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| Lessons of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki |
| - Editorial in
The Hindu, Saturday, August 06, 2005 |
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| by Prof.M.S.
Swaminathan |
| President, Pugwash
Conferences on Science and World Affairs |
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| The voice of
sanity of the survivors of the 1945 nuclear annihilation
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is yet to be heard.
States that possess nuclear weapons should not
lose even a day in working towards eliminating
them. |
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| ON AUGUST 6, 1945,
the most dreadful of the weapons of mass destruction
— the atom bomb — was dropped in the
civilian area of Hiroshima. Three days later,
another atom bomb was dropped in Nagasaki. In
1955, Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein issued
their famous manifesto seeking the abolition of
nuclear weapons and appealing to all inhabitants
of Planet Earth: "Remember your humanity,
and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way
is open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there
lies before you the risk of universal death."
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| In 1957, the Russell-Einstein
Manifesto led to the birth of the Pugwash Conferences
on Science and World Affairs, an organisation
devoted to ending the nuclear peril and reminding
scientists of their ethical responsibility for
the consequences of their discoveries, particularly
in the area of nuclear threat to human survival.
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| The Pugwash Conference
held in 1995 in Hiroshima on the occasion of the
50th anniversary of the advent of atomic weapons
concluded, "the end of the cold war, and
the beginning of deep reduction in the huge nuclear
arsenals that the war spawned, have provided an
unprecedented opportunity for the abolition of
nuclear weapons as well as the abolition of war."
Meeting again in Hiroshima in July 2005, the Pugwash
Council observed, "The decade since 1995,
when Pugwash last met in Hiroshima, has been one
of missed opportunities and a marked deterioration
in global security, not least regarding the nuclear
threat. In that time, additional States have acquired
nuclear weapons, there has been little tangible
progress in nuclear disarmament, new nuclear weapons
are being proposed, and military doctrines are
being revised that place a greater reliance on
the potential use of such weapons." The prospects
for nuclear terrorism and adventurism have now
become real. The voice of sanity of the survivors
of the 1945 nuclear annihilation in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki is yet to be heard. This is unfortunate
since only they know what hell on earth means.
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| Members of the
Pugwash Council, meeting just steps away from
Hiroshima's ground zero, have hence appealed to
fellow scientists and citizens to confront the
threat of nuclear weapon use that could materialise
at any time, without warning, in any part of the
world. To political and government leaders, our
message is simple, but stark: as long as nuclear
weapons exist, they will one day be used. |
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| The Seventh Review
Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT), held in the spring of 2005 in New York,
ended in a deadlock. The five original nuclear
weapon states (the United States, Russia, the
United Kingdom, France, and China) showed themselves
unwilling to take decisive action to implement
their obligations under Article VI of the NPT
to move decisively toward the irreversible elimination
of their nuclear arsenals. All states must share
the blame for missing a solid opportunity at the
Review Conference to resolve problems such as
equitable access to civilian nuclear technologies,
as allowed under Article IV, while at the same
time tightening protections to ensure that such
materials are not diverted for military use. |
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| The broad framework
of nuclear weapons disarmament is in danger of
collapsing. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT) has not entered into force, the U.S. and
Russia need to accelerate and enlarge the reductions
called for by the Moscow Treaty, and negotiations
have yet to begin on a Fissile Material Cut-off
Treaty (FMCT) to eliminate production of weapons-grade
Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) and plutonium. Far
more needs to be done to control and dispose of
existing stockpiles of HEU that run the risk of
falling into the hands of terrorist groups. Large
numbers of tactical nuclear weapons continue to
be deployed in Europe and elsewhere, having no
military rationale whatsoever, while pressures
mount from certain quarters for developing and
deploying space weapons. |
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| Next month, a
U.N. Summit will be held in New York to review
the progress made in achieving the U.N. Millennium
Development Goals in the areas of food, water,
health, education, and clean environment for all.
