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Building an Underground Bomb Shelter
 Bomb Shelter Planning
 Frequently Asked Questions
 Important Nuclear Bomb Facts

Bomb Shelter Guide

You've probably come to the Underground Bomb Shelter web site because of your concern for an impending - or worse - actual nuclear attack.  What with the recent testing of North Korea's first nuclear bomb and the desire by other dictator-led countries such as Iran to get a nuclear bomb, who isn't on edge?  More importantly, terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda are working relentlessly to secure a nuclear weapon.

Trust Me!  You can survive a nuclear attack.  It will not be the end of the world.  But, you must be prepared!

Of course, take into consideration that those within 2 or 3 miles (or more) of ground zero will not fair very well.  After a nuclear detonation and passage of the blast wave, the next greatest (or greatest) loss of life comes from radioactive fallout, which can drift for hundreds of miles down wind.  After a few days, the level of radioactivity drops to near normal, non-lethal levels.  There will be no nuclear holocaust!

Harvard studies, many politicians, and Homeland Security analysts have admitted that it's not if a nuclear attack on America will happen.  Rather, it's when a nuclear bomb will hit the country.  Some respected experts have even placed a timeline on the imminent event, saying a terrorist's nuclear bomb could be delivered within the next few years.

What Will a Nuclear Bomb Physically Do?

Using a sample 50 kiloton bomb, surface explosion, you would need to be at least 2 miles away from ground zero to survive the blast wind.  At or near 2 miles from ground zero, the speed of the blast wind would drop from about 2,000 mph to 60 mph.  If you are inside a well-built structure, you could perhaps survive as close as 1 mile.  But that would have to be a very strong structure as the blast wind will be at category 4 hurricane force a mile from ground zero, or about 170 mph.  Don't forget, the blast shoots out and then "sucks" back after a few seconds.  The blast wind would drop to about 30 mph at a distance of 3 miles from ground zero, and down to 0 at about 4 miles away.  Within half an hour fallout would start arriving up to 10 miles from detonation.  At just 50 miles, you would start seeing fallout at about T+3 hours.  It would take about 5 or 6 hours to reach 100 miles out.  Lethal doses of radioactive fallout would be available 10 miles out for a least a week.  By week two, most locations down wind would see levels fall to survivable rates.  Anyone within 10 miles would be required to stay sheltered for at least a month to ensure complete protection.  A terrorist would likely use a 1 or 2 kiloton bomb, such as the one detonated underground by North Korea in October, 2006.  The above numbers would be smaller, yet the dangers are still there.

Are You Ready?  No?  Here's How to Get Ready!

So, the question is are you ready?  What would you do?  Where would you go?  Would it even really matter that you live within 300 miles (the danger zone) of any number of pre-determined ground zeroes; just 5 miles from ground zero you may wonder who would have time to get in an underground bomb shelter anyway?  Can you survive a nuclear attack?  What about fallout?  Will this be the end of the world?  These and many other important concerns are explored on UndergroundBombShelter.com.

Minimizing Exposure to Radiation
In that the actual blast from a nuclear bomb will annihilate an area up to several miles, a person living within the immediate area of the blast zone will not have to be concerned about heading promptly to an underground bomb shelter, obviously.  It's people like you and me (hopefully) that will survive the initial blast.  Our greatest concern is radioactive fallout.  Fallout will kill as many, if not much more than the blast itself.  And how long you have before fallout arrives depends on three things:

Distance - The more distance between you and the source of the radiation, the better. This could be evacuation or remaining indoors to minimize exposure.

Shielding - The more heavy, dense material between you and the source of the radiation, the better.

Time - Most radioactivity loses its strength fairly quickly.

A typical concern of most people is protection from the explosion.  Of course, knowing where the detonation is going to occur may be revealed when the government realizes the country is being attacked via missile.  Average ICBM travel time from North Korea to the west coast of the United States, for example is about 30 minutes.  Even though the missile is tracked as soon as it leaves the launch pad, it's likely that NORAD will be so busy tracking the missile and taking actions to blow it out of the atmosphere that common folk like you and I won't receive sufficient warning, if any.  This is especially true if the recently cancelled civil defense nuclear warning and shelter maintenance plan once common to every town, school, and local government isn't reinstated and understood by the public.

