1. 1. BoRon 5:45 pm 03/30/2011

   That’s insanity and bravado. It shouldn’t take thousands of tests to fine tune wholesale destruction. The devices aren’t going to be used in precision demolition.

   What quantity of radioactive waste did those tests release into the winds and water compared to the damaged plants in Japan, at worst?

   Link to this

2. 2. bertrand_ducharme 7:50 pm 03/30/2011

   I wonder how many cancers those explosions have produced. We never hear about them.

   Link to this

3. 3. thelolyflame 9:30 am 03/31/2011

   It is unbelievable.

   Link to this

4. 4. landonthegr8 9:46 am 03/31/2011

   This amount of testing these bombs is a crime against humanity. My God, the illnesses this must have inflicted on so many people! What justification can there be for this? And what has happened since 98?

   Link to this

5. 5. GinnFizz 12:38 pm 03/31/2011

   Total car accident fatalities last year: 507,781
   Total infant abortion deaths last year: 6,270,000
   Total number of nuclear bomb deaths, ever: ~250,000

   Link to this

6. 6. Civ UK 4:06 pm 03/31/2011

   Quite a scary movie indeed.

   But a note for the authors of some of the other comments: I believe that most of those tests took place underground a depths so high that there are near nill risk of contamination of water.

   Link to this

7. 7. Ronnie 4:53 pm 03/31/2011

   Hold Presidents Responsible

   We think of responsible persons when we look back in history at our past Presidents in America, not true, just look at our current President. Sheer madness must have overcome these idiots who allowed nuclear testing on a massive scale during multiple administrations. Looking back, nuclear detonations were more like fire works display’s for amusement, sadly we have had intellectual morons in seats of power for decades. If there was an accountability mechanism for Presidents we would be a much better country, punishing them for secret deals and secret firing of nuclear devises. Every President would have stopped and said no if there was a penalty for damaging our country, they would not walk with impunity. If we have learned anything from history let it be to hold our Presidents accountable with jail time or worse if they fail to hold true to the Constitution and the will of the people.

   Ronald Nussbeck

   Link to this

8. 8. bertrand_ducharme 7:26 pm 03/31/2011

   Taken into consideration the date of the limited test ban of 1963, the later compliance of France and China and the table at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_testing, I compute that there must be roughly at least 600 nuclear tests that were made in the atmosphere.

   Link to this

9. 9. bertrand_ducharme 9:54 pm 03/31/2011

   I agree with GinnFizz that to compare the number of nuclear bomb deaths with the number of car accident fatalities can put things in a different and relatively less scary perspective. But 250,000 presumed deaths is still an impressive number. And 2053 nuclear explosions is something most of us were ignorant of. We never thought that such an enormous amount of bombing and testing have been done!

   People had to boldly protest and demonstrate to stop those tests. People like Linus Pauling who was honored with a peace nobel prize in 1962 for his activities against nuclear testing and nuclear war. In the fifties, in the years of McCarthyism, he had his passport withheld because of his anti-nuclear activities. His passport was returned to him in 1954 because the american government didn’t dare to prevent him from receiving in person the Noble prize in chemistry by withholding his passport.

   Link to this

10. 10. Plain-2009 6:30 pm 04/2/2011

    Total stupidity. A smear on the face of those whose profound ability to penetrate the mysteries of nature, patience, ability to support hardship, and ability with mathematics opened the doors to begin understanding nuclear fission and fusion and chaotic energy production. Anyway we need to continue the effort and learn to harness production of energy. At this very moment we may still find the scars of those unnecessary explosions. The only attenuating factor may be fear from those who ordered those explosions during those troubled times. It would be very interesting to hear from people close to these events to know how much more was learned from every additional explosion and what use have we given to that additional knowledge. Hope the world community helps Japan get out of this terrible accident. Nuclear Industry at this moment is obviously still very primitive. But we also understand the profound efforts, knowledge, and risks taken by the glorious pioneers of nuclear energy production around the world. This video obviously produces a tremendous shock. After the dust settles, is someone liable? Further digging into this matter is necessary. Should we forgive and carry on?

    Link to this

11. 11. Plain-2009 10:51 pm 04/7/2011

    It is quite interesting that we have no trouble in putting into place the rods of nuclear fuel, and we are having trouble in taking them out in Fikushima Daiichi. ¿Is it necessary to build a special suit, like an astronaut suit, to approach the site and take out the rods in those troubled nuclear plants? If that is the case, let’s do it right away. One thing is quite clear for us, which approximately understand what is going on there. Most of the nuclear plants in operation, if not all, are very primitive. It is going to take some time, for us, to build real efficient and safe nuclear plants. Any way, the foundations are strong and were established by penetrating acute clear minds of people that we shall never forget. I do not have anyone in particular to blame. We are going to make it through and come out stronger with God’s help.

    Link to this

Add a Comment
You must sign in or register as a ScientificAmerican.com member to submit a comment.
Click one of the buttons below to register using an existing Social Account.