We know about risks posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. But new information reveals the US dropped bombs on its own soil. And author Eric Schlosser says Trident also has “safety issues”.
At the height of the Cold War, Americans lived in fear of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. But recently disclosed documents show that the United States also had something to fear closer to home, revealing that it accidently dropped bombs on its own soil.
Investigative journalist Eric Schlosser requested information from the US on near-miss nuclear accidents, including an incident in Damascus, Arkansas, in 1980, which he says “could have incinerated the whole state”.
But he also put in freedom of information requests to the British government, for his new book, Command and Control, and said it was “even more secretive” about accidents or potentially fatal incidents on this side of the Atlantic.
“Trident… has some safety issues,” he told Channel 4 News, adding: “I hope in Scotland that they’re very careful when they’re loading and unloading the missiles.”
Watch the film inspired by Eric Schlosser’s book, featuring Radiohead’s 4 Minute Warning>