On the other hand, a terrorist-delivered nuclear weapon (or chemical/biological weapon) will obviously provide no warning.  Your best defense is distance.  If you are several miles or more away from ground zero, at best you can react to the bright flash of light.  If you are immediately keen on what's going on, you may have several minutes to reach the safety of your shelter before the blast wave arrives.  This scenario would apply primarily not to people who are at ground zero (they will be long gone, of course), but to those who are between about 3 and 10 or more miles away.  And they would have mere seconds to react - about 3 to 15 seconds respectively.

Radioactive Fallout Will be The Killer
Like the more than 160 million Americans who live within the danger zones, your greatest concern following a nuclear attack comes from radioactive fallout.  That's the main reason you will need a well-constructed, underground bomb shelter.  It's true that taking shelter under the coffee table or in the basement will increase your chances for short-term survival, but these structures will not keep you alive.  Only an underground bomb shelter will guarantee your survival.  Once you understand the penetrating abilities of radiation via fallout, you will be far more motivated to build a shelter underground.  The concept is fairly simple - separate yourself from fallout with at least 36 inches of dirt (or varying amounts of other materials such as concrete, lead, etc.)

While the initial blast could kill a million people, tens of thousands more will die from radioactive dust which will drift for several hundred miles downrange from the point of detonation.  The track it follows, just as in a volcano eruption and even the weather, is one relevant to the jet stream, a prevailing pattern of winds and weather coming from the west or north west.  In other words, the fallout will most likely travel from west to east.

Fallout will begin appearing within 5 minutes (or less) after the initial blast.  Depending on the size of the bomb, type of detonation (underground, ground level, or air burst) and height of the mushroom cloud which, as mentioned earlier, is filled with radioactive debris, gamma-charged dust particles can travel across several states before falling to the ground.  As time goes by, the radioactive energy literally burns itself out as the powdery surface left will return to near normal levels.  This can take as long as several weeks, but typically should not last more than 4 or 5 days.  The immediate blast area will be uninhabitable for thousands of years.  A lot of factors will play in determining the level or radiation at different intervals of time and distance from the blast.  Included are weather, temperature, wind speed, and size of the weapon.  You best defense against fallout?  A carefully planned, well-constructed, and fully stocked underground bomb shelter.

What are America's Likely Nuclear Bomb Targets?

There are several hundred "Cold War" targets peppering the United States.  Your state can have as few as 4 or 5, or as many as 50.  Much of these presumed targets employ locations determined by the former Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Today, if we want to know where a terrorist attack will happen, then we need to think like a terrorist.  Terrorists want to kill as many people as possible.  So an obvious choice as a target for a nuclear attack would be any large city.  Of course, the eastern and western seaboards of the United States offer plenty from which to choose.

A western attack would make more sense as the possibilities for additional casualties courtesy the fallout can be icing on the cake for a terrorist organization.  Terrorist, as shown in the 9/11 attacks, also place high regard on symbols of freedom, or America in general.  So, a nuclear weapon delivered via boat straight up the Mississippi to a heartland city such as St. Louis would satisfy several goals.

The dilemma for America is that we just don't know when nor where the terrorist's nuclear attack will take place.  We can factor all possible locations and chart the expected downwind predictions for fallout.  But, that's about it.  Therefore, everyone needs a plan of action in place before the attack.

Get an Underground Bomb Shelter, Hop In, and Now What?

You've heard of bomb shelters but don't have a clue as to how or where to buy one, or at best build a bomb shelter.  There are several businesses and organizations in America which specialize in underground bomb shelter fabrication.  And, you can have a shelter installed for as little as $20,000 all the way up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Some underground bomb shelter businesses have outstanding products while others are still clearly in the development stage.  Many similar businesses offer various products such as geiger counters, radiation alarms, underground bomb shelter filtration devices, etc. to compliment the wise shelter owners.  And there are countless others offering survival meal packages, books about nuclear blasts, specialized emergency preparedness kits, and even plans for building underground bomb shelters.

The important thing to consider is you are going to need far more than just a container in the ground if you expect to survive.  How are you going to know if you have everything in place for complete protection from an NBC attack?  Certainly, waiting until an attack has occurred would not be the ideal time to realize you are short that blast valve, filtration kit, or even toilet paper!  You are going to need a complete underground bomb shelter plan, and you want to make sure such a plan has been scrutinized thoroughly.

