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 some areas, until food was shipped there from other areas.
Most of the Nation's remaining food supplies would be usable after an attack. Since radiation passing through food does not contaminate it, the only danger would be the actual swallowing of fallout particles that happened to be on the food itself (or on the can or package containing the food), and these could be wiped or washed off. Reaping, threshing, canning and other processing would prevent any dangerous quantities of fallout particles from getting into processed foods. If necessary to further protect the population, special precautions would be taken by food processors.