LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #474 (12/08/2023)
”End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”
DEC 8, 2023
LLAW’s COMMENTARY TODAY:
Tonight I yield my space here to a review of Dwight Eisenhower’s 1983 speech to the U.N. regarding the world(s) concerns about the future of atomic or nuclear weapons and how they could become a symbol of peace. The only problem with the speech was that it backfired by bringing about nuclear proliferation as an imagined defense against nuclear threats . . . ~llaw
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Seventy years ago, on December 8 1953, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a speech to the United Nations general assembly, setting out his concerns about “atomic warfare”.
In the speech, later known as Atoms for Peace, he outlined a plan for new forms of international cooperation around nuclear technology, calling for “lasting peace for all nations, and happiness and well-being for all men”.
In 2023, nuclear technology has been very much in the headlines, from the potential of nuclear threats during the war in Ukraine to cinematically capturing the history behind the first atomic bomb in Oppenheimer.
The speech is largely forgotten but it fundamentally shaped the nuclear world we live in today, and remains highly relevant to how decision-makers engage with such cross-border developments as generative AI. For all their differences, when they were created both nuclear reactors and AI represented newly emerging technologies that “spurred a global race for dominance”, fundamentally challenging existing systems and with potential for both peaceful and military uses.
Why the speech happened
In 1953, eight years after the second world war, an armistice concluded the Korean War (1950-1953) but the wider cold war was characterised by an accelerating nuclear arms race. US nuclear technology was under tight control, restricting any exports, even to wartime allies.
Nuclear reactors mainly created fuel for warheads. The first power plants and first nuclear submarines were only just being constructed.
Eisenhower’s speech, and the US Atoms for Peace programme that followed, completely changed this, proposing a sharing of technology and nuclear material with different countries. There was wide dissemination of Eisenhower’s words beyond the UN.
Hundreds of thousands of pamphlets of the speech were sent out, printed in ten languages. US and foreign media were inundated with information and advertising.
Public spread of ideas
One of the speech’s public legacies was encouraging wider public engagement with the idea of what “nuclear” actually was. This inspired new popular culture and educational materials promoting ideas of atomic-powered futures, such as the iconic Walt Disney 1956 science book and TV programme Our Friend the Atom.
Eisenhower’s speech called for a UN-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), eventually founded in 1957, promoting peaceful nuclear use while discouraging weapons proliferation. It remains a crucial international entity in nuclear verification, nuclear safety, and promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear technology, most recently through activities such as monitoring the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during the Ukraine war.
Paradoxically, however, Atoms for Peace also had opposite effects. The reactors and technical expertise, supplied for civilian energy or research, provided crucial foundations for proliferation.
The tools and knowledge were repurposed by some countries to develop their own nuclear weapons, including, in the first instance, India and Pakistan. Israel is widely believed to have benefited, although it continues to deny it has nuclear weapons.
One of the speech’s most visible impacts was in signalling, both to domestic and international audiences, a significant change in US policy towards supplying other nations with nuclear science.
It paved the way for the restrictive US Atomic Energy Act to be revised the following year, to allow sharing of technology and building of reactors in different countries. This significantly increased global development of nuclear power and nuclear research in areas from agriculture to medicine.
However, it’s worth remembering that Atoms for Peace took place in parallel with a wider US cold war strategy of pursuing nuclear superiority. Just over a month before his UN speech, Eisenhower approved a significant expansion in America’s nuclear arsenal.
Warhead numbers increased from around 1,100 to more than 18,000 during his presidency. He also considered the potential use of nuclear weapons in conventional conflicts.
Peaceful shared plans
Eisenhower also tried to set up an international uranium bank, with US and Soviet joint contributions from their stockpiles of “normal uranium and fissionable materials”. These would be contributed to a pool, shared with other countries for peaceful purposes, both to help restrict the arms race and “provide abundant electrical energy in the power-starved areas of the world”.
However, this bank was never created, partly because of Soviet concerns that it would continue to allow US leadership of nuclear weapons technology. Instead, bilateral agreements were struck to supply nuclear energy and materials.
Unfortunately, spreading “peaceful” technology, supplying nuclear reactors and material for energy and civil research, became a cold war and commercial “weapon”, aiming to tie uranium and technology exports to fulfilling conditions or continued dependence on the selling countries to supply fuel.
Read more: Are small nuclear reactors the solution to Canada’s net-zero ambitions?
Ironically, this echoed one US fear which had helped motivate Atoms for Peace: the prospect of the Soviet Union sharing nuclear energy as a way of influencing other countries and creating alliances.
These developments are particular relevant today. Russian attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear power plants during the current war have received much attention, but what is less well known is Russia’s nuclear energy empire, with contracts and construction spanning 54 countries.
