The Nation - News from Jan. 20, 1987

The United States and some allies began conducting secret exercises at least three years ago to prepare for nuclear weapons accidents or terrorist threats, a private researcher said. The United States has also activated Nuclear Emergency Search Teams in Europe and the Pacific and the Pentagon has expanded “radiological monitoring” training for Energy Department employees, a Defense Department document states. William M. Arkin, a nuclear weaponry specialist with the Institute for Policy Studies, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C., said he obtained the 1984 document under the Freedom of Information Act.