Department of Defense, Office of Civil Defense. History North America Fallout shelter water storage can: a 66 liters ( 17 + 1⁄ 2 U.S. gal) barrel issued by the U.S. A fallout shelter is designed to allow its occupants to minimize exposure to harmful fallout until radioactivity has decayed to a safer level, over a few weeks or months. Much of this highly radioactive material falls to Earth, subjecting anything within the line of sight to radiation, becoming a significant hazard. The fallout emits alpha and beta particles, as well as gamma rays. When this material condenses in the rain, it forms dust and light sandy materials that resemble ground pumice. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War.ĭuring a nuclear explosion, matter vaporized in the resulting fireball is exposed to neutrons from the explosion, absorbs them, and becomes radioactive. A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designated to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion.

Fallout shelter spelunking training