NUCLEAR LEMMINGS
Today I saw part of a programme about the Atomic Scientists Bulletin putting the Doomsday clock forward and their reasons.
They pointed out how a country like Russia that has become less strict over its nuclear installations has become open to corruption, theft and “false alarms”. In 1994, someone let off a “friendly” rocket in Norway and Russia almost responded to this “false alarm” with nuclear missiles. They received an image on satellite that was misread. Oops. Almost a big mistake. Almost another world war.
The concerned atomic scientists say that whenever a country “goes nuclear” it increases opportunities for corruption, crime and weapons building – and they are afraid that this current desire among some nations to build nuclear reactors will worsen an already hyper-sensitive situation. If you think of the number of countries that now monitor each other by satellite and how possible it is for signals to be misread, you can see why they are worried. It is a pity that others seem more self-interested.
They also say – and it is so obvious to see – that in certain countries, regulations at nuclear reactors, security patrols, monitors etc are not strictly enforced, which endangers everyone. They say that it is not possible to “uninvent” something once it has been invented, but it can be dismantled and strictly controlled.
Governments do not always do the right thing. History should have taught us this. People cannot sit back and think that someone else will act. The personal testimony of a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust illustrates this so clearly. The man – who was a twelve-year old boy at the time – writes about his father, a doctor, who kept thinking that the German government would make decisions for the best. On a number of times they had the opportunity to leave Germany and yet they kept thinking, this will not happen. It could not happen here. Someone will do something. It will be okay. But it was not. The boy lost his father, mother and brother to the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
There are so many millions of personal testimonies to the absolute error of governments on this planet. The fact that a government chooses to pursue a policy – does not make it acceptable. This is where democracy can and must play a role. Otherwise what have we become? A bunch of nuclear lemmings – all rushing headlong for the cliff’s edge – in 4x4s with shopping bags.
Regards
Ingela
