News — The setting for the TV series "Paradise," starring Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden and now airing on ABC and Hulu, is an idyllic small town with its parks, schools, and nicer-than-average single-family homes bathed in golden sunlight. The bombshell twist comes at the end of the first episode: This pleasant community exists entirely underground.
Virginia Tech'sassociate professor of mining and minerals engineering, and, professor of electrical and computer engineering, looked at just how realistic the subterranean bunker setting of "Paradise" actually is. “Most of what 'Paradise' portraits is grounded in engineering but extrapolated quite a bit from what is available today,” Mehrizi-Sani said.
Here’s what doesn’t stand up to science — and what might.
What’s not real
Wide open spaces. Ripepi, who watched "Paradise" with his family, scoffed at the bunker’s underground monster dome. “To have an opening that large and for 25,000 people to live inside that dome is just not realistic from a rock mechanics ground control perspective. You’d need pillars and roof bolts to keep the massive cave from collapsing.”
Daylight-level sunshine. The people of "Paradise" enjoy bright, sunny days under a glowing sun-like orb. “In real life, engineers would opt for high-efficiency LED lights, and it’s doubtful they’d trick anyone into thinking they’re outdoors. Plus, you have to remove the heat they generate from the confined space. If not done properly, it can lead to ‘global’ warming in 'Paradise' and making life unsustainable there,” Mehrizi-Sani said.
Plants and trees. “That’s very abnormal when compared to mines,” said Ripepi. “Is it possible? If you have a lot of money, anything is possible.”
Beautiful streets. To Ripepi, the tidy streets were a giveaway. “Underground spaces tend to be dirty. One would typically just make it work versus making it look nice.”
What’s more realistic
Building living spaces underground. “Many countries have created bunkers that could house people underground for a period of time,” Ripepi said. “We have a bunker under the White House. The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia has a large bunker that was designed to hold all members of Congress. Some underground cities in Turkey date back to the 7th century.”
Having a self-sufficient power supply. “We can actually get quite close to a lot of what 'Paradise' shows,” Mehrizi-Sani said. “The U.S. already has a few military installations that are underground, including one in Colorado — Cheyenne Mountain — and another in Pennsylvania — Raven Rock Mountain Complex. The U.S. and Canada jointly operate a few radar stations that act as remote, self-sufficient microgrids. Nuclear submarines already exist and they don’t need refueling for 20 to 30 years. There are even remote islands and college campuses that operate as microgrids today.”
Spending a lot of money. According to Ripepi, “The biggest thing they got right is this would take a decade of planning and construction and lots of money to pull off. Could you make an underground city look like it looks in 'Paradise'? Only if you had a lot of disposable money you were willing to burn.”
About Ripepi
is an associate professor in Virginia Tech’s and deputy director of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research. In addition to teaching courses on mine design, he researches environmental health and safety in mines, coal bed methane and shale gas production, and enhanced production from carbon sequestration.
About Mehrizi-Sani
is a professor with Virginia Tech’s and the Power and Energy Center director. He works to find answers to challenges related to control, protection, and cybersecurity of the carbon-free power grid, including mitigating impacts of low-probability and high-impact events on the power system.
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