Nuclear ethics explained

Nuclear ethics is a cross-disciplinary field of academic and policy-relevant study in which the problems associated with nuclear warfare, nuclear deterrence, nuclear arms control, nuclear disarmament, or nuclear energy are examined through one or more ethical or moral theories or frameworks.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Nuclear ethics assumes that the very real possibilities of human extinction, mass human destruction, or mass environmental damage which could result from nuclear warfare are deep ethical or moral problems. Specifically, it assumes that the outcomes of human extinction, mass human destruction, or environmental damage count as moral evils. Another area of inquiry concerns future generations and the burden that nuclear waste and pollution imposes on them. Some scholars have concluded that it is therefore morally wrong to act in ways that produce these outcomes, which means it is morally wrong to engage in nuclear warfare.^[4]

Nuclear ethics is interested in examining policies of nuclear deterrence, nuclear arms control and disarmament, and nuclear energy insofar as they are linked to the cause or prevention of nuclear warfare. Ethical justifications of nuclear deterrence, for example, emphasize its role in preventing great power nuclear war since the end of World War II.^[5] Indeed, some scholars claim that nuclear deterrence seems to be the morally rational response to a nuclear-armed world.^[6] Moral condemnation of nuclear deterrence, in contrast, emphasizes the seemingly inevitable violations of human and democratic rights which arise.^[7] In contemporary security studies, the problems of nuclear warfare, deterrence, proliferation, and so forth are often understood strictly in political, strategic, or military terms.^[8] In the study of international organizations and law, however, these problems are also understood in legal terms.^[9]

Nuclear technology has seen the formation of an anti-nuclear movement since its early development, and grew with the increased impact of it, particularly nuclear weapons testing,^[10] caused the deaths ofup to 2.4 million people until 2020.^[11]

Early ethical issues

See also: Nuclear weapons debate and History of the anti-nuclear movement. The application of nuclear technology, both as a source of energy and as an instrument of war, has been controversial.^{[12] [13] [14] [15]}

Even before the first nuclear weapons had been developed, scientists involved with the Manhattan Project were divided over the use of the weapon. The role of the two atomic bombings of the country in Japan's surrender and the U.S.'s ethical justification for them has been the subject of scholarly and popular debate for decades. The question of whether nations should have nuclear weapons, or test them, has been continually and nearly universally controversial.^[16]

The public became concerned about nuclear weapons testing from about 1954, following extensive nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean. In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, about 50,000 women brought together by Women Strike for Peace marched in 60 cities in the United States to demonstrate against nuclear weapons.^{[17] [18]} In 1963, many countries ratified the Partial Test Ban Treaty which prohibited atmospheric nuclear testing.

Some local opposition to nuclear power emerged in the early 1960s,^[19] and in the late 1960s some members of the scientific community began to express their concerns.^[20] In the early 1970s, there were large protests about a proposed nuclear power plant in Wyhl, Germany. The project was cancelled in 1975 and anti-nuclear success at Wyhl inspired opposition to nuclear power in other parts of Europe and North America. Nuclear power became an issue of major public protest in the 1970s.^[21]

Uranium mining and milling

Between 1949 and 1989, over 4,000 uranium mines in the Four Corner region of the American Southwest produced more than 225,000,000 tons of uranium ore. This activity affected a large number of Native American nations, including the Laguna, Navajo, Zuni, Southern Ute, Ute Mountain, Hopi, Acoma and other Pueblo cultures.^{[22] [23]} Many of these peoples worked in the mines, mills and processing plants in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado.^[24] These workers were not only poorly paid, they were seldom informed of dangers nor were they given appropriate protective gear.^[25] The government, mine owners, scientific, and health communities were all well aware of the hazards of working with radioactive materials at this time.^{[26] [27]} Due to the Cold War demand for increasingly destructive and powerful nuclear weapons, these laborers were both exposed to and brought home large amounts of radiation in the form of dust on their clothing and skin.^[28] Epidemiologic studies of the families of these workers have shown increased incidents of radiation-induced cancers, miscarriages, cleft palates and other birth defects.^[29] The extent of these genetic effects on indigenous populations and the extent of DNA damage remains to be resolved.^{[30] [31] [32] [33]} Uranium mining on the Navajo reservation continues to be a disputed issue as former Navajo mine workers and their families continue to suffer from health problems.^[34]

Notable nuclear weapons accidents

See main article: Nuclear and radiation accidents.

