Shelter
Let's face it. You probably aren't going to have the financial resources or inclination to purchase and install a shelter that will offer the very best protection from heat, blast, gamma radiation and fallout. This will likely cost tens of thousands of pounds. However, if you can afford it, then it could become one of your better life purchases, if you can keep it secret from the neighbours.
Likely too, that it won't be matching the shelter in the picture at the top of the page. Please don't underestimate the physical effort and time needed to fill, lift and position sandbags.
If you have a cellar/basement then it's best to build your shelter in that room. You will need to ensure that you have the equipment to dig you and your family out if your only exit is blocked.
Stocks of other essentials will likely disappear rapidly from the shelves too, should an attack seem imminent.
Therefore the list on the 'Prep Shop' page should help you prepare in advance and be useful in some degree around the home should no war ever take place.
For the list on the Prep Shop page, I will assume you are living outside the fireball zone, but within a few miles of it, with an 800kt air burst being the yield of the bomb. If you are inside the fireball area, no homemade shelter will save you, a professionally built underground shelter might. Outside the fireball you will have a chance, which increases the further you are from it.
With Alex Wellerstein's NUKEMAP you can hazard a guess on likely targets close to you. For this purpose I will base the shelter on a devastation area that NUKEMAP describes as:
"Moderate blast damage radius (5 psi): 4.25 km (56.7 km²)
At 5 psi overpressure, most residential buildings collapse, injuries are universal, fatalities are widespread. The chances of a fire starting in commercial and residential damage are high, and buildings so damaged are at high risk of spreading fire. Often used as a benchmark for moderate damage in cities."
With regards to radiation from the blast I am basing the shelter on the NUKEMAP description of:
"Thermal radiation radius (3rd degree burns): 9.7 km (296 km²)
Third degree burns extend throughout the layers of skin, and are often painless because they destroy the pain nerves. They can cause severe scarring or disablement, and can require amputation. 100% probability for 3rd degree burns at this yield is 11.2 cal/cm²."
Anything inside both these radiuses at 1-4km i.e closer to the fireball, will need an underground, professionally built shelter to give a chance of survival from the heat, blast and gamma radiation.
In the range I am basing this shelter on, ideally it should still be built underground to give the very best protection. The ongoing danger of being inside an enclosed shelter will be heat build up due to fire and the outside air temperature. Being roasted alive is a real possibility. Opinions seem to differ on how much heat will be generated by fire. Much of course depends on how much fire there is, weather conditions, and rain. Plus how cool you can keep the inside of your shelter.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and infiltration of toxic gases from outside another major concern. Your shelter should be as airtight as possible but you still need to breath. This means removing CO2 and toxic gases from your shelter, preventing radioactive fallout from entering, and ensuring enough oxygen is available.
The link at The Bulletin.org provides an opinion on an 800kt weapon being detonated in Manhattan (an area heavily built up with tall concrete, metal and glass structures). In the UK, other than London, most places will be less built up.
The shelter will need to be in 2 sections
1. The outer shelter
2. The inner shelter
For most of us, the outer shelter will need to be a room in the house, either in a cellar or the lowest floor. The walls of this room need to be fortified with as much non-flammable shielding as possible. The room should be away from outer walls if possible, and away from windows. For my own home all rooms have a window and I will base the information on that reality. It should be viewed that this room will add a first layer of protection against heat and blast, but will likely be destroyed. Hopefully this first line of defence will cushion the blow somewhat, but it is the inner shelter that will provide the best protection.
Protection from heat and fire
1. Whitewashing windows and outside walls will limit temperatures by up to 80%. The fireball temperature could be 4000 degrees Celsius, therefore heat of 800 degrees Celcius could still penetrate your home. Additional protection will be needed. This can be in the form of fire retardant sheeting commonly used in welding occupations and can survive temperatures of over 1000 degrees Celcius. These should fully envelope your shelter, above and below, to create a makeshift fireproof bubble. Your flooring will heat up too.
2. The internal structure of the shelter: Beams, metal frame and connections should be painted with fire retardant paint which can resist temperatures by a further 100 degrees.
3. You may need fire blankets inside your shelter to wrap around each family member.
4. You may need buckets of fire fighting water at the ready, plus powder fire extinguishers
5. All flammable clutter should have been removed and disposed of when it becomes apparent an attack is imminent. Garden plant life and grass cut as short as possible, and watered. A garden shed also watered and windows whitewashed. Fence panels closest to the house removed, all other fence panels watered
6. Gas and electric must be turned off.
The blast
Imagine building a model house and then stamping on it. This is the downward pressure equivalent of an atomic blast on a typical brick built house close to the fireball area. Basically your house is going to disintegrate with the top floors smashing into the lower floor. Your shelter needs to be able to withstand the collapse of your home.
Secondly the blast wave will expand out and force itself through what's left of your house horizontally. The debris from outside, including window glass, will be flying through the air at over 400mph. Your shelter needs to be able to withstand that pressure and the flying debris. Air will be sucked back into the fireball creating a secondary blast from the opposite direction a few minutes, possibly seconds, later.
