“ATOMS FOR PEACE”
False Promises, Hidden Dangers
The “Atoms for Peace” campaign was launched by the United States in 1953, promoting nuclear energy as “clean, safe, cheap and limitless.” The U.S. spent tens of billions of dollars establishing the nuclear industry at home and selling it overseas, ensuring U.S. domination of an expanding global nuclear market. The former USSR created a similar program in Eastern Europe, while France, the United Kingdom and China developed weapons industries and nuclear energy for domestic use and export.
Scientists who worked on nuclear programs in the 1950s and '60s knew that nuclear technology involved major risks, but safety concerns were pushed aside to protect the interests of a growing industry. Vital information about nuclear dangers was kept from the public. A comprehensive public debate on the risks versus benefits of nuclear- generated power has never taken place.
In the Western industrial nations, nuclear power has been in decline for 20 years. Some European countries have passed laws to phase it out or ban it entirely. To survive and achieve profit from past investment, the nuclear industry is now pressuring developing economies – particularly in Asia and Eastern Europe – to “go nuclear.” While no new nuclear reactors have been ordered in the U.S. since 1973, the same technology that is no longer seen as safe or profitable in the U.S. continues to be promoted abroad by U.S., Canadian, European, and now Asian corporations.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was created to promote nuclear power and prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Yet these functions are fundamentally incompatible. The promotion of nuclear energy has led directly to the proliferation of nuclear materials and weapons.
Today the “Atoms for Peace” public relations campaign is still very much alive, providing cover for a highly dangerous technology. Nuclear power has never been, nor will it ever be, safe.
nonukes.org/briefing.htm#intro
nonukes.org/safenrgy.htm
What is your point of view on the matter ?