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bojacobs

@bojacobs@hcommons.social

Nuclear historian at the Hiroshima Peace Institute. Book - Nuclear Bodies: The Global Hibakusha - Yale 2022. I work on the global human & ecological harm from nuclear production, nuclear weapon tests, reactor accidents. I examine the impacts on communities, families & emotions; long-term ecological presence of fallout radionuclides; the legacy of our nuclear waste to 1,000s of generations of our descendants.
#histodons #nuclear #Hiroshima #peace #STS

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bojacobs , to sts
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Sounds easy:

"Bovenbouw Architectuur and ono architectuur designed a communication center for the storage of low and medium-level radioactive waste in Dessel, Belgium. To remain relevant throughout the 300-year process required to decrease the radioactivity, the building must be able to adapt to unforeseeable changes over the centuries."

@nuclearhumanities @sts

https://www.archdaily.com/1009123/tabloo-a-visitor-centre-for-a-nuclear-waste-disposal-facility-bovenbouw

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Open access:

Grateful for the complex and detailed review of my book Nuclear bodies: the global hibakusha by Sonali Huria in the Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament.

@sts @histodons @nuclearhumanities

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25751654.2023.2286806?src=

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Too soon?

"Clean-up of radioactive A-bomb remnants begins at former Staten Island uranium storage site"

@histodons

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/staten-island-radioactive-remnants-uranium-atomic-bomb-wwii

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

After reading this, search for the Navajo Birth Cohort to learn how uranium mining continues to harm people born decades after mining stopped:

"'We didn't know we were poisoning ourselves': the deadly legacy of the US uranium boom.

The Diné helped dig the raw materials to build the US’s nuclear arsenal, but were never told of the danger"

@histodons @sts

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/20/navajo-dine-uraminum-mining-poison

bojacobs OP ,
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

@histodons @sts

Navajo Birth Cohort Study

https://hsc.unm.edu/pharmacy/research/areas/nbcs-echo.html

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

If you want to learn more about Mayak (and Hanford), read Plutopia by Kate Brown.

"Mayak: The secret nuclear power plant that poisoned Russians for decades"

@histodons

https://bigthink.com/the-past/mayak-secret-nuclear-plant-poisoned-russians-decades/

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Disaster Control

NYT video about the Palomares nuclear accident over Spain in 1966.

A US h-bomber was refueling in mid-air over Southern Spain. Both exploded and four h-bombs fell onto a small Spanish beach town (2 into the Mediterranean). This film examines health consequences to the clean up crew.

@histodons @nuclearhumanities

video/mp4

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

"The nuclear accident in Chernobyl in 1986 led to the spread of radioactivity across Sweden and Europe. In a long-term study now published in Environmental Epidemiology, researchers have used new, more specific calculation methods to show the connection between radiation dose and certain types of cancer."

@sts

https://scienmag.com/some-increase-in-cancer-after-1986-chernobyl-disaster/

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

"Documentary highlights plight of U.S. atomic bomb test victims"

@histodons @nuclearhumanities

https://www.axios.com/2023/11/09/nucleur-atomic-bomb-trinity-test-new-mexico-downwinders

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

1/2

The power of art to communicate complex information easily.

You can see charts of the total number of nuclear weapon tests (2,000+), or of the locations of those tests, or the years. However, this video communicates that history in a visceral, embodied way.

@sts @histodons @nuclearhumanities

https://youtu.be/cjAqR1zICA0?feature=shared

bojacobs OP ,
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

2/2

Since the effects of nuclear detonations cannot be contained at "test sites," specifically the immense clouds of radioactive fallout, when is a "test” actually an "attack" on those living downwind?

Every nuclear weapon state strategized the use of fallout as a primary method to attack communities in enemy territory. Is the act of inflicting these fallout clouds on downwind communities violence? Or research?

