In Mortal Hands – Review

In Mortal Hands – Review Palestine Chronicle By Jim Miles In Mortal Hands – A Cautionary History of the Nuclear Age. Stephanie Cooke. Bloomsbury, New York, 2009.In an era when the corporate media and the corporate politicians and the corporate military men gang up together and denounce and threaten other countries because of their nuclear related activities, they should spend much of that rhetorical energy by cross-examining themselves in a mirror………………………..The real issue as reiterated constantly and perceptively by Stephanie Cooke is that of an industry whose central purpose is to create fissile material for weapons production regardless of and in spite of all other attempts to equate nuclear energy with peaceful purposes and with the ‘greening’ of the energy industry. It is a trillion dollar industry, supported by governments of all genres as no private developer is able to cover the costs of development, the insurance liabilities in case of accident (highly likely, already highly significant), and the huge timelines and costs of decommissioning the radioactive waste from the reactor’s fuel as well as the radioactive hulks of the reactors themselves.

In short, it is an economically unfeasible and environmentally dangerous business that is supported by public officials and the media in order to keep making weapons.

That statement will of course lead to derision by spokespeople for the nuclear industry, whether they are within the industry or members of the political and media propaganda that supports them. As we head into a future with the advertised benefits of nuclear power in an era of ‘green’ energy, In Mortal Hands is indeed a cautionary tale that all those involved and everyone in the public should be reading.

Media, Propaganda, and Secrecy All of the themes are necessarily related and with significant overlaps, but they can be examined through various different foci. Media and its entanglement with propaganda receive a large share of the commentary in the book, as the nuclear industry tried – mostly successfully – to convince the public (the taxpayers supporting it all) that there was a peaceful side to nuclear power and that it was clean and safe. On the other side, the politically provoked fears of communism then and militant Islam now are to convince those same taxpayers that nuclear weapons could be used to act pre-emptively and win a nuclear war with whatever opponent is chosen. ……………………..Once under way, the peaceful use of nuclear fuel and the resulting “uranium boom was really started to ensure the country had enough fuel for the rapid build-up of its nuclear weapons stockpile.” It was supported by “spin-doctoring in Washington, D.C. [reaching] down through the corporate sphere to local people.” …………………………….

Perhaps the current situation has not been clear with all the secrecy, lies, deceit and hypocrisy surrounding the nuclear industry, but after reading this excellent work, there remains a clear and present danger.

As highlighted by Cooke, the nuclear industry is not saf

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