Do you worry about nuclear war?
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that the potential threat of nuclear war is no more dangerous than the “existential problem of climate change.”
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock forward to 90 s before midnight, reflecting what it considers the growing risk of nuclear war. And a number of medical journals, including Lancet and JAMA Network are simultaneously publishing articles that urge health professionals to alert the public and our leaders to the major danger to public health posed by nuclear weapons. The ultimate goal of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and others is to eliminate nuclear weapons, and meanwhile to “urge all states involved in current conflicts to pledge publicly and unequivocally that they will not use nuclear weapons in these conflicts.”
Neither NATO nor Russia appears to be inclined to make such a pledge—instead, they remind each other of the threat as provocations escalate. Moreover, Russia is suspending a landmark nuclear arms control treaty and announcing that new strategic systems have been put on combat duty.
While another indictment of Donald Trump dominates U.S. news, world turmoil spreads. A military coup has occurred in Niger, the EU’s top supplier of uranium. Both Russia and China have significant interests in Africa. An explosion at a Russian uranium enrichment plant might have involved sabotage.
A summer blockbuster, Oppenheimer, has aroused more fears of nuclear fallout.
In case you hadn’t heard of it, a radiological emergency response effort is quietly being worked on by a complex array of U.S. federal agencies. Medical countermeasures for acute radiation sickness are being developed and stockpiled.
But efforts to prevent radiation exposure to civilians are self-help. Some fire departments are using the 60-second training card below—possibly the only nuclear training they receive. A simple safe/not safe monitor, which uses a chemical that changes color when exposed to ionizing radiation, is being offered to first responders by a private nonprofit, Physicians for Civil Defense and can be purchased.
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