Is My Basement a Safe Shelter In Nuclear War?

Originally posted by enjoies05
I've been reading on sites that say the a house's basement would be a good place to go to avoid radiation fallout. But then I go to another site and it says the exact opposite. So, which is true? My basement has rock walls and they are roughly 2 feet wide. And it's about 6 feet underground.

If the radiation doesn't get you the radon will.

I would think that an interior closet might be the safest place in a nuclear explosion.

I'm not a nuclear physicist, I'm a mother protecting her kids which makes me far and above more qualified than some teenager with a download and too much time on his hands. Your information was wrong, you haven't presented any documentation to back up what you have said, and even after another poster gave you links to correct information you remain ignorant. You need to do more research if you are looking to protect your family or help others.

I'm not a nuclear physicist, I'm a mother protecting her kids which makes me far and above more qualified than some teenager with a download and too much time on his hands. Your information was wrong, you haven't presented any documentation to back up what you have said, and even after another poster gave you links to correct information you remain ignorant. You need to do more research if you are looking to protect your family or help others.

ok so you basically saw the manual on building a bomg shelter i had huh? its great how people over the internet never ever confirm what their neighbor is reading then feel they have the immediate urge to bash away.

lol, but its a free country right?!

It's not the blasts that will kill the majority of the people if it ever happens. It will be the long term contamination world wide, nuclear winters, and not being able to grow a damn thing for years.

That is why it would be better to just be at ground zero than in some bull$hit fallout shelter.

Who the hell would want to survive a nuclear mess? Not me.

In fact the A$$holes that push the buttons deserve to live and see everything that they have accomplished after the war.

If there is reincarnation I will never return to this or any other planet with a bunch of self destructive entities. lol.

[edit on 25-12-2006 by Realtruth]

These threads always seem to end up in the same endless loop of nihilists insisting a nuke event will slowly destroy the world and that we'd all be better to just go out in the fireball.

The original concepts of world destruction and nuclear winter are rooted in the cold war MAD scenario. At that time the US and USSR were fielding obcenely large multi megaton weapons. Because the technology wasn't available to precisely deliver weapons it was decided a huge nuke could do the job if it even got remotely close to its intended target. As precise delivery systems were developed the incredibly hard to maintain multi-megaton weapons were scrapped for smaller 100-200kt-ish weapons. Although the possibility exists that there could be an all-out, multi-national nuclear exchange someday, it's less likely now than at any time in the nulcear age. That said, it is much, much more likely that there could be a limited nulcear event involving a limited number of hundred-kiloton-ish devices these days than ever before.

That event would be spectacularly damaging with ugly, long-range problems. But it wouldn't bring on nulcear winter, world devastation or the like. In addition, it would very likely bring swift and ever-so-serious intervention by the rest of the world's nations to prevent any escalation. Whatever country decides to use a nuke in this day and age will instantly become an international pariah of immeasurable proportion. The damage from that happening will, in my opinion, cause more damage to the initiating party than the nuke will to the country attacked.

Well unless your basement is stocked up with 25-125 years worth of food i sugest you join the presidents staff, oh and a fire proof room. Or in plain english depending on when and where the nuke lands from you basement and you can't be to ready.

P.S get a good gas mask for chemical warfare, just in case.

MDIA Special Agent
AUS/USA

ill get the manual i was reading from and paste whats in there on here. its an old book on nuclear war survival. then you guys can quit bashing on what i know lol.


its ok i understand people need to feel more "intelligent" than others lol. sad thing is points dont get across lol.

[edit on 5-2-2007 by topsecretombomb]

The book is called "Nuclear War, The facts on our survival" by Peter Goodwin. Its a good read you guys should check it out then youll see what Im talking about. Mr. Goodwin even describes how cars and trailors can be modded into nuclear safehouses. Sounds crazy but his blueprints of how its done seem to be done really well.

This thread was on Google results page 1... nice.

Any suggestions for securing basement windows that are a few feet off the ground? I've got one window that's below ground I plan on tossing a few sandbags in. The ones that are above ground though I'm stumped short of bolting stuff to the concrete.

Also I'm in the process of setting up some shelving that can be quickly torn down and reassembled into a fallout shelter in a corner. Mostly cement blocks and timber to lock them together.

I've gone around and bolted the house down to the foundation. The threaded studs were there, but no nuts. A tornado could have lifted the house right off.

In the basement I plan on first bracing all floor joists above to strengthen them. Then in the corner that will be used in a nuclear event I am going to fill the space between joists with brick supported by crossbeams resting on the two foundation walls and secured to joists. Above this corner is the kitchen, so there's plenty of other stuff to move above it for shielding.

In the corner I am constructing a large table that will also serve as a laundry table. In a nuclear event my cement block shelving will be torn down to provide walls and ceiling stacking. Whatever can be piled on top of the table, will be. An opening for a door will be blocked by washer or dryer.

There's only about a foot of basement wall that is above ground in this corner, but I might keep a few sandbags on hand to pile against it.

Save the shelving disassembly, this corner will also serve as a tornado shelter. They've been coming into the city for the past few years.

