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Newsweek: War With North Korea? People Are Building Nuclear Bunkers & Shelters Again

Newsweek Covers Heightened Interest in Safe Rooms / Interviews Tom Gaffney of Gaffco

by Max Kutner

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As North Korea continues to develop its nuclear program and test missiles, and President Donald Trump threatens action, companies that build bunkers are reporting increasing numbers of phone calls and orders.

On Tuesday, Trump said in a speech before the United Nations General Assembly that if necessary, "we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.” He also referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man,” reiterating a phrase he used in a tweet on Sunday. In August, Trump had said that North Korea would be met with “fire and fury” if it continued to threaten the U.S.

With tensions growing, people have looked into bunkers, a concept that dates to federal government directives from early in the Cold War. On its website, the Department of Homeland Security says that “shielding” is among the factors that a person can use to protect him or herself from the radiation or fallout from a nuclear blast, and that “taking shelter during a nuclear blast is absolutely necessary.” The agency identifies two types of shelters: blast shelters, which protect against initial radiation, heat and fire, and fallout shelters, with thick walls and a roof that can absorb the radiation from fallout particles. “The heavier and denser the materials—thick walls, concrete, bricks, books and earth—between you and the fallout particles, the better,” the guidance says....

For people in urban areas such as New York City who don’t have access to underground areas to build shelters, companies such as Gaffco Ballistics build safe rooms with “bio-defense” capabilities. Tom Gaffney, CEO of that company, tells Newsweek that trend dates back six or seven years. Such rooms contain air-filtration systems that can “offer protection from the effects of nuclear, chemical and biological gases for an extended period of time,” according to the Gaffco Ballistics website. People inside those safe rooms can monitor in real time the contamination levels of the air outside. Gaffney estimates that he’s received a 20 to 30 percent increase in calls and emails since May or June. 

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