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Frequently Asked Questions

For an immediate quote on Atlas Shelters, please text message Ron at 1-323-353-3506 your desired shelter type + size or fill up a quote request form.

International customers can use What’s App

Is the installation included in the price?

What do you charge for an installation crew to come install my shelter?

What does it cost to have an engineer come to see my property for advise on a shelter?

What do you charge to repair a shelter I bought from another company?

Can I install my own bunker?

What should I budget for installation?

What is involved in the shelter installation?

Do you ship overseas?

How does your financing work?

How long does it take to get my shelter?

Do I need a permit?

How much does it cost to install a shelter?

What happens when I decide to cancel installation of a shelter?

Who installs the shelter?

Where will my shelter ship from?

How much is freight?

Is the air system included in the price?

How does the escape tunnel work?

When choosing a shelter, what questions should I ask?

Why do I need a mudroom with a shower?

Why do I need an L shaped entry into my shelter?

Why do I need a gas tight door?

What’s the difference between the round and square shelter?

Round or square – which one is best?

What makes one shelter stronger than the other?

How deep can you bury a culvert shelter?

How deep does my shelter need to be?

How deep do I need to be to be protected from 155mm artillery?

What should I look for when deciding where to bury my shelter?

Does my shelter need to be air tight?

How do I get power to my fallout shelter?

Do you make your own NBC Air Filtration System?

Is my shelter water proof?

Where do I store my food and water?

Is my shelter EMP-proof?

Does the shelter add value to my house?

Can I install a shelter in Florida?

Can I survive a direct nuclear blast in my fallout shelter?

How far from a nuclear blast do I need to be to survive?

How long do I need to stay in my shelter?

How long can I stay in the bunker?

What’s the average temperature in a shelter?

What happens if I lose my power?

Can I add an escape tunnel to my shelter?

Does the United States military use Atlas Survival Shelters?

Are Atlas Survival Shelters patented?

Do you keep records of all your customers?

What are the 3 types of radiation emitted by a nuclear bomb?

What was the radius of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima?

How long does it take for radiation to clear from a nuclear bomb?

How long is the fallout from a nuclear bomb?

Is there still raditaion in Hiroshima?

What are the effects of a nuclear bomb?

What are the effects of nuclear fallout?

How long does nuclear waste last for?

What is prompt radiation?

What is alpha radiation blocked by?

What can stop beta radiation?

How are alpha beta and gamma radiation similar?

What type of radiation is harmful to living things?

Which form of radiation penetrates the farthest and why?

Can you survive a nuclear blast underground?

Is the installation included in the price?

NO. The price shown does NOT include the installation or the freight from our factory to your job site.
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What do you charge for an installation crew to come install my shelter?

We charge $2500 per 10 hour day plus expenses and materials for a three man crew which includes a welder, labor and supervisor’.
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What does it cost to have an engineer come to see my property for advise on a shelter?

We charge $1500 per day plus travel expenses for out of state sites. Or $150 an hour for sites in Texas to drive and inspect the property and make recommendations which 50% of the fee is applied to the purchase price of the shelter if purchased.
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What do you charge to repair a shelter I bought from another company?

$3000 a day plus travel expenses and materials for a 3 man crew plus cost of equipment rental.
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Can I install my own bunker?

Yes you can! We have several videos on our YouTube Channel showing you how to do it.
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What should I budget for installation?

30% of the shelter cost is a good estimate.
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What is involved in the shelter installation?

Excavator, skid steer, tamper, #57 engineered rock , a crane service, power systems, ready mix concrete.
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Do you ship overseas?

Atlas Survival Shelters ships shelters worldwide and also has a wide network of dealers in over 30 countries.
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How does your financing work?

Atlas does not finance the shelter for you. We have a couple of banks that will finance the shelter for you as long as you have a FICA score of 620 or higher and the shelter is going on the property where the house is located. The bank will not finance a shelter that is going onto a barren piece of land.
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How long does it take to get my shelter?