As far as construction, any suggestions? Also please add to this thread your thoughts and ideas on improvised basement fallout and/or blast shelters.

I have heard sodium iodide is good to have stocked up to and can fight some of the fallout effects?

I say neither.If your in your house you dont stand a chance,but if your house falls over or, something falls onto it then it could cave in on you.
I have decided if it's really going to happen and whoever has threatend it i'm going to dig a hole in ground heh.

I mean hell what better walls can you get then earth.Just like a 5x5x5 or something.Use ply wood for roof but the a tarp that is at least 10x10 and put a stick on the middle of the plywood to make a roof with the tarp.This way radioactive rain and dust and such wont fall directly on you.I'm not sure how long it would take to make it considering the adrenaline burst and the fear of death heh.

But this way you dont have fear of your house falling on you.And even if you survive it collapsing your def gonna eat all that radioactive dust and rain.

Hey if enough of us do this we can eventually make tunells to eachother,we can be prarie dogs.lol joking of course,I'm not letting any of you into my bad palace in the dirt.


[edit on 17-9-2007 by Project_Silo]

Nowadays it depends on which type of nuke.. neutron or otherwise. but with the different types of radiation there is an axiom for nuclear power. "time, distance and shielding." out of this for your purposes we'll assume that the actual blast didn't turn your house into tiny bits.

From actual training on the different types of radiation and containment. your house would have to be a complete block of lead sealed with a tank filled with water as a barrier. the other stuff you probably couldn't get. but those are the basic requirements for containment with a nuclear reactor..and will stop most wavelengths of deadly radiation. however with the distance rule and you had to stay in there.. you would still slowly die. some radiation still gets through.. and with a bomb it would be much more than off a reactor.. the very thing that was saving your life would become a micro-wave oven. yeah... thats the basic scenario.

Im screwed, theres an oil refinery about 10km away and if theres a major problem there, the emergency hospital isnt the one in Southampton (because it would probably be destroyed) but one another 20km away.

Plus I live in a major port too. A nuke would destroy the whole city. At least Id be fried quick rather die die an agonising death through radiation poisoning.

Originally posted by Flyer
Im screwed, theres an oil refinery about 10km away and if theres a major problem there, the emergency hospital isnt the one in Southampton (because it would probably be destroyed) but one another 20km away.

Plus I live in a major port too. A nuke would destroy the whole city. At least Id be fried quick rather die die an agonising death through radiation poisoning.

Now that is some positive thinking.. at least your realistic. so my recommendation would be for all of us to bathe ourselves in steak sauce just before the explosion. that way the mutants will at least have something tasty when it all over. we just gotta make sure that we all don't use the same flavor.

okay I'm done being morbid

The best possible thing to do is live somewhere that you think there will never be nuclear bombs, like a small village in the middle of nowhere.

i think the best answer would be to demand or governments colonize the moon and mars so we can avoid there foolish wars

I am new here so this site may be out there already, but I thought it might help you know how to prepare if you could analyze the threat for your area and the protection level you would need in your basement. This stuff all varies with the location the bomb would hit, the size it was, etc..
This is a Nuclear Weapons Effect Calculator
You can select different towns and different sizes of blasts. It shows the fallout patterns for these different variables.
Just thought it might be an interesting, possibly informative look-see...
~anahna

It is more prudent to have a professional company build a saferoom or underground shelter in case of a terrorist attack. I have done some research on this and Northwest Shelter Systems construct a variety of shelters and apear to be a reputable company.

One foot of concerte or 3 feet of drit,is the genral rule.
we build fallout shelters in basements, but it is much easyer out side to really convert your basement[which we do] you need to pour a foot of over head concerte,this not easy with nothing to sit it on. so we have gone to useing shot crete,messyer,but storonger.
feel free to contact me at northwestsheltersystems.com
allen

Originally posted by itsmeallen
One foot of concerte or 3 feet of drit,is the genral rule.
we build fallout shelters in basements, but it is much easyer out side to really convert your basement[which we do] you need to pour a foot of over head concerte,this not easy with nothing to sit it on. so we have gone to useing shot crete,messyer,but storonger.
feel free to contact me at northwestsheltersystems.com
allen

I've always heard 3 feet of concrete and/or 6 feet of sandbags or earth being the bare minimum...but I suppose that depends on whether you are trying to protect yourself from initial gamma radiation from a blast, or fallout gamma radiation.

Likewise, all entrances should be connected to corridors with 90 degree angles (forming an "L" shape) that open away from prevailing winds.

Your shelter must sustain you for a minimum of 7 days after the initial blast. One exposure of not more than 30 minutes on the seventh day. After that, you can have limited exposure to the outside as such:

One exposure of not more than 1 hour on the eighth day.

Exposure of 2 to 4 hours from the ninth day through the twelfth day.

Normal operation, followed by rest in a protected shelter, from the thirteenth day onward.

Remember, that you must remove all potentially contaminated objects prior to re-entering your shelter, and scrub down thoroughly (and roughly) before re-entering, lest you contaminate your own shelter.