The Nuclear Power TRAP Toxic RadioActive Proliferator
The NPT, tightly organized around nuclear power, is a TRAP a Toxic RadioActive Proliferator. NPT Groupthink is still driven by archaic ideas, beliefs, interests, language, symbols and images that are frozen in consciousness and eclipse deeper understanding and constrain wiser actions. As the "third pillar" of nuclear energy keeps knocking down the other two pillars - nonproliferation and disarmament, might the entire system paradoxically provoke proliferation?
Whether we can collectively break out of these traps is a matter of consciousness and demystifying ourselves from nuclear myths and illusions. To free ourselves, we must recognize the ways in which we are trapped. Here is a partial list of TRAPS.
*Old Ways of Thinking TRAPThe world has changed in 40 years. We know things now that we didn't know then. We have experienced Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and other accidents. We have hundreds of thousands of tons of waste that did not exist in 1970. We know about climate chaos and renewable energy for which nuclear energy is a problem not the solution. It is time to upgrade our global operating system to reflect hard science and 21stcentury realities.
*Manipulative, Orwellian Language and Framing TRAP Language is crafted to create thought forms with emotional charges that motivate opinion and policy. People mindlessly repeat "atoms for peace" and "peaceful uses" of nuclear energy. We don't say "water molecules for peace," or "peaceful uses of electricity." Why not just say "non-military uses"? Who could be against a "Nuclear Renaissance"? How ironic - the rebirth of death! The image of the cherished "third pillar" of the NPT seems essential to hold up the whole structure.
*The Inalienable Rights Frame Mind TRAP- Nuclear power is NOT an inalienable right - by definition - a right that "no earthly power can rightfully deny" andthat "can only be transferred with the consent of the person possessing those rights." Furthermore, nations do not have rights, only individuals. It is astonishing that intelligent people repeat this perverse, misleading and fake use of language. What all life forms do in fact have an inalienable right to is clean air, water and safe, non-toxic, renewable energy.
*The Prestige TRAP Framing nuclear energy as a right creates an artificial value and right to demand it. It manipulates desire and seduces many leaders and citizens into a dangerous lifestyle, devoting precious resources to creating an infrastructure harmful to their financial, political, security, health, and environmental interests.
*The Political Double Bind TRAPArticle IV creates a political TRAP, inviting conflicts that would not otherwise exist. Denying membership in the "nuclear club" to certain parties is discriminatory, and can be experienced as a humiliating insult. Claiming their "NPT given" "inalienable right," some states are drawn into preventable political conflicts that compromise their security and political relationships. Denying another's "inalienable right" creates a double-bind- damned if we allow it and damned if we deny it. The conflict with Iran would not exist without Article IV of the NPT. It is a conflict-generating artifice in which states can be treated in a provocative way, triggering a chain of reactions and counter reactions, and unwittingly escalating tensions within and between states. How many more unexpected conflicts might arise in the next 40 years?
*The Denial and Overconfidence TRAP When enthusiastically promoting a vested interest, there is a tendency to exaggerate the potential for success and safety and to minimize potentials for accidents and failure. This is natural and common, especially in males and especially in leading up to war. Accidents, overruns and problems are inevitable, and can be catastrophic. Can we learn from the Depth Horizon oil catastrophe that the unexpected is inevitable eventually?
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