If your shelter has stayed intact then the next immediate concern will be to leave the shelter and start fighting the fires that will be all around you. Especially important is to understand there is only 10 minutes to do this before the fallout starts to enter your home. The debris of your upper floors will be resting on the top of your shelter and your shelter should be sound enough to cope with this weight. Imagine your upper floors collapsing onto the your ground floor as in the picture above. That's a lot of heavy rubble resting on your shelter, and it may be on fire.
Bullet proof vests and helmets could help further protect against blast debris. Fire fighting suits should be used when fighting fires to provide adequate protection. Burns are not only painful but can quickly get infected.
The fallout
You must return to your shelter within 10 minutes. You must decontaminate if outside of this time range. Your fallout shelter must be as fallout proof as possible. No fallout dust should be allowed to enter and any damage to your shelter immediately sealed with Duck Tape. This also needs to protect against rain which will be radioactive for a time. Inside your fireproof sheeting 'bubble' there needs to be a layer of waterproof plastic. In essence you will be living inside an airtight plastic bag and will therefore need oxygen, and to control and protect against CO2 and other toxic gases building up within it.
Oxygen and ventilation
You will suffocate from either toxic fumes created by the outside fires in your neighbourhood if your shelter is not airtight. But you will also suffocate from lack of oxygen and/or C02 if you are airtight. Any CO2 build up above 10% could result in death. The fires raging outside will also be sucking oxygen from the air. You must have an oxygen supply inside the shelter to provide enough oxygen for at least the first 12 hours. After this it may be safe to begin drawing filtered air in from the outside, so as to avoid toxic fumes which may include lethal Carbon Monoxide. You need to have a ventilation outlet that allows this. Because of the fires outside, the outside temperature will be increasing and become especially important to control if the blast has damaged your shelter fireproofing. You do not want to slowly roast inside your shelter.
The decreasing temperatures of nuclear winter
Due to the blocking of the sun through increased dust in the atmosphere, it could get very cold, very quickly, once the fires have subsided. You will need to have an energy source to keep warm and blankets/clothing in abundance. Foil blankets will be especially useful.
Sanitation
All family members will create human waste. It could get very messy, very quickly, if you don't have adequate toilet arrangements. A toilet of sorts, toilet paper, disposable bags, and a separate shelter area to cope with the waste should all be included in your shelter design. Handwashing and alcohol gelling should be regular and routine.
Food and drink
You will need at least 1 litre drinking water for each person per day, and enough for one month, plus another 1 litre that should be used for handwashing and bathing.
Food can be kept to a minimum but should be enough for 1000 calories per person per day minimum and nutritious and varied. Canned goods especially useful (tin openers may be needed). Multivitamins should be used daily. As much space inside your shelter you can afford for food storage should be utilised. Food may be a valuable commodity to trade in the post-war world.
The heat may damage plastic containers that stores your water. You will need to ensure any leaking drinking water leaks into a leakproof container. This water will need to be purified if consumed after a week. You cannot survive more than 48 hours without drinking water. It needs protecting above all other commodities.
Medicines and First Aid equipment
Iodide tablets will protect against radiation. Antibiotics may be available on the internet and it goes without saying that these could become lifesavers in the days and weeks following an attack. Please stock these well in advance if you can. There should be an excellent First Aid box for each person to use. You should try to build a stock of any usual routine medication you take eg asthma and angina inhalers. Others may be more difficult to build a stock for, especially opiates.
Coping with shock and trauma
You will need some sort of entertainment and medicines designed to calm.
Lighting
Your shelter needs to have a light source. The trauma of pitch-blackedness will be unbearable. Artificial light and batteries will be needed. But beware that candle flames will burn valuable oxygen and create fumes. They should not be used until fires have died down outside and the air becomes clear to filter into your inner shelter.
Communication
You will need a radio to monitor news updates.
Defence
There will be hostile and traumatised people on the streets. They will be desperate for what you have. It is possible that you may have to defend to survive and be prepared to do this. A shotgun or rifle may help, if you are prepared to use it. Likewise a crossbow. An air pistol could also provide a deterrent if you are not prepared to kill. However, if it comes a time where attacks are becoming frequent then it may be best to escape and seek safer abodes or trust in local government arrangements. Don't forget killing or assaulting anyone, even in a world that's gone crazy, will still be against the law and you may be punished severely for doing so. Also, the punishment for carrying a dangerous firearm may be severe.
The police may ask all licensed firearm owners to hand in their firearms if war seems imminent. However, plenty will likely remain and could well be used against you. Just because you are prepared doesn't mean somebody else isn't better prepared.
Pests
Your shelter will need protecting from vermin and insects. They will be contaminated with radiation for some time but will still likely multiply, and increasingly so as the radiation levels lower and with no natural predators or chemical controls to prevent multiplication.
