Featured Image Credit: BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Russia, Donald Trump, History, US News
Joshua Nair
Topics: Russia, Donald Trump, History, US News
A violently unpleasant proposal was once put forward when it came to putting procedures in place for storing the USA's nuclear codes.
All the talk in recent weeks from both Russia and US President Donald Trump about the use of nuclear weapons or an all-out war may have unsettled the public, but the reality is that it could well happen.
A nuclear war could wipe billions off the face of the Earth, so it makes sense that it's been difficult to access the codes at all.
While films depict the action of launching warheads as easy as pushing a big red button, some might be surprised to learn that accessing the codes goes a step beyond a two-factor authentication.
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Being inconvenienced when logging into your Google accounts is one thing, but going through a multi-step process to let off bombs that can release the equivalent of kilotons to megatons of TNT might be forgiven.
So, how does it work right now?
Well firstly, they're not called nuclear codes, they're actually called 'gold codes', and they're stored on a small plastic card called 'the biscuit', with codes generating daily.
They are carried in 'the Nuclear Football', a briefcase carried by presidential military personnel.
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But in the past, a far more gruesome method of storing the codes was suggested.
The method was suggested by Harvard law professor Roger Fisher in the March 1981 issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist.
His explanation was laid out by Alex Wellerstein, a specialist in the history of nuclear weapons at Stevens Institute of Technology and the founder of NUKEMAP, in a blog post in 2012.
Fisher essentially suggested keeping the codes in the chest-cavity of a young volunteer, who the president would have to kill to get access to the numbers.
The philosophical exercise would essentially show the president what death would look like before making the decision to kill millions with a nuclear warhead.
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Fisher explained that 'a young man, probably a Navy officer', would accompany the President with a black case that would contain a butcher knife.
He went on: "My suggestion was quite simple: Put that needed code number in a little capsule, and then implant that capsule right next to the heart of a volunteer.
"The volunteer would carry with him a big, heavy butcher knife as he accompanied the president. If ever the president wanted to fire nuclear weapons, the only way he could do so would be for him first, with his own hands, to kill one human being.
"The president says, 'George, I'm sorry but tens of millions must die'," he wrote.
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The professor added that the president must 'realise what death is, what an innocent death is', before launching the nukes.
Fisher did admit to making it extreme on purpose, highlighting the severity of a decision to launch nuclear bombs in any capacity.
He added: “When I suggested this to friends in the Pentagon they said, ‘My God, that's terrible. Having to kill someone would distort the president's judgment. He might never push the button.’”