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Edited on Fri Jul-29-05 05:21 PM by anarchy1999
Here it is...
The Cost is Too
High
by
This past May, the last of the brilliant atomic pioneers, who developed
the first atomic bomb, Philip Morrison, died. Morrison, like many of
his Los Alamos colleagues became a leading advocate of international
arms control. like the director of the Manhattan Project, J. Robert
Oppenheimer, who said to President Harry Truman after the bomb was
used, “ Mr. President, I have blood on my hands.” and became a leading
critic of the efforts of his main rival, Edward Teller to develop the
hydrogen bomb. President Truman as well, said later (and I may
paraphrase) “We can never use that bomb again, especially against kids.”
Another atomic scientist who made the transition from the use of
military nuclear power, was my brother, Dr. Malcolm Stuart. He
received his Phd in Atomic Physics in 1955 from the University of Iowa
at the age of 26, and went to work immediately under Admiral Hyman
Rickover, as a Senior Scientist on the first nuclear-powered submarine,
the Nautilus. Of course we only discovered this later, as his work was
all classified. Growing up, Mac was a fine big brother to me, smart,
funny, handsome and a whiz at the piano. He used to joke when we asked
what he wanted for Christmas, “Just a little peace and quiet”…… He
helped me with my story problems, and I helped him with spelling! He
married my sorority sister, had a family, and worked hard at his job,
being primarily responsible for the heat shield protecting the crew
from the nuclear core. After a few years, he quit the work with the
military to go into the design of nuclear power plants, disillusioned
about the continued buildup of weapons. But when he began to see the
problems that could occur with construction, waste disposal, etc. of
the power plants, he became concerned that there would be an accident,
a meltdown, that would also endanger many lives. He asked for, and
was granted a two year sabbatical to work in Palo Alto, California as a
consultant on the safety of the reactors, and development of
alternative energy. That was in 1978. Unfortunately, the first month
after he arrived, he was diagnosed with cancer of the lung. He had
already suffered several glandular inflammations, which we reasoned
later were probably caused by his exposure to the many “hot” nuclear
sites where he had worked.
In January of 1979, his cancer metasticized to his brain, and in March
the Three Mile Island accident occurred. Mac continued to work despite
his debilitating therapy, until the last week of May, determined to
contribute what he could. He died June 2, having just had his 50th
birthday,and ironically, the Nautilus Submarine made its last voyage
that same week and was taken out of service and put in drydock in
Groton, Ct .
At his memorial service in California, a lady sang “Let There Be Peace
on Earth, and Let It Begin With Me”, the first time I had heard it.
When we moved to Costa Rica, one of our new friends told me that his
mother-in-law had written it. I hoped that Mac had finally found
his “peace and quiet” and every time I sing that song, I think of my
brother and dedicate myself anew to my peace work.
There has not been a new power plant built in the US since the Three
Mile Island meltdown. And I’m sure that Mac would be appalled today to
know that this administration is seeking to build new types of nuclear
weapons, as well as using depleted uranium to infest the earth and kill
and mutate new generations. Three years after his death, Mac’s wife
died of leukemia, and his three daughters all suffered some form of
infertility, low birth weight baby or tumors of the uterus. At the
1999 Second World Peace Conference at the Hague, I attended a seminar
fpr “Peace Scientists” where I shared the story of my brother, who,
ironically, would have turned 70 years old that day. Many people came
up to me afterwards to say that his story was similar to many of their
associates in the early nuclear field.
When President Eisenhower said in his speech of 1953, “The world in
arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its
laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.”
For me, and many others, the cost has been too high!!!!
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There is more info on --- available, we just need to wait. This woman has been my inspiration for several years. I did not know this much until today. I believe her message is significant and it will be public record on a Sunday soon.
www.veteransforpeace.org
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