The amount of fallout that landed on Nagasaki in 1945 was 1/1,000,000,000,000 of the amount of fallout that landed on the Earth from global nuclear testing. ( * Amount of
fallout that fell on Nagasaki on Aug. 9 1945 was 15-40 grams, from
above-ground nuclear testing was 45 trillion grams; during Cold War atmospheric nuclear
testing. 0.25% of Nagasaki fallout fell
locally or 0.015
kgs; global testing fallout (fission) products amounted to about 45.7
billion kgs (110 lb/mt).) More
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Nuclear tests▼Fallout health impacts ▼|
What is Idealist.ws? Idealist is a grassroots organization that endeavors to slow and ultimately reverse the tide of global corporate and governmental suppression and cover-up of the environmental and health effects of human-made radiation that now contaminates every place on Earth. Our philosophy at Idealist is that unburying and disseminating this 'inconvenient' public knowledge will be the key to unlocking a nuclear-free world.
Book
Review 'The American West at Risk: Science, Myths, and Politics of Land Abuse and Recovery' (Oxford University Press, 2008) by Howard G. Wilshire, Jane E. Nielson, Richard W. Hazlett "The American West at Risk' never made it onto my bookshelf. It is still on my desk, months after buying it, and I expect it will remain there for some time as my frequently referenced, easy-to-understand guide to the environmental problems facing the American West. What's truly valuable about this book is that the information that the authors distilled into it is so pertinent and relevant yet usually impossible to find in one place with such clarity and detail. The average person usually has to grapple with lengthy, convoluted and sometimes misleading environmental assessments and impact statements regarding the extent of damage that projects of the DoD, DoE and other federal agencies have caused or may cause the land and health of peoples in the West. Wilshire, Nielson and Hazlett have distilled the thousands of pages that the beginner or amateur researcher - whether farmer, rancher, downwinder, transplant or even politician - would normally have to page through to get a handle on a controversial Western land-use issue. The authors, deeply concerned about land abuse in the West, have taken the time and effort to put together this themed-reference guide that no one else has done. They did a 5-star job at it." - Andrew Kishner January 13, 2010 - Roger Searle, a professor of geophysics in the Earth Sciences Department of Durham University (U.K.), recently noted that the January 12th Haitian earthquake was equivalent to the shockwave produced by a 0.5 megaton nuclear blast (35 Hiroshima bombs), or a 500,000 ton TNT explosion. Although the quake wasn't nuclear, it was still scary: right after the quake and resulting directly from it, a blanket of dust rose from the city of Port-au-Prince, most of it still lingering and containing soil deposits from global radioactive fallout and naturally occurring radionuclides. These dust particles were much, much less radioactive than Nevada Test Site soils, which would have been resuspended by 'Divine Strake,' a Department of Defense proposed experiment in the Nevada desert that was capable of producing a earthquake-sized shockwave about 700 times smaller than the 'Haiti blast.' The Department of Defense's Defense Threat Reduction Agency sponsored Divine Strake but canceled it on February 22, 2007 because of widespread protest over the test and possible public radiological exposure. From 1945 to 1992, the United States conducted over 1,100 nuclear tests from Bikini Atoll in the Pacific to the Colony of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic ocean, and about one dozen locations in between across the Northern Hemisphere. The total yield was 179 million tons of TNT equivalent, or equal to about 360 "Haitian earthquakes." Although the blasts didn't topple buildings and hospitals, the radiation traveled from 'proving grounds' to homes and farms and contaminated thousands of cities the size of Hiroshima with low-levels of radiation. More on global fallout
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Top News: January 27, 2010 (DOWNWINDER DAY) - Over the past several years, U.S. 'downwinder' groups representing fallout victims of Nevada nuclear testing have pushed for their own 'box' on the calendar. If we have Memorial Day to honor fallen military personnel, one could argue, then the 'downwinders' should have a day of their own. The day chosen for 'Downwinder Day' is January 27 for the simple reason that it is the anniversary date of the first atomic explosion in Nevada (January 27, 1951). More January 24, 2010 - Gas developers now want to drill in ALL nuclear test sites in Colorado here. January 18, 2010 - "4,000 or 500,000 CHERNOBYL CASUALITIES" @ 'No Incinerator For Croydon' blog January 12, 2010 - NPR's Morning Edition intended to air a piece on Tuesday (January 12, 2010) titled 'Mohave Downwinders Fight County's Exclusion From Compensation.' Snippets of the article appeared on the internet but there was no audio link or full article. We wrote the NPR-affiliate station that supposedly authored the piece (KNAU) and they only pointed us to a story they did in early November. (On Jan. 12, there was a free workshop from the Radiation Exposure Screening & Education Program in Flagstaff, AZ, scheduled for 5-7:30pm; more here.) Then on Saturday, January 17, 2010, NPR actually aired the piece, retitling it "'Downwinders' Make One Last Push For Money" - link is here - but it re-aired the same piece from EARLY NOVEMBER (HERE). FYI - We are all downwinders. Not just in the West. See the maps on this page and learn about 'global fallout' and RECA. January 7, 2010 - Aided with stimulus money, the DOE is demolishing a key facility at the Nevada Test Site used to test nuclear rockets during the Cold War (more about them here). Is the demolishment creating a radioactive-dust problem? Keep tabs on the 'situation' on our gamma page. click pic to expand
