Walton W. McCarthy (born 1951) is an American businessman and mechanical engineer and is known as an advocate for creating scientific standards for the underground shelter industry.[1][2] McCarthy is a Principle Mechanical Engineer[3] with NORAD Shelter Systems LLC, a Texas underground blast shelter company formed 2016.[4] He is formerly the president of Radius Engineering.[5][6]
Walton W. McCarthy | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1951 (age 72–73) Bronx, NY, United States |
| Alma mater | Montana State University (B.E.) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
Early life
editWalton McCarthy was born in 1951 to Jacqueline and Robert McCarthy, and raised in The Bronx NY. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree from Montana State University in 1974.[7][8] McCarthy has two children, Darik McCarthy and Alexis McCarthy. He is married to LaTonia McCarthy of Plano, TX.
Career
editOverhearing a sad conversation in 1978 prompted McCarthy to begin his bomb shelter career. A family he knew had a suicide pact in place should nuclear war fallout cause radiation poisoning. Their young daughter asked "if" she grew up, could she be a designer. McCarthy decided to dedicate his career to protecting people from the devastating effects of nuclear war.[9] He started building bomb shelters in 1978.[10] He worked with the Department of Defense and multiple governments and educational institutions to determine how to create appropriate protection from nuclear explosions.[11][12]
He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Testing Materials, and the Composite Fabricators Association.[13]
McCarthy was the subject of two television shows[14][15][16] and numerous radio programs. McCarthy was featured in American Survival Guide for his S16 underground shelter[17] and his Self-Contained Underground Power Plant (SCUPP).[18] He was asked to bring an underground shelter to COLPRO in 2004.[19]
Walton McCarthy sold his company THETA Technologies to Larry Azure in 1994 which later was successfully public on the NASDAQ stock exchange as OMEGA Environmental using McCarthy's patents. Later Walton McCarthy was the plaintiff in a federal law suit against THETA Technologies which was settled out of court. In 1995 Walton McCarthy formed the company known as Radius Engineering. He is currently a consultant for NORAD, MSCG and numerous other defense contractors.
Underground shelter standards advocate
editMcCarthy established the very first guidelines for effective designing and manufacturing of underground shelters in his 1983 book The Nuclear Shelterist.[20] In this book McCarthy coined the term shelterist to mean an underground shelter occupant, distinguishing his customers from what are now known as "survivalists" and "preppers". A shelterist uses the shelter to prepare for a disaster; a "prepper" uses food and guns to prepare for a disaster, but not necessarily a shelter. However, it was his second book, Principles of Protection: U. S. Handbook of NBC Weapon Fundamentals and Shelter Engineering Design Standards, which became "The Bible of the Shelter Industry". This book establishes nuclear weapons effects tables that are not founded in any book to date.[21]
McCarthy has argued for many years to distinguish between survival shelters and nuclear shelters, as survival shelters were not designed to protect people from nuclear weapons. McCarthy also created a committee[12] of university, corporate and government scientists to create standards for the underground shelter industry. The committee included experts from the Nuclear Engineering Laboratory at the University of Illinois, the Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Chemical Division, Edgewood Arsenal, Stonybrook University, FEMA, Scientific Applications International Corp., Northeast Consulting Engineers, the University of NH and the National Bureau of Standards.
McCarthy has designed and installed over 1400 underground shelters and published twelve patents.[22][23] McCarthy and several of his shelter companies have been featured in The New York Times,[24][25] KSAT ABC,[9] The Wall Street Journal,[26] CBS News,[27][28] Wired Magazine,[29] Popular Mechanics,[30][31] and CNN[11] and multiple other publications.[4]
Patents
editMcCarthy was issued numerous patents: Us Provisional Patent No. 62460297 EMP Shielded Generator Housing
Us Provisional Patent No. 62460286 Truss Air Manifold Assembly
Us Provisional Patent No. 62460281 S.E.A.M. Severe Environment Air Filtration NBC
Us Provisional Patent No. 62460237 Steel Hex Arch Underground Shelter
US Patent 4,440,861 Solar Apparatus
US Patent 4,345,974 A Solar Fermentation
US Patent 4,660,334 THETA Blast Cell
US Patent 4,884,709 Underground Storage Tank
US Patent 4,934,553A Above Ground Waste Tank
US Patent 5,115,613 THETA Blast Cell
US Patent 6,385,919 Disaster Shelter
US Patent 06296693-01 NBC Life Cell
US Patent 6,438,907 B1 Entranceway and Disaster Shelter
US Patent 63,851,919 B1 Disaster Shelter
US Patent 8,987,925 B2 Underground Power Plant
US Patent 7,744,682 B2 A Multi-Chamber Air Sterilization
Books
editMcCarthy wrote two books defining standards for the underground shelter industry:
The Nuclear Shelterist, Walton W. McCarthy, Todd and Honeywell, 354pp, 1983
Principles of Protection: U.S. Handbook of NBC Weapon Fundamentals and Shelter Engineering Design Standards, 6th Ed. Walton W. McCarthy 2013, 727 pp. Brown Books.
References
edit- ^ McCarthy, Walton W (2013). Principles of Protection: U.S. Handbook of NBC Weapon Fundamentals and Shelter Engineering Design Standards, 6th Ed. Brown Books. pp. 727 pp.
- ^ "About Walton McCarthy". Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
- ^ "About McCarthy". Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "Norad Shelter Systems". Archived from the original on July 2, 2018.
- ^ "Preppers: Real Troops Preparing for the Worst". Retrieved December 27, 2016 – via Military Times.
- ^ "'Preppers' Prepare for the Worst". December 25, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2016 – via UPI.
- ^ "Waiting for the End of the World". Men's Journal. November 18, 2013.
- ^ "Gimme (Fallout) Shelter". Site Selection. December 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
- ^ a b "Dallas underground shelters". KSAT.com. May 22, 2012.
- ^ Shashana Pearson, Hormillosa, ed. (September 20, 2009). "Explosive Ingenuity". Dallas Business Journal.
- ^ a b "Fallout Shelters Experience Surge in Popularity". CNN.com – via CNN Sunday Morning.
- ^ a b McCarthy, Ibid. "Principles of Protection". p. xiii-xiv.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ McCarthy, Walton W. (December 2013). About the Author. ISBN 978-1612541143.
- ^ McCarthy, Walton. "Modern Marvels". IMDb.
- ^ "Modern Marvels: Built to Last, Season 17, Episode 6". IMDb. 2010.
- ^ "They Made Me Do It, Episode 1011 "Survivalist". Proper Television. March 3, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ "American Survival Guide". April 1994.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ "American Survival Guide". September 1997.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ "Collective Protection Conference for the Army". Marines, Navy, Air Force. 2004.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ McCarthy, Walton W. (1983). The Nuclear Shelterist. Todd & Honeywell.
- ^ "principlesofprotection.net". principlesofprotection.net. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
- ^ "Patents by Inventor Walton W. McCarthy".
- ^ "Patent by Walton McCarthy".
- ^ Riordan, Teresa (October 29, 2001). "Patents; Invention for a jittery public: creating a haven from bioterrorism in the living room". The New York Times.
- ^ D'Mello, Judy (March 16, 2003). "URBAN TACTICS; Now Gyms Or Closets, Safe Spots May Make A Comeback". The New York Times.
- ^ June Fletcher, and Nancy Keates (March 30, 2003). "War room is the latest addition on home front". The Wall Street Journal – via Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Cooper, Charles (July 28, 2010). "Doomsday Jitters Feed Interest in Doomsday Shelters". CBS News.
- ^ "Booming Business For Bomb Shelters". CBS News. December 8, 2001.
- ^ "Design: Take Shelter in a Human Habitrail". Wired Magazine.
- ^ "6 Safe, Strong—and Chic—Bomb Shelters You Can Buy Now". Popular Mechanics. July 22, 2009.
- ^ Popular Mechanics Magazine. Popular Mechanics. p. 12.