Swiss Renew Push for Bomb Shelters

[Feuer Frei!]

Switzerland, already home to more nuclear bunkers per capita than any other nation, has decided to pad its lead. Mountainous and politically neutral, Switzerland has more than 300,000 bunkers, enough to shelter all 7.6 million Swiss with one million places to spare. But two decades after the end of the Cold War, the Swiss government says it needs more.
A 1978 law requires every new building to have a bomb shelter, and even as the fears of Armageddon that spurred the original law are now a distant memory, the Swiss have been adding 50,000 new spots a year. As recently as a few months ago, however, it looked like the Swiss were ready to stop digging.


"Those bunkers are of no use," says Pierre-Yves Gentil, spokesman for the Swiss Socialist Party. "We have no enemies. The prospect of a nuclear war in Europe has faded away. We have more than enough bunkers."
Long after other European countries have scrapped obligatory military service, Swiss men must still serve. Switzerland has more guns per capita than Iraq and Lebanon, trailing only the U.S. and Yemen. And while it hasn't fought a war in hundreds of years, it maintains thousands of cavernous mountain fortifications to fend off an attack.
But these days, many Swiss shelters house wine collections, bicycles and unwanted clothes. Some also hold the week's supply of food that the government urges the Swiss to stockpile.
"They should correspond to family preferences and eating habits," advises a government pamphlet that includes a list of suggested shelter foods—including not only canned goods and water but also pet food, chocolate, sausages and hard cheeses. For the prodigal Swiss who ignore official advice, the government stocks 4.5 months of fuel and basic foodstuffs in communal bunkers.
Countries including Sweden, South Korea and Singapore share an affinity for fallout shelters, though some, including Finland, have scaled back the duty to build new ones.


Before Fukushima, even the security-obsessed Swiss had begun to rethink the need for so many hideouts. While leftist politicians dismissed them as Cold War relics, construction companies complained that the obligation to build them pushes up the cost of residential buildings.
The government argues that the bunkers could come in handy in case of a terrorist dirty bomb, natural disaster or chemical leak. They have been used occasionally, in fact, for natural disasters and, more recently, to house asylum-seekers from North Africa.
Bern's argument gained an unexpected boost from the harrowing tales of radiation spewed by the Fukushima plant. "People started to think, 'What if this happened in Switzerland?'" says Ruedi Kull, chief executive of Lunor G Kull AG, a leading bunker builder.
The proposal approved by the Swiss Parliament earlier this month required only larger buildings to include shelters. The fee the government charges to those who opt not to build a shelter in a new building has been reduced—to less than 800 francs ($950), from 1,500 francs—a price that gives the person the right to a spot in a communal shelter. Builders of single-family homes have typically opted to pay the fee rather than build a shelter.
The about-face throws a lifeline to the dwindling fraternity of Swiss bomb-shelter builders, who, due to stringent Swiss standards, had become world leaders in the field. A Swiss shelter must withstand an impact of a 12-megaton explosion at a distance of 700 meters (765 yards).


The Swiss standards "are like free advertisement for us," says Michael Riedo, CEO of Andair AG, one of the few remaining bunker-builders.
With Switzerland saturated, Mr. Riedo and his rivals have in recent years turned their skills abroad. Andair has seen booming business from the oil and gas industry, which needs blast protection on oil rigs as well as secure control rooms in refineries.
Terrorism has also jacked up demand for Swiss skills. Military airports, embassies, parliaments and international organizations in hot spots such as the Middle East all require blast-proof constructions. Some countries in Asia have also been building shelters inside subways in case of disaster.
The pro-bunker lobby argued that, if the 1978 law were abrogated, the bunker-builders would die out, and so would their side business of bunker maintenance—leaving the shelters, some of them four decades old, to fall into disrepair.
For their part, the Socialists have conceded defeat, deciding to focus instead on ensuring the Swiss Parliament follows through on the government's recommendation to scrap nuclear power by 2034.
"The real problem is the nuclear plants, not the shelters," says Mr. Gentil.



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[papa_smurf]

Who are they afraid of? North Korea, Iran? Or maybe they are REALLY paranoid.

[the_tyrant]

Wow, the Swiss are turning their country into Swiss cheese!

[Skybird]

The purpose of building safeties and fallback-lines like this is not to serve a purpose right now on contruction day, but to be available one day in the future in case that future conditions turn out to be in need of these. If they would be needed right now - it would mean they would have been built already too late.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Just who are they planning to piss off?

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Just who are they planning to piss off?

Nobody. They just understand that readiness is all. In this they are very different from most other EU-peans. I have a longtime-friend of my age from Switzerland since university years, and now have become friend with an old gentleman from switzerland since half a year ago. They definitely tick differently, and give sh!t for EU-ean political correctness and the usual wanted mind control mainstream. And a majority of their population ticks that way. And I have learned to appreciate that, instead of labelling them as just eccentric or retarded. To me, many of their positions are simply based on healthy reason, and taking realities as what they are.

That I also sympathise with them being very EU critical and Euro critical, must not be further explained, I assume. The only thing I really do not like is how their banks profit from financial crimes committed by tax evaders in foreign countries. But that is a charge true for Luxembourg and Monacco as well.

[Oberon]

I think the Swiss have the right idea. By the time you realise you need bunkers, it's usually too late to do anything about it.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I think the Swiss have the right idea. By the time you realise you need bunkers, it's usually too late to do anything about it.

Most of Britain's are in private hands now, being run-down and neglected I imagine! A few would make great Cold War tourist places but not many, unfortunately.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Most of Britain's are in private hands now, being run-down and neglected I imagine! A few would make great Cold War tourist places but not many, unfortunately.

Aye, there's a load of the old Observer bunkers littered around the place too, most of them are waterlogged now, others are restored nicely, bit of a pick and mix.

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/...splay.php?f=50

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by papa_smurf

Who are they afraid of? North Korea, Iran? Or maybe they are REALLY paranoid.

If Libya had any of its Al-Fatah missiles (a copy of the DPRK No-Dong missile*) operational the Swiss capital would be almost in range of them (about 150 km outside the max range, if the Libyans reduced the payload a little than it would be in range).

*worse name ever!

[MH]

Must be hard to be island in sea of crazy Europeans.
Maybe they suspect Europe will come to rob their banks soon....