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In an increasingly uncertain and volatile world where nuclear threats are radiating out of Russia, Iran, and North Korea, a renewed feeling of impending disaster is gripping the United States and other nations in the West. It's an overwhelming sense of dread not experienced since the dark days of the Cold War. But in the event of a nuclear strike on America, where would the president and the US government seek shelter? There are several options, hidden bunkers that can house the Commander-in-Chief, military personnel, members of Congress, and other high-ranking officials should the need arise. But where in the county are they located, and what are these top-secret facilities called?
Click through this gallery and find out where top US officials might evacuate to in the event of a nuclear strike, and learn more about previous atomic attack contingency plans.
In the event of a nuclear strike on the United States, the nation's president would very likely be whisked off to the secure location known as Raven Rock Mountain Complex (RRMC), a US military installation with an underground nuclear bunker near Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania.
RRMC, also known as Site R, is tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Constructed in the early 1950s and designed to be the centerpiece of a large military emergency hub, Raven Rock has been described as an "underground Pentagon."
Raven Rock is effectively a colossal, hollowed-out mountain. The bunker it encloses has emergency operations centers for the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. The installation's largest tenant unit is the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The agency is charged with protecting the United States and its allies from the threat of weapons of mass destruction—chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high explosives.
Also housed at Site R is the Defense Information Systems Agency, which provides information technology and communications support to the president, vice president, secretary of defense, the military services, and other individuals or systems contributing to the defense of the United States.
The site can comfortably hold 3,000 people, but has room for 5,000 in the event of an emergency. Facilities include a police and fire department, medical stations, and dining halls. A series of fuel storage depots serve as independent power sources.
If ever Raven Rock was targeted in a nuclear attack, two sets of 34-ton blast doors and curved 1,000-foot- (304-meter-) long tunnels would help reduce the impact of an explosion.
While not specifically designed as a doomsday bunker for the president, the facilities at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) near Colorado Springs could readily accommodate the Commander-in-Chief in the event of a crisis.
Headquartered in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado, NORAD also dates back to the Cold War era.
The complex is contained within a warren of tunnels under 2,000 feet (610 meters) of granite. They hold 15 connected buildings made of steel plates, riding on massive coil springs to absorb the shock of a nuclear blast or earthquake.
NORAD can accommodate up to 5,000 people if necessary. Amenities include sleeping quarters, such as suites for high-ranking personnel, a café-restaurant, medical facility, and fitness center.
The Cheyenne Mountain Complex has been called the "most secure facility in the world." It's the only underground Department of Defense facility certified to be able to sustain a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse, the burst of electromagnetic radiation created by a nuclear explosion. It can be sealed off by two giant blast doors made of concrete and steel, which can be closed in 45 seconds.
Mount Weather Operations Center in Bluemont, Virginia, serves as the relocation site for the highest level of civilian and military officials in case of a national disaster. The president, members of the Supreme Court, cabinet officials, and selected senior Congressional figures would be among those housed here if necessary.
Mount Weather is used as the center of operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The site originally functioned as a weather station. It later served briefly as Calvin Coolidge's Summer White House home. During the Kennedy era, the bunker expanded to include sewage treatment plans, reservoirs for drinking water, and even its own fire and police departments, all of it hidden underground.
Virginia is also where the highly secretive Peters Mountain facility is located. Set in the Appalachian Mountains, it's actually run as an undercover AT&T communications station, according to the New York Post. In the event of an attack on Washington, Peters Mountain would serve as one of the relocation sites for the nation's intelligence agencies.
It was decided during the Cold War era to construct a bunker for the chairman, board of directors, and staff of the Federal Reserve System. While protecting the president was always the priority, the country would still need to draw on a reserve stock of currency to be used to reactivate the American economy following a nuclear attack. To that end, an enormous steel-reinforced concrete vault with lead-lined shutters was built to bank more than US$4 billion. The facility was decommissioned in the late 1980s. Today, the only visible part of the Mount Pony complex is the conservation laboratory building of the Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation in Culpepper.
Before the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center came online in 1959, serious consideration was made in locating the Supreme Court's nuclear-disaster digs at Grove Park Inn, a luxurious hotel in Asheville, North Carolina. Blueprints were even drawn up for a nuclear bunker installation.
