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“Countdown to Zero” – film faces the nuclear weapons facts

The only answer, this film and its many talking heads assert, is to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Thus the title of “Countdown to Zero” is less a pessimistic prediction of doomsday than a rallying cry to eliminate the danger. In fact, the film closes on an optimistic note, describing the Global Zero initiative through which world leaders hope to phase out nuclear weapons.

Countdown to Zero’ a frightening nuclear threat, By ROBERT W. BUTLER, McClatchy Newspapers, 14 Aug 2010, “……with the fall of the communist bloc we heaved a collective sigh of relief and looked to a less stressful future.

Well, don’t get too comfortable. Lucy Walker’s documentary is a blood-curdling look at the world’s nuclear arsenal that suggests atomic Armageddon remains every bit as likely as during the height of the Cold War……..

With cool precision this well-made film lays out its case: Terrorists are constantly trying to get their hands on fissionable material (the hardware necessary to make a bomb is ridiculously easy to come by). Former Soviet nuclear stockpiles are terrifyingly vulnerable (it has been sheer dumb luck that allowed authorities to break up rings devoted to smuggling enriched uranium out of Russia). And odds are that some major city will be the target……

But “Countdown” looks beyond terrorism to the possibility of a nuclear accident. It almost happened in 1995, when the U.S. fired a rocket near Iceland to study the aurora borealis. We informed the Russians about the test, but word of it never made it through their bureaucracy. Told his country was under attack from the U.S., Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin defied military protocols and delayed a retaliatory strike.

…………..The only answer, this film and its many talking heads assert, is to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Thus the title of “Countdown to Zero” is less a pessimistic prediction of doomsday than a rallying cry to eliminate the danger.

In fact, the film closes on an optimistic note, describing the Global Zero initiative through which world leaders hope to phase out nuclear weapons.

Countdown to Zero’ a frightening nuclear threat – KansasCity.com

August 14, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons