The “Diefenbunker” from the late 50’s was still in active (military) use until the 1990’s. It’s now open as a tourist attraction. It was designed for use by the Canadian government in case of nuclear attack. The Diefenbunker wasn't obsolete. It was ahead of its time. - Macleans.ca
I’ve long been fascinated by fallout shelters, and remember seeing the Civil Defense signs on (older) buildings while I grew up. I had never actually visited these shelters, and frankly was dubious they could function as anything but a “band-aid of last resort,” i.e. providing some food and water, some shelter, etc. to help a limited number of people for a short time. However…there they were.
Recently, I’ve been watching YouTube videos from “The Proper People,” who do a good job of documenting their urban explorations. They do “good” things and avoid stuff that I disapprove of. For instance, they wear respirators to avoid inhaling lead and asbestos, don’t do graffiti, don’t take items out of the buildings they are exploring, and avoid meeting other people (explorers and guards). They also skip risky, click-baity activities I often see done by Russian urbexers, like free-climbing tall towers / doing parkour.
Anyway, my point is, they “properly” explore a number of fallout shelters, so if you are curious, you should check out their channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheProperPeople
I was a college student in 1977 studying Civil Engineering. That winter we had an optional class to survey existing fallout shelters and identify potential new ones, in prep to a summer job from whatever government agency. It was pretty silly stuff; most of the time was spent on how to write capital block letters and how to read a tape measure.
I didn’t finish the course; I switched to Electrical Engineering later that spring. I don’t know anyone who was in the course actually took the job. The course wasn’t offered the following year.