posted on May, 24 2012 @ 05:54 AM
I would find a round or dome shaped container to use for the basic shelter. One, to better support the shielding material I'll get to in a second but
also because it will survive impacts, blasts, etc that will break a shelter built with right angles.
I would take the basic shelter and build at least two "outer barrier" walls around it. They can be concrete or steel - your best bet would be to
bury your shelter underground but if you have to be above ground for some reason you can still give yourself the advantages of a buried shelter. You
want to leave a space of 1-2 feet between the shelter and the first barrier wall and aprox 3 feet between the first wall and the outer wall. Fill that
empty space up with dirt, rocks and scrap metal.
You'll want the same amount of protection over your shelter so even if you can just bury it slightly it will save money and help make putting a roof
over it easier. What we're trying to do is emulate a shelter that is at least 60 inches under ground with a layer of bedrock over it. This is much
like the caves in Afghanistan where Bin Laden managed to survive being bombed with a lot of conventional weapons and even the largest conventional
bomb in our arsenal.
Even as little as 60 inches of earth gives you a radiation shield capable of reducing the exposure from a 1MT air burst immediately over head to the
same amount of radiation you get from an x-ray. Anything beyond 60 inches works even better to reduce radiation reaching the shelter to nothing so
with the barrier walls and dirt you should be around 80 inches or so.
As for external operation of your door, most modern shelters use a remote control you can carry to operate the door from outside. Once inside you can
disable the remote receiver temporarily.
I would build an entrance with an airlock room between the door and the main shelter. You can set up defensive devices in this area and also add
another secure, attack resistant door between yourself and the outside in case someone manages to break in.
The best shelters also have a second escape tunnel built with plastic (no metal detection) that stop a few feet below the ground. The top of the
escape tunnel is a shaped composite plug made to burrow well. A hydraulic ram is used to extend the escape tunnel upwards through the ground using
10,000 pounds of force. The same kind of technique is used to bury all kinds of useful devices so they can be pushed up through the ground when
needed. Things like cameras, antennas, flame throwers, military type robots and remote operated weapons.
If someone is trying to break into your shelter there's nothing like a sudden spray of burning diesel, CS Gas or even a fast little robot with a BFG
(big Fn gun) to encourage them to leave quickly.
You can also build a "panic room" in your house by modifying a closet if money is a concern. If the goal is to escape a threat and stay safe while
waiting for the police it doesn't take a ton of cash to make a closet into a safe room. A master bed walk in type closet is perfect for this with
just a few modifications.