No sign of retirement for the nuke

Bubble — By Adam Higgitt on July 16, 2010 12:00 pm

"I am become death, the shatterer of worlds”

FOR a society that marks every kind of anniversary with increasing diligence, we can be pretty good at missing the biggies. Today is the 65th anniversary of the infamous Trinity Test, otherwise known as the birth of nuclear era. It’s hard to think of any single event in recent history with such profound implications – both potential and actual – for mankind.

Not surprisingly, the nuke has had a fascinating journey through our popular fiction and culture. We did a piece on that last year, to coincide with another anniversary, that of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It’s here.

The nuclear bomb may have reached pensionable age today but, despite important developments in reductions talks between the US and Russia, this fearsome and awesome weapon shows no sign of retiring and every sign of proliferating to parts of the world that should cause us all great concern. It started on this day 65 years ago, but we don’t yet have an expiry date.

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1 Comment

  1. David Jones says:
    July 16, 2010 at 1:44 pm

    Whenever I wander around in Betfair.com, away from the horses and footy, I often stumble across the betting on which Prince (William or Harry) will get engages first in 2010.

    Apologies if this seems a bit random, but that always makes me think about which, out of Iran or North Korea will be first to get a proper response from the UN (or whoever is in charge these days)

    Yesterday, Stratfor reported :
    “Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on July 15 called for an explanation from Iran about the “military components” of Iran’s nuclear program, Reuters reported. While calling Tehran a longtime, active trading partner, Medvedev said Moscow is not indifferent to Tehran’s nuclear program. He said secret service information, as well as open-source feedback, shows that the program is developing. He said Iran needs to cooperate with the international community.

    p.s. Prince William is odds on, Prince Harry is 15 -1. No engagement in 2010 is just above evens.

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