LETTER TO ALLEN W. DULLES FROM HUBERT R. GALLAGHER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R001100090013-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 29, 2003
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: January 20, 1960
• Content Type: LETTER

-~>aC6ti 0a 9i
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF CIVIL AND DEFENSE MOBILIZATION
WASHINGTON 25, D. G.
Honorable Allen W. Dulles
Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington 25, D. C.
Governor Hoegh asked me to send to you a copy of the
paper he will present at the White House Conference on
Fallout, January 25.
It is herewith enclosed.
Sincerely,
Hub /t R. Gallagh
Director
Special Liaison
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
FEASIBILITY OF FALLOUT SHELTER
(MATERIALS, DESIGNS AND COSTS)
STANDARDS, AND RELATION OF FALLOUT
SHELTER TO RADIOLOGICAL DEFENSE,
EVACUATION AND RECOVERY
LEO A. HOEGH, DIRECTOR OF OCDM
Protection from radioactive fallout is feasible.
The National Policy on Shelters which I announced for the President in 1958
states that, '"In the event of nuclear attack on our country, fallout. shelters
offer the best single non-military defense measure for the protection of the
greatest number of our people. " This principle has been confirmed by a
series of studies and tests, and by the National Academy of Sciences --
National Research Council. I quote from a report by the Academy:
"Adequate shielding is the only effective means of preventing
radiation casualties. "
"Medical prophylactic and therapeutic measures to prevent
death following exposure to large doses of radiation do not presently
exist. There is extremely low probability of a major break-through
which would provide treatment that would give more than a very
small fraction of the protection afforded by a simple shelter .
"There is adequate technical knowledge to permit a program of
construction of effective shelters .. , . 11
The principal requirement is that there be a mass of material between the
shelter occupants and the radioactive fallout. The more dense the materials,
the more effective the protection.. Of the dense materials, earth is, of course,
the most readily available and the cheapest. An underground shelter is
shielded by the earth around it. An aboveground shelter covered with earth
provides good shielding. Earth banked around exposed portions of basement
walls increases their protective qualities,
Other construction materials such as poured concrete; concrete block; brick;
clay tile filled with sand; and steel, fiberglass-reinforced plastics, and treated
wood, covered with earth, are relatively inexpensive and provide excellent
shielding from fallout.
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003/06/11: CIA-RDP80B0l676R001100090013-9
With our own engineering staff and through contracts, OCDM has developed
numerous designs of home and community type shelters. The publication,
"The Family Fallout Shelter," presents five designs suitable for incorpora-
tion in the home. Fifteen million copies of this bulletin have been distributed.
Designs for dual-purpose shelters in schools, garages, hospitals, apartments,
and office buildings, are available now or are nearing completion. Further
designs for shelters beneath streets, in dome forms, in industrial plants, and
in subways are being developed. We are stimulating shelter design by the
various materials manufacturers. We seek to develop the most practical and
economical dual-purpose shelters for both the home and community.
The American Institute of Decorators has constructed and equipped a shelter,
based on our designs, and this month displayed it at the :Merchandise :Mart
in Chicago in connection with the wholesale furnishing show. It is booked for
exhibit in the coming months in New York, Detroit, Dallas, Miami, San Francisco,
and Los Angeles.
We have also given technical guidance to many individuals and firms who have
developed shelter designs, some for their own use and others for inclusion
in housing developments, or for general sale.
Adequate fallout shelter can be constructed at from $25 to $150 per person.
The lowest figure $25, applies to "do-it-yourself" family shelters in basements.
Where separate independent structures are required for fallout shelter, the
cost may run $150 per person or more. The cost for most shelters will fall
between these two extremes. Cost tends to be lower when the shelter can be
incorporated in new buildings at the time of design.
What standards are required?
In planning for fallout protection, it is necessary to consider the degree of
fallout contamination which may occur, the radiation dose which can be accepted
for humans, and the type of shelter required.