If the shelter is in stock, you might have it within 2 weeks. Custom orders take 2-3 months usually. Larger projects that require poured in place concrete can take 6+ months. Our Texas factory tries to keep shelters in stock, so check in with our sales rep on available inventory.
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Do I need a permit?

It depends on the state and where you live. Typically if you live in the country in a place like Texas, you do not need a permit. If you live in a place like California, you need a permit to dig the hole only. Most people do not pull permits whether it is required or not.
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How much does it cost to install a shelter?

This depends on the shelter, but to give you a rough idea, the small shelters typically average around $5,000 and the larger shelters which are around 500 square feet cost between $15,000 – $20,000.
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What happens when I decide to cancel installation of a shelter?

There will be a minimum of 20% restocking fee on all custom orders.
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Who installs the shelter?

Our dealers typically install the shelter, but you can do it yourself if you’re worried about people knowing where your shelter is. Our shelters typically do not require high-skilled workers to install them.
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Where will my shelter ship from?

Most shelters will ship from our northeast Texas plant.
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How much is freight?

Freight is about $3 per mile on long distance shipments, but we recommend you ask your sales person for a quote.
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Is the air system included in the price?

YES. The NBC Air Filtration System is included in the price on all shelters shown on our website.
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How does the escape tunnel work?

The escape tunnel is standard on all the larger Atlas Shelter models. It is not included on the Nado Series and some of the smaller Atlas shelters. The way the escape works: You crawl through a 42-inch pipe and then you climb up a ladder that’s installed into the escape tunnel. The escape box is full of sand that must be released before you open the door down into the escape tunnel. Once you get to the top of the escape box, you will have to punch through about 12 inches of earth to get to the surface.
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When choosing a shelter, what questions should I ask?

  • What type of air system are you using?
  • How are you preparing the surface to prevent rusting?
  • Where will I store my food and water?
  • Who is going to know where my shelter is being installed?
  • How many people can my shelter hold?
  • Do you have a recommended installer?
  • How will I power my shelter?
  • Is the shelter I want ok for my soil type?
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Why do I need a mudroom with a shower?

Any properly designed and engineered nuclear fallout shelter will always have a shower present before you enter the shelter. If you enter a shelter covered in fallout, you will not only contaminate the shelter, but you will endanger the other people.
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Why do I need an L shaped entry into my shelter?

A 90 degree turn at the bottom of the staircase is vital to the survival of the people inside. The 90 degree turn will attenuate the gamma radiation so that it does not enter the shelter. Any shelter that does not have an L shaped or 90 degree turn at the bottom of the stairs is going to let in the prompt radiation at the time of the blast because the radiation will go right through metal as if it wasn’t there. What is protecting you is the 36+ inches of earth on top of you, not the door.
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Why do I need a gas tight door?

The reason why doors should be gas tight is to keep out the carbon monoxide gases if your house catches fire. Also, if the shelter is not air tight, the NBC Air Filtration System will not create the proper suction to operate properly. Also, if your air system is turned off, you will lose the over pressure from inside the shelter, which is pushing air out. Once you lose interior pressure, gases, biological or chemical matter can be drawn into the shelter. Therefore, a gas tight, air tight shelter is much better than a shelter that is not air tight or gas tight.
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What’s the difference between the round and square shelter?

The round is several times stronger than the square and can be buried much deeper because the strength is in the tampering of the earth and not on the shelter. The square is bearing the weight of the earth above it, therefore it can only be buried a few feet deep unless heavy structural support is added to the shelter allowing you to go a few feet deeper.
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Round or square – which one is best?

