Paper Summary:

This paper examines how, between 1945 and 1992, over one-thousand nuclear weapon tests were carried out in the U.S.A. It looks at how the poor decisions of leaders has led to one of the largest scale environmental hazards that has ever taken place and how we now need to channel energy into cleaning up the mess. It discusses how investing into technologies that will help clean up the most severely contaminated sites is key to the survival of the environment and how the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) of 1990 must be amended as well to be more inclusive of the people that weapons testing has harmed and more responsibility needs to be taken on the part of the state. This investigation follows the history of nuclear weapons testing in the United States and its environmental impacts. From site selection to pulling the trigger, the issues surrounding environmental equity and the nuclear tragedy are explored to reveal a horrifying story.

Outline
Introduction
Discussion
In the Beginning
The Dawn of the Age of Trinity
Shot Harry: A Shot to the Heart
"Downwinders": Decades After the Fact
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The National Academy of Science (NAS) released a report discussing the long-term problems that downwinders will face in the present and coming years. What they uncovered is quite possibly the worst environmental hazard that has ever occurred. In some areas it has been suggested that it will take three hundred years, or more, for radioactive materials to reach safe levels and some areas may need to be under surveillance for several thousands of years (Fialka, 2000). The NAS report predicted that the long-term costs would be somewhere between one-hundred fifty-one billion to one-hundred ninety-five billion dollars and even more shocking is that some sites may never be completely clean. More problems are arising as urban sprawl continues and these areas face pressure from suburban development (Fialka, 2000)."

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