Why did US gov't tell Americans in cold war that ducking under a desk would protect from atomic blast?
365979
By giving direction to the public, the government appeared to know what they were doing and talking about and that they were in control.  Ducking under a desk was a throwback from previous wars when bombs were conventional and all you had to worry about was falling debris so the parents bought in to it.\n\nHow many people went out and bought plastic sheeting and duct tape to protect themselves against anthrax or other chemical/biological WMDs on the advice of our government?
67099
In Japan a few years ago the workers at one facility were carrying radioactive solutions in buckets from one place to another where they put so much of it that it started having nuclear reactions from reaching a critical amount.  This was amazing news, but it happens that the people doing mundane, dirty, or high exposure work often know little and are only following or misfollowing instructions of more knowledgeable scientists who are not always there to prevent mistakes.\n\nAlso, one time in the USA, out west, a man was working on a reactor and, they say, everyone had been told not to remove a certain vital control rod.  But he did, and instantly the reactor exploded, releasing radioactive contaminants inside the containment.  The mans body was found on the ceiling impaled by the control rod.\n\nThat sounds like a made up story, I know, but I have heard it told about three times from VERY reputable and different sources.\n\nAnother time was during the testing of fissionable materials in the laboratory at Los Alamos where the first atom bombs were developed.\n\nOne scientist was investigating critical mass by bringing two hemispheres or pieces of fissionable materials slowly closer to each other on some kind of track.  He got them too close and did not get them apart fast enough.  The radiation exposure was so intense he died shortly after that, also I believe one other person who was in the room.
977336
You want to know something interesting?  Reagan first proposed this program but it was CLINTON who ran on a platform of implementing it.  The moment he was elected, he gutted all funding for the program.....which is why we have no real defense against nuclear weapons.  Note that russia and china have been developing these.
591078
Because at the time the US was the only nation with atomic bombs.  \n\nAtomic bombs were so new and powerful that no one knew anything about them. Fear of the unknown is powerful. \n\nAlso it showed Japan that the US would stop at nothing to end the war and that they wanted the war over now not later and would keep fighting until it was over.
631179
Looking at Chernobyl, of coarse they can explode.  But what happened in that city was the result of a lot of human error mistakes.  In fact, looking at the documentary on it there were plenty of times when they should have stopped what they were doing and got someone in that knew what to do.  They were preceding on guesses.\n\nI believe what you parents are saying is the way nuclear reactors are designed in general today is that there are enough safe guards and fall back mechanisms so that human error would have to be rather bad for an explosion to occur.\n\nSome info on why Chernobyl happened  and realize we have come a long way since then.
327262
Because no one else would.  Everyone knew how bad Hitler was, and they were powerless to stop him.  Since the discovery of nuclear bombs, the US has actively been trying to prevent WWIII, by stopping every country that could use them, or in the case of Viet Nam, stop a twisted ideology from taking hold.\nSometimes we're wrong.  But no one ever said we were perfect, least of all us regular Joes and Janes.
603262
I believe the Government ..Keeps "LOTS" of Secrets.         The Alien Topic @ Area 51 is just One of them.(Could be thousands of Secrets  ya know!) ..Because If there are No Aliens or Proof Them , Then "WHY" is it a Restricted Area? Besides, We shouldn't be so Self Centered in Our Thinking. To Believe that We are the Only Life Force around.
1183361
Edward Teller,the father of the hydrogen bomb,developed the neutron bomb back in the 70's.The Soviets viewed it as a first strike weapon so it was never deployed because we feared the Soviets would strike first to prevent us from striking first with our 'clean' bomb.Kind of stupid isn't it.