Atlas Survival Shelters makes both as well as many other styles so we can give you an honest, non-biased opinion. As long as the shelter is buried at least 3 feet underground, it will protect you from the radiation. Round Culvert shelters can be buried deeper and have a higher PSI rating than Modular Square shelters. Some round shelters can get a classification as a bomb shelter where all square steel shelters are only classified as for fallout. Square shelters can be built out to feel more like a home, but they have a small PSI rating and are only rated for fallout and tornadoes. Round shelters have been around for 100 years and are still in use by the military today. You won’t find a single square steel shelter on any military bases. Square shelters are relatively new and are a simple way to turn a tornado shelter into a fallout shelter as long as it’s 3 feet under the earth and it’s air-tight and includes an NBC Air Filtration System.
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What makes one shelter stronger than the other?

Shelters are rated in Bars of pressure. One Bar of pressure equals 15 PSI. If you want to see how many PSI is being emitted from a nuclear blast, go to our blast effects chart and see for yourself the distance you would need to be from the blast to survive in the type of shelter you have. The strongest shelter Atlas Survival Shelters has ever made was 8 Bars or 120 PSI. The PSI at ground zero of a nuclear blast is around 45 PSI. The air systems that we use are rated at 30 PSI or 2 Bars of pressure, which means you could be 2 miles from ground zero in a shelter and survive as long as the shelter is rated for 2 Bars of pressure.
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How deep can you bury a culvert shelter?

10-foot diameter galvanized culvert pipe in 12-gauge can be buried 42 feet deep. However, we typically bury the culvert shelter 10 feet below the surface.
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How deep does my shelter need to be?

You must have a minimum of 36 inches of earth between you and the surface if you wish to shield yourself from the radiation. If you wish to protect yourself from the climate, you need to be at least 6 feet under the surface to control the climate in the summer. If you are in the northern USA or Canada, you need to be at least 10 feet under the surface to protect the temperature in the shelter from the freezing ground, unless the shelter is underneath the house.
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How deep do I need to be to be protected from 155mm artillery?

At least 2 meters under the earth is the NATO requirement for incoming artillery rounds.
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What should I look for when deciding where to bury my shelter?

Avoid any field that floods and avoid high ground water tables at all costs. A shelter is not a submarine although we can make a shelter with a water-tight hatch, but you should never be in a shelter when a flood is upon you.
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Does my shelter need to be air tight?

Absolutely. If your shelter is not air tight, the NBC Air Filtration System does not function properly as recommended by the manufacturer. Also, if the house is burning above the shelter, the carbon monoxide gases will kill the inhabitants of the shelter. Biological and chemical matter can enter the shelter if it is not air tight. The door needs to be air tight first and bullet-proof second.
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How do I get power to my fallout shelter?

There are a few primary systems that people use. Solar with a battery bank in the bunker is popular and now there is an EMP-proof model on the market. Second is an underground diesel generator in a separate generator pod, but this is strictly for large shelters. Third is an above ground propane stand alone generator that can also be used as the backup to your house but any power source above ground is susceptible to vandalism and high winds.
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Do you make your own NBC Air Filtration System?

Absolutely not! Our air filtration systems are made by professionals who have been doing this for over 50 years. We only use Swiss or Israeli made air filtration systems. The only quality imported brands are ANDAIR, Bethel, Temet, and Lunor.
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Is my shelter water proof?

The shelters that are all welded like a barge are considered water tight and can be buried in a high ground water situation. The culvert shelter is water-proof, but is not classified as water tight and should not be installed in high water tables. Shelters are prone to flooding in high water tables in flood zones. If you order a water-tight shelter, it should not flood. Any shelter that is all welded construction should be water-tight and protect you from high water tables. An anode should be attached to your shelter to prevent rust. If your shelter ever does flood, it is not a total loss, but you will have to replace all the electronics and the air system.
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Where do I store my food and water?

Atlas Shelters are famous for providing a massive amount of storage. These locations are under the floor, under the bed, under the TV, under the dinner table, and under the counter. Unlike some square shelters that have no storage, the Round Culvert shelters have an incredible amount of storage which keeps all your supplies out of sight. We do offer under floor storage on our square shelters as well for an upcharge.
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Is my shelter EMP-proof?

