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Nuke-Proof Bunker Turns Out Not Waterproof

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the maybe-send-it-to-cuba dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The AP reports on the opening of a vault in Tulsa, OK which was designed to withstand a nuclear attack by the Russians. 50 years ago they put a Plymouth Belvedere in the vault to preserve it so that we could get a good look at it in the (for that time) magical year of 2007. Unfortunately it turns out that the vault wasn't even waterproof. The once beautiful car is now a literal rust bucket."

17 of 400 comments (clear)

  1. But was the in the specs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now gimme a break. That was not part of the requirement specifications!

    1. Re:But was the in the specs? by g0dsp33d · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was gonna say, my waterproof watch isn't nuke proof either.

      On a positive note the Nuke shelters weren't needed or lots of people would have drowned.

      --
      lol: You see no door there!
  2. Hey, they never claimed it was! by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

    It was built to shelter people against radiation, not water. And? How did it not work? Did anyone die from radiation in the area?

    See how good it works!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Hey, they never claimed it was! by iknowcss · · Score: 5, Insightful

      what about the fallout from a nuclear attack? Seeing as so much is soluble in water, that's probably the last thing we want leaking in to a shelter.

      --
      Life is rarely fair. Cherish the moments when there is a right answer.
  3. Similar screw-up... by Oswald · · Score: 5, Interesting
    When the air traffic control centers in the U.S. were constructed (late '50s, early 60's), it was decided that the buildings needed to be able to resist the effects of nuclear fallout. They were equipped with giant vertical steel louvers all around the perimeter and a washdown feature for the roof. But the roofs never so much as held out the rain, let alone the radioactive soup that trying to wash away fallout would have created. I've worked at Atlanta Center for about 23 years, and I think they just re-roofed for the fourth time. Within two years, it will probably leak again.

    BTW, the Cold War systems were decommissioned about a decade ago. In the early 1990's the louvers needed painting, so they were removed from building, shipped to someplace (rumor said Texas), painted and then reinstalled. A couple of years later they were removed for good.

  4. Re:What did they expect ... by hughk · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not funny. I once owned a ford from that era. There would have much more left over - the windshield for example. Ford don't make it and it can't rust.

    --
    See my journal, I write things there
  5. Cunning bastards by Timesprout · · Score: 5, Funny

    Make us think they are going to nuke us and then launch a surprise attack with water pistols.

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
  6. Archiving is hard by Bender0x7D1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think the moral of this story is that archiving anything, even if it seems durable, is hard. Now, how confident do you feel about those backup tapes that are in the closet down the hall? How much moisture is getting to them just from the humidity in the air?

    --
    Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
    1. Re:Archiving is hard by RenderSeven · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think the *real* moral of this story is that no matter what you do, in 50 years you'll look like an idiot.

  7. Re:What indicates it isn't waterproof? by PorkNutz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where did all the mud come from? I think that has much more to do with the rust.

    This little gem is why your boss doesn't pay you to think.

    -----
    Übergeek Necktie T-Shirt
    Funny Shirts @ ProStoner.com

  8. Re:Duck and Cover by saibot834 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Duck and Cover: Watch on youtube / Download at archive.org (avi/mpg/mp4) / Wikipedia article
    Nowadays we can laugh about it but consider that people might laugh in 30 years about what we think now.

  9. Re:Was it a vaccum chamber? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's true but 50 years ago rust wasn't very well understood, in America. Most things were still being built from wood at the time. It wasn't until the American elite began to learn European languages and the Queens English sufficiently well to make themselves understood abroad that they were able to make the most of the cultural and scientific aid on offer from Europe and learn about things like rust.

  10. Re:Duck and Cover by Workaphobia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What's so worthless about duck and cover? In the event you're not close enough to be vaporized or significantly irradiated, why would you want to just stand up and die due to head injury if you have an opportunity to protect yourself? Plus it's useful for natural disasters.

    And most importantly of all, it helped traumatize the public, keeping them in the palms of exploitive politicians.

    --
    Evidently, the key to understanding recursion is to begin by understanding recursion. The rest is easy.
  11. The really sad part... by ToastyKen · · Score: 5, Funny

    is that they put the gasoline in there because they thought the world would be so advanced in the 21st century that we would've moved way beyond that. :P

  12. In Cuba... by ratboot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm sure we could find the same car (same model, same year) that's been used every day since the 50s in better shape! No joke.

  13. If you want to see a nuclear bunker done right... by pongo000 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...pay a visit to the Minuteman Missle National Historic Site in South Dakota. They offer tours of an underground Minuteman Delta launch bunker on a appointment-only basis, 6-8 to a group. The bunker itself, built in the 60's, is actually an air-tight, climate-controlled concrete capsule suspended on giant shock absorbers about 150 feet below the surface. The only entrance into the capsule is via a 5-ton vault door that could be opened and shut in under a minute. It provides a fascinating insight into the Cold War and the level of redundancy that was in place to ensure that if a launch was ordered, it would happen (for instance, launch orders would be given to a number of different launch sites simultaneously, so no launch site personnel would be aware of who actually launched a missle).

    Interesting story: There was an "emergency egress" hatch in the capsule that led to the surface through a corrugated pipe. There were only a few problems: The hatch door weighed over 200 pounds and dropped down from the ceiling, ensuring the first one out would probably be the last one out. And the government was afraid the Russkies knew where the egress points were on the surface, so the government poured a parking lot over it. Only problem was they failed to tell the launch controllers that their "emergency egress" system led to the underside of a parking lot. This was all top-secret stuff, never came to light until after the sites were decommissioned and dismantled.

  14. And the best part is... by artemis67 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a contest! Some lucky person actually gets to win that old, rusted-out bucket!

    From the award letter:

    CONGRATULATIONS! You have won this 1957 Plymouth Belvedere, stored in a time capsule 50 years ago! (See picture)

    Please make arrangements to have the vehicle moved off of city property as soon as possible or we will have to start fining you $50/day.