The rising demand for nuclear bunkers

Fears of nuclear war have caused an increase in shelter sales, but experts are sceptical of their usefulness

Vintage illustration of a man standing between a modern building and rubble of an old home, with a nuclear explosion behind.
Nuclear bunker manufacturers are seeing a spike in sales
(Image credit: CSA Images / Getty Images)

Private nuclear bunkers, "from small metal boxes to crawl inside of to extravagant underground mansions", are in high demand and the market is increasing, said The Associated Press.

In 2023, countries with nuclear weapons spent a combined $91.4 billion (£72.7 billion) on their arsenal, and "global security leaders are warning nuclear threats are growing". In response, more people are investing in at-home shelters, hoping to dodge theoretical warfare.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The business of bunkers

When Russia attacked Ukraine with a hypersonic missile in November, Ron Hubbard’s phone started to ring nonstop.

Chief executive of what he calls the world's largest bunker manufacturing company, Hubbard told AP his shelters are "good for anything from a tornado to a hurricane to nuclear fallout". His products sell for an average of $500,000 (£397,883) apiece, and he claims he usually sells at least one per day.

The US market for bomb and fallout shelters is expected to hit $175 million (£139.3 million) by 2030, reported AP, and other countries are also seeing a spike in demand. In Spain, "fears of the growing threats from war and a rise in catastrophic natural disasters" like floods have bolstered the market, said the i news site.

Spain is formulating a new national security plan that will tell citizens what to do in case of war. Meanwhile, "wealthy clients" across the country are buying under-home bunkers, with one company saying a "middle-class family" took out a loan to have one installed.

Governments taking inventory

This surge in bunker demand comes as Swiss leaders start to upgrade the country’s stock of 370,000 nuclear shelters. Residents of Switzerland are entitled to a place in one of these and this £200 million project will ensure that existing shelters are operational.

"The country already has bunker space for each of its nine million inhabitants – a situation long dismissed as paranoia by its neighbours – but it will now update and improve old structures", said The Times.

But Germany, which "dismantled many of its Cold War bunkers in recent decades" now has space for only 480,000 of its population – just 0.57% – and is also responding to warnings from intelligence experts.

In response, officials are now preparing a "list of bunkers that could provide emergency shelter for civilians", and compiling it into a "digital directory" so that people can find them using an app, reported The Guardian.