It is easier for you to store backup electronics in aluminum Faraday cage than it is to try to make the shelter EMP hardened, but we can do it at an additional cost. The shelters need to have 2 doors leading to the bunker to be EMP-proof. The first door must be metal on metal and the second door needs to be gasket against metal to protect you from biological, chemical, and gases. If you have only 1 door, it’s better to make sure the shelter is gas tight.
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Does the shelter add value to my house?

It does not raise the tax value of the house, but you will get more for a house with a shelter than without one. Therefore, it does add value to the house.
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Can I install a shelter in Florida?

YES. But you really need to only consider a water-tight model. If you are in northern Florida and close to the Georgia border, there are areas where the culvert shelter will work just fine.
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Can I survive a direct nuclear blast in my fallout shelter?

Probably not. Not even the military bunkers that are deep underground will protect the soldiers inside from the massive 100-megaton nuclear bombs that the Soviet Union possesses. However, having no shelter is a good way to guarantee you have no chance of surviving.
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How far from a nuclear blast do I need to be to survive?

It depends on the size of the bomb, but the strategic nuclear-tipped missiles that our enemies would use against us would be in the neighborhood of 15 kilotons to 1 megaton, which is 65 times bigger than a 15 kiloton, yet would only create about double the damage. The fireball from a 1-megaton can reach out to about a 4-mile diameter, therefore you want to be as far away as possible from a military target.
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How long do I need to stay in my shelter?

The answer is in most cases 2-30 days. It really depends on the fallout. If you are upwind of a nuclear blast and there is no fallout, you will be safe to leave your shelter immediately. If you are downwind of a nuclear blast, you will be in your shelter for approximately 28 days. After 28 days, 99% of the radiation emitted by the fallout will have decayed and you can leave your shelter and try to resume a normal life.
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How long can I stay in the bunker?

You can stay in a bunker as long as you have food and water. All our shelters will hold enough food and water for a minimum of 30 days at the capacity listed. Our larger shelters with under floor storage can hold up to 6 months of food and water, and some can even hold more.
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What’s the average temperature in a shelter?

It depends on what part of the country you are in. Texas has a higher average ground temperature than a state like Minnesota. So the temperature in a shelter that has not pulled in any exterior air should be between 56 and 62 degrees when you open the door to the living quarters.
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What happens if I lose my power?

First and foremost, our shelters have redundancy systems in all of them. If power is lost, our air systems all have manual backups. Some of our competition does not have a manual backup to their home made air system!
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Can I add an escape tunnel to my shelter?

YES. Our larger shelters all include an escape tunnel, but our very small shelters do not because space is limited.
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Does the United States military use Atlas Survival Shelters?

YES. The round culvert shelter is specified by the United States Air Force and is installed on several bases.
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Are Atlas Survival Shelters patented?

YES. The Round Culvert shelters have a United States patent on them as well as the BombNado. Atlas Survival Shelters owns other patents as well on its air pipe entry systems which is now specified by the US military as well.
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Do you keep records of all your customers?

We don’t even know the last name of most of our customers. When a shelter ships out, it goes to a fictitious address near the customer’s town. Once the shelter arrives to the address on the bill of lading, the customer will verbally give directions to the driver where to deliver his load. There are no laws that require us to keep a customer’s information, therefore we don’t even ask for real addresses or names.
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What are the 3 types of radiation emitted by a nuclear bomb?

  1. Alpha – these are fast moving helium atoms. They have high energy, typically in the MeV range, but due to their large mass, they are stopped by just a few inches of air, or a piece of paper.
  2. Beta – these are fast moving electrons. They typically have energies in the range of a few hundred keV to several MeV. Since electrons are might lighter than helium atoms, they are able to penetrate further, through several feet of air, or several millimeters of plastic or less of very light metals.
  3. Gamma – these are photons, just like light, except of much higher energy, typically from several keV to several MeV. X-Rays and gamma rays are really the same thing, the difference is how they were produced. Depending on their energy, they can be stopped by a thin piece of aluminum foil, or they can penetrate several inches of lead.
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What was the radius of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima?

