如果发生核战争，英国政府至少在伦敦的心脏地带有一处隐秘的地堡。地堡的名字叫品达（Pindar），它和古希腊的一位诗人同名。不过，其中的含义却令人胆战心惊。In the event of nuclear war, the British government has at its disposal
at least one bunker hidden away in the very heart of London. It’s called
Pindar. It shares its name with an ancient Greek poet – but the
reference is chilling.
据说，在公元前335年，亚历山大大帝摧毁了底比斯城（Thebes），仅仅保留了品达的房子。品达的房子得以幸存，是因为他的诗歌颂扬了这位希腊大帝的祖先。It is said that in 335 BC, Alexander the Great demolished the city of
Thebes and left only Pindar’s house standing – spared in thanks for some
of his poems, which praised the Greek king’s ancestor.
当然，这其中隐含的意思就是，如果发生核战争，伦敦被夷为平地，名为品达的这座地堡依然能够幸存。品达是否专门为实现这个目的而设计不得而知。目前为此只有为数不多的几张关于这一建筑综合体的照片公开出来，而且，还都是从品达的内部所摄，英国国防部根据信息自由法的规定，在一次应询中对此进行了确认。 The implication, of course, is that even if London were to be flattened
in a nuclear exchange, Pindar would survive. Whether the building has
been specifically designed for this is not known. Only a few photos of
the complex have ever been published – the fact that they were taken within Pindar was confirmed by the Ministry of Defence in its response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
和那些极其安全的军事指挥部一样，品达可以让"政府得以持续运作"，这是政府计划的一部分，以确保权力机关在极端灾难过程中乃至事后能够正常运转。不过，确保军事将领和高级政客战胜灾难是一回事，那么他们必须保护和代表的普通民众的安全呢？我们做好准备了吗？As well as ultra-safe military headquarters, Pindar offers “continuity
of government” – it is part of state plans to ensure authority can
prevail even during and after extreme catastrophes. But the capacity for
military leaders and senior politicians to outfox disaster is one
thing. What about the public they are meant to be protecting and
representing? Are we prepared?
纽约的一处核辐射避难所（图片来源: AFP/Getty Images）
这是位于新泽西的史蒂文斯理工学院（Stevens Institute of Technology）的亚历克斯·威伦斯坦（Alex Wellerstein）最为关切的问题。至于政府的连续性，他说，"我不关心这个问题……那是他们自己的问题。"That is the question that most preoccupies Alex Wellerstein at the
Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. On continuity of
government he says, “I’m not interested in that… that’s their problem.”
Wellerstein recently announced
that he and his colleagues are taking part in a project to reinvent
civil defence. That is, the methods and information campaigns designed
to help the public protect themselves in the event of a military attack
or natural disaster.
After all, there remain about 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world today, the vast majority owned by Russia and the United States. The leaders of both countries recently agreed with one another that relations between their states were at a dangerously low point.
Although
Wellerstein acknowledges that nuclear war or a small-scale nuclear
detonation by a rogue state or terrorist group is extremely unlikely, he
believes there is still value in being prepared just in case.
One of Wellerstein’s previous projects was Nukemap:
a modified version of Google Maps that tells the user the basic effects
of the blast – from the nuclear weapon of their choice – around any
location on Earth, including large cities.
The idea is to
encourage people to put the nuclear threat into familiar terms, making
it seem more real. This is because many scoff at the alleged impotence
of civil defence – “they delight in laughing at this stuff,” he
explains. And now Wellerstein is planning far more visceral tools.
“Imagine
you could put on a [virtual reality] headset,” he says. “You’re looking
at the skyline of Manhattan and you see a nuclear weapon go off.
Imagine you see this mushroom cloud going up in front of you.
His new project will consider all kinds of materials made with a
similar purpose, he says. For example, he suggests the idea of graphic
novels designed to impart knowledge about what can be done to improve
chances of survival after nuclear attack.
The advice can be as
simple as staying indoors instead of trying to drive out of the affected
area. This is because roads in crisis situations often become jammed
with traffic – this often happens following hurricane warnings,
for instance. And when a nuclear bomb goes off, it can suck up lots of
dust and debris and irradiates it before spewing this invisible
‘fallout’ out over the surrounding land.
“In the middle of a
building, the protection factor goes up dramatically,” explains
Wellerstein. “You stay there for a few hours and your radiation risk
decreases dramatically.”
As North Korea continues to demonstrate its increasing capability for launching a nuclear missile that could reach the US and tensions rise between the country’s two leaders, some communities within range of its missiles are beginning to take preparations more seriously. In Japan, villages have been staging nuclear attack drills. Hawaii has revised its guidelines for the public on what to do in the event of a nuclear explosion, as have some local authorities on the US west coast.
One of the areas directly threatened by North Korea, the US territory
of Guam, has also recently issued instructions about how to cope with
radiation (see "Armageddon advice", below). Meanwhile, the US Department
of Homeland Security also has recently redesigned its website called
Ready.gov, which includes a section on nuclear blasts.