Another luxurious hotel, however, did end up serving as a cover for a top-secret nuclear bunker. Hiding in plain sight below the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, the facility was built in 1958 as part of Project Greek Island, a component of the United States' nuclear strike continuity program.
The bunker, set under the hotel's conference center, was designed to receive the US Congress should the capital come under fire. The underground facility contained a dormitory, kitchen, hospital, and a broadcast center for congressional members. The doomsday chambers and corridors were protected by thick concrete doors and 25-ton steel blast doors.
The Greenbrier bunker complex remained secret until The Washington Post revealed it in 1992. The declassified facilities are now open for public tours.
For many years Peanut Island held a secret. Set at the mouth of the Lake Worth Inlet in Palm Beach County, Florida, the inlet was created in 1918, born out of a dredging-related project.
In 1960 shortly after his election, a blast shelter was built for John F. Kennedy. The president often spent winters in nearby Palm Beach, so it made sense to have ready a doomsday bunker for the Commander-in-Chief should the need arise. The bunker was known as Detachment Hotel and was only visited by Kennedy on a couple of occasions. The Cold War relic was later opened for tours, but has been closed since 2017.
An alternative course of action might have been to head for the "Floating White House." In 1962, the light cruiser USS Northampton (pictured) and light aircraft carrier USS Wright were considered the best options for evacuating Kennedy from Washington, D.C. in the event of a nuclear strike. The idea was scrapped after advanced Soviet satellite technology made it no longer feasible to hide a president in the Atlantic Ocean.
Peanut Island is not that far from Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's plush Florida pad. Few people are aware that the former president has a rudimentary bunker at his estate. According to Esquire, it's located under the second hole at his golf course in West Palm Beach. Trump didn't build it. It was installed by the previous owner, heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post.
Of all the doomsday bunkers publicly acknowledged by the US government, none are more mysterious than the one located in the heart of the nation's capital—the White House bunker. Located under the East Wing, the subterranean sanctuary is officially known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center.
The center was widely photographed after the September 11 terrorist attacks when President George W. Bush met with his National Security Council.
The bunker's roots can be traced back to Franklin D. Roosevelt's tenure as president. It was built on his orders following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the fear being the Nazis could launch a similar surprise attack on Washington.
President Truman later expanded the bunker, and in the early 1950s a helicopter search-and-rescue unit remained on standby outside the capital's blast zone at Olmsted Air Force Base to save the president's life and fly him to another bunker, a project known simply as the Outpost Mission. Olmsted today is known as Harrisburg International Airport.
In the wake of a nuclear strike, the US president would be flown out of harm's way on a Boeing E-4. The E-4 series are specially modified aircraft manufactured for the National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP) program.
Officially designated as the Boeing E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post (AACP), the E-4 serves as a survivable mobile command post for the National Command Authority, namely the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, and successors.
The E-4 is nicknamed the "doomsday plane" because it's built to withstand a nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP). Pictured is an E-4 on the EMP simulator for testing. The US Air Force is currently developing a replacement for the E-4. The new platform is currently known as the Survivable Airborne Operations Center.
Sources: (Washington Examiner) (New York Post) (History) (Time) (NPR) (BBC) (Esquire) (USA.gov) (Associated Press)
See also: Surviving the unthinkable: A guide to navigating a nuclear blast and ensuring your survival
Where would the US president go in the event of a nuclear war?
The subterranean sanctuaries designed to ensure the continuity of government in times of crisis
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In an increasingly uncertain and volatile world where nuclear threats are radiating out of Russia, Iran, and North Korea, a renewed feeling of impending disaster is gripping the United States and other nations in the West. It's an overwhelming sense of dread not experienced since the dark days of the Cold War. But in the event of a nuclear strike on America, where would the president and the US government seek shelter? There are several options, hidden bunkers that can house the Commander-in-Chief, military personnel, members of Congress, and other high-ranking officials should the need arise. But where in the county are they located, and what are these top-secret facilities called?
Click through this gallery and find out where top US officials might evacuate to in the event of a nuclear strike, and learn more about previous atomic attack contingency plans.