The explosive progress in science and technology
witnessed in recent decades has provided uncommon
opportunities for realising these goals. Yet,
most developing countries, including India, are
falling behind the targets set. The extensive
co-existence of unacceptable poverty and unsustainable
lifestyles is not conducive to the creation of
a climate for peace and harmony. What we urgently
need is a shift in emphasis among militarily and
economically powerful countries from military
to moral leadership. At the same time, Einstein's
advice to fellow scientists, "concern for
Man himself and his fate must always form the
chief interest of all technical endeavours in
order that the creation of our minds shall be
a blessing and not a curse," should be the
guiding motto in scientific laboratories everywhere
in the world. |
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| It will be useful
to recall the role Jawaharlal Nehru played in
mobilising scientific opinion against nuclear
weapons. Early in 1954, he called "for the
setting up of a Committee of scientists to explain
to the world the effect a nuclear war would have
on humanity." This idea was taken up by Joseph
Rotblat, who along with Pugwash was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1995, and Eugene Rabinowitch,
resulting in the organisation of the Pugwash Conferences
on Science and World Affairs. The name of the
organisation comes from Pugwash Village in Nova
Scotia, Canada, where the first conference was
held in 1957. Nehru was also the first foreign
Prime Minister to visit Hiroshima. In 1957, he
praised the atom bomb survivors for their determination
to spread around the globe information on the
enormous harm radiation can cause to both the
present population and to the generations yet
to be born. Even now, harmful mutations are being
observed in children in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Thus, the genetic harm is as serious as the immediate
harm. Nehru played a major part in getting the
first U.N. Conference on the Peaceful Uses of
Atomic Energy organised in Geneva in 1955. This
conference was chaired by the late Homi Bhabha,
the then Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission
who outlined in his Presidential Address a strategy
for harnessing the multiple contributions that
nuclear tools can make to strengthen food, health,
and energy security in the world. |
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| Six steps |
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| In my Presidential
Address delivered at the Pugwash Conference held
in Hiroshima on July 27, 2005, I outlined the
following six steps to achieve the goal of a nuclear
peril free world: |
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- All nations with nuclear weapons should
adopt during 2005 a legally mandatory policy
of "no first use of nuclear weapons,"
as homage to the survivors of the nuclear
tragedy of 1945.
- Respect commitments to the nuclear non-proliferation
treaty, ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty, conclude a Fissile Material Cut-Off
Treaty, and ban all research relating to the
development of new nuclear weapons.
- Conclude a Nuclear Weapons Convention outlining
a road map for getting to zero by 2020.
- Avoid prospects for nuclear terrorism and
adventurism by eliminating all unsecured nuclear
fissile material and by implementing the concrete
steps proposed by Pugwash for the elimination
of HEU; otherwise there is risk of nuclear
power groups and individuals emerging, in
addition to nuclear power states.
- Because of the multi-dimensional threats
posed to human security by climate change,
and the consequent need for reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, interest and investment in
nuclear power plants are growing. The civilian
uses of atomic energy are likely to grow.
Hence, the U.N. may convene an International
Conference on the Civilian Uses of Atomic
Energy to develop a Code of Conduct to ensure
that the non-military use of nuclear fuels
does not get abused and to further strengthen
safeguards and the inspection role and monitoring
capacity of the International Atomic Energy
Agency.
- Democratic systems of governance are fast
spreading in the world, which involve the
holding of free and fair elections periodically.
It would be useful to develop a Hiroshima-Nagasaki
60th Anniversary Appeal that calls upon all
political parties in every country to include
in their next election manifesto, a firm commitment
to work for speedy nuclear disarmament with
a view to rid the world of the nuclear peril
as soon as technically feasible. Without global
political commitment, this goal cannot be
achieved. At the same time, it would be useful
to introduce in school curricula information
on the consequences of the use of nuclear
weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August
1945, to bring home the immediate and long
term disastrous impact of a nuclear war. Without
public and political education, the climate
for peace and nuclear disarmament will not
exist.
- Looking at the brighter side, nuclear weapons
have not been used in 60 years. This is a
tribute to the work of Pugwash and numerous
civil society organisations. Unfortunately,
the growing number of suicide bombing incidents
indicate that we are now entering uncharted
territory in human conflicts and retribution.
At least to prevent the potential non-state
use of nuclear weapons, nuclear weapon states
should not lose even a day in working towards
the goal of totally eliminating such weapons.
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