Nuclear Madness: What You Can Do!
Bill Burns (Cover illustration) Brookline, MA: Autumn Press, 1979. Third Printing. Trade paperback. 23 cm, 120, [2] pages. Wraps. Map. Footnotes. Bibliography. pencil erasure on first page, covers somewhat worn and soiled. Helen Mary Caldicott (born 7 August 1938) is an Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate. Caldicott's interest in nuclear issues was sparked when she read the 1957 Nevil Shute?s book On the Beach, a novel about a nuclear holocaust set in Australia. In the 1970s, she gained prominence in Australia, New Zealand and North America, speaking on the health hazards of radiation from the perspective of pediatrics. Her early achievements included convincing Australia to sue France over its atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific in 1971 and 1972, which brought the practice to an end. In 1980, she founded the Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND) in the United States, which was later renamed Women's Action for New Directions. It is a group dedicated to reducing or redirecting government spending away from nuclear energy and nuclear weapons towards what the group perceives as unmet social issues. Caldicott stood as an independent candidate for the House of Representatives at the 1990 federal election, contesting the Division of Richmond, against the Leader of the National Party, Charles Blunt. She polled 23.3% of the votes; not enough to win, but her preferences went mostly to the Labor candidate, Neville Newell, electing him and unseating Blunt. In 2002 Caldicott released The New Nuclear Danger, a commentary on the George Bush Military-Industrial Complex. Dr. Caldicott was a leader of the so-called "Ground Zero" movement that many accused of being naive and of advocating positions incompatible with United States national security interests vis a vis the Soviet Union during the late stages of the Cold War. First published in 1978, Helen Caldicott's cri du coeur about the dangers of nuclear power became an instant classic. In the intervening years much has changed . The Cold War is over, nuclear arms production has decreased, and there has been a marked growth in environmental awareness. But the nuclear genie has not been forced back into the bottle. The disaster at Chernobyl and the "incidents" at other plants around the world have disproven the image of "safe" nuclear power. Nuclear waste dumping has further poisoned our environment, and developing nuclear technology in the Third World poses still further risks. Condition: Good / No DJ issued.
Keywords: Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Waste, Plutonium, Nuclear Reactors, Nuclear Power, Cold War, Radiation, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Nuclear Warfare
ISBN: 0394736362
[Book #52882]
Price: $25.00