Nuclear bunkers:

relics of the past that feel real

Just a few decades ago many feared total annihilation, with the Soviet and American atomic superpowers hovering over the red button. The threat is now past, but some of the nuclear bunkers still exist today, giving tourists a living history tour.

Victor Baranov is a tour guide at “Bunker 42” museum in Moscow. Some 30 years ago the bunker used to be operational 24/7, ready to protect people from a possible nuclear attack. In order to do so effectively, the facility has specially-designed walls and door.

“That heavy door was protection against the shock wave of a nuclear strike,” Baranov said. “It has a weight of about 1.5 tonnes.”

”The entrance was covered with massive walls,” Baranov added. “These walls have thickness of six meters of reinforced concrete.”

If you had been lucky enough to escape the initial explosion, inside are enough food and air to last about two weeks, Baranov added.

He said that this time was just enough to wait for all the fires and radiation levels to decrease outside so you could walk and breathe in a special protective suit. Those stationed in the bunker would have had less than 90 seconds to put their suit on should radiation be detected inside.

However, it is not just nuclear bunkers that were designed to protect in case of a nuclear attack. One of Moscow's iconic landmarks is also there to protect.

“The biggest shelter in the world is the Moscow Metro system,” said Victor Baranov. “Each station is constructed as a bunker and it can save lives of people who are inside in the time of a nuclear strike.”

Meanwhile, the “Bunker 42” museum prides itself as being very hands-on, encouraging visitors to reach out and touch the past.

“It is not like an ordinary museum where nothing can be touched,” said head of excursions and corporate customers department Natalya Morozova. “Here, on the contrary, everything can be touched. Visitors can hold in their hands or wear the equipment used when the bunker was operational.”

The museum complex extends kilometers underground, creating a rabbit warren below streets jam-packed with people and cars.

Deep underground visitors to the bunker get a chance to experience what it would have been like had Moscow ever been hit by a nuclear attack, and this facility was required for real use. The red lights flash, the sirens wail, and a voice announces that Moscow has been hit with a 10 megaton blast, decimating most of the city. Visitors say that, even though you know it is all part of the tour, it all feels very real.

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