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Kanab rally decries possible risks of blast

Submitted by davidswanson on Tue, 2006-06-20 14:28.

Divine Strake: Locals say the Nevada weapons test may create a new group of downwinders
By Mark Havnes, The Salt Lake Tribune

KANAB - St. George resident Michelle Thomas was born at the beginning of nuclear-weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site in 1951. She has seen friends and family members die from what she attributes to the effects of radiation fallout from those explosions.

She talked about her experiences - and those of her mother, who never trusted the government's assurances of safety - at a rally Saturday at the Kanab City Library. She opposes plans for a non-nuclear blast - known as Divine Strake - planned for the test site later this year.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency wants to detonate 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel at the same site where the government conducted above-ground nuclear tests from 1951 until 1962 and underground tests until 1992.

The government in the 1990s tacitly acknowledged that fallout from the nuclear tests was responsible for causing cancer in some southwest Utah residents, and now residents are afraid the latest proposed blast would stir up and disperse contaminated soil over the region causing the same medical problems.

The test, originally scheduled for June 2, has now been postponed until at least September.
"I never wanted to be a poster child for the downwinders," said Thomas, referring to the group that has advocated for those affected by nuclear testing. "When I was a girl, I wanted to be a dance teacher but traded one profession for another."

She now uses a wheelchair because of illnesses she believes was caused by 1950s-era fallout and said it is important for people to organize against September's blast.

Thomas and the other 25 people at the Kanab rally fear such explosions will graduate to tests involving nuclear "bunker busters" designed to destroy underground enemy targets.
"What is so ridiculous is that they [the government] said the nuclear testing [in the 1950s] was to protect us from Russian bombs, and our own government ended up bombing the hell out of us," Thomas said. "They told us it was safe, that it was a beautiful thing to look at. Many did, but I didn't."
She said she is surprised that Utah, a state that claims to sanctify life and importance of families, is not expressing more opposition to Divine Strake.
"Many think it is unpatriotic to speak against the government," she said.
The rally was organized by Karin Tobin, who moved to Kanab from Connecticut six months ago when she learned of the proposed test.
"We need to draw attention to the issue and get it canceled," she said. "We don't need another downwinders generation." She speculated that information gathered from earlier testing probably could be used to solve the riddles that Divine Strake is intended to answer.
Michael Empey, the area field representative for Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, who is opposed to the blast without assurances of its safety, said the National Nuclear Security Administration has withdrawn its Finding of No Significant Impact from the test - and that shows concerns over safety.
He said while Matheson believes a conventional weapon is needed to destroy bunkers that contain command posts or weapon caches, the nuclear type of weapons the Divine Strake test could lead to are impractical.
"Even generals in the field cannot conceive where to use the weapon," Empey said. "The danger to our troops and civilians is too great."
He said the test's postponement will give people a window of opportunity to become more informed of the blast and to attend public hearings in St. George and Las Vegas that the Nuclear Security Administration has agreed to hold. Hearing dates have yet to be announced.
"This is not just a southern Utah issue," said Empey. "This is a national issue."
mhavnes@sltrib.com

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