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The Share Guide: Tell us how you
first became aware of the nuclear weapons problem and nuclear power?
Dr. Helen Caldicott: I first became
aware of the threat of nuclear war when I read Neville Shute's book On
The
Beach when I was 15 years old and living in Melbourne, where
the book was set. The book was about an accidental nuclear war that
triggers the end of human life. This scenario branded my
soul. When I grew up, I led the movement in Australia against
the French atmospheric tests in the Pacific and Australian uranium
mining. Later I came to the United States as a member of the faculty of
the Harvard Medical School specializing in Cystic Fibrosis in the mid
1970s, and founded Physicians for Social Responsibility--which was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for educating the public about
the medical effects of nuclear war. I have written several books on the
subject.
The Share Guide: Can you give a
brief overview of your most recent book, The New Nuclear Danger,
and
why you wrote it at this time?
Dr. Caldicott: This book describes
the internal, corporate related dynamics of the Bush administration,
and the reason it is totally focused upon war, is violating all the
international nuclear arms control treaties, and is now prepared in a
cavalier way to use nuclear weapons on any non-nuclear nation
it so chooses. This is antithetical to the nuclear policies of any
previous U.S. administration. The nuclear weapons labs are also engaged
in a new Manhattan project: a huge nuclear buildup, which includes
designing, testing and building new nuclear weapons. In addition, the
Bush administration is engaged in a massive, five-layered Star Wars
project which will never work, and which will trigger a new nuclear
arms race with Russia and China. This is costing four times as much
money as the U.S. is currently spending on the State Department, and
could trigger a nuclear war. The danger is new because the hydrogen
bombs of Russia and America are still on hair trigger alert as they
were in the 1980s, but everybody thinks the nuclear threat of global
annihalition has been resolved because the cold war ended. In
fact, because of the public's ignorance, the nuclear threat is much
greater than before.
The Share Guide: In a recent talk
you gave, you mentioned the Heritage Foundation. Please explain what
they have to do with the energy policies of President Bush and his
administration.
Dr. Caldicott: The Heritage
Foundation and other Washington, DC based so called "think tanks" are
omnipresent right-wing advertising agencies for corporations such as
Lockheed Martin and other military corporations and oil companies. The
Heritage Foundation has either peopled the Bush administration with
employees of corporations or with their own specially trained fellows.
They are determining the policies of this administration, much as they
determined those of the Reagan years. The Cheney energy policy was
determined after consultation with oil and energy companies--with
absolutely no input from knowledgeable academics or environmental
groups who are deeply concerned about the rapid progress of global
warming and its devastating ecological and economic consequences.
The Share Guide: What specifically
are the negative effects of nuclear power, and aren't there adequate
renewable sources of energy that we could use instead?
Dr. Caldicott: Nuclear power,
apart from nuclear war, is the greatest medical threat posed to life on
this planet. In fact, 95% of the total nuclear waste in the United
States has been generated by nuclear power plants. Nuclear waste
will last for 500,000 years, and there is no safe means to prevent
these radioactive elements from entering and concentrating in the food
chain. These elements, which are tasteless, odorless and
invisible, are highly carcinogenic and mutagenic. Over time, they will
induce epidemics of cancer and leukemia. This is particularly true for
children, who are 10 to 20 times more radiosensitive than adults, and
are therefore much more susceptible to cancer. The nuclear waste will
also induce epidemics of genetic diseases and congenital abnormalities
in humans (as well as in animals and plants) for the rest of time. This
is rather like a process of random compulsory genetic engineering.
Because of the quantity of fossil fuel used to mine, separate and
enrich uranium, and to build the massive reactor, a nuclear power plant
has to operate for 18 years before one net calorie of energy is
realized! And the CO2 produced from the fossil fuel
adds significantly to global warming. Uranium enrichment also
produces 88% of the CFC gases emitted from the U.S., a potent global
warming gas and a significant ozone depleter in the upper atmosphere.
The production and release of CFCs has been internationally banned in
the Montreal Protocol, but the U.S. nuclear industry openly flouts this
international treaty. So nuclear power causes global warming, ozone
depletion, epidemics of malignancy and the destruction of the delicate
process of evolution. Of course there are alternatives. Solar power is
ubiquitous but almost untapped because of the political power of the
oil companies. There is also enough wind west of the Missisippi to
provide the whole of the U.S. with energy. It's worth noting that
Europeans use half as much energy as Americans, but have the same
standard of living because they practice pragmatic conservation.
