Could a bank vault save you from a nuclear attack?

Answer 1

Mostly NO. Bank Vaults are made from heavy weight metals which can prevent human intrusion by force. Nuclear Attacks are of a different kind and such heavy metals are of no use when such an attack happens.

Maybe an expert in Nuclear Sciences can confirm my theory.

Close, but allow me to update your answer. In a nuclear attack we have three destructive elements Blast, Thermal radiation (heat radiation), and fall out type of radiation. There are more but for this discussion lets keep it simple.

A bank vault may save you from the blast, and most bank vaults have thick high density concrete walls reinforced with re-bar. This would be a moderate blast shield, however it would depend on your distance from the detonation and the size of the nuclear device. Test are done in PSI (pounds per square inch). Certain concrete structures can take certain amounts of PSI loads, and based on your distance from the detonation would determine the PSI load on the structure (bank vault). The bank vault would be excellent protection from the Thermal effect at a distance. Being at ground zero or within a mile of a 750kt strike, you would be vaporized, even in the vault. As in fallout, radioactivity that falls in debris, you would have some what descent protection. But you would need food and water stocks, due to the 3 to 5 weeks you need to stay in the vault until the fallout radiation level dropped enough to come out. A good basement with bags of earth above you would afford the same protection as the vault for the fact it is not in direct view of the blast. Now if you found a bank vault in a basement, then you are set since it is protected from line of sight effects of the blast and affords protection characteristics of being underground.

In the related links box below, I posted some information about this.