Beyond Nuclear International

Some of the world’ most radioactive uranium was processed there. Then they dumped the waste there, too.

By Linda Pentz Gunter

Early on in Uranium Derby, the new film from first-time filmmaker, Brittany Prater, you get a creeping feeling of deja vu. Haven’t we seen this story before?

Not that this takes away any of the power of Prater’s very personal film, a documentary set in her hometown of Ames, Iowa, a town, she comes to learn, she knew little about, and which harbored a dark, and maybe even deadly secret.

In the modest-sized, very white and very traditional town of Ames, population a touch over 58,000 today, work went on in the 1940s and ‘50s processing uranium for the US nuclear weapons program. In an anonymous grey house, nicknamed “Little Ankeny,” now demolished and replaced with a stone marker, some of the world’s most radioactive uranium was handled by about 14 men working in secret for the Manhattan Project. This was the dawn of the Ames Laboratory, then called the Ames Project. Wikipedia summarizes its early purpose, as does the film:

“Its purpose was to produce high purity uranium from uranium ores. Harley Wilhelm developed new methods for both reducing and casting uranium metal, making it possible to cast large ingots of the metal and reduce production costs by as much as twenty-fold. About one-third, or around 2 tons, of the uranium used in the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago was provided through these procedures, now known as the Ames Process. The Ames Project produced more than 2 million pounds (1,000 tons) of uranium for the Manhattan Project until industry took over the process in 1945.”

Watch a trailer of Uranium Derby below:

The radioactive debris and detritus resulting from these activities had to go somewhere. And where it went, as the film narrates it, is pretty much all around town, on ten sites including the airport, a cemetery, under a highway overpass, and at the intersection of two residential streets. 

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In observance of the 74th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings of Japan

We, the undersigned, representing a coalition of concerned peace organizations and citizens of the United States are advocating for abolition of nuclear weapons globally. We are gathering here, in front of the Consulate General of Japan in New York, with a bouquet of flowers to express our sincere regrets and apologies for our nation’s atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Although our government hasn’t apologized officially for this war crime and crime against humanity, the members of our coalition would like to extend our deepest condolences to the atomic bomb survivors (Hibakusha) who have endured great mental and physical hardships for over seven decades.

A peaceful gathering in front of the Consulate General of Japan in New York to mark the anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Back in 1987, President Reagan and Secretary General Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which banned all land-based ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. In February 2019, President Trump formally suspended the U.S. obligations for this treaty. Considering the fact that the U.S. and Russia hold more than 90% of nuclear warheads in the world, President Trump’s policy could insinuate unnecessary tension not only between these two countries, but also amongst the countries around the world.

After more than seven decades of nuclear deterrence policy, it has been an undeniable global consensus that the world became more dangerous under such policy. We promise to keep raising our voices to our government regarding the importance of keeping arms control treaties and signing and ratifying of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted by the United Nations in 2017 with overwhelming support from 122 member states.  We also hope that Japan will be the first country in the U.S. nuclear alliance to give up the U.S. nuclear umbrella by swiftly signing, ratifying and playing a leadership role in pro­moting the Treaty. Our coalition also calls on Japan to preserve its peace constitution and to support the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.

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日本の原爆投下74周年を思い出す

私たちは核問題に憂慮するアメリカの平和団体と市民の連携グループです。この地球上から核兵器が廃絶されることを訴えています。広島と長崎の原爆投下によって殺された方々へ、遺憾と謝罪の意を心からこめて慰霊の花束を捧げるために、ここ在ニューヨーク日本総領事館の前に集まりました。戦争犯罪であり人道に対する罪であった原爆投下に対し、私たちの政府は今まで正式に謝罪をしていませんが、70年以上に渡って精神的及び身体的苦難を受忍せざるを得なかった被爆者の方々へも、私たちは謹んで心よりお見舞いとお詫びを申し上げます。

ニューヨークの日本総領事館前での平和な集まりは、広島と長崎の原爆を思い起こさせます。

1987年には、射程500キロから5500キロの地上配備型ミサイルを禁じる中距離核戦力全廃条約に、レーガン大統領とゴルバチョフ書記長が調印しました。今年の2月、トランプ大統領はこの条約に基づく履行義務を停止することを正式に表明しました。アメリカとロシアが合計9割以上の核弾頭を所持していることを考慮すると、トランプ大統領によるこの方針は、米ロ間だけではなく、世界各地の国家間で不必要な緊張をほのめかし兼ねません。

70年以上も続いた核抑止政策によって、世界はより危険になったというのが世界的に一致した意見です。私たちの政府に対し、武器の使用を制限する条約を維持することの重要性を求めながら、122か国から絶賛され2017年に国連で採択された核兵器禁止条約に署名と批准をするよう、私たちは声を上げ続けることをここに約束致します。同時に、日本が同条約に署名、批准、及び推進にリーダーシップを発揮することで、米国の同盟国の中では米国の「核の傘」から脱却する最初の国になることを切望します。また、日本が平和憲法を守り、朝鮮半島における平和体制の構築を支持することを私たちは強く求めます。

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