Such a basic notion that seems to have faded into our collective memory hole. Part of me thinks the ban of atomic tests helped make us forget the true horror of nuclear war.
Interesting point, I think atomic tests are fairly ambiguous. On one hand, anyone who has seen a nuclear explosion knows they induce a form of cosmic horror almost unparalleled in human experience. You may be right that they reminded some people of the horror of nuclear war.
On the other hand, nukes continued to burn and contaminate human beings long after Hiroshima, from the Marshall Islanders to Nevada Indians and Australian Aborigines. They also clearly played a symbolic role in the Cold War, which makes it hard to even speak of nuclear deterrence as such. So much of the Cold War was fought in psychic/ideational terms, and massive nuclear tests like Tsar Bomba (Kruschev boasting that he would "show the American's Kuzka's mother") had an obvious offensive element to them. I wonder if nuclear tests didn't actually NORMALIZE nuclear explosions in the public eye.
In any case, I think the ban on atmospheric testing (ie. above-ground explosions) is extremely important. Nuclear testing needs to be banned as an eventual precursor to total abolition and disarmament.
Such a basic notion that seems to have faded into our collective memory hole. Part of me thinks the ban of atomic tests helped make us forget the true horror of nuclear war.
Interesting point, I think atomic tests are fairly ambiguous. On one hand, anyone who has seen a nuclear explosion knows they induce a form of cosmic horror almost unparalleled in human experience. You may be right that they reminded some people of the horror of nuclear war.
On the other hand, nukes continued to burn and contaminate human beings long after Hiroshima, from the Marshall Islanders to Nevada Indians and Australian Aborigines. They also clearly played a symbolic role in the Cold War, which makes it hard to even speak of nuclear deterrence as such. So much of the Cold War was fought in psychic/ideational terms, and massive nuclear tests like Tsar Bomba (Kruschev boasting that he would "show the American's Kuzka's mother") had an obvious offensive element to them. I wonder if nuclear tests didn't actually NORMALIZE nuclear explosions in the public eye.
In any case, I think the ban on atmospheric testing (ie. above-ground explosions) is extremely important. Nuclear testing needs to be banned as an eventual precursor to total abolition and disarmament.