Human Rights Fallout of Nuclear Detonations: Reevaluating ‘Threshold Thinking’ in Assisting Victims of Nuclear Testing

Abstract

Atmospheric nuclear test detonations conducted by USA, USSR, UK, France and China, 1945–1980, generated radioactive particles that were dispersed by weather patterns, returning to earth as fallout. People who lived ‘downwind’ face ongoing risks from their exposure to ionizing radiation, as well as psychological, social, cultural and political distress. However, testing states obscured these humanitarian consequences by claiming that fallout could be contained to specific spatial zones, that there are ‘thresholds’ below which radiation exposure has negligible health impacts and that socio‐political forms of harm should be disregarded. While the scientific consensus concludes fallout circulates in complex, nonlinear patterns; there is no safe level of radiation exposure; and nuclear testing can generate tremendous anxiety, what Liboiron calls ‘threshold thinking’ continues to underlie policies ostensibly assisting victims of nuclear weapons. This article offers examples from responses to French Pacific nuclear testing, showing how access to compensation and other assistance has often been conditioned on threshold qualifications that function to limit downwind communities’ access to assistance and remedy. Victim assistance and environmental remediation obligations in the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons offer opportunities to move beyond reductive policy logics to multifaceted, human rights‐based approaches to affected communities’ concerns.

Environmental remediation as social archaeology: Excavating sites contaminated by early nuclear weapons activities in New York City, both literally and hermeneutically

“…Even using these more advanced methods, the scientific modelling that guides the very measures of radiation exposure measure in Rems or Sieverts is unlikely to account for complex behaviour patterns of individual mechanics at the autobody shop, the nonlinear movements of dust they stir up or their particular genetic dispositions to radiogenic diseases. Indeed, the metrics and regulatory limits are not just technical facts but rather embed political value judgements that can only be revealed through discursive archaeologies like those performed in this article (Bolton, 2022).…”

“…ICRP weighed the potential negative effects of exposure to radiation with what it saw as the ‘benefit to society’ from medical uses of radioactive materials and nuclear energy (p. 96). But this seems like an inappropriate basis for accepting harm caused by nuclear weapons development that was carried out in secret and hidden from public debate for decades (see Bolton, 2022).…”

“…Nevertheless, even this suggests that the problem lies with a lack of knowledge in the community, as opposed to a broader political system that buries radioactive truths under layers of technocratic obfuscation (c.f. Bolton, 2022).…”

“…While the USA refuses to join the TPNW, studying remediation at some of the oldest nuclear weapons sites can provide useful insight for states parties implementing TPNW environmental remediation obligations. As such, this paper is intended to be read alongside another article published in this journal (Bolton, 2022), which sought to inform implementation of the TPNW's victim assistance provisions. Both authors live in NYC, one is also active in ICAN and NYCAN advocacy.…”

Addressing the atomic bomb damage: Associations between ‘state compensation’ demands and aspects of survivors' suffering

“…We address this problem at a period when the policies and measures needed to respond to the humanitarian and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons use and testing are receiving increased attention. So far, most studies have focussed on providing insights for implementing victim assistance in relation to the activation of the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) (Alexis‐Martin et al, 2021; Bolton, 2022; Bolton & Minor, 2021; Minor et al, 2021; Van Duzer & Sanders‐Zakre, 2021). The TPNW's Article 6 obligates the affected states to provide victim assistance and engage in environmental remediation.…”