The button that could have started a nuclear holocaust is grey – not red. I learned this after climbing into a nuclear rocket command silo, 12 floors below ground, and sitting in the same green chair at the same yellow, metal console at which former Soviet officers once presided. Here, they practiced entering secret codes into their grey keyboards, pushing the launch button and turning a key – all within seven seconds – to fire up to 10 ballistic missiles. The officers never knew what day their practice codes might become real, nor did they know their targets.
Chornobyl
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Cheryl Reed: The booming Soviet tourist industry in radioactive Ukraine
A little bed is seen in what was a Kindergarten in Chornobyl exclusion zone during the Chornobyl tour excursion on July 9.