• 13 February 1950: a Convair B-36B crashed in northern British Columbia after jettisoning a Mark IV atomic bomb. This was the first such nuclear weapon loss in history.
• 22 May 1957: a 42,000-pound Mark-17 hydrogen bomb accidentally fell from a bomber near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The detonation of the device's conventional explosives destroyed it on impact and formed a crater 25-feet in diameter on land owned by the University of New Mexico. According to a researcher at the Natural Resources Defense Council, it was one of the most powerful bombs made to date.^[35]
• 7 June 1960: the 1960 Fort Dix IM-99 accident destroyed a Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc nuclear missile and shelter and contaminated the BOMARC Missile Accident Site in New Jersey.
• 24 January 1961: the 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash occurred near Goldsboro, North Carolina. A B-52 Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in the process.^{[36] [37]}
• 1965 Philippine Sea A-4 crash, where a Skyhawk attack aircraft with a nuclear weapon fell into the sea.^[38] The pilot, the aircraft, and the B43 nuclear bomb were never recovered.^[39] It was not until the 1980s that the Pentagon revealed the loss of the one-megaton bomb.^[40]
• 17 January 1966: the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash occurred when a B-52G bomber of the USAF collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refuelling off the coast of Spain. The KC-135 was completely destroyed when its fuel load ignited, killing all four crew members. The B-52G broke apart, killing three of the seven crew members aboard.^[41] Of the four Mk28 type hydrogen bombs the B-52G carried,^[42] three were found on land near Almería, Spain. The non-nuclear explosives in two of the weapons detonated upon impact with the ground, resulting in the contamination of a 2sp=usNaNsp=us (0.78 square mile) area by radioactive plutonium. The fourth, which fell into the Mediterranean Sea, was recovered intact after a 2½-month-long search.^[43]
• 21 January 1968: the 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash involved a United States Air Force (USAF) B-52 bomber. The aircraft was carrying four hydrogen bombs when a cabin fire forced the crew to abandon the aircraft. Six crew members ejected safely, but one who did not have an ejection seat was killed while trying to bail out. The bomber crashed onto sea ice in Greenland, causing the nuclear payload to rupture and disperse, which resulted in widespread radioactive contamination.
• 18–19 September 1980: the Damascus Accident, occurred in Damascus, Arkansas, where a Titan missile equipped with a nuclear warhead exploded. The accident was caused by a maintenance man who dropped a socket from a socket wrench down an 80-foot shaft, puncturing a fuel tank on the rocket. Leaking fuel resulted in a hypergolic fuel explosion, jettisoning the W-53 warhead beyond the launch site.^{[44] [45] [46]}

Nuclear fallout

Over 500 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests were conducted at various sites around the world from 1945 to 1980. Radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing was first drawn to public attention in 1954 when the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test at the Pacific Proving Grounds contaminated the crew and catch of the Japanese fishing boat Lucky Dragon. One of the fishermen died in Japan seven months later, and the fear of contaminated tuna led to a temporary boycotting of the popular staple in Japan. The incident caused widespread concern around the world, especially regarding the effects of nuclear fallout and atmospheric nuclear testing, and "provided a decisive impetus for the emergence of the anti-nuclear weapons movement in many countries".^[47]

As public awareness and concern mounted over the possible health hazards associated with exposure to the nuclear fallout, various studies were done to assess the extent of the hazard. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ National Cancer Institute study claims that fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests would lead to perhaps 11,000 excess deaths amongst people alive during atmospheric testing in the United States from all forms of cancer, including leukemia, from 1951 to well into the 21st century.^{[48] [49]} As of March 2009, the U.S. is the only nation that compensates nuclear test victims. Since the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990, more than $1.38 billion in compensation has been approved. The money is going to people who took part in the tests, notably at the Nevada Test Site, and to others exposed to the radiation.^{[50] [51]}

Nuclear labor issues

See main article: Nuclear labor issues.

Nuclear labor issues exist within the nuclear power industry and the nuclear weapons production sector that impact upon the lives and health of laborers, itinerant workers and their families.^{[52] [53] [54]} This subculture of frequently undocumented workers (e.g., Radium Girls, the Fukushima 50, Liquidators, and Nuclear Samurai) do the dirty, difficult, and potentially dangerous work shunned by regular employees.^[55] When they exceed their allowable radiation exposure limit at a specific facility, they often migrate to a different nuclear facility. The industry implicitly accepts this conduct as it can not operate without these practices.^{[56] [57]}

Existent labor laws protecting worker's health rights are not properly enforced.^[58] Records are required to be kept, but frequently they are not. Some personnel were not properly trained resulting in their own exposure to toxic amounts of radiation. At several facilities there are ongoing failures to perform required radiological screenings or to implement corrective actions.

