![]() ![]() The threat was so real that President John F. These underground structures promised to protect people from a nuclear attack. Around 1950, Popular Science magazine started publishing blueprints, diagrams and detailed instructions on how to build home fallout shelters. Even more distressing was the fact that some of our biggest enemies had the weapons we feared most and were taunting us with threats of attacks that would wipe us off the map. After Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima, we went through over a decade with a sense of security, convinced no one would dare threaten a nation that had retaliated against Japan with such deadly force.Īs we rested on our laurels, the development of nuclear weapons progressed. But that status symbol also makes us the target of many countries that either want the crown for their own or, in most cases, just want to see us fall.īefore the advent of modern artillery and airborne weapons, American families hid in their basements, attics or haylofts to escape enemy invasions from foot soldiers. Or they come from preparedness efforts - such as backyard bomb shelters and yellow-and-black Fallout Shelter signs.Being viewed as the world's most powerful nation is fun during international flag-waving spectacles such as the opening Olympic Games ceremonies or a rare United Nations event. Or they come from fictional accounts - such as the 1957 novel On the Beach by Nevil Shute or the 1983 made-for-TV movie The Day After. Sometimes our Nuclear Moments come from actual events - such as Hiroshima or Chernobyl. Nearly everyone who replied carries a nuclear image. We wanted to examine certain Nuclear Moments in recent world history that shocked our consciousness. We received more than 3,700 replies, including some who chastised us for fear mongering and emphasizing disaster. Knowing that we have lived with these potential consequences for more than 60 years, we posed this query to NPR followers on Facebook: We want to know the image that first forced you - as a child - to think about the possibility of nuclear annihilation. ![]() It's great as long as it works right, but you can't engineer away every possible calamity." "But the trouble with nuclear power is that the potential consequences are so terrible. The Fukushima disaster "seems like a fairly random accident," says Reid Detchon of Energy Future Coalition, a nonpartisan public policy group. ![]() Officials check the level of radiation on a woman in Fukushima prefecture. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |