What should you do in the event of an atomic bomb attack? You will soon be able to find the answer to this question on the grounds of the former observatory in Hoeven. Owner Johan Vlemmix (64) is starting a nuclear training center here, including nuclear bunkers and survival kits. The first of its kind in the Netherlands.
Anyone who thinks this is a new stunt by the orange fan and founder of Feestfeest is mistaken. The entrepreneur from Hoeven is deadly serious: “What many people don’t know is that I designed and built nuclear bunkers in the Netherlands and abroad in the eighties. I also gave information to companies and schools. So I am returning to my old profession as a nuclear security expert.”
Vlemmix is busy preparing at the complex in the woods. He has already had all the dead trees removed. A new fence will also be installed to keep out the curious. The first fully equipped nuclear bunker will be built underground behind the main building.
“I don’t want to frighten people.”
“I see it as my mission to prepare people for an atomic disaster. I feel now is the time to do it. Take Putin or China. You never know what could happen. You used to have in the Netherlands the Protection of the Population (BB) to protect civilians in time of war. It should actually come back, because now people don’t know what to do anymore. Citizens abroad are much better informed,” he says.
In our country, nuclear exercises are still reserved for emergency services from the fire brigade, ambulance personnel, police and defense. Hoeven will be home to the first training complex that focuses mainly on civilians. “I don’t want to frighten people,” says Vlemmix. “You should see it like the spare tire of a car. In principle, you don’t use them either, but it’s nice that you have one.”
“It is serious matter and certainly not a camping weekend.”
During multi-day training sessions, Vlemmix teaches students what they must do to survive an attack with an atomic bomb. “It is serious matter and certainly not a camping weekend. Remember that after a nuclear explosion, not a single telephone will work within a radius of sixty kilometers. The same goes for cars and pacemakers. So you have to wait a week underground before the radiation has decreased enough to go outside again.”
At the end of last year, the entrepreneur announced that he wanted to open a television studio in the former observatory. In addition, a new telescope would be installed in the dome of the building. “Those plans are still standing. The two activities can co-exist. After all, the chimney must also smoke,” explains Vlemmix.
“Money doesn’t interest me, I think it’s more important to warn people.”
Because, in his own words, he is not initially out for financial gain with the training center. “Money doesn’t interest me. I think it’s more important to warn people. This has been bothering me since I was ten years old when I read a book about an atomic attack that ended the world. It kept me awake at night.”
Vlemmix also had a nuclear museum in Eindhoven in the 1990s. The entire collection will soon be on display in the exhibition space of the old observatory. The first prefab bunker should be ready for use in two weeks. It is planned that more shelters will be added on the site afterwards.