In Australia, major nuclear test sites were blocked by a 100-mile radius security zone. Why don't we do the same, to protect the public from lofting plutonium dust from the Nevada Test Site? More January 5, 2010 - If the (airport) scanner doesn't get you, the lightning just might, or the fallout here January 1, 2010 - New Youtube video
December 15, 2009 - A bittersweet NPR story of one woman's use of humor to cope with the impacts of surgeries from multiple cancers may be inspiring to listeners, but could Linda Hill be a 'downwinder,' or a victim of radiation poisoning from nuclear testing fallout by the U.S. during the 'Cold War'? More December 4, 2009 - The U.S. is conducting one hundred "backdoor" subcritical nuclear tests yearly with plutonium isotopes at a new X-ray imaging facility. The DOE snuck past any criticism of the global community by claiming they weren't going to use weapons-use plutonium for high explosive hydro-tests, but the DOE is actually using a 'weaker' type of plutonium that can still be used in nuclear weapons and using more of it than in past subcritical tests. Read more November 27, 2009 - True or false question: do nuclear power plants leak radiation? True, but don't take our word for it. Hear it from the utterly-wise cartoon celebrity 'Donkey Cow.' Nuclear Power: Bad to the Bone November 11, 2009 - Idealist mourns the passing of Eleanore Fanire-Lindquist, co-founder of Mohave Downwinders. Eleanore tirelessly crusaded for the rights of downwinders in her community of Mohave County, Arizona, which noticeably suffered from the hand of radioactive fallout that crossed over from Nevada during nuclear tests of the 1950s and 1960s. Eleanore strove to put Mohave County back on the map of "RECA," a compensation scheme set up by the federal government for radiation victims, known as 'downwinders.' Eleanore fought to bring dignity to those affected and endeavored to raise awareness globally of the impacts of nuclear testing too often hidden from world view. Idealist is dedicated to the memory of Eleanore and radiation victims everywhere. Obituary; piece by KNAU (Arizona NPR); RECA page October 29, 2009 - Decades ago we banned the stuff. After Katrina drained our stashes of building materials, we let it in through our borders. What is it? It's radioactive-rich drywall. The EPA did a really really comprehensive study consisting of seven overseas samples and, alas, found no problem. Sure! So, then why are people complaining of health problems from 'Chinese Drywall'? Are these health complaints similar to symptoms of 9/11 survivors? What's the connection? What is up with the radioactivity in imported AND domestic drywall? Read more October 20, 2009 - Nuclear fallout in the U.S.? Children got sick from radiation? Fallout built up in their teeth!? Study finds we nuked ourselves pretty bad. About the project; St. Louis fallout chart (see upper right quadrant); Read the study. more. even more. October 6, 2006 - U.S. nuclear experiments raises ire globally. Map of the global conversation about the U.S.'s subcritical experiment program; See our subcritical page October 4, 2009 - The first nation to drop nuclear bombs on the U.S. was....itself: 'Yucca Flat: The Most Bombed Place on Earth' September 25, 2009 - Britain nuked Australia. Then cleaned some of it up. Then Australia has the worst dust storm in 70 years, and you got radioactive dust storm worries mate! September 22, 2009 - Will the DOE become the largest landholder in Nevada? A new 'mixed' low-level radioactive dump is planned for the Nevada Test Site, which is also where Yucca was planned. This time the DOE wants its nuke dump and the title to the land too! More September 21, 2009 - It is a fact that what happens at the Nevada Test Site doesn't stay at the Nevada Test Site, the most radioactive piece of Earth in North America. Plutonium leaves the Nevada Test Site on regular cross-country flights called air currents. As long as the NTS isn't cleaned up, we must be remain concerned. Learn about the 2009-2011 process for the Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for the Nevada Test Site. More here. September 20, 2009 -U.S. to conduct subcrits this fall August 21, 2009 - Saul Landau, co-producer of the 1980 documentary 'Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang,' airs his own views on nuclear power in the op-ed piece 'The nuclear gang rides again,' which was published in progreso weekly on August 19, 2009. August 9, 2009 - Nagasaki Day 2009- Where did all the radiation from the Japan bomb attacks go? In Hiroshima? Not really. In Nagasaki? Not really. Read more. July 24, 2009 - New EIS announced - The DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today made an official announcement in the form of a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register that it will complete an EIS