 13 days is necessary to allow the half-life cycle to render a radiated area safe.

I disagree completely and vehemently.

As I've posted in this survival thread, it all depends on the level of fallout you're being exposed to. Since the level of radiation decreases geometrically on an hourly basis, you'd only need shelter for three days, max for anything other than a near hit from a Russian or American-made strategic nuke of the 100+ megaton variety--most of which have been dismantled,a anyway. Not the sort of weapons that terrorists or rogues states are likely to deploy.

13 days... 3 days... whatever. If I could afford a fallout shelter, and then had to use it, I wouldn't come out for a month without a radiation suit.

Ihave my own reasons for sheilding against EMP and I run a Propane generator, no nois and Propane dosn't breakdown like gas

your choice. But there comes a point (in about the third week) where you are probably breathing more radioactive dust inside your shelter or suit than in the outside, where the dust's half-life and wind dispersal have made things asymptotic with "normal."

On the other hand, I'm over 40. So a lot of my concerns are different from yours. I have potassium iodide for the wife and kids, and neighbors; but I'd run a bigger risk from thyroiditis than from eventual cancer---thyroid cancer would take at least 30 years to develop in half of the scenarios, and my life expectancy is way less than that already.

Same with a lot of the other cancers, lung and what have you. Since there's no such thing as perfectly sterile, you run a risk by "sealing yourself in" once the danger is past.

Same with a perfectly sealed basement---in most of the US, the ground oozes radioactive radon gases, which cause cancer . . . .

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reply to post by dr_strangecraft


Don't disagree with me, disagree with the half life of radioactive compounds.

From Fema.Gov:

The three factors for protecting oneself from radiation and fallout are distance, shielding, and time.

*
Distance - the more distance between you and the fallout particles, the better. An underground area such as a home or office building basement offers more protection than the first floor of a building. A floor near the middle of a high-rise may be better, depending on what is nearby at that level on which significant fallout particles would collect. Flat roofs collect fallout particles so the top floor is not a good choice, nor is a floor adjacent to a neighboring flat roof.
*
Shielding - the heavier and denser the materials - thick walls, concrete, bricks, books and earth - between you and the fallout particles, the better.
*
Time - fallout radiation loses its intensity fairly rapidly. In time, you will be able to leave the fallout shelter. Radioactive fallout poses the greatest threat to people during the first two weeks, by which time it has declined to about 1 percent of its initial radiation level.

Continuing on.... It does have to do with the blast, so you are right...

After a Nuclear Blast
Decay rates of the radioactive fallout are the same for any size nuclear device. However, the amount of fallout will vary based on the size of the device and its proximity to the ground. Therefore, it might be necessary for those in the areas with highest radiation levels to shelter for up to a month.

The heaviest fallout would be limited to the area at or downwind from the explosion, and 80 percent of the fallout would occur during the first 24 hours.

People in most of the areas that would be affected could be allowed to come out of shelter within a few days and, if necessary, evacuate to unaffected areas.

[edit on 12/8/2007 by Anubis Kanubis]

I apologize for taking it too personally. Sorry if I gave offence. I have posted a number of threads about surviving nuclear fallout. I have lost patience with a number of posters (none of them were you) who immediately drown out any discussion with cries of "it's hopeless to try and survive a nuke!"

If you look on the prior thread I linked, you can read it, page after page. People quoting statistics from the 1950's, with radiation effects based on the "Tsar Bomba." Most of those bombs don't exist any more, and the chances of you being hit in the head with one, unless you live in NYC, washington, or moscow are really tiny now.

Now, a briefcase nuke is another story. A light, 25 KT device set off in a city center, to immobilize a nearby military base or refinery complex---THAT is a dreadful scenario you could survive with some planning.

And yet, amazingly, many posters in ATS survivor threads seem to take a "give-up-ness" attitude, when radioactivity isn't nearly as hopeless as it's portrayed.

Chernobyl was about as grim a "dirty bomb" as any terrorist could hope for; and yet Russia didn't collapse, nor did hundreds of thousands die.

In other words, scenarios worth preparing for, even by working-class folk, that's my point.

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Here is a question. I have only 1 acre here in NC. Part of that acre is hill with our mobile home sitting at the very top. If I want to make a bunker can I make it in the hill? and what type of shelter door would I need for it? I dont have a bunker yet but I want one big time.

Hilda

well, i'll probably end up one of those ghouls rummaging for food at night!!