By David Swanson, World BEYOND War

Nuclear Weaponry

“Deterrence”

Pakistan and India obtained nuclear weapons in 1998 and went to war in 1999. The United States and Russia have fought numerous wars against other nations, and in Ukraine against each other (albeit with mainly Ukrainian troops on one side), and often threatened to use nuclear weapons. Russia has threatened to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. The United States has threatened to use them in North Korea and Iran. None of these threats seem related to deterrence, just as demands to nuke something in popular speech have nothing to do with deterrence. The fact that World War III has not yet engulfed the world is not evidence of nuclear deterrence, the very conception of which is arguably nonsensical. Deterrence depends on making yourself believe that someone else believes that you might do exactly what you are supposedly trying to avoid.

Disarmament

The use of nuclear weapons can be avoided much better through disarmament — which is required by law, and is readily available to negotiate or to begin unilaterally. When the United States engaged in unilateral disarmament under Presidents John F. Kennedy and George H.W. Bush, Russia quickly reciprocated. Negotiated multi-party disarmament has worked in the past and can work now — even more easily, given the extent to which surveillance technology has made cheating more difficult.

Irreparability

The use of nuclear weapons is not survivable. Talk of usable nukes, of winning nuclear wars, and of nuclear wars restricted to certain parts of the world, is extremely misleading. A limited nuclear war would create a nuclear winter on much of the planet. Public safety messages like that produced by the City of New York suggesting that you can be safe in a nuclear war by going indoors are a public danger.

Immorality

The ongoing illegal possession of nuclear weapons, and refusal to comply with the Treaty on Nonproliferation or to support the Treaty on Prohibition, is the opposite of responsible or moral. The failure of the U.S. government to apologize or change course since its bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is why Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu thought he could excuse genocide in Gaza by pointing to the nuclear bombing of Japan. The nuclear industry is making certain people rich, who are corrupting governments with their money. In so doing, they are putting all life on Earth at risk.

Luck

The possession of nuclear weapons, given the great number of near misses already survived, is probably not survivable for very much longer. Tearing up treaties, shunning diplomacy, and positioning missile bases near designated enemies decreases our chances. The U.S. government still appears traumatized by the Cuban Missile Crisis, but has created its mirror image in Eastern Europe without much concern. But we now have less separation and less communication between the big nuclear powers, more nations with nuclear weapons (including those with whom U.S. and Russian weapons have been shared), and more nations with nuclear energy (which brings them closer to developing nuclear weapons).

Nuclear Energy

Waste

There is no solution whatsoever to the indisputable problem of deadly nuclear waste, which must be stored for hundreds of thousands of years, vastly longer than the lifespan of any known human creation, culture, or language. Pathetic attempts at storing nuclear waste a tiny fraction of that time are immensely expensive, unproven, and extremely difficult to find locations for, due to fierce opposition from people who would be near it.

Poison

The damage to all living things from nuclear testing, and to those who live near uranium mining, weapons sites, energy plants, and waste facilities is extensive, and scandalously little discussed. Tests of honey show that radioactive material is still present across the United States, but most of it not from tests in Nevada, most of it from larger U.S. and UK tests in the Pacific and from Russian tests in Russia. The world has been damaged.

Disaster

There is no solution to the risk of more Three Mile Island- , Chernobyl- , or Fukushima-like disasters — or, if there is, it has not persuaded any private insurance companies to take the risk of insuring nuclear power plants. In the United States, the public has to foot the bill (not to mention the cancer deaths) from the next catastrophe — whether accidental or caused by an attack (nuclear plants being prime targets for terrorism/war).

Anti- Green

Nuclear energy is not “green,” but slow, dangerous, expensive, and inefficient. Even the grandest claims of its promoters are that it could make up a tiny fraction of the world’s energy needs if many new plants were opened every year, whereas in reality it takes 10 years on average and massive investment to open a new plant. Financially, wind and solar cost a fraction of nuclear, and that difference is rapidly growing. Solar, wind, and tide energy solutions have been progressing even faster in reality than has nuclear energy in propaganda. While the solution of lower energy use has always been staring us in the face, the solution of energy that is cleaner, safer, faster, and cheaper is now well established. The big beneficiary of nuclear-energy propaganda that distracts us from wind and solar, while failing to provide a substantive alternative, is dirty fossil fuel energy.

Drones

Drone warfare has predictably spread far and wide, turning every nuclear power plant into a self-directed nuclear weapon. No matter how thick the containment domes, or how vehement the industry denials, the killing power of the latest weaponized drones has completely blown past official atomic safety assurances.

One Industry

The nuclear energy and weapons industries rise or fall together. They lobby together and are funded together. The energy technology is used as a stepping stone to the weapons. The energy waste is used as material for Depleted Uranium weapons. Nuclear energy powers the submarines that carry the weapons. And military contractors are working to give the world the marvelous gift of portable nuclear reactors that can be brought into war zones — in an apparent effort to win a prize for the worst idea ever.

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What’s Wrong With Nuclear Weaponry and Energy
https://worldbeyondwar.org/whats-wrong-with-nuclear-weaponry-and-energy/

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include his latest: NATO What You Need to Know with Medea Benjamin. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org. He hosts Talk World Radio. He is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and U.S. Peace Prize recipient. Longer bio and photos and videos here. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook, and sign up for: Activist alerts or Articles.