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Despite radioactive pollution, right wing USA wants more nuclear testing

Over 41 years, the federal government detonated 921 nuclear warheads underground at the Nevada Test Site, 75 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Each explosion deposited a toxic load of radioactivity into the ground and, in some cases, directly into aquifers… In a study for Nye County, where the nuclear test site lies, Buqo estimated that the underground tests polluted 1.6 trillion gallons of water. That is as much water as Nevada is allowed to withdraw from the Colorado River in 16 years — enough to fill a lake 300 miles long, a mile wide and 25 feet deep……

Right Makes Nuclear Testing A Priority, Wonk Room, By Max Bergmann on May 13th, 2010The outlines of a far-right Republican foreign policy are emerging. “……but what jumped out at me was the priority given to nuclear testing. It is their second talking point:

2. A robust defense posture including a safe, reliable, effective nuclear deterrent, which requires its modernization and testing

That’s right, after nearly two decades of not testing nuclear weapons, these six far-right influencers want the GOP to start blowing up nuclear weapons again. Think these six wingers are just shouting on the sidelines? Think again. Jon Kyl, the second ranking Senate Republican, is fully on board with nuclear testing. He even wrote an oped in the Wall Street Journal last fall arguing why we need nuclear testing.

The far right’s reasoning is that in order to “modernize” the US nuclear arsenal, we must build new nuclear weapons, and if we build new nuclear weapons we must explosively test them………the right is not only opposed to cutting nuclear weapons, they actually want to build more.

And for those thinking nuclear testing is safe and reliable, the LA Times reported last November on “Nevada’s hidden ocean of radiation.” It noted that:

Over 41 years, the federal government detonated 921 nuclear warheads underground at the Nevada Test Site, 75 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Each explosion deposited a toxic load of radioactivity into the ground and, in some cases, directly into aquifers… In a study for Nye County, where the nuclear test site lies, Buqo estimated that the underground tests polluted 1.6 trillion gallons of water. That is as much water as Nevada is allowed to withdraw from the Colorado River in 16 years — enough to fill a lake 300 miles long, a mile wide and 25 feet deep……

Wonk Room » Right Makes Nuclear Testing A Priority – Get The Bomb Shelter Ready Nevadans

May 15, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, water