Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 25, 1992 TAG: 9202250053
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By ANNE GEARAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CULPEPER LENGTH: Medium
THE FED HAS A BUNKER TO HUNKER IN
Blasted out of a hillside, nearly invisible among the pastures, is an outpost of the Cold War - a huge bunker where policy-makers would meet to reconstruct the U.S. economy after a nuclear disaster.If the unthinkable occurred, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan would be spirited about 70 miles from Washington to the underground safety of the Federal Reserve System's Communications and Records Center.
There, shielded by concrete, steel and a variety of futuristic security devices, the nation's central bank would regroup.
"It's not like in the movies - everyone would not die if the Russians launched 1,000 missiles at us," said operating manager Julius Malinowski. "Whole areas would not be hit.
"There has to be a plan for how to keep the economy running and a place to keep people safe. We are that place."
Cold War tensions have eased since the bunker was built in 1969, but Malinowski said: "There is still a threat. There is instability in the Third World.
"And, sure, we are warming to the Russians now . . . but what about next week?"
The Fed is reviewing the center and could decide to scale back. But the bunker will remain, in part as protection against more mundane disasters - floods, fires and electrical outages that could close some of the Fed's 12 regional banks, Malinowski said.
A year ago, the Minneapolis regional bank moved in after a broken water pipe flooded its computers. The center's vast computer network records each transaction around the nation as a backup in case anything goes wrong.
"There is a lot we cannot say about what we do. What we can say is that we are a fully equipped disaster recovery hot site," said Thomas Judd, who runs the computer network.
The center costs less than 3 percent of the bank's annual budget, Malinowski said.
The 140,000-square-foot shelter southwest of Washington can house 550 people for 30 days. Scientists think people could go outside safely 15 days after a nuclear attack, Malinowski said.
"We play it safe," he said.
The shelter has its own wells, generators and communications system and is impervious to radiation. The freeze-dried foods are tested annually.
Plastic-shrouded desks and computers wait in darkened rooms, each desk labeled with the name of the Fed employee who would use it. The center maintains a list of chosen employees and their families.
"If you weren't on the list, you wouldn't get in," Malinowski said.
The living quarters have bunks stacked three high. "They're spartan and probably uncomfortable, but in a national emergency you'd probably be very pleased to climb into that bed and sleep safely at night," Malinowski said.
To save space and money, people would sleep in three shifts. "As soon as one person wakes up and strips the bed, someone else lies down," Malinowski said.
"Living here for 30 days would be extremely hard on people. There would be a lot of problems. But we have a trained guard force to keep everything under control," he said.
But rank does have its privileges. Greenspan and the six members of the Fed Board of Governors would have semiprivate rooms and private showers.