The Ecologist May/June 1997 CAMPAIGNS & UPDATES
Nuclear Proliferation i n Space I n October thi s year, the US space agency, NASA, is planning to launch a plutonium-powered space probe to Saturn. The trajectory of the probe — called Cassini—requires i t to graze the earth's atmosphere i n August 1999, just 312 miles above the earth's surface. Should Cassini accidentall y come i n jus t slightly closer i n this fly-by, the probe and its fuel could bur n up, dispersing plutonium across the planet.
The 72.3 pounds of plutonium-238 aboard Cassini, the largest amount of plutonium ever sent into space, is not to be used for propulsion — that wil l be done by a chemically-fuelled rocket — but for powering generators to produce 745 watts of electricity to run the probe's instruments — a task that could more easily, efficiently and safely be accomplished by solar cells. Plutonium-238 has a half life of 87.8 years and is some 280 times more radioactive than weapons grade plutonium-239, which has a half life of 24,500 years.
Plutonium has long been described by scientists as the most toxic known substance; less than one-millionth of a gramme is a carcinogenic dose. Says Dr Helen Caldicott, founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, "one pound [of plutonium], i f uniformly distributed, could hypothetically induce lung cancer i n every person on earth."
NASA's environmental impact statement estimates that i f an "inadvertent reentry occurred" during the fly-by, approximately five billio n of the seven to eight billio n people on earth "could receive 99 per cent or more of the radiation exposure". Dr Michio Kaku, Professor of nuclear physics at the City University of New York, says that pulverized plutonium dust "wil l rain down on people's hair, people's clothing, get into people's bodies."
NASA estimates the potential death tol l — labelled as "health effects" — at
just 2,300 people over a 50-year period, and points out that "latent cancer fatalities" would probably be "statistically in distinguishable from normally occurring cancer fatalities among the worl d population."
Other scientists calculate that NASA has underestimated the cancer risk by 2,000 to 4,000 times, and has not taken into account other causes of death, such as heart disease and immune deficiencies, bringing the actual death tol l to 30 to 40 millio n people.
I n November 1996, a Russian Mars space probe accidentally nose-dived back to earth, falling over Chile and Bolivia; i t is uncertain whether the canisters containing half a pound of plutonium were destroyed coming through the atmosphere, dispersing the plutonium , or whether they survived and hi t the earth.
Environmental investigative reporter Karl Grossman suggests that NASA's in sistence on using nuclear technology i n space, despite the existence of alternatives, is connected wit h "the military potential of space". A 1993 White House policy statement asserted that "space nuclear power and propulsion systems can contribute to scientific, commercial and national security space missions." Says Dr Kaku:
"What we are headed for is a nuclear-propelled rocket wit h nuclearpropelled lasers i n outer space . . . Ultimately what they would like to do is have nuclear-powered battle stations i n outer space. That's what all of this is leading up to." Concerned at the increasing potential for disaster, a worldwide coalition, The Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power i n Space, was formed i n 1992 to challenge the use of nuclear power i n space and to stop the militarization of outer space. Said one of the coalition's coordinators:
"The United States military and major
weapons corporations view space as a new market, ultimately to profit from. They are using taxpayers' dollars to put a new round of the arms race i n space. A t the same time, the nuclear power industry views space as its new market, a place where they can put plutonium and other radioactive sources." WRITE TO your national and regional parliamentary representatives.
CONTACT: Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power i n Space, c/o Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice, Box 90035, Gainesville, FL 32607, USA. Tel: +1 (904) 468 3295; Karl Grossman, E-mail ; To subscribe to the Stop Cassini Newsletter. E-mail Website: http: / /www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/ index.htm
Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament are coordinating a postcard campaign to President Clinton. For copies, contact: Yorkshire CND, 22 Edmonds St, Bradford BD5 0BH, UK. Tel: 01274 730795; Fax: 01274 414413; E-mail
RESOURCES: A 53-minute video, Nukes in Space: The Nuclearization and Weaponization of the Heavens, $19.95, Enviro Video, Box 311, Ft. Tilden, NY 11695, USA. Tel: +1 (718) 318 7715; Fax: +1 (718) 318 8045; E-mail
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The Ecologist CAMPAIGNS & UPDATES May/June 1997
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