Steven Starr is the Senior Scientist for Physicians for Social Responsibility and Director of the Clinical Laboratory Science Program at the University of Missouri. Today he joins us to discuss his work on the environmental impact of nuclear warfare, including an examination of his recent article on “The Lethality of Nuclear Weapons.” From climate and ozone disruption to famine, electronic failure and the risk of nuclear reactor meltdowns, we discuss the science behind why nuclear war has no winner.
SHOW NOTES:
NuclearDarkness.org
“The Lethality of Nuclear Weapons”
Cold War 2.0 and the Threat of Nuclear Warfare
Union of Concerned Scientists on the Nuclear Bunker Buster
The US Envisages a First Strike Nuclear Attack against Russia
Why have the effects that Mr. Starr describes not been produced by the 2,000+ nuclear bombs that have already been detonated? I have this from armscontrol.org:
Since the first nuclear test explosion on July 16, 1945, at least eight nations have detonated 2,053 nuclear test explosions at dozens of test sites from Lop Nor in China, to the atolls of the Pacific, to Nevada, to Algeria where France conducted its first nuclear device, to western Australia where the U.K. exploded nuclear weapons, the South Atlantic, to Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, across Russia, and elsewhere.
Most of the test sites are in the lands of indigenous peoples and far from the capitals of the testing governments. A large number of the early tests– 528 — were detonated in the atmosphere, which spread radioactive materials through the atmosphere. Many underground nuclear blasts have also vented radioactive material into the atmosphere and left radioactive contamination in the soil
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/nucleartesttally