The Finnish civil defence shelter system - Evolution of the regulation and technical specification 1954-2011

Finland has approximately 50 500 Civil Defence (CD) shelters with 4.8 million shelter places for a population of 5.6 million residents. CD shelter building is mandatory by legislation, and Acts, Decrees, and Technical regulations regulate it. This study examines the evolution of the Finnish CD shelter regulation from 1954 to 2011. The development of shelter regulation is affected by military threat assessments and the commitment to protect the population cost-effectively from the effects of weapons during a potential wartime. This includes the objective of providing a relatively safe and healthy, but uncomfortable environment for sheltering periods. The method draws on comparative historical analysis, comparing the Finnish shelter design baseline with the Swedish, Swiss, US, and German baselines, incorporating respective analyses of changes along the study timeline. Change analysis includes iteration and backtracking along the timeline. The ventilation and thermal control baselines are evaluated using established technical methods. This study defines the Finnish CD shelter systems as a socio-technical system that includes diverse actors, interest groups, organisations, regulations, and the complete nationwide materiality of the CD shelters. The Large Technical Systems (LTS) theory is used as an analytical framework. With the help of socio-technical analysis, this study focuses on two research questions: What significant changes are evident in the shelter regulation timeline, and what is the root cause or impact of these changes? Are there any significant gaps in the Finnish shelter studies or regulations, and what is the effect of these gaps? This study's contribution to LTS research is proving that a mature system exhibits different change dynamics as regulation justification is contested. On the other hand, a mature system may detach from regulation or the prevailing context. The evolution of regulation is studied with three case studies focusing on weapons effects mitigation, shelter occupant life support, and combining both focal points. This study establishes how the Finnish CD shelter system reached its technical style. The noteworthy Finnish attribute, in reflection of most other CD shelter-building nations, is the cost-effective funding model. The building owner bears the cost of the shelter construction, not the taxpayers. The Finnish full-scale shelter habitation tests with occupants, together with the analysis of this study, have proven that the Finnish shelter design baseline is sound. The shelter’s thermal control and air conditioning during the hot and humid summer months advocate further studies. The Finnish CD shelter system is a success story. With an average of three years spent on military defence, a shelter system has been built cost-effectively in six decades to protect the whole population. The estimated aggregated cost of the Finnish CD shelter system is approximately 4.4 milliard euros.

Department dc:contributor.department

Energia- ja konetekniikan laitos

Grantor dc:publisher

Aalto University

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Kyrenius, Pekka

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Paju, Petri, Docent (Adjunct Professor), University of Turku, Finland
• Matala, Saara, Asst. Prof., Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
• Partanen, Jouni, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Finland

Contributors dc:contributor

• Aalto-yliopisto
• Aalto University

Language dc:language.iso

en

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/136043

OAI record oai:identifier

https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Aaaltodoc.aalto.fi%3A123456789%2F136043