The farther away you are from the fallout particles outside, the less
radiation you will receive. Also, the building materials (concrete,
brick, lumber, etc.) that are between you and the fallout particles
serve to absorb many of the gamma rays and keep them from reaching you.

A fallout shelter, therefore, does not need to be a special type of
building or an underground bunker. It can be _any space_, provided the
walls and roof are thick or heavy enough to absorb many of the rays
given off by the fallout particles outside, and thus keep dangerous
amounts of radiation from reaching the people inside the structure.

A shelter can be the basement or inner corridor of any large building;
the basement of a private home; a subway or tunnel; or even a backyard
trench with some kind of shielding material (heavy lumber, earth,
bricks, etc.) serving as a roof.

In addition to protecting people from fallout radiation, most fallout
shelters also would provide some limited protection against the blast
and heat effects of nuclear explosions that were not close by.

Chapter 4 (pages 23-32) discusses the various types of fallout shelters
that people can use to protect themselves in case of nuclear attack.


FOOD AND WATER WOULD BE AVAILABLE AND USABLE

From many studies, the Federal Government has determined that enough
food and water would be available after an attack to sustain our
surviving citizens. However, temporary food shortages might occur in