@sts @histodons @nuclearhumanities

https://vimeo.com/668545237?share=copy

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Veterans Day:

"In Operation Desert Rock, the military conducted a series of nuclear tests in the Nevada Proving Grounds between 1951 and 1957. In total, more nearly 400,000 American soldiers and civilians would be classified as 'atomic veterans.'"

@histodons

https://youtu.be/4kG9kD8bPnA?feature=shared

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Your climate mitigation is getting in the way of my nuclear apocalypse plans!

"Air Force asks Congress to shield nuclear launch sites from wind power"

@sts

https://www.federaltimes.com/federal-oversight/congress/2023/11/07/air-force-asks-congress-to-shield-nuclear-launch-sites-from-wind-power/

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

There are two forms of nuclear colonialism. The extraction of natural resources from traditional indigenous and colonized lands. And the colonialism of treating a place as empty, as "no place" where there is "no one" and there are no consequences for nuclear testing. Nuclear weapon states have always very intentionally "selected the irradiated." Read, Nuclear Bodies: The Global .

@histodons @sts @nuclearhumanities

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/669675976

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

"Pacific Islands Forum chair says region must revisit its anti-nuclear treaty"

@histodons

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/07/pacific-islands-forum-chair-says-region-must-revisit-its-anti-nuclear-treaty?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-3

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Very similar to the human radiation experiments conducted by the US during the

"Punjabi women were given chapatis laced with radioactive isotopes in the 1960s, it's been claimed"

@histodons

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/calls-investigate-horrifying-claims-south-27593681

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Fallout cloud from a nuclear weapon test at the Nevada Test Site during the Upshot-Knothole series (1953).

This is about an hour after the test, and the cloud is in the process of spreading into Southern Utah where it will dump a significant portion of its radioactive fallout on houses, farms and ranches.

@histodons

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Swimmers and sunbathers at Old Frontier Village watch a distant mushroom cloud from the Nevada Test Site (1957). This would be about 100 miles away.

@histodons

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

School chairs in Hiroshima show the flash burns from the nuclear attack on August 6, 1945

@histodons

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Scientists calculate that four specific tests (out of almost 500) were responsible for the majority of the radioactive fallout deposited downwind of the Polygon nuclear test site in Kazakhstan (the primary test site of the former USSR).

@histodons

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

In "safe" Fukushima waste water news:

"Fukushima nuclear plant workers sent to hospital after being splashed with tainted water"

@sts

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/27/fukushima-nuclear-plant-workers-hospitalised-after-being-splashed-with-tainted-water?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-3

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

"Study from Fukushima shows even low doses of radiation may contribute to diabetes"

@sts

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-fukushima-doses-contribute-diabetes.html

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

"Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad: Animals Return to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone"

"How we project our own fantasies onto animals in depends on if they are what animals we have in mind."

@sts

https://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/four-legs-good-two-legs-bad-animals-return-chernobyl-exclusion-zone-0

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

This is very bad news for radioactive waste management at

"Hanford’s pre-treated waste might not meet Vit Plant criteria"

Much of the worst radioactive waste at Hanford is the "liquid" waste in the Tank Farms. The plan was to vitrify them (enclose them in glass). Now, looks like the Vit Plant may not be up to the task. Billions more wasted after the first Vit Plant was scuttled for safety concerns.

All of the tanks in the Tank Farm are leaking. Workers are hospitalized annually for inhaling toxic fumes working at the site. They may remain with no viable plan to process the waste into a form that is manageable.

@sts @histodons

https://www.exchangemonitor.com/hanfords-pre-treated-waste-might-not-meet-vit-plant-criteria/

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

"Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad: Animals Return to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone"

My new article is available.

When the mammals seen in the Exclusion Zone are non-human, it is supposed to be a sign that nature is healing, the is a wildlife sanctuary! But when they are Russian troops, they are all gonna die!! 4 legs good, 2 legs bad.

