(NewsNation) — American voters are overwhelmingly concerned about a nuclear attack within the next decade and almost half do not support U.S. troops being deployed to aid Ukraine’s war efforts, according to a NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll released earlier this month.
Hacking a nuclear power plant in the United States, and causing a nuclear meltdown, would amount to a nuclear attack without ever firing a missile.
Is the United States prepared for a nuclear war?
Max Everett, the former chief information officer for the Department of Energy and the White House, believes we are well prepared.
“We had teams here focused on cybersecurity, along with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, online security, and others. This was a very important concern. The thought that someone could do anything, whether it’s cyber or physical, to a nuclear plant that released radiation. That’s a nightmare scenario,” Everett said during an appearance Friday night on NewsNation’s “Banfield.”
“For many of us, even people who have been thinking about this for years, the pictures of the Russians firing artillery at an operating nuclear plant, the attack on Chernobyl, it does open the door for the thought that they could do the unthinkable.”
The Department of Energy is constantly testing and auditing nuclear plants for physical and cybersecurity, according to Everett.
“We probably need a larger reinvestment to make sure that we are building security, by design, when it comes to the energy sector.”
Everett says it is a good thing for the American people to be concerned, ask questions, and make sure that the government is investing in the right places.