Bunkers in Reykanes

Bunkers in Reykanes relates to a series of fortifications and shelters developed by the Reykani governments throughout the history of the country. Beginning in the 1950s to respond to foreign invasions, which eventually turned in to combat and ensure the survival of humanity in case of potential devastating natural or man made disasters. Today there are 10.000 emergency shelters with space for 1.5 million people, which protects 42% of the population of Reykanes, with some of them are seed banks that stores seeds to conserve biodiversity.

Door of a public fallout shelter in Reykanes.

History

It is divided in to two separate eras, the first is under the Reykani Socialist Republic during the 1950s and the second in during the first and second Kiddi Þorbjörnsson's government between 1993 and 2005.

Reykani Socialist Republic

One of the 40,000 bunkers

It started with the Communist government program in 1950 to build small bunkers around the country to fend of any attacks from foreign countries. The bunkers were constructed of concrete, steel and iron and ranged in size from one- or two-person pillboxes with gun slits to large underground bomb shelters intended for use by the Party and Army leadership. The most common type of bunker is a small concrete dome set into the ground with a circular bottom extending downwards, just large enough for one or two people to stand inside. Known as Steinsteypt kassi ("Concrete box") or SK bunkers, they were prefabricated and transported to their final positions, where they were assembled. They consist of three main elements: a 3 m (9.8 ft) diameter hemispherical concrete dome with a firing slit, a hollow cylinder to support the dome and an outer wall with a radius 60 cm (24 in) larger than the cylinder. The gap between the cylinder and outer wall is filled with earth. the command-and-control bunkers, known as Skipun kassi ("Command box") or SKA bunkers, were also prefabricated and assembled on site. They are far larger and heavier than the SK bunkers, with a diameter of 8 metres (26 ft). They are made from a series of concrete slices, each weighing eight or nine tons, which were concreted together on site to form an interlocking dome. Fully assembled, they weigh between 350 and 400 tons.

At various places along the coast and mountain passes, large numbers of SK bunkers were built in groups of two, linked to each other by a prefabricated concrete tunnel. Elsewhere SKA bunkers were constructed in SK bunker groupings around strategic points across the country, or in lines across swathes of territory. Hafnir was particularly heavily defended, with thousands of bunkers radiating out in fifty concentric circles around the city. Designed for guerilla warfare in case of invasion to be used by military and civilian use to defend the country. The program was a massive drain even on the ever expanding economy of Reykanes, taking resources from other programs. The military criticized the program, the bunkers had little military value compared with a conventionally equipped and organised professional army. As one commentator has put it, "How long could one man in each bunker hold out?. Eventually the program ended in March 1957, with 40,000 bunkers built, only being used in the Ajaki-Reykani War during the 1960s after the fall of the Reykani Socialist Republic.

Þorbjörnsson's government

The Sonnenberg Tunnel, near Hafnir, one of the the world's largest civilian nuclear fallout shelter, designed to protect 20,000 civilians in the eventuality of war or disaster

The second era started with Kiddi Þorbjörnsson, member of the TBD Party. He won the election in 1993 and 1999 and was famous for his isolationist policies and he advocated for the emergency shelter program in Reykanes. It started in 1994 after discontinuation of the nuclear power in Reykanes during the Nuclear Power Referendum where Þorbjörnsson sided with the Anti-Nuclear group, which they eventually won. He was mostly worried about the faults of nuclear plants and the dangers of nuclear meltdowns and storage of nuclear waste. Afterwards he passed a law, which requires all buildings with an area over 1000 m2 to have a shelter that keeps inhabitants shielded from violent winds, storm surges, and other threatening weather conditions and can stand a large explosions during wars or an extinction event by and asteroid and shield from nuclear fallout. He soon constructed more civil shelters inside road tunnels and inside mountains that are easily accessible by everyone. In two underground stations in the Hafnir Metro, he also built the construction two shelters under those shelters as well.

By 2005 he built an extensive network of fallout shelters, not only through extra hardening of government buildings such as schools, but also through a building regulation requiring nuclear shelters in bigger residential buildings. He even lead for a information campaign to encourage people to build their own emergency shelters. The programs continued after he lost the 2005 election as most people liked it as it ensured a safer future for all. The governmental shelter under the Parliament of Reykanes was expanded to make safe for the entire government. Older underground bunkers like the G-01 from the Communist era were refurbished for civilian use.

Impact

All of the policies are still active. First major use of the shelter system was during the Smástirni Event in 2022, where a small asteroid entered the atmosphere and landed in the ocean near Hafnir. Those greatly reduced the amount of people in danger.