Justification for the nuclear tests lies in the fact that the Cold War was at a very critical juncture with the fear of communism being widespread among American policy makers as well as the general public. That being said, the testing didn"t have to take place in the continental United States where the entire American population could be affected by radiation fallout or contaminated foods. As Professor Howard Ball writes, "AEC commissioners concluded that no continental site in America could be considered 'a completely safe alternative to overseas sites"" (quoted in Ball 29). In fact, in addition to the tests conducted in Nevada, 66 nuclear weapons" tests were conducted in the Marshal Islands. The Marshall Islands, located in the middle of the Pacific, were a United Nations Trust Territory that was administered by the United States following World War II (Nuclear Testing 2). They were chosen for testing because they were atolls with small populations as well as being far away from all of the large continents. The populations were moved off of the atolls were testing took place, although some would still suffer as a result of radiation. More importantly, there were no security breaches as a result of these tests (Nuclear Testing). The amount of nuclear testing that was undertaken at the Marshall Islands should have provided sufficient data on the success or failure of weapon designs. Certainly, American scientists could have perfected their weapons using the knowledge gained from these tests, and create theoretical designs that would not have to be tested in the atmosphere where radioactive fallout could cause more unnecessary deaths (Ball 32. Rather they could be simulated on computers or through complex mathematical computations to determine their effects. In the instance that they should need to be tested, they should have been tested in the Marshall Islands where exposure was limited.