Nuclear warhead triggers

Journal of Public Health Policy,  2002  

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THE New York Times of June 2 reported that the U.S. will resume production of plutonium "pits" which are used to trigger nuclear warheads. The Energy Department stopped production of the softball-size plutonium triggers in 1989, the year that the Cold War ended in victory. Plutonium triggers were last produced at the Rocky Flats facility in Colorado, currently being cleaned of radioactive waste.

The new manufacturing facility is expected to cost $1.2 billion to $4.4 billion. A recent study by the Bush administration had urged construction of the new plant, and some members of the House and Senate had indicated their concern that the lack of such a facility could jeopardize future readiness of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile.

The Energy Department currently relies on using triggers from disassembled warheads. Officials stated that this limited number cannot meet long-term needs. This is frightening news. Our government is not only developing new types of atom bombs, and storing instead of destroying those slated for elimination as previously agreed. It is now declaring that nuclear war will continue for many years. The 21st century may well outdo the horrors of the 20th century.

Furthermore, our government has failed to understand the incredible horror and destruction by the bombs which the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Almost 98% of Hiroshima's buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, and more than 100,000 Japanese died within a few days. In Nagasaki, half the city was instantly destroyed; of the approximately 270,000 inhabitants, 70,000 were dead by the end of the year. The new atomic bombs are even more powerful than the two bombs used in 1945.

Will humanity survive?

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