Fears of nuclear war in Europe stoke demand for fancy bunkers

In a matter of weeks, Covid-19 pandemic fears in Europe have given way to another nightmare concern: the possibility that Russia could use a nuclear weapon.

From Russia’s unprovoked attack on UkraineManufacturers of residential bunkers in the United States and abroad say they have seen an increase in customer inquiries and orders, an increase they attribute to the war in Eastern Europe and the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to end of last month to put his country. nuclear forces on alert.

Gary Lynch, CEO of Rising S Company, a Murchison, Texas-based residential bunker builder, said he recently began receiving inquiries from potential customers in Italy, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as the U.S. and Canada.

“We have a global superpower that threatens to use nuclear weapons; that alone is enough to scare,” he told CBS MoneyWatch.

“Excellent cave man”

Manufacturers say prefabricated shelters will withstand exposure to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks. Some use a steel frame strong enough to withstand earthquakes and include bullet-resistant doors. High-end models, which can cost millions of dollars, can include air filtration systems, solar charging stations, freshwater inlets, waste disposal tanks, and infrared safety.

Rising S makes bunkers at a local factory and ships them overseas. Over a recent 10-day period, Lynch said he received 1,600 inquiries from people interested in an underground shelter where they could take refuge in the event of a nuclear incident. This compares to the two to six calls you would normally have sent during the same time period of consumers looking to build a panic room or secure storage spaces for weapons or valuables.

Forty of these customer inquiries resulted in sales of bunkers ranging in price from $ 60,000 to about $ 200,000, including installation.

“Normally, in that same period of time, he would have sold five,” Lynch said, describing his new clients as “hardworking people who take steps to protect their loved ones.”

“They make excellent caves or extra bedrooms for the extended family, and are good for safe rooms,” he added. “You may not use it today, but you’ll be using it in a week or a year.”

Interest in residential bunkers comes from people on the entrance ladder. Mathieu Séranne, founder of Artemis Protection, a Paris-based company that sells and installs luxury prefabricated bunkers for various uses, said he has noticed a similar increase in interest in his company’s products.

Before the war, the one-year-old Séranne company worked mainly with wealthy clients, but interest in foster homes is now growing from people of different income levels in Finland, France. , Poland, Russia, the US and Canada told CBS MoneyWatch. This includes consultations with employers, a doctor, a post office worker, and an Amazon employee, among others.

“I used to take care of all the people with great net worth because the shelters we build are spacious and equipped with everything they need. Since the crisis in Ukraine, we’ve heard from so many normal people and we’ve had to adapting urgently to build smaller, simpler shelters that we can produce and deliver quickly, ”he said.

Million Dollar Panic Room

The current generation of residential bunkers is much more comfortable than the Spartan shelters that many Americans added to their homes in the early days of the Cold War, when President John F. Kennedy urged people to build waterproof structures. radiation.

In fact, an Artemis Protection bunker looks like a luxury apartment with high ceilings, built-in lighting and high-end accessories, along with basic amenities such as a living room, shower and TV.

A basic model with fewer amenities and measuring just over 30 square feet costs about $ 166,000.

“Then the sky is the limit for the rest,” Séranne said. “Some people want more than 100 square meters [1,076 square feet]which costs more than 1 million euros. “

The nicest bunkers are designed to look like “an underground mountain chalet,” according to Séranne. “We don’t sell creepy bunkers. Customers sell us because they want something nice where they can live all year round and feel good. It’s a warm, welcoming thing that changes the look of a bunker.”

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Séranne has received more than 700 requests for quotations, some 40 of which ended in sales.

“It’s an emotional situation. People are scared. That’s not what we expected in our marketing strategy,” he said.

“Just shouting about fears of atomic war”

Séranne also believes that some new customers are expanding their budgets, an indication of the intense level of anxiety that the conflict in Ukraine, the largest land war in Europe since World War II, has caused among Europeans. . In another sign of the times, pharmacies in Finland, Norway and Luxembourg have done so iodine and potassium iodide pills were depletedwhich can be used to reduce the effects of exposure to nuclear radiation.

“Some of them can afford it, others will hire lines of credit with their banks, or they decide not to invest in an RV and take a road trip, and instead invest the money in a home expansion. “, he said.

Giulio Cavicchioli, owner of Minus Energie, an Italian manufacturer of “insured housing”, said that in the last two weeks he has received more requests from potential buyers than in the last 22 years.

“Every day we get between 20 and 30 email inquiries or phone calls from people who are curious and want to build a bunker for this event,” Cavicchioli told CBS MoneyWatch.

Previously, Minus Energie largely catered to customers interested in building safe rooms for their valuables or weapons storage structures. “Now they’re just screaming about the fears of atomic warfare; that’s all,” Cavicchioli said.

From start to finish, getting the right permits and building a bunker designed to survive a nuclear explosion takes about four months.

“I hope this tragedy ends much sooner,” he said.