But 10 months into his second administration, the president is commanding officials to resume nuclear weapons testing, which would end the U.S’s 33-year moratorium and invite a global arms race in a volatile political moment.
Claiming that the United States must reach parity with weapons development in China and Russia, Trump ordered the Pentagon on October 30 to “start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” a process that will begin “immediately,” he said.
The last confirmed nuclear test by the United States was in 1992 under then-President George H.W. Bush, who established a moratorium on all nuclear testing. China has reportedly not tested a nuclear weapon since 1996, and Russia’s most recent tests involved delivery systems, not actual detonation of a nuclear device.
We went into the girls bathroom with a book to cover our necks and heads. Duck and cover was never intended to protect you from a nuclear strike. The primary intent was to get everyone doing the same thing at the same time, knowing whose instructions to follow, which increases survivability in the event of a disaster. Listening to and paying attention to the preflight briefing from the air hostesses, including noting where the exits are (keeping in mind that the closest exit may be behind you) similarly increases survivability in the event of an air disaster. If the plane crashes at full speed nose first into the ground and explodes, you’re probably dead, just like if Brezhnev nuked your school. Your desk also protected you from flying glass.