Christopher Millson, in his article, “Nuclear Weapons Testing in the United Sates: Sacrificing Health for National Defense,” talks about the beginning period of nuclear weapons. He talks about how policies changed through the years to keep a strong security against the Soviet Union, and eventually providing benefits to the victims of atomic bomb testing.
One of the first policy changes described by Millson is the United Sates changing the location of bomb testing. He mentions that for a period of time the US tested bombs in the pacific. However, to reduce cost, the testing location was changed to Nevada. Making decisions is slow for the government. Testing site had to change because of cost, but also because the US was experiencing problems from the inhabitants of some Pacific Islands. When it comes to making decisions, policy makers have to go through many people. They not only have to talk to people in a political position but also to the public.
Another remark made by Millson is that the government had to limit the media coverage on the nuclear weapon incidents to retain the publics support for nuclear weapon. Even now, the media is censored on certain issues and topics. The government sometimes has to make dangerous decisions when
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At first, the government could not compensate people affected by the fallout of the bomb. The government probably did not know the full range of dangers that came with atomic power. Policy making is difficult in the sense that sometimes assuming have to be made. The government assumes the nuclear weapon testing was somewhat safe. However, as times passed, more studies showed new information about atomic weapons. So, the government had to adapt and accept these scientific finding. It had to change some things around, and pull out some money to compensate