January 28, 2016 Nuclear
The past couple of weeks have been nuclear in nature. I thought it fitting since I was writing about the natural nuclear explosion over Tunguska and watching the TV show Manhattan about the first Atomic Bomb.
Although there is evidence of nuclear explosions before 1930, it wasn’t until then that we started experimenting with fission. Scientists used Radium, Iridium and Plutonium in their experiments. They suspected that there was a lot of potential energy to be harnessed and released inside atoms that they were able to break open.
The TV show Manhattan focuses on the work of Fermi and others out in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The US Government sequestered them away at a tiny army base in order for them to perfect their theories and build a bomb. They were, of course, successful. The US dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945—thus ending WWII.
Many would argue that these weapons of mass destruction saved thousands of lives. Without them, the war would have drug on and on. However, it was likely that the US would have won the war without such a demonstration of power. Japan was about to surrender. It seems those in power simply wanted the world to know the US was a big badass capable of wiping out entire cities in on fell swoop. The message was heard loud and clear. “Don’t mess with the US.”
Once the war ended, the US turned its attention to using Atomic Energy to power cities instead of wiping them out. By 1951 we had the first (civilian) nuclear power plant in Idaho. By 1954, The Soviet Union built a bigger and better power plant. Soon submarines were nuclear powered. But then disasters began popping up. There was Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl. Most recently, in 2011, there was a meltdown at Fukashima in Japan.
Though once touted as a clean alternative to fossil fuels, Nuclear Power has proven unreliable and expensive. The environmental cost has been one of the biggest reasons that Nuclear Power Plants are being decommissioned. Disposing of radioactive waste has often been done carelessly and caused great damage to plants, animals and people anywhere nearby.
During the 1950s and 1960s the threat of Nuclear War scared everyone. It was long feared that the US and Russia would bomb the hell out of each other and wipe out nearly everyone on earth in the process. Eventually, tension eased and we began disarming. Today the fear is that the terrorists will use Nuclear Weapons to create chaos. Although getting hit with a nuke is still a concern, most people aren’t losing sleep over the possibility. Biological Warfare is a little higher on the list as far as fears go—probably due to The Walking Dead and other shows.
Edgar Cayce suggested that Atlantis and Lemuria were destroyed by their technology. From his descriptions, it sounded like Nuclear Technology. The writers of The Mysterious Cities of Gold picked up on this and really ran with it. The Olmec’s had Nuclear Power Plant in South America in the 1500 on the show. In an attempt to steal The City of Gold’s power core, the Olmecs caused a nuclear meltdown that the high priest had to stop. It cost him his life.
Strangely, there has been evidence discovered recently of a Nuclear Reactor in Africa. The debate is raging as to rather it was natural or man-made. Either way, it is over a million years old. An ancient city in India—near the border of Pakistan—shows signs of having been exposed to a nuclear explosion thousands of years ago. And though most accept the theory of an exploding meteor, the Tunguska Explosion was definitely nuclear in nature. Some still believe that the explosion was man-made or alien-made. Edgar Cayce’s theory about ancient technology being superior to ours at the time holds some water—or maybe the possibility of water.
I, for one, have always believed that mankind was not ready to have access to such divine power. I have been anti-nuclear power since I knew what it was. Seeing pictures of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and even Chernobyl has only reinforced that idea over the years. The damage that we do to each other in regular war is appalling. The disrespect for human life breaks my heart. To see that disrespect and damage on such a huge scale makes me sorry to be part of the human race. I hear a million screams of agony in my heart and see them in my head when I read about it or see pictures of it and it is unbearable. But what can I do? I try and not to dwell on it
carilynn27 