Building this shelter requires some basic woodworking skills and about $150-$200 for materials.  It can be set up while the house is being built, or afterward.

ALTERNATE CEILING MODIFICATION PLAN B

This is similar to Plan A, except that new extra joists are fitted into part of the basement ceiling to support the added weight of the shielding (instead of using a beam and a screwjack column).

The new wooden joists are cut to length and notched at the ends, then installed between the existing joists.

After plywood panels are screwed securely to the joists, bricks or concrete blocks are then packed tightly into the spaces between the joists.  The bricks or blocks, as well as the joists themselves, will reduce the amount of fallout radiation penetrating downward into the basement.

Approximately one-quarter of the total basement ceiling should be reinforced with extra joists and shielding material.

Important: This plan (like Plan A) should not be used if 12 inches or more of your basement wall is above ground level, unless you add the “optional walls” inside your basement that are shown in the Plan A sketch.

PERMANENT CONCRETE BLOCK OR BRICK SHELTER PLAN C

This shelter will provide excellent protection, and can be constructed easily at a cost of $150 in most parts of the country.

Made of concrete blocks or bricks, the shelter should be located in the corner of your basement that is most below ground level.  It can be built low, to serve as a “sitdown” shelter; or by making it higher you can have a shelter in which people can stand erect.

The shelter ceiling, however, should not be higher than the outside ground level of the basement corner where the shelter is located.

The higher your basement is above ground level, the thicker you should make the walls and roof of this shelter, since your regular basement walls will provide only limited shielding against outside radiation.

Natural ventilation is provided by the shelter entrance, and by the air vents shown in the shelter wall.

This shelter can be used as a storage room or for other useful purposes in non-emergency periods.

A PREPLANNED BASEMENT SHELTER.  If your home has a basement but you do not wish to set up a permanent-type basement shelter, the next best thing would be to arrange to assemble a “preplanned” home shelter.  This simply means gathering together, in advance, the shielding material you would need to make your basement (or one part of it) resistant to fallout radiation.  This material could be stored in or around your home, ready for use whenever you decided to set up your basement shelter.

Here are two kinds of preplanned basement shelters.  If you want to set up one of these, be sure to get the free plan for it first by writing to Civil Defense, Army Publications Center, 2800 Eastern Blvd. (Middle River), Baltimore, Md. 21220.  Mention the full name of the plan you want.