Many questions regarding these nuclear worker conditions go unanswered, and with the exception of a few whistleblowers, the vast majority of laborers – unseen, underpaid, overworked and exploited, have few incentives to share their stories.^[59] The median annual wage for hazardous radioactive materials removal workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is $37,590 in the U.S – $18 per hour.^[60] A 15-country collaborative cohort study of cancer risks due to exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation, involving 407,391 nuclear industry workers, showed significant increase in cancer mortality. The study evaluated 31 types of cancers, primary and secondary.^[61]

Civil liberties

Nuclear power is a potential target for terrorists, such as ISIL, and also increases the chances of nuclear weapons proliferation.^[62] Circumventing those problems involves reducing civil liberties, such as freedom of speech and of assembly, and so social scientist Brian Martin says that "nuclear power is not a suitable power source for a free society".^[63]

Human radiation experiments

See main article: Human radiation experiments. The Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE) was formed on 15 January 1994, by President Bill Clinton. Hazel O'Leary, the Secretary of Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy called for a policy of "new openness", initiating the release of over 1.6 million pages of classified documents. These records revealed that since the 1940s, the Atomic Energy Commission was conducting widespread testing on human beings without their consent. Children, pregnant women, as well as male prisoners were injected with or orally consumed radioactive materials.^[64]