That's where UndergroundBombShelters.com comes in.  We take away all the confusion by providing you a one-stop source on planning for everything you need to survive.  We tell you how to build an underground bomb shelter, where to get materials, where to place the shelter, what to stock in it.  Heck, we even provide a number of underground bomb shelter plans, for use in various applications.   All you have to do is follow the instructions on your plan of choice.  If you can build a birdhouse, you can build one of our underground bomb shelters!  But, that's not all.  There are many more elements of a solid bomb shelter plan.  Leave out just one of these and you're likely to become a statistic of the unfortunate attack - even if you live hundreds of miles down wind. 

Here are just a few of the hundreds of very important issues that must be addressed when considering complete protection from a nuclear blast or other weapon of mass destruction attack:

• Most importantly, who's providing you NBC, underground bomb shelter, or weapons of mass destruction advice, information, and/or products?  In other words, what level of expertise does the business have?
• What types of underground bomb shelters are available?
• Can I build my own underground bomb shelter, and if so, what materials will I need?
• What will protect me and/or my family from the blast?
• What will protect me and/or my family from radioactive fallout?
• What will protect me and/or my family from a biological (gas) attack?
• How long will we need to remain in our underground bomb shelter following an attack?
• Will a typical emergency preparedness kit be sufficient?
• Will the shelter provide protection from radiological, biological or chemical agents?
• Do we need gas masks?
• What amount of food, water, and other basic needs should be stored in our shelter?
• What is the best food to get?
• What do we do when nature calls?
• Will I be able to purchase military-grade supplies (MRE's, atropine injectors, NBC suits, etc.)?
• How will we know when it's safe to come out of the underground bomb shelter?
• What technical nuclear information should I have on hand inside my shelter?
• Can my shelter double as a wine cellar or storage pantry?
• What are the time requirements for getting my loved ones inside the shelter?
• I can't afford a professionally installed shelter. What should I do?
• Will this be the end of the world?  And if so, why should I be concerned about living?
• What will $1,000, $5,000 or even $20,000 buy me?
• How is electrical power provided in an underground bomb shelter?
• How can I communicate with the outside world following an attack?

Here's some food for thought.  Would you fight a fire with buckets or fire hoses?  In a tornado, would you prefer to be in the bath tub of a mobile home or an underground cellar complete with emergency kit?  If you are bitten by a diamond-back rattlesnake while miles from nowhere, would you have someone slice and suck the wound, or use a snake survival kit?  My point here is you should never bring a knife to a gun fight.  Buying or building an underground bomb shelter is smart.  But not knowing how to survive in one is a death sentence.  You are going to need very thorough information.  You are going to need a top-notch plan.

Get a Plan, Buy the "Big Book"

There are many, many more concerns that you must address as you put your underground bomb shelter protection plan into effect.  An underground bomb shelter is useless unless you've got a plan.  The e-book, Sergeant Carter's Big Book on Surviving a Nuclear Attack covers these and hundreds of additional important items.  Written and painstakingly updated by Army veteran and Nuclear, Biological, Chemical expert SFC William J. Carter, the Big Book is a must have for anyone who's serious about post-nuclear attack survival.  Included is everything you need to know about surviving a nuclear attack via an underground bomb shelter.  Better yet, the information found in the Big Book comes from years of expert military training, Army technical manuals, and Army regulations.

In addition to everything required for survival, the Big Book will show you how to plan, build, stock, and maintain a professional, safe, and secure underground bomb shelter.  It will provide expert knowledge about nuclear attacks and how you can maximize your chances for survival through pre-blast planning.  Moreover, every aspect of underground bomb shelter preparation is addressed.  Actual plans of various underground bomb shelters give you several choices for the protection you desire.  Nothing is left uncovered.

Step-by-step instructions are complimented with images, photographs, charts, and drawings.  Complete checklists of essential information and/or items needed are provided following each unclassified, information-packed chapter.  For example, you will need to survive more than just the initial blast.  And by the time you and your family are locked tight in your underground bomb shelter, it's too late for research.  While you are in your shelter, you will need essential information.

