Nuclear weapons are becoming a threat even to their owners. In May there is another opportunity to put matters right when the Non-Proliferation Treaty comes up for review.
In last year’s united states presidential elections both President George Bush and Senator John Kerry correctly identified nuclear proliferation, combined with nuclear terrorism, as the principal threat facing the world community. But sixty years into the nuclear era, while most people understand that such weapons are dangerous things, there is no awareness of the degree of danger, or demand for effective action.
Gun bomb
Hiroshima was devastated by an atomic bomb sixty years ago this summer. One hundred and forty thousand people were instantly killed. Including the effects of radiation poisoning, the five-year death total was over two hundred thousand, almost two thirds of the city’s population.
