ND
42> €apspore:
bey
oe ye#4aeeaes
f:
(7)
Fallout shelters would reassure our allies.
Today
there is a wide acceptance of shelters in Europe; programs are under
way in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lux-
embourg, and Turkey.
Fallout shelters in the United States would be
consistent with the recommendations of NATO, where the United States
has been criticized for lack of a shelter program.
(8) The cost of fallout shelters, about $125 per person
(1.e., the cost of a year's auto insurance), would be a sound in-
vegtment as insurance.
get more for $125.
It would be difficult to think of a way to
Governor Hoegh then noted that a great many practical questions as to a shelter program had been raised. He thought that a
practical program should be prepared by FCDA in collaboration with
other agencies and submitted for Council consideration. In his view,
. & shelter program should be national in scope, dual-purpose in char_ acter, accompanied by a public information program, and reinforced by
self-help features, so that a person building a shelter for himself
would be generally regarded as a patriotic citizen, not an eccentric.
program.
An expenditure of $750 million in FY 1959 would start the
Maximum use should be made of existing facilities (schools,
tunnels, etc.) in their present state or modified as necessary. New
Federal and State buildings should incorporate fallout shelters, and
existing Federal buildings should be modified to provide such shelters. FHA regulations should be modified to encourage home-owners
to build shelters. Eallout shelters should be incorporated in the
new highway building program. Parking facilities, as well as additions to schools and hospitals, should be built underground and
should double as shelters.
In conclusion, Governor Hoegh said he was convinced there
was no practical alternative to a fallout shelter program. Without
it there would be no hope of protecting the people; with it, the
people would be protected and the United States would have an additional deterrent to enemy attack. The first shelter in America had
been a reinforced log cabin. How our duty was clear: To provide
for the common defense.
The Director, ODM, said that a decision on the fallout
shelter program would be one of the President's most difficult decisions. The ODM staff was generally in agreement with FCDA, but he
(Mr. Gray) was personally not ready at this time to recommend adop-
tion of a shelter program because he did not kmow precisely what
program was proposed.
(For example, was the program to be fully or
partly Federally financed, or was it to be largely on a voluntary
Yasis?)
Mr. Gray felt that in addition to the humanitarian aspects
of the problem, two major questions would have to be considered: