Growing threat of nuclear war...Modernization of nuclear shelters and personal bunkers are also in vogue.

[Anchor]
As the threat of nuclear war grows, Europe is accelerating its movement to modernize old Cold War-era nuclear shelters.

In the United States, even personal 'nuclear bunkers' aimed at the middle class are popular.

Reporter Yoon Hyun-sook reports.

[Reporter]
It is a nuclear war preparedness underground bunker sold in the United States.

It is designed to last months with radiation and fallout and cooking facilities.

Underground bunkers, which used to be exclusive to Silicon Valley's wealthy and disaster-proof "preppers," have recently become popular among middle-class people.

This is because more people feel the threat of nuclear war with the unstable situation of the war in Ukraine and Gaza.

[Ron Hubbard / Atlas Survival Shelter CEO: The majority of people in the survey believe that World War III will happen one day, and in such a catastrophic time, shelters will have a very important value.]

Adding to the threat of terrorism and civil war, the U.S. shelter construction market is expected to grow to more than $170 million by 2030.

As Russia lowers the threshold for nuclear use, European countries such as Germany and Switzerland are also modernizing old nuclear evacuation facilities that were created during the Cold War.

However, there are also many objections that the nuclear attack will not have much effect due to the change in the aspect of the nuclear attack.

[HANS-WALTER BORRY / Vice Chairman, Federal Institute for the Protection of Important Infrastructure: The nuclear alert is too short to take non-commodities with your family to the shelter. Also, bunkers are useless if you think that the influence of nuclear warheads is much greater than Nagasaki or Hiroshima.

The international community's attention and wisdom are desperately needed to shake off the shadow of nuclear war that revived nuclear bunkers and shelters that were treated as relics of the old era.

I'm YTN's Yoon Hyunsuk.


Video editing: Han Kyung-hee
Design: Jung Eun-ok