Blast shelter
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
A blast shelter is a place where people can go to protect themselves from bomb blasts. It differs from a fallout shelter, in that its main purpose is to protect from shock waves and overpressure, instead of from radiation - laden precipitation, as a fallout shelter does. It is also possible for a shelter to protect from both blast and fallout.
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Types of Blast Shelters
Since, according to the Federation of American Scientists (http://fas.org), blast is the main cause of death from nuclear weapons, blast shelters are a vital form of protection from nuclear attack and are employed in civil defense.
There are above-ground, below-ground, dedicated, dual-purpose, and potential blast shelters. Dedicated blast shelters are built specifically for the purpose of blast protection (see bunker). Dual-purpose blast shelters are existing structures with blast protective properties that have been modified to accommodate people in their seeking protection from blast. Potential blast shelters are existing structures or geological features exhibiting blast protective properties that have potential to be used for protection from blast.
History
During WWII, people in the city of London, England survived bombing during the German Blitzkrieg by taking refuge in the subways, i.e. London underground. Subways happen to offer some of the best blast protection.
See also
Bunker, Air-raid shelter, Civil defense,Earth sheltering, Fortification, Homeland security, Underground city,Tunnels, Fallout shelter, London deep-level shelters, Blockhouse, Nuclear hardness, Nuclear warfare, Survivability, Autonomous buildings, Emergency preparedness
External links
- FEMA Civil Defense Shelters - A state of the Art Assessment - 1986 (http://www.survivalring.org/CivilDefenseShelters-FEMA-Assessment-1986(final).pdf) This 25 megabyte PDF file is the complete 300 page plus report on civil defense blast shelter and shelter systems as compiled under contract for FEMA. Includes information on the design, construction, testing and cost of blast and fallout shelters, and includes a bibliography of over 1000 documents. Hosted by SurvivalRing.org.
- Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (http://www.oism.org/)This website offers the entire online version of Nuclear War Survival Skills with full graphics and web navigation, created with the permission of the author Cresson Kearny. This manual has proven technical info on expedient blast shelters, shelter habitation, and assorted shelter system needs that can be created from common household items. OISM also offers free downloads of other civil defense and shelter information as well.
- Information on Australian Cold War Fortifications (http://www.tunnelrats.org.au)