Notes and References

1. Doyle, II. Thomas E.. Reviving Nuclear Ethics: A Renewed Research Agenda for the Twenty-first Century. Ethics and International Affairs. 2010. 24. 3. 287–308. 10.1111/j.1747-7093.2010.00268.x. 144502441.
2. Book: Nye, Joseph Jr.. Nuclear Ethics. 1986. The Free Press. New York. 978-0-02-923091-6.
3. Book: Ethics and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Religious and Secular Perspectives. 2004. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 978-0-521-54526-6. Sohail H. Hashmi and Steven P. Lee.
4. Doyle, II. Thomas E.. Kantian nonideal theory and nuclear proliferation. International Theory. 2010. 2. 1. 87–112. 10.1017/s1752971909990248. 202244223.
5. Book: Nye, Joseph S Jr.. Nuclear Ethics. 1986. The Free Press. New York . 59–80. 5.
6. Kavka. Greg S.. Some Paradoxes of Deterrence. Journal of Philosophy. 1978. 75. 6. 285–302. 10.2307/2025707. 2025707.
7. Book: Shue, Henry. Ethics and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Religious and Secular Perspectives. 2004. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge . 139–162. Liberalism: the Impossibility of Justifying Weapons of Mass Destruction. Sohail H. Hashmi and Steven P. Lee. 7.
8. Book: Buzan, Barry. The Evolution of International Security Studies. 2009. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 978-0-521-69422-3. Strategic Studies, deterrence, and the Cold War. Hansen, Lene . 4.
9. Book: Szasz, Paul C.. Ethics and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Religious and Secular Perspectives. 2004. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge . 43–72. The International Law concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction. Sohail H. Hashmi and Steven P. Lee. 2.
10. Fee . Elizabeth . Brown . Theodore M. . Dispelling the Specter of Nuclear Holocaust . American Journal of Public Health . 94 . 1 . 2004 . 0090-0036 . 14713693 . 1449821 . 10.2105/AJPH.94.1.36 . 36–36.
11. Web site: Adams . Lilly . Resuming Nuclear Testing a Slap in the Face to Survivors . The Equation . May 26, 2020 . July 16, 2024.
12. Web site: Sunday Dialogue: Nuclear Energy, Pro and Con . 25 February 2012 . The New York Times .
13. Robert Benford. The Anti-nuclear Movement (book review) American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 89, No. 6, (May 1984), pp. 1456–1458.
14. James J. MacKenzie. Review of The Nuclear Power Controversy by Arthur W. Murphy The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 52, No. 4 (Dec. 1977), pp. 467–468.
15. [Jim Falk]
16. Jerry Brown and Rinaldo Brutoco (1997). Profiles in Power: The Anti-nuclear Movement and the Dawn of the Solar Age, Twayne Publishers, pp. 191–192.
17. Web site: Dagmar Wilson dies at 94; organizer of women's disarmament protesters . Woo, Elaine . 30 January 2011 . Los Angeles Times .
18. Web site: Dagmar Wilson, Anti-Nuclear Leader, Dies at 94 . Hevesi, Dennis . 23 January 2011 . The New York Times .
19. Garb . Paula . Review of Critical Masses . Journal of Political Ecology . 6 . 1999 .
20. Wolfgang Rudig (1990). Anti-nuclear Movements: A World Survey of Opposition to Nuclear Energy, Longman, p. 52.
21. Jim Falk (1982). Global Fission: The Battle Over Nuclear Power, Oxford University Press, pp. 95–96.
22. Book: Masco. Joseph. The Nuclear Borderlands: The Manhattan Project in Post-Cold War New Mexico. 2006. Princeton University Press. Princeton, NJ. 978-0-691-12076-8.
23. Book: Pasternak. Judy. Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed. 2010. Free Press, Simon & Schuster, Inc.. New York. 978-1-4165-9482-6.
24. Book: Kuletz. Valerie L.. The Tainted Desert: Environmental and Social Ruin in the American West. 1998. Routledge. New York. 978-0-415-91770-4.
25. Book: Johnston. Barbara Rose. Half-Lives and Half Truths: Confronting the Radioactive Legacies of the Cold War. 2007. School for Advanced Research Press. Santa Fe, NM. 978-1-930618-82-4.
26. Web site: Brugge. Doug; Timothy Benally, Ester Yazzie Lewis. Uranium Mining on Navajo Indian Land. Partnering with Indigenous Peoples to Defend their Lands, Languages and Cultures. 9 April 2010 . Cultural Survival.org. 31 March 2014.
27. Book: Bruce. Hevly. John M.. Findlay. The Atomic West. 1998. University of Washington Press. Seattle and London. 978-0-295-97749-2.
28. Book: Amundson. Michael A.. Yellowcake Towns: Uranium Mining Communities in the American West. 2002. University Press of Colorado. Boulder. 978-0-87081-662-8.
29. Web site: Laramee. Eve Andree. Tracking Our Nuclear Legacy: Now we are all sons of bitches. 2012. WEAD: Women Environmental Artist Directory. 31 March 2014.
30. News: Frosh. Dan. Uranium Contamination Haunts Navajo Country. 31 March 2014. The New York Times. 26 July 2009.
31. Book: Johnston, Barbara Rose; Holly M. Barker; Marie I. Boutte; Susan Dawson; Paula Garb; Hugh Gusterson; Joshua Levin; Edward Liebow; Gary E. Madsen; David H. Price; Kathleen Purvis-Roberts; Theresa Satterfield; Edith Turner; Cynthia Werner. Half Lives & Half Truths: Confronting the Radioactive Legacies of the Cold War. 2007. School for Advanced Research Press. Santa Fe, NM. 978-1-930618-82-4.
32. Book: Brugge, Doug; Timothy Benally, Esther Yazzie-Lewis. The Navajo People and Uranium Mining. 2007. University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque. 978-0-8263-3779-5.
33. Web site: Jung. Carrie. Navajo Nation Opposes Uranium Mine on Sacred Site in New Mexico. Al Jazerra. 31 March 2014.
34. News: Reese. April. Navajo Group to Take Uranium Mine Challenge to Human Rights Commission. 21 April 2014. The New York Times. 12 May 2011.