for the NTS and off-site areas (only) in Nevada. The notice of intent (NOI) can be found at this link. Read more about the new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). July 20, 2009 - NASA's Stupidity Remembered - On July 20, 1969, NASA astronauts landed and walked on the moon. What also landed on the moon that historic day was over 60 grams of Plutonium 238, THE most toxic substance. Used simply for the purpose of creating heat, NASA still relies on plutonium in exploratory spacecraft even though a significant breakthrough was made in the 1990s on an alternative (high performance silicon solar-cells) AND some of ours and some of Russia's spacecraft burnt up in Earth's atmosphere exposing billions of Earthlings to the most lethal substance known to man. Are we plain old stupid? Is space exploration worth the price of all of our heads? Do you know there are nuclear reactors in space, in Earth, orbit right now? Does anyone give a crap that a nuclear reactor can land on their home at anytime? More our nuclear-power in space page. June 25, 2009 - Senators move to add states to RECA At the insistence of the downwinder groups in Idaho and throughout the Intermountain West, all of the senators from Idaho and Montana today, on June 25, 2009, reintroduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to add their respective states to the RECA program. Senator Mike Crapo from Idaho introduced and read the bill the first and second times by unanimous consent, and referred it to the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is the third time the bill has been introduced over the past several years. The astute above senators, as with just about any person familiar with government studies on Nevada testing fallout, know that every state in the U.S., and most current and former territories, was hit by fallout and should be included in RECA. Read the senators' joint press release and let your very own senators know that you want this bill passed! More on our RECA page House members Jim Matheson, Mike Simpson, and Walt Minnick sent a letter on 2/18/2009 to the House Judiciary Committee asking for RECA expansion hearings. Read their letter. Contact your elected leaders to insist they support hearings on RECA. June 2009 - What if North Korea did a 'Baneberry'?
What would happen if a North Korean underground nuclear bomb test behaved (leaked) exactly like 'Baneberry,' which was the name given to a 1970 U.S. 10-kiloton 'underground nuclear' explosion whose containment failed? When Baneberry blew through the surface of the Nevada Test Site, over 6% of the test's radiation leaked, entrained in a 7,000 foot high mushroom cloud. After NUCLEAR WORKERS FLED [the] TESTING SITE, and RADIOACTIVE DUST ESCAPED, Baneberry's plumes of radioactivity traveled across the globe, coming down with air currents or the rain in the U.S., Canada, and probably parts of Europe. In the U.S. states worst hit by fallout from Baneberry - and, to repeat, Baneberry was an UNDERGROUND nuclear test that horribly leaked - infant mortality also rose sharply during the first three months after the test. If North Korea did a 'Baneberry,' the radiation would fall-out extensively over extremely heavily populated areas of China, and parts of Japan and Russia's Maritime Province. See our Youtube video and read our article How to Squash the Baneberry of the East a la Dorothy Gale. The long-range radioactive fallout will be NO different than the fallout from a deliberate nuclear attack. Leaked fallout from a peacetime nuclear test is NO different than fallout from a wartime nuclear test! Our calculations indicate that a North Korean 5-kiloton underground blast - if all gases leaked - will produce, and introduce into the environment, about 1,500 Curies of radioactive Cesium and Strontium. The 5 grams of Strontium-90 produced by the test, if distributed evenly in the bodies of all peoples, would kill the world's population of 1950 or about one-third of today's world population. Read more about the unspoken dangers of global radioactive poisoning by North Korea's 2009 underground nuclear test and future testing. Other recent news:
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Complete Writings, Compilations and Analyses Australia's worst dust storm in 70 years just got worse 'Believe it or not' Radiation Events in History Cesium and the alarm bells that never rang Charting the Isotopes of Fallout Comments to the NNSA on their Divine Strake Environmental Assessment Divine
Misgivings, December 16, 2006 Divine Strake: A Warning of Things to Come Divine Strake: Size Matters, Jan. 20, 2007 DOE saying it's protecting us is a hard pill to swallow, October 4, 2008 Downwinders concerned about Milford Flat Fire radiation DTRA's Divine Strake Public Meetings Concluded, December 20, 2006 Early quotes on nuclear energy from Barack Obama Fallout, Swine Flu, And A Pandemic Of Awareness article and epilogue Foiling A 'Lottery Of Death', July 11, 2008 GI Joe vs Albert Schweitzer, October 17, 2006 Global
fallout new Government studies - impacts of nuclear testing on health and life Guest
Blog: Divine Strake and the Rebirth of Democracy,
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'The
greatest irony of our atmospheric nuclear testing program
is that the only
victims of U.S. nuclear arms since World War II have been our own people.' - Forgotten
Guinea Pigs Report, 1980
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