Dusty Fallout Shelters?

You could play it either way in a story. Make it a shelter built in 1959 and the seal and filtration system wasn't all that good or has deteriorated over the years.

Probably not especially airtight unless thay are in use ...

If it's today, the place is probably an underground storage unit

When it was new it had to be radiation proof, not airtight, or the occupants would have suffocated in a short time. There had to be a filtered air exchange mecahnism. Air does not get stale without the presence of living things generally speaking.

I doubt any seals dating back that far would be funtional today. They would have hardened and crumbled as they out-gassed.

The only fallout shelter as such I've been in is the Texas State Operations Center under Department of Public Safety HQ. It's a real shelter with airtight doors you can dog down tight.

The SOC is actually in use as a nerve center for Texas Department of Emergency Management. So it's not too dusty since the cleaning staff comes in regularly.

Fun fact though: the toilets are all on springs. Not bouncy ones, but real sturdy, in case everything gets tossed by a Red H-bomb. Weird, eh?

Man, I just saw something online about unused fallout shelters. I'll try to find the link but because they're underground, there was a fair amount of humidity that played havoc.

Here it is: Abandoned Bomb Shelter, 1960's at Retronaut. Granted, this one is in Florida, which has a different climate.

Gads, now I have to find the one link I have about abandoned Tube stations. They have a section on the stations that were set up and recommissioned as bomb shelters during World War II. Hang on...

Et viola: Deep Level Shelter Tunnels!

Creepy/cool, Ben.

I'd assume either dust or regular cleaning unless the seals are engaged, and that they might not be if the shelter is not in use.

Orianna2000 said:

That abandoned bomb shelter is creepy. Wow. And toilets on springs? Brilliant!

The shelter in my novel is well-maintained, since it's for a government branch that prepares for any eventuality. I suppose I could just have the cleaning staff go in once a week to dust and not worry about it.

Thanks!

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When does the story take place? All of the information I've found online shows the British government shelters were decommissioned during the 1990's and either fell into disuse or turned into museums.

For any shelter to be functionally air tight, it has to be maintained on a regular basis. The shelter also has to have its own power supply, water supply, air filtration system, heating/ac, and back up systems. If the main power supply goes out, and you do not have a back up system, then you either have to open up the air system to the outside, or die...

All of which is very doable...

Here in the states, survival shelter are once again big business and many companies are selling shares in them. Meaning, reserve you room now and when armageddon arrives you will have a place to ride out the zombie apocalypse. All the big $$$ ones have their own power sources, water source and food storage areas as well as medical facilities. Going rate starts about one-million and up.

Of course, getting to the location is your problem...

It almost sounds like you've not seen Blast From the Past, which can't be true. They explain it there.

It doesn't have to be airtight to stop dust getting in. It's all to do with the Stokes number if anybody's interested. Small stuff, such as black carbon, could possibly seep through the gaps (door frames, etc.), although it would have to be a pretty lousy fallout shelter for that to happen. The sad fact is that most of the dust in your house comes from you - it's a mixture of dead skin and fibres from clothes etc. (so is belly button fluff, incidentally). I suppose the fabric of the building could decay over time and insects (including spiders) can make a mess, which you might like to prevent.

To answer the original concern (if valid), I'd say there might be a little dust, but not dustcloth-worthy dust.


I dearly love pictures of things like that abandoned fallout shelter. I have no explanation as to why. I also operate on the assumption that there are many shelters still in commission worldwide. It's not like the nukes went away!

(okay, so I wish I had a fallout shelter.)

We had a fallout shelter where I grew up that was used for storage of records. Very dusty, but the seals were still airtight. So much so that two air shafts were later drilled in it so nobody could suffocate.

Jeff

I did a lot of work with the Continuity of Government Project at one point.

Larger shelters do collect dust, even with the air filtration/recirculation/scrubbing system.

But, most of those are hidden and almost forgotten.

Having it cleaned regularly and in use gives your characters a reason to know it's there, makes sure it has up to date equipment, and that everything is in good working order.

(Those old giant Bravo Sites were amazing, but even with SLEP they were out of date)

Possibly keep the shelter at a slight overpressure? That way you don't need to be air-tight, as any airflow is inside-to-outside.

If the shelter is in Tornado Alley there would be reason to maintain it.

Duncan J Macdonald said:

Possibly keep the shelter at a slight overpressure? That way you don't need to be air-tight, as any airflow is inside-to-outside.

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Positive pressure systems aren't used unless the CoG Site is live. That's because positive pressure sites are not a near-zero sum game with the air (something that is important in a lot of the larger sites) and you'd have to hope the scrubbers were working right.

I'd seen a couple of the ones in London back in the bad ol' days of the Cold War for various reasons.

The high end ones were usually well maintained and not dusty, where the ones that had been built right after WW-II for the general population were usually in crap shape.

Pretty much, you can do what you want.