A UC Armageddon – The UC’s Contribution to the H-Bomb

Imagine a weapon that could form a smoke cloud eleven miles above the hypocenter. Even a small weapon of this variety could destroy all life within 3 to 4 mile radius; including the destruction of civilian buildings, railway cars thrown from tracks, conflagration of human bodies, and thermal radiation to all those remotely near the explosion.  It is difficult to even imagine that the University of California school system is at the root of all nuclear weapons inventions. However, the deadliest weapon ever created, the nuclear bomb, was conceived by the UC school system.

Nuclear weapons have a very recent history. Most people have heard of the scientist Robert Oppenheimer, who has been tagged as the father of the atomic bomb. His studies started with observing the metals Plutonium and Uranium in the hopes of creating a super bomb. With the founding of the first nuclear weapons laboratory called Los Alamos, this super bomb could finally become a reality. Oppenheimer would hold a summer meeting with numerous other academic brains behind the project at the school where he taught moldable minds: UC Berkeley.

It is with the creation of the Los Alamos laboratory that the UC school system comes into play. Built in 1943, Oppenheimer chose its New Mexico location because of its isolated position 200 miles from any civilization.

On April 15, 1943, the University of California school system would finalize a contract with the U.S. weapons department to manage the Labs for the production of nuclear weapons. Almost seven decades later, it is still in existence.  Following the war and the countless deaths in Japan, the UC system realized the implications of its involvement with the Lab and attempted to sever ties. However, the disassociation was never realized. The UC system gave this military undertaking a “White Lab Coat” appearance and suggested the notion of a purely academic mission to the public.

At the Los Alamos lab, the creation of the first nuclear weapon titled the A-bomb, or the atomic bomb, was created.  Yet the A-bomb scientists saw a larger potential with the nuclear bombs and constructed another laboratory in 1952 entitled the Lawrence Livermore Lab located close to home in California’s own East Bay. This new lab transferred many scientists from the UC Berkeley Radiation Laboratory to work on the creation of the next, more powerful nuclear fusion reaction bomb, called the H-bomb.  This lab stimulated a competition between the New Mexico lab and the Lawrence Livermore, igniting the US advantage in the arms race.

The only two nuclear weapons to ever be detonated were delivered during WWII in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Bombs “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” were to blame for the killing of 90,000-166,000 in Hiroshima and 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki. The following months after the explosion lead to thousands more deaths from radiation sickness. The relationship between the bombings in Japan and their surrender are still questioned ethically.

Some say that nuclear bombs are necessary to keep countries under control and their terrorists and/or weapons out of U.S. borders. With the arms race diffusing since the Cold War throughout different countries, the fear of “they will get us before we get them” has become instilled in the American mentality. However, others realize that the growth of nuclear weapons is not only a negative thing, but it is one of the more reasonable ways to realize Armageddon, the destruction of the Earth. With over 5,250 H-bombs in North America alone, this destruction is well within sight. After WWII, the US conducted a study to determine how many nuclear bombs it would take to destroy the country. 400 Hiroshima-sized bombs could destroy the U.S. There now tens of thousands of bombs in existence possessed by multiple countries. There are now enough nuclear bombs in existence to kill every human 50-60 times over.

Because the U.S. has possession of most of the world’s nuclear bombs, incentive for other countries to make them has grown as well. North Korea, one of the few countries that the U.S. has negotiated with rather than send examples of our strength, has developed their fraction of nuclear bombs. This negotiation has sent signs to other countries—if another you share a piece of the nuclear bomb cake then you will no longer be treated like an infant.

Not only are the thousands of nuclear bombs threatening the existence of all life on Earth, but the chances that an American bomb will be detonated against our wishes is highly likely. The security infrastructures at both the Los Alamos lab and the Lawrence Livermore labs are unprepared to say the least. At the Livermore lab, mock-terrorists were deployed by the government to attain two objectives: first, to gain possession of the lab’s Plutonium and second, to improvise a nuclear device and take this device offsite. The mock-terrorists were able to reach both objectives, even with a two month notice of their arrival to the lab itself. Furthermore, there have been hundreds of recorded cases where automatic response systems were on the verge of missile strike, but last minute human intervention stopped the catastrophe.

Students against the proliferation of nuclear bombs must raise their voices in retaliation of the University of California’s participation in the Nuclear Warhead program. At the forefront of the University system are the 26 UC Chairmen. This Board of Regents meets at least once a month. With a growing number of Nuclear Warhead Watchdog groups with students and professors alike, one of the most pressing issues of the Board of Regents’ is their ties with the Nuclear laboratories. College students are among the most politically active age groups in the world. They can affect change in the UC system with fresh outrage.

Not many can deny that due to the thousands of nuclear bombs in several countries, the prospects for human survival are not great. Whether it be in the next year or in the next three hundred years, if these bombs become drastically greater in number, fear for proliferation of the human race will also becomes drastically greater. It seems that since Nagasaki, nuclear weapons have dropped off the radar and people feel less threatened. This sense of security must be realized for what it is—false. Students must band together and remind the UC authorities that this alliance between weapons of mass destruction and academia should not be allowed.