Even though the U.S. has entered multiple nuclear disarmament agreements with various countries over the past few decades, it was recently revealed that the government is actually ramping up its nuclear efforts, and now, a government report obtained by The Wall Street Journal states that the government is delaying the process of dismantling old nukes in case there is a potentially catastrophic asteroid threatening Earth.
Citing an April report by the Government Accountability Office, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the specific nuclear warhead components being retained by the U.S. government were originally intended to be disassembled in 2015.
According to the report, these nuclear components will instead be kept "pending a senior-level government evaluation of their use in planetary defense against earthbound asteroids."
While never actually tested, the theory some scientists hold is that a nuclear detonation could be used to push the asteroid far enough off its collision course with Earth. The only problem being that this would require the impending threat to be detected and identified early enough to take appropriate action.
Unfortunately, NASA's early detection program, the Near Earth Objects project, has so far fallen short of its goals to detect potentially hazardous asteroids.
A September 2014 report released by NASA Inspector Paul K. Martin said, "NASA estimates that it has identified only about 10 percent of all asteroids 140 meters and larger. Moreover, given its current pace and resources, the Agency has stated that it will not meet the goal of identifying 90 percent of such objects by 2020."
While many believe that using nuclear weapons to divert an asteroid's trajectory would be the most effective method of eliminating the threat, others raise objections as to whether such a space detonation could send radioactive bits of asteroid hurtling back to Earth.
Last week, The New York Times revealed that the government plans to spend $1 trillion on revamping its nuclear arsenal over the next three decades.
