(Xinhua) — Global security leaders are warning nuclear threats are growing as weapons spending surged to 91.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, and private bunker sales are on the rise globally, from small metal boxes to crawl inside of to extravagant underground mansions, reported The Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday.
“Critics warn these bunkers create a false perception that a nuclear war is survivable. They argue that people planning to live through an atomic blast aren’t focusing on the real and current dangers posed by nuclear threats, and the critical need to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” noted the report.
Meanwhile, government disaster experts say bunkers aren’t necessary. A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100-page guidance on responding to a nuclear detonation focuses on having the public get inside and stay inside, ideally in a basement and away from outside walls for at least a day. Those existing spaces can provide protection from radioactive fallout, says FEMA.
But increasingly, according to the report, buyers say bunkers offer a sense of security. The market for U.S. bomb and fallout shelters is forecast to grow from 137 million dollars last year to 175 million dollars by 2030, according to a market research report from BlueWeave Consulting. The report says major growth factors include “the rising threat of nuclear or terrorist attacks or civil unrest.”
