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Thursday, 19 July 2007, 13:57 GMT 14:57 UK

Your pictures in focus: Lewis Bush

Inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Switzerland

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BBC News website reader Lewis Bush has been inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Lucerne, Switzerland. Here we present his pictures and accompanying captions.

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In the event of a nuclear strike, anyone seeking shelter in the bunker would have been decontaminated. Cold water would have been used to wash off radioactive particles.

Inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Switzerland

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Two main corridors connect every room in the bunker and serve to carry the sinister echoes that ring around the complex even when it is empty.

Inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Switzerland

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Each civilian dormitory was designed to house 200 people, but could take double that. Most people would have been unable to move around freely.

Inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Switzerland

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Military accommodation would have been marginally better, but still cramped and uncomfortable.

Inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Switzerland

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Washing facilities were basic, with the only showers reserved for decontamination.

Inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Switzerland

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Everything needed to survive was kept in the shelter, from ropes and winches to bicycles - the latter to be used mainly by military personnel for scouting on the surface.

Inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Switzerland

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A massive store of air-tight sealable buckets were also kept in storage, to be used in the event of the toilet system breaking down.

Inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Switzerland

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All air entering the shelter would have had to pass through a series of disposable filters to remove radioactive material.

Inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Switzerland

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So important was the water filtration system that it was designed to be as simple as possible, so that even people with very limited experience would have been able to maintain it.

Inside a nuclear fallout shelter in Switzerland

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My view of photography is that it's important to take photos of things most people will never see, but which have a wider significance. This shelter was one such thing.

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RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Lewis Bush on Flickr
Lewis Bush on Lightstalkers
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