The Share Guide: Most people are
psychically numbed by the nuclear problem. How can we deal with our
feelings of fear, complacency, anger, depression, etc, and take
constructive action?
Dr. Caldicott: The only effective
way I have found to deal with peoples' fears is through a process of
responsible education. That is why I wrote The New Nuclear Danger, and
that is why I travel the world talking to large numbers of people about
these facts. As a physician, I am obliged to practice global preventive
medicine, and my experience has validated the admonition of Thomas
Jefferson when he said "An informed democracy will behave in a
responsible fashion."
The Share Guide: I have heard the
environmental effects of nuclear war referred to as "collateral
damage," but nuclear winter could in fact end life on earth as we know
it. What actions can we as responsible citizens take in the face of the
new nuclear danger? What can we say to people who are in denial of the
problem?
Dr. Caldicott: This is the
ultimate spiritual and religious issue ever to face the human race. For
what is our responsibility to God to preserve the creation and
evolution? We are the curators of possibly the only life in the
universe and our responsiblity is enormous. We must
therefore dedicate every waking and sleeping moment to the
preservation of creation. But first, action must be preceeded by
education. We are all physicians to a planet that is in the intensive
care unit. The New Nuclear Danger is now the Grays Anatomy
for a new breed of global physicians. Learn it and you will become
ultimately powerful and equipped with the necessary knowledge that will
drive our new crusade for global preservation.
The Share Guide: You have said "We
are the rudder that can steer the whole ship." But our tax dollars are
being stolen by the corporate robber barons, currently at the level of
400 billion dollars annually. What can we do to change this?
Dr. Caldicott: 400 billion dollars
is almost half a trillion dollars, and if one spent $1,000 a minute
since Jesus was born, one would have just spent one trillion dollars.
Therefore, the amount of money being stolen from the American people by
this corporate administration for death, mayhem and destruction is
enough to solve ALL the problems in U.S. society--plus feed, clothe,
educate and house all the children of the planet, reverse global
warming, save all the threatened species, save the tropical rain
forests and save the Earth. So the money is there, but the will is not.
We must remove the men in charge of the world! For the health of
the planet and all of us, we must replace them with wise prophetic
men and women who will implement life-giving and life-preserving
policies. Millions of people in the United States were involved in
the anti-nuclear movement of the 1980s. They watched The Day After
with dread. Now the people need to be reawakened to the impending
threat of nuclear war, and like the tiny trim tab rudder built
into the large rudder of a ship, as it turns and they move, the whole
ship of state will turn towards life and not death.
The Share Guide: What is your
opinion of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository? And what do you
think we should do with nuclear waste?
Dr. Caldicott: Yucca Mountain
stands on 30 earthquake faults. It is a very unstable area and will not
prevent the disbursement of lethal radioactive elements to the
environment. Nuclear waste should be retained in the cooling pools of
the nuclear reactors, meaning that all nuclear power plants would then
have to close because their cooling pools are full. This also means
that there would be no more electricity generated from nuclear power.
As the spent fuel rods cool, they can then be stored in above ground
casks until the brilliant American scientists who are currently so hard
at work designing new nuclear weapons are redeployed, inventing
ingenious and currently unthought of ways to store their radioactive
garbage safely for the next 500,000 years.
The Share Guide: Discuss the
attitude in Japan and other nations toward nuclear weapons and nuclear
power, as compared to the attitude here in America.
Dr. Caldicott: The Japanese
politicians and corporations are pretty keen about nuclear power, even
though Japan is the only country ever to have experienced the horrors
of a nuclear holocaust. The Japanese are forbidden in their
constitution from developing their own nuclear weapons. However,
because they maintain huge stockpiles of reprocessed plutonium,
they could within several weeks if they so decided build their own
nuclear weapons. The Japanese people, on the other hand, are very
allergic to anything nuclear, particularly after they experienced
several very dangerous nuclear accidents in the last several years in
their own nuclear facilities.
The Share Guide: You mentioned
earlier that you founded Physicians for Social Responsibility. What are
the goals of this organization?
Dr. Caldicott: Physicians for
Social Responsibility was founded in 1978, to teach the American people
about the medical effects of nuclear power and nuclear war. I, along
with my colleagues, recruited 23,000 physicians during the 1980s
to join this massive educational campaign. We were very successful in
these efforts, and the organization still continues to this day.
For more information about the nuclear threat,
please visit www.nuclearpolicy.org
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