A guide to understanding the relationships between nuclear power and nuclear weapons
August 28, 2006 (Press Release) --
Understanding the Connections between Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons by
Hattie Nestel 8/4/06
Capitalizing on fears of global warming and severe climate changes has
created a launching pad for the U.S. government and nuclear related
industries to promote nuclear power. The rationale for this new push to an
otherwise dying industry is that nuclear power doesnıt emit carbon dioxide
and can therefore put an end to global warming. The U.S. government is
pouring tens of millions into promoting nuclear power. It has rewritten laws
and created profitable incentives to business ventures willing to build new
nuclear power plants. It also has relaxed previous standards to allow large
³uprates² of power to existing plants and 20 year license extensions, 40 out
of 40 that have applied, for existing nuclear power plants.
To intelligently assess whether nuclear power is the energy that will save
humanity from the harms of global warming one must look at the history of
nuclear power that began with the Manhattan project.
Secrecy has been the official top-level governmental position since the
beginning of the nuclear age with the 1940ıs Manhattan Project. Most of the
U.S. population has little knowledge and understanding of the dangers of
nuclear power and its direct connection to nuclear proliferation. The link
between nuclear power and nuclear weapons make this one of the most critical
issues of our time.
The entire Manhattan project, which created the bombs of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, was classified. After the 1945 bombings half-truths and critical
omissions were official policy. President Harry Truman acclaimed the
detonation of the Hiroshima bomb. He stated it had hit a military target.
Actually, Hiroshima was a large city and the bomb exploded at 8:15 A.M. as
the children were going to school and parents were going to work. He
mentioned that the bomb had an equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT power but
never mentioned that this bomb was different, in that it released ionizing
radiation. He failed to mention the tens of thousands of civilian deaths
and the agony of the Hibakusha, survivors who were slowly dying from
radiation induced burns and other radiation induced trauma. Relief workers
and relatives flocked to Hiroshima to assist the victims, ignorant that they
were entering a highly radioactive zone. They became ill, joining the sick
and dying from radiation exposure.
President Trumanıs official spin, which has become the national historical
memory, is that dropping of the atomic bombs had ended the war and saved
millions of American lives. The bomb became the symbol of victory and was
celebrated throughout the country.
One Australian war correspondent, Wilfred Burchett, arrived in Hiroshima
September 2 and later described what he saw as a ³death-stricken planet². He
noticed a dank, sulfurous smell everywhere. He visited a hospital where he
observed that patients were developing purple skin.
Hattie Nestel 8/4/06
Capitalizing on fears of global warming and severe climate changes has
created a launching pad for the U.S. government and nuclear related
industries to promote nuclear power. The rationale for this new push to an
otherwise dying industry is that nuclear power doesnıt emit carbon dioxide
and can therefore put an end to global warming. The U.S. government is
pouring tens of millions into promoting nuclear power. It has rewritten laws
and created profitable incentives to business ventures willing to build new
nuclear power plants. It also has relaxed previous standards to allow large
³uprates² of power to existing plants and 20 year license extensions, 40 out
of 40 that have applied, for existing nuclear power plants.
To intelligently assess whether nuclear power is the energy that will save
humanity from the harms of global warming one must look at the history of
nuclear power that began with the Manhattan project.
Secrecy has been the official top-level governmental position since the
beginning of the nuclear age with the 1940ıs Manhattan Project. Most of the
U.S. population has little knowledge and understanding of the dangers of
nuclear power and its direct connection to nuclear proliferation. The link
between nuclear power and nuclear weapons make this one of the most critical
issues of our time.
The entire Manhattan project, which created the bombs of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, was classified. After the 1945 bombings half-truths and critical
omissions were official policy. President Harry Truman acclaimed the
detonation of the Hiroshima bomb. He stated it had hit a military target.
Actually, Hiroshima was a large city and the bomb exploded at 8:15 A.M. as
the children were going to school and parents were going to work. He
mentioned that the bomb had an equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT power but
never mentioned that this bomb was different, in that it released ionizing
radiation. He failed to mention the tens of thousands of civilian deaths
and the agony of the Hibakusha, survivors who were slowly dying from
radiation induced burns and other radiation induced trauma. Relief workers
and relatives flocked to Hiroshima to assist the victims, ignorant that they
were entering a highly radioactive zone. They became ill, joining the sick
and dying from radiation exposure.
President Trumanıs official spin, which has become the national historical
memory, is that dropping of the atomic bombs had ended the war and saved
millions of American lives. The bomb became the symbol of victory and was
celebrated throughout the country.
One Australian war correspondent, Wilfred Burchett, arrived in Hiroshima
September 2 and later described what he saw as a ³death-stricken planet². He
noticed a dank, sulfurous smell everywhere. He visited a hospital where he
observed that patients were developing purple skin.
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