Nuclear weapons

Press, 9 August 1980, Page 14

Nuclear weapons

Sir, — Br.tons have been conditioned to accept increasing likelihood and preparations for nuclear war. Like the residents of Jonesville, people accept the prospect of an imposed mass suicide “for the cause” without undue protest. As always, the. Government emphasis is on obtaining more devastating weapons, such as Trident, rather than searching for alternatives. Expendable urban populations are now advised to “wrap your head in a jacket” (“The Press” August 6) while taking comfort in the notion that the Government may survive in underground shelters. This is nonsense for a nation that becomes a nuclear target. As Lord Mountbatten said: “In the event of a nuclear war, there will be no chances, there will be no survivors — all will be obliterated.” (“The Press” August 4, 1980). Surely it would be more honourable and sane for the British Government, perhaps backed by most Commonwealth nations, to exert a real effort in the quest for. a peaceful just world. — Yours, etc., L. F. J. ROSS. August 7, 1980.

Sir, -- Your article on A-Bomb victims (Hiroshima Day, August 6) read like the Jife-in-death it must have been for those kept in the dark about nuclear fall-out. We face similar dangers. The classification of people as “relative uninhabitants” was probably applied to the Pacific when bombs were tested and could justify depositing nuclear waste there. Your Trident article, (July 31) opens the question, can Britons really benefit from the secret deal, costing

$12,000 million and giving the United States a hold on Britain? If we could see “War Game” or “Nuclear Countdown” on TV we could better judge. “Every Person is Guilty” (TV July 27) showed the bind of the Canadian Official Secrets Act. Your articles, . including “Alternative defence policies,” today, have presented revelations and alternatives. Decisions “for” us must be open and justifiable. Can scientific brains and public money be redirected, to solving problems of living together, not dying together? — Yours, etc., B. ROBERTS. August 7, 1980.

Sir, — I was in Cathedral Square to mark Hiroshima Day and was heartened by the many people who expressed a very real interest in New Zealand promoting the Pacific as a nuclear-free-zone and in ending the arms race. It is becoming clear that a growing number of people are going to demand more than just lip service to this concept, especially when more become aware of the true facts about plutonium. This cancer-causing substance, a product of nuclear power plants, multiplies with use, cannot be got rid of and present methods of dumping are unproven. Only a small amount is needed to make “The Bomb,” yet around the world there are large amounts of plutonium unaccounted for. The arms race is a multi-billion dollar business that cannot improve the lot of ordinary hard-working people. We must insist politicians disassociate New Zealand from nuclear madness. — Yours, etc.,

TONI DILLON. August 7, 1980.