35. News: Accident Revealed After 29 Years: H-Bomb Fell Near Albuquerque in 1957. 31 August 2014. Associated Press. Los Angeles Times. 27 August 1986.
36. Big Bangs from Little Bombs. 28. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. May 1975. Barry Schneider. 13 July 2009.
37. Book: Broken Arrow – The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents. James C. Oskins, Michael H. Maggelet. 2008. 29 December 2008. lulu.com. 978-1-4357-0361-2.
38. Web site: Ticonderoga Cruise Reports . Navy.mil weblist of Aug 2003 compilation from cruise reports . 20 April 2012 . The National Archives hold[s] deck logs for aircraft carriers for the Vietnam Conflict..
39. http://www.atomicarchive.com/Almanac/Brokenarrows_static.shtml Broken Arrows
40. News: 9 May 1989 . U.S. Confirms '65 Loss of H-Bomb Near Japanese Islands . The Washington Post . Reuters . A–27.
41. News: Hayes . Ron . 17 January 2007 . H-bomb incident crippled pilot's career . Palm Beach Post . https://web.archive.org/web/20110616223334/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/01/17/m1a_Hbomb_0117.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=17 . 16 June 2011 . 24 May 2006 . dead .
42. Book: Maydew, Randall C. . America's Lost H-Bomb: Palomares, Spain, 1966 . Sunflower University Press . 978-0-89745-214-4 . 1997.
43. News: Long . Tony . 17 January 2008 . Jan. 17, 1966: H-Bombs Rain Down on a Spanish Fishing Village . WIRED . 16 February 2008.
44. Book: Schlosser. Eric. Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety. 2013. Penguin Press. 978-1-59420-227-8. registration.
45. Web site: Christ. Mark K.. Titan II Missile Explosion. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. 31 August 2014.
46. Book: Stumpf. David K.. Christ. Mark K.. Slater. Cathryn H.. "We Can Neither Confirm Nor Deny" Sentinels of History: Refelections on Arkansas Properties on the National Register of Historic Places. 2000. University of Arkansas Press. Fayetteville.
47. Wolfgang Rudig (1990). Anti-nuclear Movements: A World Survey of Opposition to Nuclear Energy, Longman, pp. 54–55.
48. Web site: Report on the Health Consequences to the American Population from Nuclear Weapons Tests Conducted by the United States and Other Nations. CDC. 7 December 2013.
49. Book: Council, National Research. Exposure of the American Population to Radioactive Fallout from Nuclear Weapons Tests: A Review of the CDC-NCI Draft Report on a Feasibility Study of the Health Consequences to the American Population from Nuclear Weapons Tests Conducted by the United States and Other Nations. 11 February 2003. www.nap.edu. 10.17226/10621. 25057651. 978-0-309-08713-1.
50. Web site: International. ABC News.
51. Web site: Radiation Exposure Compensation System: Claims to Date Summary of Claims Received by 06/11/2009.
52. News: Efron. Sonni. System of Disposable Laborers. 28 March 2014. Los Angeles Times. 30 December 1999.
53. News: Wald. Matthew L.. U.S. Acknowledges Radiation Killed Weapons Workers. 28 March 2014. New York Times. 29 January 2000.
54. News: Iwaki. H.T.. Meet the Fukushima 50? No, you can't.. The Economist. 8 October 2012. 28 March 2014.
55. Bagne. Paul. The Glow Boys: How Desperate Workers are Mopping Up America's Nuclear Mess. Mother Jones. November 1982. VII. IX. 24–27. 28 March 2014.
56. News: Efron. Sonny. System of Disposable Laborers. Los Angeles Times. 1 April 2014. 30 December 1999.
57. Web site: Petersen-Smith. Khury. Twenty-first century colonialism in the Pacific. IRS. 1 April 2014.
58. Jacob. P.. Rühm, L.. Blettner, M.. Hammer, G.. Zeeb, H.. Is cancer risk of radiation workers larger than expected?. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 30 March 2009. 66. 789–796. 10.1136/oem.2008.043265. 12. 19570756. 2776242.
59. Web site: Krolicki. Kevin and Chisa Fujioka. Japan's "throwaway" nuclear workers. Reuters, MMN: Mother Nature Network. 1 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20110902060956/http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/japans-throwaway-nuclear-workers. 2 September 2011. dead.
60. Web site: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hazardous Materials Removal Workers. 1 April 2014.
61. E. . Cardis . M. . Vrijheid . M.. Blettner . E. . Gilbert . M. . Hakama . C. . Hill . G. . Howe . J. . Kaldor . C.R. . Muirhead . M. . Schubauer-Berigan . T. . Yoshimura . F. . Bermann . G. . Cowper . J. . Fix . C. . Hacker . B. . Heinmiller . M. . Marshall . I. . Thierry-Chef . D. . Utterback . Y-O. . Ahn . E. . Amoros . P. . Ashmore . A. . Auvinen . J-M. . Bae . J. . Bernar . A. . Biau . E. . Combalot . P. . Deboodt . A. Diez . Sacristan . M. . Eklöf . H. . Engels . G. . Engholm . G. . Gulis . R.R. . Habib . K. . Holan . H. . Hyvonen . A. . Kerekes . J. . Kurtinaitis . H. . Malker . M. . Martuzzi . A. . Mastauskas . A. . Monnet . M.. Moser . M.S. . Pearce . D.B. . Richardson . F. . Rodriguez-Artalejo . A. . Rogel . H. . Tardy . M. . Telle-Lamberton . I. . Turai . M. . Usel . K. . Veress. The 15-Country Collaborative Study of Cancer Risk among Radiation Workers in the Nuclear Industry: Estimates of Radiation-Related Cancer Risks. Radiation Research. April 2007. 167. International Agency for Research on Cancer. 4. 396–416. 10.1667/RR0553.1. 17388693. 2007RadR..167..396C . 36282894 .
62. Web site: Sengupta, II. Kim. ISIS Nuclear Attack in Europe is a Real Threat. Independent.co.uk. 7 June 2016.
63. Martin, B. (2015). Nuclear power and civil liberties EnergyScience – The Briefing Paper 23 (pp. 1–6) Australia.
64. Book: Welsome. Eileen. The Plutonium Files: America's Secret Medical Experiments in the Cold War. 1999. Delta Books, Random House, Inc.. New York. 978-0-385-31954-6.