
"The only true defense against a nuclear attack is to prevent it from happening in the first place," he says. Joseph Cirincione, the author of Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons, says firestorms could turn such shelters into coffins. Not all experts agree with the shelter-in-place campaign. It recommends waiting at least 12 hours before emerging fallout drops by 90 percent within 7 hours of detonation.

The publication instructs survivors (anyone outside the blast radius) to shelter where they are, preferably in a basement or other underground space. government released a 130-page publication designed to help local officials plan for the explosion of a 10-kiloton weapon.


Today, another nuclear risk looms-a terrorist cell detonating a single nuclear weapon in a major city-and it requires different preparedness. The demand for well-stocked fallout shelters has receded since the end of the Cold War.
