Fallout Shelter: What Is It? (1963)

[Music] [Applause] a nuclear attack on the United States could result in a great amount of damage many of our city's military targets could be heavily damaged however even in an extensive attack the total area affected by the blast and thermal effects would be fairly small in relation to the total area of the country this would not be the case with radioactive fallout the area affected by fallout would be many times larger than the area affected by the explosion radioactive fallout from enemy weapons could threaten life anywhere in the country radioactive fallout then could be a serious threat to almost everyone in the United States fortunately protection against this threat can be achieved at comparatively little cost per person by intelligent community planning to aid communities in planning and organizing protection against fallout the Office of Civil Defense has set up a nationwide shelter program the object of this program is to serve a mark and provision existing public shelter spaces and developing of additional shelters to protect the entire population against radioactive fallout in case of attack before attempting to select or identify shelters however we must first understand what constitutes adequate protection against Fallout fallout from a nuclear cloud can be expected to settle on rooftops lawns field streets trees sidewalks on any surface in fact where dust might collect of course radioactive materials generally cannot be seen with the naked eye fallout as illustrated in this graphic to show it descending from this fallout will come different kinds of radiation the most dangerous of which is gamma rays gamma rays like x-rays are quite penetrating they're also quite destructive to human tissue and may produce severe illness or death to anyone not properly shielded from them and the danger increases in direct proportion to the length and amount of exposure or in other words the dosage since fallout may remain dangerous for a period of days or even weeks a shelter must be able to provide enough protection so that its occupants will not accumulate a dangerous dose of radiation during their stay in the shelter this ability to shield its occupants from radiation is known as a shelters Protection factor a shelter having a protection factor of 100 for instance means simply that a person inside the shelter will receive only 1/100 as much radiation as a person outside with no protection at all if this man outside receives a dose of 800 renkins in a given period of time the man inside will receive only 8 roentgens during the same period in other words the man outside would probably receive a fatal dose of radiation if received in a short time while the man inside the shelter would be unharmed why because of the type and amount of material which lies between this man and the source of radiation generally speaking any substance will offer some form of protection against radiation but the heavier the substance the greater the mass the better the protection the shielding quality of any material is directly related to its weight per cubic foot that's why heavy dense materials such as concrete or masonry provide much better protection than lightweight materials of the same thickness such as wood or plaster even steel or glass have high shielding ability but they're ordinarily used in such thin sheets that they provide very little actual protection earth or sand also provide good protection if the protective layer is thick enough in short the best shelter will be found where there is a large mass of heavy material between the occupants and the source of radiation there are two principle types of fallout shelters the family or home shelter and public shelter in many rural areas the family type shelter is the only practical one since it's the only one which would be easily accessible to the people who need protection also in many rural areas public shelter facilities are very limited in some cases existing structures are readily available such as the tornado shelters so often found on the farms of Kansas Nebraska and Oklahoma of course protection against radiation must be provided for the doorways in other cases suitable shelters would have to be built either in base available or inconvenient locations nearby however public shelters have several advantages over family shelters for this reason the national shelter program is placing emphasis on identifying modifying or constructing public shelters to locate and Mark all suitable public shelters space a nationwide survey has been conducted by specially trained architects and engineers in towns and cities all over the country these men have examined all types and kinds of buildings to determine exactly what space is available in existing structures to be acceptable under the national shelter program shelter space must meet the minimum protection factor required by the federal government such spaces most likely to be found in the basements of banks churches stores public buildings or in the inner core of large substantial buildings such as hospitals apartment houses older types school buildings or large office buildings in many of these buildings a surprising amount of space may prove to be suitable in this building for instance not only the basement would provide excellent shelter but also many of the upper floors the two top floors however could be hazardous because of their proximity to the fallout which would settle on the roof and the ground floor might not be usable because of the fallout collecting on the ground still this building would have more than enough space to shelter all of the people normally living or working here suitable space can also be found in the outlying areas of cities such as shopping centers especially where there are basement selling or storage areas in certain types of factory buildings in fire houses and buildings are not the only places to look suitable shelters can also be found in mind especially drift mines where the shaft is driven into the side of a hill or in caves or in highway or railroad tunnels or in Subway's however in some rural areas shelters can also be found in wine cellars such as those found in California or western New York State or in large potato cellars such as those in southern Idaho of course adequate protection against fallout must be provided for the entry way we must remember that shelters are not strange or unique structures with mysterious protective qualities rather they are regular everyday structures which are all around us what we must be able to do is recognize their ability to protect us size must also be considered is the space large enough to house the minimum number of people required by the government or is it too small to be approved as a public shelter then there is the matter of location is the space located in an area where shelter space is needed or is it too far from the people who will be expected to use it and there are health factors while the object of the shelter program must be survival rather than comfort there are certain essential minimum health standards does the space have the ability to maintain bearable temperature and humidity conditions when filled to capacity is the air supply sufficient for the number of occupants even when inactive people require fresh air all of these factors protection size location health factors must be considered when selecting space for shelter under the government survey if suitable the space is eligible for marking with the approved civil defense shelter sign and for provisioning with the supplies furnished by the federal government these include water and food supplies medical kits sanitation kits and shelter radiation kits however the shelter space which will be identified through this nationwide survey will not be enough to accommodate all of the American people other space will have to be improved or constructed one way that space can be made usable is by fairly simple modifications of existing buildings certain types of buildings of course lend themselves to modification more readily than others a solidly constructed building such as this for instance may have a good large basement which needs only to have certain unnecessary windows bricked up to make it an excellent shelter space or this well-built hospital may very well have a basement which would provide Apple shelter space or if a baffle wall were constructed in front of an outside doorway or opening to serve as a shield or barrier against radiation the space within could serve as a shelter also additional shelter space can often be provided by expanding the capacity of existing shelters in some cases it may be possible to double the capacity of a shelter simply by installing a fan to provide a greater flow of air in other cases it may be possible to brick up unnecessary doors leading into rooms and thereby increase the amount of protected and usable space in the hall some buildings on the other hand do not lend themselves to modification which will produce suitable shelter space these include modern one-story school buildings which have large glass areas and no basements modern one-story factory buildings and the average motel in all such buildings it would be difficult and costly to provide adequate protection against Fallout collecting on the roof and ground in any case we must remember that protection is a relative thing and even substandard space which does not fully meet the government requirements regarding size ventilation or protection factor may still be useful in an emergency and should not be forgotten whatever the difficulties the goal of each community should be the same to provide adequate protection against fallout for every man woman and child until this goal is met no community can be said to have an adequate shelter program remember fallout is a real and serious threat as long as there is a threat of a nuclear war but fallout is one threat which we can do something about by cooperating wholeheartedly with the national shelter program by helping to him or increased the shelter space in our towns and cities we can help to ensure not only our own survival but the survival of our families our communities and our nation [Music] [Applause] [Music]