@sts @nuclearhumanities

https://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/four-legs-good-two-legs-bad-animals-return-chernobyl-exclusion-zone-0

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

"New Dating of Cave Art Reveals History of Puerto Rican People"

@histodons

https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/News/pr/2023/23-40.aspx

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Nuclear power was invented in the Manhattan Project before nuclear weapons. It was invented to manufacture plutonium to kill thousands of people.

My article on this origin story

"Born Violent: The Origins of Nuclear Power"

@histodons @sts

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333617931_Born_Violent_The_Origins_of_Nuclear_Power

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

The whole ecosystem is "marked" by radioactive particles globally distributed by nuclear weapon testing:

"Anthropogenic uranium signatures in turtles, tortoises, and sea turtles from nuclear sites"

There are countless species, flora and fauna, with studies tracking this. Interested in more on this, read my book Nuclear Bodies

@histodons

https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/8/pgad241/7244772

bojacobs OP ,
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

@Legit_Spaghetti @histodons
Absolutely. One key early source of this pre-contamination metal was World War One German naval vessels that had been scuttled off the coast of Scotland in the 1920s.

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

How does Bill Gates get the mini-nukes he has been clamoring for?

AI!

"Microsoft is going nuclear to power its AI ambitions"

@sts

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/26/23889956/microsoft-next-generation-nuclear-energy-smr-job-hiring

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Declaring earthquake faults inactive so you can continue to monetize your unsafe nuclear power plants:

"Japan regulator bypasses experts in declaring faults under nuclear plant not active"

@sts

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230316/p2a/00m/0na/016000c

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

1st, Dr. John Gofman, molecular cell biologist

2nd, Dr. Lauritson Taylor, the President of the National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP)

Taylor: "you can't set a radiation protection standard on purely scientific facts alone."

@sts

video/mp4

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

"Danger! Radioactive Waste!"

1977 NBC News special. Amazing footage of waste being dumped into the Atlantic, the Pacific, and also vast waste sites across the US at the time. Little has been done since then.

@histodons @sts

https://youtu.be/McrytYdId5M?si=z2ne9_nPrMSWHBbZ

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

"Fallout continues 70 years after British atomic tests"

@histodons @sts

https://www.perthnow.com.au/politics/security/fallout-continues-70-years-after-british-atomic-tests-c-12200286

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

"Congressional commission calls for more nuclear arsenal expansion"

Yeah, these weapons that are militarily useless? I'll have trillions of dollars more please.

@sts

https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2023/10/12/congressional-commission-calls-for-more-nuclear-arsenal-expansion/

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

More and more news coming out about the many sunken nuclear submarines:

"Sunken Nuclear Submarine May Be Leaking Radiation Into The Ocean"

@sts

https://www.iflscience.com/sunken-nuclear-submarine-may-be-leaking-radiation-into-the-ocean-71037

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Open access

My new article, co-authored with Mick Broderick, analyzing the recent Netflix series on Fukushima, The Days.

@sts @nuclearhumanities

https://apjjf.org/2023/10/Broderick-Jacobs.html

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

This Russian nuclear test site is located in the European Arctic. The largest h-bomb ever, the Tsar Bomba, was detonated here in 1961.

@sts

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-novaya-zemlya-nuclear-tests/32608303.html

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

So fascinated by Göbekli Tepe

"The first life-sized painted wild boar statue made of limestone has been recently unearthed during the excavations carried out by the Culture and Tourism Ministry in in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, which is considered the "zero point of history" with its 12,000 years of history."

@histodons

https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/gobeklitepe-discoveries-never-end-says-head-of-excavations-186715

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Yum!

"Scientists unlock the secrets of a sixth basic flavor"

@sts
https://phys.org/news/2023-10-scientists-secrets-sixth-basic-flavor.html

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Gifted article:

"New Evidence That Ancient Footprints Push Back Human Arrival in North America

Following up a on study in 2021 of tracks found in New Mexico, researchers used more methods to bolster the claim that the tracks are up to 23,000 years old."

