The Atom: Testing

(See Cover) While grey autumn clouds obscured the sun over the nation's capital last week, the President of the U.S. closeted himself in the White House conference room for a crucial meeting with the members of the National Security Council. The Soviet Union's continued nuclear testing, climaxed by a 50-plus megaton explosion, left room for only one topic on the usually crowded agenda: how the U.S. should act to protect its own interests. After listening gravely to his advisers, John F. Kennedy walked briskly into his oval office to meet waiting reporters....