Nuclear Testing 1945 - 1998

[Starbeast]

Time Lapse Map of Every Nuclear Explosion From 1945 to 1998 by Isao Hashimoto

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[Dave]

Thanks for sharing that. Interesting, concerning and slightly surprising.

 

[Starbeast]

Over two thousand nuclear detonations in just over fifty years is a sobering fact.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

And half of them are right on top of me!

My father was in the Army during the Korean war, and spent much of his time at Camp Desert Rock, New Mexico, where they were doing nuclear testing. He was one of the grunts whose job was to duck down in a trench while they set off a bomb a mile away, then hotfoot it out to see what the damage was. Needless to say, he suffered numerous mysterious health problems later in life.

 

[J Riff]

I was at a gigantic explosion oncet, not atomic, but gee I wonder if the dust has settled yet.

 

[Starbeast]

And half of them are right on top of me!

My father was in the Army during the Korean war, and spent much of his time at Camp Desert Rock, New Mexico, where they were doing nuclear testing. He was one of the grunts whose job was to duck down in a trench while they set off a bomb a mile away, then hotfoot it out to see what the damage was. Needless to say, he suffered numerous mysterious health problems later in life.

Sorry to hear that TheDustyZebra. My heart goes out to you.

I sometimes think about the after effects on people, animals and the planet from all that "testing". I still remember a (now banned) 1980's TV documentary about the dangers of radiation. It discussed everything (testing, accidents, lasting effects, etc.) , including what happened at Three Mile Island (showing photos of bizarre plant mutations). I can't remember the name of it, and I am still searching for it. It was a two-hour special, and the final message at the end said "We've got to STOP using nuclear power, to save us and our planet".

I was at a gigantic explosion oncet, not atomic, but gee I wonder if the dust has settled yet.

Can you elaborate?

 

[BAYLOR]

The word irresponsible seems like too much of an understatement here.

 

[Dave]

Firstly, apologies for being off topic!

I sometimes think about the after effects on people, animals and the planet from all that "testing". I still remember a (now banned) 1980's TV documentary about the dangers of radiation. It discussed everything (testing, accidents, lasting effects, etc.) , including what happened at Three Mile Island (showing photos of bizarre plant mutations). I can't remember the name of it, and I am still searching for it. It was a two-hour special, and the final message at the end said "We've got to STOP using nuclear power, to save us and our planet".

I appreciate that some people are simply anti-nuclear power at all, but there is a huge difference between indiscriminately setting off nuclear weapons and nuclear power, and to conflate the two so offhandedly, just like that, doesn't help your cause at all.

Nuclear power ought to be safe, if the plants are not built along geological faults and if people don't turn off the safety systems to test the "stress" levels. Some designs are certainly safer than others. The high level waste can be made into a glass and deep buried. The low level waste is more of a problem as you will never eliminate accidental leaks and leaching. However, considering the background radiation we already have from igneous rocks then the radiation is very comparable. The problem would be in the accumulation of radioactive isotopes within food chains.

I can't see how we can survive without nuclear power in the future. Even if we don't stop using fossil fuels to ameliorate climate change effects, then fossil fuels are going to be exhausted at some point anyway. On the other hand, there is an argument that Uranium won't last very much longer either.

Incidentally, who banned the 1980's documentary? Who has that power? Why? If a copy exists, and considering the draconian powers they must have wielded, why were they still unsuccessful?

 

[BAYLOR]

Unfortunately, nuclear power is here to stay whether we want it to not.

 

[Starbeast]

@BAYLOR - That's for sure.

@Dave - Why that TV Special will never be seen again, you ask. I figure since there were a lot of names, companies and other info disclosed in the documentary, not many would want people to know who they are and what companies are responsible for damages.

Nuclear power is still a double-edged sword though. Since the 1980's, nuclear testing continued and radioactive accidents have happened.

 

[J Riff]

Well, not really. It was one of the largest, if not the largest, non-radioactive blasts ever. A lonnng time ago, and all you see is a huge dust cloud.

 

[Starbeast]

@J Riff - No prob. Like a few of us, you were witness to something rare and tremendous. In short, memorable situation.

 

[J Riff]

Yeah. Boom. Whatsisname was there, the bigshot. A lot of dirt went up and up, then down.

 

[RX-79G]

Yeah. Boom. Whatsisname was there, the bigshot. A lot of dirt went up and up, then down.

Who?

Was it the Misty Picture or Minor Scale tests?

 

[J Riff]

I'd have to look it up.
I can't find it, but it would be in black and white. Must have been a lot of them, getting bigger and bigger. No idea, it wasn't really interesting to a kid, and we were far away in a bunker or basement, not a big deal at the time, not to lil me.