It generated a blast yield equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT. Although the destruction was observed till a radius of about 1 mile but shock-waves must traveled even longer as the plane that dropped the bomb, Enola Gay, felt the shock-wave after flying for 10 miles.
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How long does it take for radiation to clear from a nuclear bomb?

Nuclear waste, for example, remains radioactive for eons. But after about 3000-20000 years (depending on the type of reactor) nuclear waste is only as radioactive as naturally occurring uranium ore. The rule for nuclear explosions is 7 times 7 times 7. After 7 hours, 90% of the radioactivity is gone.
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How long is the fallout from a nuclear bomb?

For the survivors of a nuclear war, this lingering radiation hazard could represent a grave threat for as long as 1 to 5 years after the attack. Predictions of the amount and levels of the radioactive fallout are difficult because of several factors.
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Is there still raditaion in Hiroshima?

“Today, the background radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is the same as the average amount of natural radiation present anywhere on Earth. It is not enough to affect human health.” Part of the answer is that these bombs exploded high up in the air and all the radioactive material blew or rained away… somewhere.
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What are the effects of a nuclear bomb?

The Effects of Nuclear Weapons. … Blast, thermal radiation, and prompt ionizing radiation cause significant destruction within seconds or minutes of a nuclear detonation. The delayed effects, such as radioactive fallout and other environmental effects, inflict damage over an extended period ranging from hours to years.
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What are the effects of nuclear fallout?

The health effects of nuclear explosions are due primarily to air blast, thermal radiation, initial nuclear radiation, and residual nuclear radiation or fallout. Blast. … Though difficult to predict accurately, it is expected that thermal effects from a nuclear explosion would be the cause of significant casualties.
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How long does nuclear waste last for?

Radioactive isotopes eventually decay, or disintegrate, to harmless materials. Some isotopes decay in hours or even minutes, but others decay very slowly. Strontium-90 and cesium-137 have half-lives of about 30 years (half the radioactivity will decay in 30 years). Plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,000 years. A nuclear bomb does not create nuclear waste.
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What is prompt radiation?

The gamma rays produced in fission and as a result of other neutron reactions and nuclear excitation of the weapon materials appearing within a second or less after a nuclear explosion. The radiations from these sources are known either as prompt or instantaneous gamma rays.
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What is alpha radiation blocked by?

In general, beta particles are lighter than alpha particles, and they generally have a greater ability to penetrate other materials. As a result, these particles can travel a few feet in the air, and can penetrate skin. Nonetheless, a thin sheet of metal or plastic or a block of wood can stop beta particles.
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What can stop beta radiation?

The energy that is released as the atoms become stable is known as radiation. There are three types of radiation: alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays. Beta particles can be blocked by a sheet of aluminum, but gamma rays require several inches of lead, concrete or earth to be stopped.
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How are alpha beta and gamma radiation similar?

Ionizing radiation takes a few forms: Alpha, beta, and neutron particles, and gamma and X-rays. All types are caused by unstable atoms, which have either an excess of energy or mass (or both). In order to reach a stable state, they must release that extra energy or mass in the form of radiation.
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What type of radiation is harmful to living things?

Gamma rays are often considered the most dangerous type of radiation to living matter. Unlike alpha and beta particles, which are charged particles, gamma rays are instead forms of energy.
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Which form of radiation penetrates the farthest and why?

  1. Alpha radiation. Alpha radiation is the least penetrating. It can be stopped (or absorbed) by a sheet of paper.
  2. Beta radiation. Beta radiation can penetrate air and paper. It can be stopped by a thin sheet of aluminium.
  3. Gamma radiation. Gamma radiation is the most penetrating.
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Can you survive a nuclear blast underground?

It’s even possible to survive a nuclear blast near ground zero if you happen to be inside a robust building, such as a fortified structure or an underground facility, says Brooke Buddemeier, a certified health physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California.
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