OCDM has undertaken to review and accept plans for fallout shelters which may
vary from those included in our official publications. We encourage contractors
and builders to specify the degree of protection afforded.
This chart indicates the intensity of fallout contamination which might spread
across Iowa after a 10-megaton surface nuclear detonation on Offutt Air Force
Base near Omaha. The assumed weapon design is fifty percent fission--fifty
percent fusion; and the spread of fallout is based upon average summer weather
conditions.
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B0l676R001100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003/063112 : CIA-RDP80B0l676R001100090013-9
When a 10-megation nuclear weapon is detonated at or near the surface of
the earth, an area of blast and fire devastation spreads out to about ten miles
from ground zero during the first minute after detonation. This is shown by
the cross-hatched, area on the chart and represents almost 450 square miles.
During the subsequent 18 hours over 5, 000 square miles would be seriously
contaminated by fallout as shown by the colored shading. Six hours after the
detonation, fallout would have spread 130 miles to Des Moines, and after 18
hours, about 300 miles to the Davenport-Rock Island area.
Without fallout protection, virtually all people in the red and blue shaded areas
would die during the first three or four weeks, and most of those people in
the yellow and inner green shaded areas would suffer serious radiation sickness
which might incapacitate them for periods of weeks to months. For example,
the cumulative outside radiation dose during the first two weeks at Atlantic
might be as high as 20, 000 R. At Des Moines, it would be about 2. 000 R; at
Grinnell, 400 R; at Iowa City, 200 R; and at Davenport-Rock Island, 100 R.
Medical advice to OCDM is that an individual can continue to work efficiently
if the total radiation dose, spread over a few days, does not exceed 200 R. A
dose of more than 200 R within the period of a few days, probably will cause
radiation sickness.
Time is a factor in measuring the effects of a radiation dose. The body repairs
some of the radiation damage. Thus, an individual can absorb a given dose
over a period of weeks without being incapacitated, although the same dose
absorbed in a few days could cause serious illness.
In wartime, an individual required to risk radiation hazards might be able
to take as much as 900 R in a year without being incapacitated. It would be
necessary, of course, to make certain that the radiation dose was spread out
more or less evenly over the full 12 months.
To keep radiation exposure below 200 R, the home itself would provide
sufficient protection in much of this fallout area. In this illustration, fallout
shielding afforded by the first floor of an average home would be sufficient
200 miles from the point of explosion. This degree of shelter, as indicated on
the right side of the drawing, will reduce the radiation exposure to one-half
of that which exists in open area around the home. At Davenport-Rock Island,
the cumulative dose to people who remained on the first floor of their homes
for the first two weeks would be about 50 Roentgens. In Iowa City, the dose
would be 100 R on the first floor, during the first two weeks.
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B0l676R001100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003/06/124: CIA-RDP80B0l676R001100090013-9
At about 130 to 200 miles from ground zero in this example;, the corner of
a home basement should provide sufficient protection to prevent radiation
sickness. As indicated in the center of the drawing, this degree of shelter
will reduce the radiation exposure up to one-twentieth. If the people at
Grinnell remained in the corners of their basements during the two-week.
interval, their radiation exposure would total approximately 20 R. In
Des Moines, the two-week exposure under these conditions would be l00 R.
However, better fallout protection is required out to approximately 130
miles from ground zero. In this zone, the visual shows our "do-it-yourself"
basement concrete block shelter which costs between $150 and $200. This
shelter, which can reduce radiation exposure to about 1/200th, would provide
adequate fallout protection in most of the nation. At Atlantic, people who
remained in basement concrete block shelters would be exposed to a radiation
dose of about 10O R during the first two weeks. It should be noted that in all
of these cases, the cumulative dose has been kept to, or below, 200 R.
In the event of a nuclear war, there will be many Surface detonations in the
United States. The fallout patterns will overlap one another and be far more
complicated than this simplified pattern. This overlap of fallout will cause
greater radiation intensities than indicated on this visual. There will be areas
where homes and home basements will provide adequate fallout protection.
