A fallout shelter is a shelter that was used in a time of need. From 1947 to 1991, fallout shelters were a big hit during the Cold war. The fallout shelter represents the atomic age and how families got through nuclear attacks. A lot was contributed in the making of these shelters, and they kept families together. Time and effort to keep America safe is what made these shelters important to American History. Not only are the fallout shelters a symbol of the cold war and fear, but it also significantly impacted America because they protected Americans from radioactive debris, gave America shelter in a time of war, and it reduced casualties.
The Shelters protected America from radioactive debris. The free-standing, double hulled structure increased protection (Kurin-The Smithsonian). A person that was to stay inside the shelter is offered a minimum protection factor (SPF) of 40 (Fuller). The sheltered people are getting 1/40th of the radiation whereas a person that goes outside after the explosion is getting the full amount of radiation. Most of these shelters were found or built in downtown (Irish). For extra protection, people and the shelters were in the basement. Steuart Pitman was in charge of making sure that almost everyone in America had shelter (Pastore).
Aside from the radiation protection, Americans were given shelter in a time of war. Millions of dollars contributed in the making of the shelters (Irish). John F. Kennedy put forward money to locate shelters in empty buildings. Inside the shelters were shelves filled with food and other useful supplies. Some may say the shelters were cramped, but there was enough room for a 6 foot man to stand (Gambino). Interior features included a hand crank air pump, and a radio rece...
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Brown took her time to interview people and look through archives to get the raw scenery of what happened behind closed doors. The third part was “The Plutonium Disasters.” She brought light to how dangerous it was to work and live there, and most of the people in the camp did not know how it can affect their body. Dr. Herbert Parker, the head of the Health Physics Division, “estimated there were eight hundred million flakes of [plutonium], which, if sucked into workers’ lungs or [ingested], could lodge in soft organs and remain in the body of years, a tiny time bomb that Parker feared would produce cancer” (Brown 166). This radioactive element that workers are producing is not just affecting the environment, but is also affecting the workers and their families. Brown has given an immense amount of evidence to explain to the readers how it affected so many of the workers’ health; she gives a vivid picture of how the radioactivity and particles of plutonium lingers in the air. The affects to the workers and their family ranges from cancerous cells to organ deterioration, when a pregnant woman is exposed to it, the health of her baby is also at risk. The fourth and last part of the book is “Dismantling the Plutonium Curtain,” this curtain is the curtain of secrecy. Brown interviewed people who lived in the camps as children and also people who worked there. Many of the people she
9 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Web. The Web. The Web.
This episode of The Twilight Zone “The Shelter”, focuses on a neighborhood set into mass hysteria because there has been an announcement over the radio that an unidentified flying object has been spotted flying towards America. This is assumed to be a plane carrying an atomic bomb because of the tensions that were happening at this time between Russia and America during the Cold War. The tensions at the time of production for this episode were very high as the Berlin Crisis of 1961 had just taken place the summer before. This Crisis is why the writer of the episode, Rod Serling wanted to create a fictional scenario where there was an immediate threat of a nuclear war. Rod Serling was a soldier during WW2 which influenced his future stories
Not only did the people struggle, but so did the areas surrounding them. Everything was in horrific shape. Charities were created to help support families who had lost everything, and also to help raise money for reconstruction. A Relief Committee was set up to assist people. The committee was given a task to organize and distribute food, supplies, and money to all those in distress. Contributions for almost everything came in from around the world totaling up to almost $5,000,000. The political economy made sure that even though the main focus was on reconstruction, that men were continuing to receive fair retirement. They were also determined to keep the doors open and full of opportunities for future young men. “On one side we see men of some years disheartened and retired from productive exertion. On the other, we see places opened for younger men” (“Political Economy of the
Web. The Web. The Web. 22 Nov. 2010. Cohen, Judy, and John Richardson.
In 1945, the American Red Cross delivered 1550 parcels of food and other goods to a Japanese internment camp of 1450 people located in North China. The Japanese planned to disperse the packages equally among the people. Of the people in the camp, two hundred were American. Some of the Americans thought they deserved more since the parcels were from their country so the Japanese planned to divide the extra 100 parcels among them. However, many of the Americans were not satisfied and thought they deserved all of the parcels.