Information such as when it's safe to come out, how to identify radioactive elements, and chemical/radioactive downwind prediction.  Essentially, you will need the Big Book both before you break ground on your shelter, and inside while you wait out the event.  In short, the Big Book provides you a complete underground bomb shelter plan - not a capsule in the ground, a box of MRE's and a slap on the back.  Compare the Big Book to the troubleshooting manual found in every commercial airliner; when there's trouble, you'll turn to the book.  And much of the information found in the Big Book is U. S. government tested and proven.

When that first nuclear bomb goes off, you're going to want Sergeant Carter's Big Book to Surviving a Nuclear Attack in the shelter with you! 

But more importantly, you should act now to get your copy before a nuclear strike happens.  For more information about the Big Book, or to order your copy for immediate download, go here.

Underground Bomb Shelter Planning

Bomb Shelter Location

The location you choose for your bomb shelter should be one which gives you the greatest protection possible.  Just placing an underground bomb shelter in your back yard is not enough.  You need to find the most optimal location.  In doing so, you need to consider the terrain, water levels, and distance from other structures.  This includes location of sewer and electrical lines.

Essentially, you want to have as much mass between your bomb shelter and the attack.  After identifying potential nuclear bomb targets and where a likely blast wind will come from, determine a bomb shelter position that will serve the greatest protection.  The lower edge of a hill, for example would be an excellent place for your bomb shelter if a prospected blast happens in the distance on the other side of the hill.  The idea is use common sense in determining where an attack might occur.  Then, build your bomb shelter in the best possible location.

In considering the fallout aspect, just know that its going to fall everywhere; no hill or mountain would reduce the amount of fallout since it falls straight to the ground like snow.  So, you just need to make sure you put your underground bomb shelter deep enough - 36 inches or more below the surface.

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	Build Your Bomb Shelter First Steps, Materials Required, Costs
	Stocking Your Bomb Shelter Nuclear Emergency Kit (NEK), Emergency Supply Kit, Food, Water, Medical, Etc.
	Bomb Shelter FAQ's Complete List of Essential Nuclear Blast and Underground Bomb Shelter FAQs
	Understanding Radiation Overview of Radioactive Fallout and How to Protect Yourself From It
	Nuclear Bomb Facts Kiloton, Blast Wave, Damage
	United Against Nuclear Iran

Radioactive Fallout Will be the Killer
Like the more than 160 million Americans who live within the danger zones, your greatest concern following a nuclear attack comes from radioactive fallout.  That's the main reason you will need a well-constructed, underground bomb shelter.

Bomb Shelter Writing Supplies
Are writing supplies available, including pens or pencils and printed forms or paper, for keeping records of radiation exposure?

Watching for Fallout to Arrive Near the Bomb Shelter
When a nuclear weapon explodes anywhere within several hundred miles, there will be many signs to indicate it. By that time, people should be on the way to, or already at, their bomb shelter.

Use of the Penalty Table as a Guide for Bomb Shelter Operations
The Penalty Table was developed to provide a simple guide when decisions must be made that will involve some risk.

Group Dosimetry: Keeping Track of Radiation Exposure
The radiation hazard will be worst throughout the first 24 hours after each fallout cloud arrives. It is important to start keeping track of everyone’s radiation exposure right away, as soon as fallout begins to arrive.

Time-Averaging Method
Used to compare the radiation levels between two or more locations in a bomb shelter when the radiation levels are climbing rapidly and when you have only one survey meter.

Space in the Bomb Shelter
Is there going to be enough room for all of the people at this bomb shelter in the locations of best protection?

Restroom and Water Locations in the Bomb Shelter
After fallout has arrived, he or she should check the radiation levels at these locations. Some of them may have to be blocked off until the radiation decays to a safer level.

Radiation Safety Improvement in Bomb Shelters
As you go through your bomb shelter looking for the places that appear to provide the best shielding from gamma radiation, you should also look for ways to improve the shielding.

Organization of the Bomb Shelter Population
Organization of the bomb shelter population into bomb shelter units, each with its own Unit Leader, is necessary not only for good management but also for keeping a radiation exposure record for each person in the bomb shelter.

Materials for Shielding the Bomb Shelter
You may have improved the radiation safety of the bomb shelter to the best of your judgment and capability, as discussed earlier. But after fallout arrives, you may find with the use of your survey meter that gamma radiation is shining through at some unexpected location.

Light Sources in the Bomb Shelter
Electricity may fail in many locations due to a wide-scale nuclear attack. Most of the bomb shelters with the highest FPF’s will also have the least daylight reaching them. If the power goes out, these bomb shelters may be pitch black.