However, there is no way of predicting where these areas will be. Consequently,
we cannot advise that the first floor or basement of a home in any specific
area will provide adequate protection. Rather, all families must be encouraged
to provide themselves with the fallout protection recommended in our family
fallout shelter manual. With this standard, all of our people who survive the
initial blast and thermal effects could survive the effects of fallout in a nuclear
war.
The success of a program of fallout protection would be dependent upon other
emergency services and, in particular, upon the effectiveness of radiological
monitoring and upon adequate communications.
OCDM's National Warning System can transmit warnings to over 300 key points
in every State within 90 seconds. From these points, other networks and
systems spread the public warnings and action signals so that almost all areas
are alerted in minutes. Our warning officers are on duty twenty-four hours
every day at North American Air Defense Headquarters, side by side with the
military warning officers, and with simultaneous access to warning information.
We are strengthening this system, adding other points to the primary warning
system. Our ultimate objective is to have such an effective warning system
that all people will receive notice of an attack simultaneously.
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B0l676R001100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003/06/18 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
OCDM provides funds for all equipment necessary to establish the warning
points in this National Warning System (NAWAS). These points are manned
by State and local personnel. To encourage the extension of direct warning
capability, OCDM also provides funds to the States and cities on a 50-50
basis for NAWAS extensions. New York State now has one NAWAS extension
in each county.
Sirens and other warning devices to reach the public are paid for with fifty
percent Federal funds and fifty percent State and local funds. 129 principal
cities in the United States now have adequate siren coverage but it must be
remembered that sirens primarily warn people who are out of doors.
Considerable research has been conducted to develop an efficient and
economical indoor warning device. A promising development is the National
Emergency Alarm Repeater System (NEAR) which is in the final test stages.
This system utilizes power lines to provide a means of direct warning to
individual homes and other buildings. Today, warning time of 2 to 3 hours is
regarded as probable. With the development of missiles, tactical warning may
be reduced to 15 to 30 minutes. This reduction in warning time requires us
to develop the maximum of direct warning capability and to keep the need for
relay of information to a minimum.
Standard AM radio, controlled under CONELRAD, would be used as an
adjunct to the warning system both before and after an attack.. It will be
particularly valuable in warning the population of expected fallout, and for
advising people when they can leave their shelters.
We have a command communications network which is ready for operational
call-up at any time. It connects our headquarters with the Regional Offices
and the States. This system shortly will be on a full-time basis, and during
the next year will have a radio backup. Within the States great reliance
is placed on police and other public radio and land lines networks. Many
State systems have been improved with fifty percent matching funds, made
available under the OCDM Financial Assistance Program. Communications
with the public will be primarily by Radio.
A national radiological monitoring capability is being developed to warn the
public rapidly of danger from fallout and to furnish post-attack radiation
information upon which Federal, State and local governments can base protective
and recovery actions.
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
6
A network of approximately 150 thousand fixed monitoring stations is being
established across the country. Approximately six thousand of these
stations will be at Federal locations, manned by Federal employees. The
remaining 144 thousand will be at State, county,, and local facilities. Today,
approximately 15 thousand of these stations are in operation. The total network
of 150 thousand stations is scheduled for completion by the end of calendar
year 1963. The Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization provides the monitor-
ing instruments required at these stations. They are operated by regular
Government employees.
OCDM and AEC have been striving to perfect a simple, effective, and
inexpensive home monitoring device to detect and measure fallout radiation.
Such instruments can be used to select the safest areas in home or shelter,
to estimate how long a family should e~cpect to remain in shelter, and when
it is safe to leave.
OCDM announced last fall a significant advance toward reasonably priced
radiation instruments for the citizen. One company has offered a package
of two instruments and a charger at a retail price of $20, which can be used
to measure (1) dose rates over a range from less than 1 roentgen per hour
to more than 100 roentgens per hour, and (2) radiation doses up to 600
roentgens. OCDM is buying an initial quantity of 100 sets of these instruments,
furnishing each State one set. Another company has indicated that it plans to
offer instruments in the same price range at a later date.
