was at the center of civil defense preparations. Our wish is to provide the greatest emotional security under these trying circumstances.” Īt the height of the Cold War, Washington, D.C. Although Hansen urged parents to stay informed about the state of world affairs, he cautioned, “too much stress upon the dangers of the situation as far as children are concerned can create feelings of insecurity. Hansen sent letters home with the District of Columbia’s 30,000 schoolchildren, informing parents of school fallout shelter drills and plans to stock shelters underway. readied hundreds of fallout shelters to safeguard its population. Like other American cities, Washington, D.C. launched a nationwide campaign to protect citizens from the dangers of fallout. At the climax of the Cold War in the 1960s, the U.S. For this reason, fallout can be much deadlier than the fire and heat from the detonation itself. Even brief exposure to fallout radiation may prove fatal.

The deadly detritus showers down in a dry and lethal rain for days or even months afterward, with particles so small as to be invisible.

Carried by the wind, this cloud of radioactive material may spread far from the location of detonation, sometimes hundreds of miles. It vaporizes millions of tons of solids-earth, buildings, plant and animal life-and propels them into the troposphere, as high as 15 miles skyward. The blast destroys everything in a one to three mile radius. Click the image to watch 'Radiological Defense,' a 1961 film on fallout protection by the Office of Civil Defense.Ī nuclear bomb detonates.

Civil defense fallout shelter sign