THE US Government built several “doomsday” nuclear bunkers designed to withstand a nuclear apocalypse during the 1950s and 1960s when tensions with the Soviet Union threatened to spill over.
Decades later, fears remain that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could evolve into a nuclear conflict amid Vladimir Putin’s aggression.
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Ukraine has accused Putin of wanting “another Chernobyl” after Russian forces attacked and seized Europe’s largest power plant Zaporizhzhia on Thursday.
Western experts claim that the world has not seen a crisis like this since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
That flashpoint off the US coast was the closest point the world came to a full-blown nuclear conflict.
America didn’t just prepare to survive a nuclear fallout but officials intended to restart society in case the most important institutions were wiped out.
The Federal Reserve stashed billions of dollars in cash at the Mount Pony bunker in Culpeper, Virginia, for instance.
They planned to use the notesto replenish currency supplies in the wake of Armageddon.
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The Sun takes a look inside some of the bunkers that were built across the country.
CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN
The Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station could withstand a 30 megaton nuclear bomb and electromagnetic pulse, as well as chemical and biological attacks.
It sits around 2,000 feet under the mountain and the complex was built in 1961 at the height of the Cold War.
The complex has six tunnels and each is three stories tall.
Steve Rose, 721st Mission Support Group Deputy Director, branded it "the most secure government facility in the world".
More than 300 people work inside Cheyenne Mountain, which they access via the tunnel and two 23-ton blast doors.
The doors are only ever closed when there’s an emergency and were only shut once during the 9/11 terror attacks.
Miners had to excavate more than 690,000 tons of granite to make the complex.
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WEST VIRGINIA
A building near the four-star White Sulphur Springs resort in West Virginia was designed to house every one of 535 members of Congress.
Completed in 1961, the 112,000-square-foot shelter had enough beds and supplies to accommodate every lawmaker and staffer.
It also had decontamination chambers, an intensive care unit, and a press briefing room - all surrounded by up to five 5ft concrete.
The bunker is now open to public tours.
MOUNT WEATHER EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER
The Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, which is located near Bluemont, Virginia, plays a major role in the continuation of government business should a nuke attack ever happen.
It’s located just 48 miles away from Washington DC.
The FEMA National Radio System helps connect federal safety agencies and the military with each state.
The site was a weather station during the 1800s and was used as a Civilian Public Service base during World War II where conscientious objectors carried out non-military service.
In 1958, the underground bunker was completed and it includes a hospital, dining area, crematorium, and sleeping area.
The bunker has several side tunnels and officials used the East Tunnel was used to conduct emergency simulations.
Mount Weather has six major disaster facilities including the National Processing Center, the Disaster Finance Office, and the Agency Logistics Center.
The bunker hit the headlines in 1974 when a Boeing 727 plane crashed.
RAVEN ROCK
Raven Rock is commonly known as an “underground Pentagon” and is located near the Blue Ridge Summit in Pennsylvania.
It’s thought that around 3,000 government officials could survive in the bunker for months, according to War History Online.
Construction started just years after Japan was devastated by atomic bombs.
In the event of the Pentagon being destroyed, Government officials would be redeployed to Raven Rock.
The first phase of construction cost around $35million at the time ($350million in today's currency).
Raven Rock has never stopped operating but Department of Defense officials were evacuated when 9/11 hit.
Secret Service officers in Washington DC thought it wasn’t appropriate for high-ranking government officials to be in the same place during the terror attacks.
Journalist Garrett Graff, author of the book Raven Rock: The Story of the US Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself While the Rest of Us Die, speculated that the nuclear war would begin inside the bunker.
DOOMSDAY PLANE
A modified Boeing 747 provides a mobile command center in the event of a nuclear conflict.
Earlier this week, it took off from a US Air Force base in Nebraska.
Military flight tracking websites shows that it completed a 4.5-hour flight toward Chicago and back before landing again, iNewsreported.
One plane is kept on standby at all times and follows the U.S. President on his travels in case a sudden nuclear war erupts.
The jets, called "National Airborne Operation Centres", have the ability to communicate with anyone from anywhere in the world.
Its sole role is to support military analysts and strategists during a military crisis.
The design of the plane is meant tosurvive an electromagnetic pulsewith all the systems left intact.
Triple-decker Doomsday planes even use traditional analog flight instruments because they are less vulnerable to a cyber attack.
DECOMMISSIONED SITES
Some missile sites have since been closed and decommissioned by the US Government.
A base, which housed the Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile, in Tucson, Arizona went on sale for a whopping $395,000 in 2019.
Titan II could hit a target more than 6,000 miles away and carried a warhead around 600 times more powerful than Hiroshima.
And, former Army munitions bunkers have been repurposed into doomsday community sites for civilians.
Vivos XPoint, located near Edgemont, South Dakota, consists of 575 steel bunkers that are affordably priced.
The structures are located in what's considered to be one of the safest parts of America, Terravios revealed.
NUCLEAR WAR FEARS
As the war in Ukraine continues to rage, Putin ordered his military command to put Russia’s deterrence forces - a reference to units that include nuclear arms - on high alert.
It means he has ordered the world's largest stockpile of nuclear warheads prepared for launch readiness.
Russia’s navy claims it has held nuclear drills with subs and land-based missiles as troops have been ordered to be “combat ready”.
Russia’s Northern Fleet said in a statement that several of its nuclear submarines were involved in exercises designed to “train maneuvering in stormy conditions”.
The Defence Ministry also confirmed that deadly intercontinental ballistic missiles had been launched in secret practice drills in the Irkutsk region of eastern Siberia.
Amid the fears, Lt. Col Robert Maginnis (retired) penned in a Fox News opinion piece: “President Biden must find the gumption to be crystal clear with Putin and his generals.”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
He urged: “Tell them to stop escalating the Ukraine crisis to a global standoff.
“Then announce to the world that America’s nuclear forces will return to an indefinite high alert status, a necessary move.”
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