OCDM research to improve instruments and reduce costs i~, continuing. Once
a suitable instrument is developed, we plan to study various methods of
packaging, distributing, and marketing. Any device recommended for public
purchase must be reliable, accurate, and simple. Current research is expected
to be completed this summer. At that time, one or more of the instruments
under consideration may be officially endorsed.
We continue to utilize results of AEC research in the instrument field. Recent
prototype developments under AEC sponsorship include (1) a geiger counter
combined with a radio, and (2) another device in which warning of radiation is
given by a siren-like noise produced through use of a cadmium sulfide crystal
detector in a radio. It is hoped that added cost in the first would be no more
than $20 and in the second about $10.
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
Citizens instruments will not replace the standard radiological survey meters
designated for ope-rational use.
Neither will the widespread use of such an instrument reduce the need for
trained CD monitors. Instead they supplement national radiological defense.
The National Policy on Evacuation is one which is constantly misunderstood
or misrepresented. The National Plan outlines the policy briefly and
specifically. It states:
"Governments and the public will take such action on receipt
of warning as is prescribed by the Government involved."
(1) "Evacuation or Dispersal -- target cities and other areas
near assumed targets will, if time and conditions permit, execute
plans for evacuation or dispersal to prepared reception areas.
(2) "Shelter -- if time and conditions do not permit evacuation,
full advantage will be taken of existing shelter, and fallout
protection will be improvised,.
(3)
"The action to be taken is a local decision. "
State and local governments under their Federally financed survival plans
have established evacuation plans based upon the time and conditions which
would permit evacuation of a given area. All States, 240 target areas and
2200 counties have developed survival plans.
We emphasize that evacuation is one principal tactic. We must be ready to
execute movement plans either before or after an attack -- if conditions
dictate such action. This policy of evacuation is tied closely to a policy
of shelter but neither tactic should be developed to the exclusion of the other.
This is the same tactic which is so basic to military operations under
conditions of nuclear war. If people are within the "A" ring of a nuclear
explosion, their chances are slim. These chances are substantially increased
if they are able to move even relatively short distances after tactical warning.
We would be derelict in our duty if we were not prepared to execute such
moves when warning time permits.
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003j06/12 : CIA-RDP80B0l676R001100090013-9
We are placing great emphasis on the construction of family fallout shelter.
Evacuation plans should emphasize movement home to these shelters
wherever possible. Sometimes it could be desirable to evacuate an area
of intense-radiation after an attack.
All of these programs -- warning, communications, radiological monitor-
ing and movement -- together with other measures for civil defense and
defense mobilization -- have the purpose, as stated in the preface to the
National Plan for Civil Defense and Defense Mobilization, to
"deter aggression, and in the event of aggression to enable the nation to
survive, recover and win. " Full-scale recovery efforts cannot begin
until the fallout radioactivity rate drops to levels safe enough to permit
emergency crews to spend limited times in the open.
In areas of heavy fallout that would be about two weeks -- it would be
necessary for everyone to remain sheltered that long. That means every
individual family would have to subsist on its own with what it had on hand
at the time of attack.
Government action during this period would be limited largely to "Disaster
Services." These include fire-fighting, rescue, monitoring radiation, and
limited emergency feeding.
Later, as crews were able to spend more time in the open, the city, State,
and Federal Governments would be able to help in recovery efforts,
emergency feeding and other essential services.
We cannot say too bluntly that in the first two weeks after attack every
individual family and every city and State government is likely to be on its
own.
Our economic system depends upon a constant flow of goods and services
across the nation. A city or even a State isolated by a nuclear attack would be
able to meet the basic needs of its people for but a limited time.
As these communities cannot depend upon help from outside, the National
Plan calls for States and cities to make preparations to survive without
help for at least four weeks after attack. After that period, States could
call upon the Federal Government.
