'Russia planning new N-bomb shelters'

Nuclear reactors in Russia (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/187699.html

Russia is reportedly planning to construct nearly 5,000 new nuclear bomb shelters in the capital, Moscow, by the end of 2012 to protect the residents against a possible nuclear strike.

Russian authorities believe more shelters are needed because the current nuclear bomb shelters can hold about half of Moscow's population, Russia Today TV channel reported.

Architects have been given a task to construct a typical model of an easy-to-build shelter that will be located all over the city, 10 to 15 meters underneath the apartment blocks, shopping centers, sport complexes and parks, so that people would reach them within a minute in case of an attack.

Moscow saw its first mass building of nuclear bomb shelters in the 1930s, since then 7,000 of them have been constructed.

Some of Russia's metro stations have also been built very deep underground so that they could be used as air raid shelters.

However, in the early 1990s, many shelters were privatized by commercial firms that used them as warehouses, parking lots, and even restaurants.

Meanwhile, China announced similar plans of building nuclear bomb shelters a few years ago.

Shanghai's Civil Defense Office has announced the completion of a massive underground shelter, which can accommodate up to 200,000 people at a time.