Inside the mysterious Cold War-era doomsday bunkers where the US government will hide if nuclear war breaks out
As the menacing spectres of North Korea, Russia and Iran loom large, the US is starting to dust down great nuke shelters
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THESE are the mega fall-out shelters America is preparing
to use in case of nuclear war.
The dusty old bunkers had been left to decay with the fall of
the Soviet Union
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But a quarter of a century later, as the menacing spectres of North Korea,
Russia and Iran loom large, the US is starting to dust down the great nuke shelters.
A stunning series of shots has now revealed what life is like in the great
underground bases.
It will be inside these cavernous bunkers that the US government and
President Donald Trump will flee in time of war.
Describing its construction, expert Garrett Graff told the
New York Post: “There were very few engineers with the expertise to
hollow out a mountain and build, in essence, a free-standing city inside of it.
“The US government turned to the construction firm Parsons Brinckerhoff,
which had developed unique tunnelling expertise working on the New
York City subway.”
Inside are housed offices, medical wards and enough space to keep 1,400
people safe.
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Yet by 1991 the old building had fallen into disrepair and was stopped
running on a 24-hour basis by President George H.W. Bush.
Following 9/11, it received a £500million boost and its capacity was
expanded to 5,000.
Chillingly, most workers would not be allowed to take their families into
the bunkers with them.
The Peters Mountain bunker in Virginia is intended for the intelligence services.
It too received a £52million boost in recent years.
President Trump, Congress and other senior members of government on the
other hand would be kept safe at Mount Weather, Virginia.
The giant bunker has its own water reservoir, bar and even a specialist
fire and police department.
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The President also has the option of a mysterious bunker beneath the
White House’s front lawn.
Graff added: “There’s definitely a bunker under the White House, known as
the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), which is where
Dick Cheney was rushed on 9/11 and where he spent the day helping to lead
the government’s response.
“It’s a small facility, not designed for long-term use, just to hold a few dozen
people for a few hours, which traces its roots all the way back to Franklin D. Roosevelt,
when the first bunker was built to protect against a surprise Nazi attack.
“Later, Truman expanded it and the facility has been updated again in recent years
since 9/11 when the attacks showed how limited the communications systems were.
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“For instance, Vice President Cheney couldn’t listen to both CNN and to the government’s video conference at the same time on 9/11.”
The US Air Force would be based at the Norad base near Colorado Springs in time of war.
From here, US defence officials could plan the defence of America from underground.
It too has received a massive spending boost in recent years, with £500million alone spent updating its communication systems.
Graff added: “Norad is specific to North American defence — it includes the command post responsible for defending both Canada and the US from air attacks, whether that’s terrorists, Russian bombers, or North Korean missiles.”
(The Sun, UK)
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