@histodons

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/science/footprints-tracks-new-mexico-age.html?unlocked_article_code=0PXbfeHq57BgXF6MDjrrin0Rkgi2YIVmfOc9vBS9-PoRA_LfgcU85R_81CG2hiHEC7JSZK2aFTpkZglMqm5O13Ukwc218D9YAgAN9ECzaNZu_dXY9pyDcVpSroQV4aDzYs3OQlfpZgQfAUxefTbcWOLjQabeyte8Ioa6xXimP8c1I1Qh4LXe95XTfjDhezMVF3WoqU_DFJhnhT5wFm9oFReXsA1Dv4ln0p30cDcV1l8XW3G_Y4ltdfg0VGsO47qSPn7cZdUfWomcgVKz0t-UOae50cD_db6KcoMO3ptexhk5AZblif3T8KVHQtkwUU-aFUuWPxaTlvsvVQrgvmbLibj8eQGoZ9s8CEY&smid=url-share

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Wild boar in Eastern and Central Europe have remained highly radioactive since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Scientists have determined the ongoing high levels of radiation relate to the boar's preference for deer truffles. This article details how the dynamics of deer truffles and the they are in enhances the contamination of the , and their ongoing threat to health.

So these truffles are not just increasingly absorbing , but also fallout that spread globally from nuclear weapon testing.

As the old saying goes, we know when disasters start, but not when they end, because they don't end.

@sts

https://www.tuwien.at/en/tu-wien/news/news-articles/news/das-wildschwein-paradoxon-endlich-geloest

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

New nuclear testing?

Colonialism is an essential part of nuclear testing by Nuclear Weapon States (NWS), whether that test site is domestic or in the edges of empires.

Two NWS did not test even one weapon within their own national borders (UK & France). The 3 NATO nuke states tested all of their massive H-Bombs in the Pacific (empire).

Domestic sites are always located near minority ethnic or religious communities. China tested all its weapons in Uyghur territory.

Read my paper, "Nuclear Conquistadors: Military in Nuclear Test Site Selection during the Cold War," (updated version in my recent book, Nuclear Bodies).

@histodons @sts

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280775319_Nuclear_Conquistadors_Military_Colonialism_in_Nuclear_Test_Site_Selection_during_the_Cold_War

bojacobs , to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Excellent critique of the politics of the film by esteemed historian Tsuyoshi Hasegawa.

Two key takeaways:

-the film makes the production and use of the weapons seem "inevitable"

-it reinforces the illusion that the nuclear attacks "ended the war" (Hasegawa's work on this elsewhere is definitive)

The article is far more detailed that this and worth a read:

@histodons

https://apjjf.org/2023/10/Hasegawa-Oppenheimer.html

bojacobs , to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Map showing major nuclear waste sites in the Russian European Arctic

@sts

Private
bojacobs OP ,
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

@CitizenWald @histodons @sts That's following behind Kate's work in Plutopia, which explicitly compares the two plutonium production sites and the releases and cultures in both. She argues that they reflect each other eerily across the Cold War divide.

bojacobs , (edited ) to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

My last word on the film is a quote from Leo Szilard (a fleeting presence in the film, but a key historical figure who wrote the “Einstein letter” re-enacted after the war in the photo below).

Speaking in Cincinnati in January 1947 Szilard said:

“Mass murderers have always commanded the attention of the public, and atomic scientists are no exception to the rule”

@histodons @workingclasshistory

bojacobs , (edited ) to histodons
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Selecting the irradiated (one of the chapter titles of my book):

The US conducted 1,054 nuclear weapon tests.

88% were conducted inside the US at the Nevada Test Site.

8% were conducted in the Marshall Islands.

This chart shows that the US concentrated the much larger hydrogen bomb tests in the Marshall Islands, and that the 8% of tests there released far more blast, heat and radiation than the domestic tests.

This is a form of nuclear colonialism.

@histodons @sts

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