Informing the People in the Bomb Shelter about Radiation Exposure
Even if people are frightened, it is better not to hold back information. The policy of “what they don’t know won’t hurt them” has never worked with the American public.

Getting and Checking the Bomb Shelter Instruments
If you are selected to be an RM after you arrive at the bomb shelter, you may have to find out where the radiation instruments are, and you may have to make a special trip to get them. Instructions on how to use the instruments may be given at the place where they are issued.

Gamma Shielding by using People in the Bomb Shelter
The shielding effect of human bodies can be used to provide extra protection. This protection would be of particular benefit to those people with the greatest sensitivity to radiation, namely, children and pregnant women.

Forecasting Radiation Exposure
When the survey meter readings level off and then continue to decrease, the arrival of fallout from that particular cloud at your location has almost ended. If no more fallout clouds arrive, the radiation levels will continue to decrease rapidly.

Finding the Places with the Lowest Radiation Levels in the Bomb Shelter
Use the survey meter to find the places that have the lowest radiation levels. The people in the bomb shelter should be gathered at the locations that are estimated to have the lowest radiation levels.

Finding and Covering up Leaks in Bomb Shelter Gamma Shielding
After the safest locations have been found in the bomb shelter and the people have moved there (if they weren’t there already), use the survey meter to make detailed measurements of the radiation levels in and around the area where the people are located.

Dosimeter Locations: Where to Place Dosimeters
In some bomb shelters where the FPF is high and about the same everywhere, as in deep underground bomb shelters, caves, and mines, only a few dosimeters need to be mounted or hung where people will be located, to get an idea of what total exposures they are getting, if any.

Decontamination of People Caught in Radioactive Fallout
Fallout arriving within a few hours after a nuclear explosion is highly radioactive. If it collects on the skin in large enough quantities it can cause beta burns

Checking Radiation Levels Outside the Bomb Shelter Area
Sometime no later than 24 - 30 hours after fallout has begun to come down, you (the RM) should take the survey meter and check the radiation levels in rooms next to the bomb shelter area and on the way to the outside.

Checking Out the Bomb Shelter
Some bomb shelters may have many rooms, some of them on different levels, and others may have just one large room. The problems of providing the best radiation safety will be a little different in each bomb shelter.

Best Bomb Shelter Protection
Which locations within the bomb shelter appear to offer the best protection against fallout?  Sketch a bomb shelter floor plan and mark these locations.

Bomb Shelter Openings and Ventilation
Are there openings to be baffled or covered to reduce the amount of radiation coming through them? Will these changes allow enough air to flow through to keep people from getting too hot when they are crowded?

Bomb Shelter Entranceway Problems
One problem that could develop is that the bomb shelter entrance could be blocked by people who have stopped just inside the entrance.

Minimizing Exposure to Radiation
It's people like you and me (hopefully) that will survive the initial blast.  Our greatest concern is radioactive fallout.  Fallout will kill as many, if not much more than the blast itself.  And how long you have before fallout arrives depends on three things:

Bomb Shelter Location
The location you choose for your bomb shelter should be one which gives you the greatest protection possible.  Just placing an underground bomb shelter in your back yard is not enough.

Bomb Shelter Design
What should your underground bomb shelter look like?  What materials should it consist of?  How should it be designed?  These are all important considerations when planning the construction of an underground bomb shelter.

Blast and Fallout Concerns
The blast wind produced by a nuclear bomb will reach 2,000 mph within the first half mile from ground zero, drop to about 1,000 mph at 2 miles, and will still be at hurricane force (200 mph) several miles out.

Get an Underground Bomb Shelter, Hop in, Now What?
You are going to need a complete underground bomb shelter plan, and you want to make sure such a plan has been scrutinized thoroughly.

Before Fallout Arrives
It may not be possible to do all these tasks before fallout arrives at the bomb shelter or fallout shelter, and in that case, those tasks that can be done inside the bomb shelter can be done later while fallout is arriving.

Understanding Radiation
What is radiation, you ask?  Radiation in physics is the process of emitting energy in the form of waves or particles. Various types of radiation may be distinguished, depending on the properties of the emitted energy/matter, the type of the emission source, properties and purposes of the emission, etc.