This has remained “largely below the sanctions radar”, while remaining a significant source of international influence for Russia.
Nuclear’s reach today
As of November 2023, approximately 10% of the world’s energy was supplied from more than 400 nuclear reactors, while 40 million nuclear medical procedures are performed each year, using radioactive materials to diagnose or treat different diseases.
In 2023, policymakers continue grappling with related nuclear issues, whether proposals for new small modular nuclear reactors, nuclear power in space, debates around potential for nuclear power in addressing climate change or fears of new nuclear arms races.
Faced with such challenges, Eisenhower’s words: “If a danger exists in the world, it is a danger shared by all; and equally, that if hope exists in the mind of one nation, that hope should be shared by all” seem as relevant today, as they did in 1953.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 5 categories (plus a bonus category at the end for news about the Yellowstone caldera and others that also play an important role in humanity’s lives) as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 linked most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none. The Categories are listed below in their usual appearing order:
- All Things Nuclear
- Nuclear Power
- Nuclear War
- Nuclear Power Emergencies
- Nuclear War Threats
- Yellowstone Caldera
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (per above). There are three Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.
(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)
TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (12/07/2023) :
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
‘Oppenheimer’ will screen in Japan in 2024, distributors say – WVTF
WVTF
All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:00 PM Marketplace. 0:00. 0:00. All Things … nuclear crisis and the Fukushima earthquake and nuclear disaster. See …
Uranium Energy Corp Featured at COP28 and Endorses Net Zero Nuclear Industry Pledge
PR Newswire
These two production platforms are anchored by fully operational central processing plants and served by seven U.S. ISR uranium projects with all …
‘Oppenheimer’ will screen in Japan in 2024, distributors say | New Hampshire Public Radio
NHPR
All Things Considered · Today’s Schedule · All Radio Programs · Printable … nuclear crisis and the Fukushima earthquake and nuclear disaster. See …
Nuclear Power
NEWS
China starts up world’s first fourth-generation nuclear reactor – The Hindu
The Hindu
China has started commercial operations at a new generation nuclear reactor that is the first of its kind in the world, state media said.
Op-Ed from Capito, Miss America 2023: We Must Advance Nuclear Energy in the United States
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works – Senate.gov
“Clean, reliable, abundant nuclear energy already provides about 20 percent of America’s electric power generation and could be the key to powering …
The Continued Triumph—and Harms—of ‘Atoms for Peace’ | TIME
Time
Between 1944 and 1986, the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), with the help of private mining corporations, extracted some 30 …
Nuclear War
NEWS
A Nuclear Attack by Design — or by Accident — Must Never Happen | Toda Peace Institute
Toda Peace Institute
Excerpts from an interview with Hirotsugu Terasaki, Director General of Peace and Global Issues at Soka Gakkai International (SGI).
Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace speech on nuclear dangers has important lessons even after 70 years
The Conversation
A climate of fear about international war inspired Eisenhower’s Atoms of Peace speech in 1953, his words about global peace seem relevant to …
Rosatom during the war: how militarization of the Russian nuclear giant took place
Bellona.org
Within this process, Rosatom, Russia’s putatively civilian state nuclear corporation, has emerged as a major player on the battlefield. Our new report …
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station Emergency Preparedness – EIN News
EIN News
ILLINOIS, December 7 – SPRINGFIELD -Enclosed is information regarding emergency preparedness for the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station.
Ukrainians urged to save power after plant hit – Today Online
Today Online
A general view of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant near the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk in … Lower temperatures, emergency repairs and a lack of solar …
Vietnam interested in Belarus’ experience in building nuclear power plant
belta.by
… nuclear power plant, Head of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry (Gosatomnadzor) Olga Lugovskaya …
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace speech on nuclear dangers has important lessons even after 70 years
The Conversation
In 2023, nuclear technology has been very much in the headlines, from the potential of nuclear threats during the war in Ukraine to cinematically …
Putin’s top ally predicts ‘rivers of blood’ & warns globe hasn’t been closer to nuclear WW3 …
The US Sun
Medvedev previously threatened to unleash World War 3 if the UK sends troops to Ukrainian soil. Advertisement. He also made chilling threats to …
No Good Reason for Nuclear Testing, Part 2 – Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
… War. In other words, should Russia and/or China decide to cast aside the de … In a time when nuclear threats and buildups threaten to return the …
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
What is a supervolcano? The answer isn’t so simple.
Verified News Explorer Channel – VNExplorer
Research suggests supereruptions at Yellowstone involved multiple explosive events. “It’s not a single explosion that empties the chamber all at once, …
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