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B0l676R001100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003/: 6/12 : CIA-RDP80B0l676R001100090013-9
OCDM's overall responsibility for resources management would be carried
out by using the capabilities of the entire Federal Government, according
to plan. The Department of Agriculture has been given responsibility for
food, Interior for fuel and energy, Labor for manpower.
These and other resource areas are covered in the National Plan and its
Annexes, which have been developed with the cooperation of State and local
directors as well as the other Federal agencies.
Such problems of recovery are in many ways more complex than those of
more immediate survival. Both require much advance preparation.
Announced on May 7, 1958, the National Shelter Policy has met with
reasonable public acceptance. The extent of public interest, as evidenced by
letters and inquiries regarding plans, is encouraging, despite delay in
obtaining appropriations to speed the action elements of the policy.
The Federal role has included the following action elements:
1. Education, with emphasis on facts about fallout and steps
which can be taken to minimize its effects;
2. Survey of existing shelter, on a sampling basis, to demonstrate
the value of existing structures in providing fallout protection;
3. Research, to show how fallout shelters can be incorporated
in existing, as well as new buildings;
4. Prototype design and construction -- a program of both
research and demonstration;
5. Leadership and example, by incorporating fallout shelters in
appropriate new buildings; and
6. Incorporation of shelters in existing Federal buildings (not yet
funded).
I have touched on these points but want to reiterate the important measures
taken in the field of Federal leadership. Here, we must eliminate every
barrier and do everything possible, by example, to give evidence that the
Government realizes the seriousness of the problem. These are recent measures
involving Federal loan or grants-in-aid programs:
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B0l676R001100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
10
1. The 1961 budget will include funds for incorporation of fallout
shelters in all new civilian Federal structures determined to be
suitable. $11 1/2 million has been requested.
2. The Federal Housing Administration and the Veterans
Administration have announced that fallout shelters will be
eligible items in determining valuation for loans or loan insurance.
In addition, FHA, home-improvement loans are available to finance
building of fallout shelter in existing structures.
3. The Housing and Home Finance Agency and the Community
Facilities Administration have announced that fallout shelters may
be included in projects qualifying for Federal loans and advances
under its College Housing Program, its Public Facilities Loan
Program, and its Project Planning Program.
4. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare and the
Public Health Service have announced that grants for hospital
construction under the Hill-Burton Act will be eligible for incorpora-
tion of fallout shelters.
5. The HHFA and the Urban Renewal Administration will make
"Master Planning" grants to local authorities available for planning
the incorporation of fallout shelters in urban redevelopment projects.
In addition, local authorities may include fallout shelters in site
development improvements and receive full credit toward the local
share of the project.
6. The Public Housing Administration is studying the possibility
of ruling that fallout shelters may be included in new low-rent public
housing projects upon application of local authorities.
. Survival, recovery and victory -- these are our goals if war
comes.
I have made here three major points. They are:
First, fallout protection is feasible. We know the designs, the materials and
the cost.
Second, the standards of fallout protection are reasonable.
And Third, fallout shelter has a sensible and direct relationship to overall
radiological defense, evacuation and recovery.
January -ovlbfl br Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80BOl 676RO01 100090013-9
 Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
MEMORANDUM FOR:
We do not find any conflict b ween
this speech and the material pro ed to the
Director.
25X1
L
Jf 1960
22 January 1960
(DATE)
FORM NO. I, REPLACES FORM 10-101
1 AUG 54 10 1 WHICH MAY BE USED.
Approved For Release 2003/06/12 : CIA-RDP80B01676RO01100090013-9
 25X1
25X1
Herewith is the paper I mentioned to you
that we have just received fr m Leo Hoegh. I
have talked to who will have his
people beef up UU1 aspects of the paper the
DCI is to present Monday, and they will get in
touch with you for your contribution which, as I
indicated, will have to be slightly boiled down.
I would appreciate it if you could see that
Mr. Hoegh's paper is gotten back up here to us
tomorrow morning in case the DCI wants to look
it over during the weekend.
FORM 1 A R, 0 237 Replaces F.I. 30-4
which may be used.
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1955-0-3425331