115391
One way to structure an answer is to look at the resources the United States had and now has to deter Communism abroad. During the Cold War vitually our entire military capability was focused on deterring the Communist threat to the U.S.  Today in spite of 1.5 Communist nuclear equipped countries (China 1.0, N. Korea .5), virtually none of our defense budget is directed against this "threat".  Economic globilization has (since the wall came down in Germany) and will continue to "protect our six" from Communism
340494
The US learned that their actions could cause wrong interpretations by the Soviets, example: \n\nUS destroyers were dropping signaling depth charges on a Soviet submarine near the quarantine line, intending to force it to surface. Unbeknownst to the US Navy, it was carrying a nuclear-tipped torpedo. The captain lost his temper.  The oxygen supply dropped in the sub and as temperatures rose to 120 degrees, some sailors fainted.\nVadim Pavlovich Orlov, an intelligence officer said the bombardment was like "sitting in a metal barrel, which somebody is constantly blasting with a sledgehammer.... But we were still holding on, trying to escape. We were suffering like this for about four hours."\n\nThe sub's commander, Valentin Savitsky, who could not communicate with the Soviet general staff, thought a nuclear war may have started up above. He ordered an officer to assemble the nuclear-tipped torpedo and prepare it to be fired.\n\nBut Second Captain Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov told Savitsky that the conditions for firing the torpedo, a rupture of the hull, had not occurred. Savitsky reversed his order and the submarine surfaced.  Nuclear war was averted thanks to the actions of a subordinate officer.\n\nThe outcome of this event, after it became known on the American military on how close they came to nuclear war was to change its policies regarding military confrontations, ie from now on they would take into account the possibility that the Soviets might interpret their actions as a cause for a nuclear response.
537536
Duck and cover according to the 1950s civil defense videos.\n\nWe maneuver around the irradiated areas.  not everywhere is blown up.\n\nNot everything is blown up in even the largest nuclear war.  Many of the bombs would blow up in the same spot to ensure they were not shot down.  Life would suck but you would be alive.
144313
This is a very good question.  Civil defense has not been a hot topic in the US since the 1960s.  It would be a good thing if we got people thinking about how they would survive if all food, water, and electricity was cut off for at least several days.  Dispelling fallacies about the real effects of nuclear radiation would be a good idea.  There are radiation detectors that do not need electricity to function; they are called "scintillation" detectors; it would be a good idea to stockpile them.\nCivil defense is not necessarily limited to mitigating the effects of a war or nuclear explosion.  It is also very useful during natural disasters.\nThe Dept. of Homeland Security has a program for teaching people in a community the basics of first response; e.g. basic first aid, firefighting, crowd control, etc.  That is just a first step, though.
99135
Ike was thinking about using them. There were plans drawn up to use special weapons.(plans are always made for these things and file away in case they are needed. Supposedly there were nukes in country, but there WERE nukes with the fleet,Navy never leaves home without them. A nuke army officer begged to go on patrol to see what it was like in the bush,(he wasnt suppose to go) and his unit was ambushed, the theory was the North Vietnamese wanted to capture him, to use as propaganda and to get nuke secrets.he just escaped capture and got into lots of hot water. You can dig all these facts out of the net if you hunt for them.
107084
no civilians can tell a soldier anything, did you know if we were to go to war here in america, a soldier can use your home to stay
779085
No Nuke was needed or ever will be needed.\nWhat was needed was the guts and the balls to officially declare\nwar on those buggers, instead of sending thousands of our young to be maimed for life, die, then discrasse them when they did not come home in a body bag.
1082839
You may be thinking of the old "fallout shelter" program. Many schools, hospitals and other government buildings had the "fallout shelter" sign prominently displayed. \n\nToday's shelters are not available to the public on a pre-incident basis. They are designed to provide clothes, food, drinks, and a dry, safe place to spend time while survivors recover from the effects of a disaster. \n\nThe American Red Cross and FEMA generally maintain lists of buildings for such a purpose and announce the locations on an as needed basis.
40761
Is this a question, or a US bashing, I'm not sure. I often ask myself that same question though. The most honest answer might be because we can control our technology, and we have the power to control proliferation too because we see it as a danger. In general, it's probobly not a good idea for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to have Atom bombs. Do you really think nothing bad would happen if every country had enough bombs to destroy the planet? Yea that would be swell. \n\nI do have to admit there is a certain irony to the United States being so controling about nukes. We say we can't trust others to have them, but who's the ONLY county crazy enough in the history of the world to actually use one... Yep.