... people were given a choice, FEMA Camps or jail”. In the article it also talks about the FEMA centers not existing according to the news and media. “Staffing 240 bed, 24 hour, and razor wire topped FEMA camp that was supposed to be used in case of a disaster according to FEMA. Remember, these areas do not exist according to the news media” The media and news are all in partners with Homeland Security; this is how homeland security tracks our every movement.
The survivors had no home, clothes, food, and most of all, they lost their loved ones, relatives, and friends. The government helped the survivors, sending the military with relief goods in order for them to live through their hardships. The survivors slept in the Presidio and city parks, like the Golden Gate park, with tents, waited in line for food and clothing that were being distributed by the government and other organizations (National Archives, 2016). The survivors were required to do their cooking in the streets in order to minimize more fires. The administrators of relief goods included San Francisco Red Cross, Relief Corporation, and The United States Army. This earthquake was considered one of the worst natural disasters in United States. The city of San Francisco received helped from people around the country, other cities, states, federal government, and other countries, totaling up to $9 million in relief (“Quick facts about the 1906 earthquake and fires,”
...ng the night, continuous flashlights were shone on them to keep watch on them. The Japanese-Americans did not receive any privacy and the internment camps hardly every had medical facilities. The camps also had no court hearings, no due process, and no writs of habeas corpus. Living in these internment camps took away almost all of their rights as citizens. (Foner 870)
...nt of the buildings were destroyed by the blast or the fires that started because of it (Encyclopedia.com). If the blast didn’t destroy the buildings at first then the heat from the bomb caused fires that slowly destroyed the buildings.
The only possessions they could take with them is what they could carry. From their evacuation point (such as transit stations) the Japanese were then taken to assembly centers. These centers consisted of old horse stalls, and warehouses. “Little did I know that I would replace the pigs and the cows and that type of stuff” (Masao Watanabe). Most people had to wait at the assembly centers for weeks until the basic construction of the camps was complete. Full e...
On April 26, 1986 the worlds worst nuclear disaster happened just outside the town of Pripyat. Located not too far from the capital city Kiev, Ukraine. According to History.com, More than 70,000 people have suffered from the effects of this disaster. Along with much of the land (18 square miles) around that area will not be habitable for the next 150 years, forcing as many as 150,000 citizens to re-locate permanently. At the time of the explosion, Chernobyl was the largest and the oldest nuclear power plant in the world. With four 1,000 megawatt reactors, one reactor explosion and meltdown could affect hundreds, if not thousands of people. Still, the soviet government tried to cover it up or hide this from its own people, as well as the rest of the world. The Soviet Union initially reported the death of two individuals and requested advice for fight graphite fires. Even as Sweden was starting to pick up dangerous levels of radioactivity, the Soviet Union continued to not take responsibility and warn surrounding nations. It wasn't until years later that the full story is released to the public.
...supplying the Soviet Union and Great Britain with weapons and supplies. The Japanese Americans along the west coast were then sent to internment camps for the rest of the war.
During World War II Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps. The internment Camps were poorly built. They lived in barracks, and sometimes whole families would have to live in one room cells. The weather conditions were not favorable either. Like Manzanar and Tule Lake in California where the weather is mostly frigid. The internment camps were surrounded with barb wire, and guard towers. Some Japanese Americans filed lawsuits, but that didn’t stop the internment. “The barracks consisted of tar paper over two-by-sixes and no insulation. Many families were assigned to one barracks and lived together with no privacy. Meals were taken communally in mess halls and required a long wait in line” (“Historical Overview”)
Nuclear waste has a reputation for making law makers and the public uneasy, thus it is difficult to find a site for nuclear waste disposal units. However, creating such sites is necessary to allow nuclear energy to the electricity production forefront in America. In the search for a waste disposal location, companies have been turning toward Native American reservations as the final resting places of the radioactive waste. Multiple tribes have quickly denied companies access to their land, but others have taken advantage of the potentially prosperous opportunity. One of the first tribes to decline a waste site was the Navajos, for the nuclear industry’s destruction of their land was still fresh in their minds. It is true that nuclear waste disposal is a theoretically dangerous venture, yet it also contains many potential benefits. Siting a nuclear waste unit on the Navajo reservation would benefit the country and the Navajos, but the idea is meet with reluctance because of the suspected costs to the Navajo people, the environment as a whole, and the Navajo’s land.