A friend of mine sent me a document the other day. It was a report by the Maldon Institute entitled Proliferation and the Nuclear Industry with the sub-title: “We will all go together when we go…” The report, which is written in a laconic, straight forward fashion is perhaps one of the most sobering documents that I have ever read.

The sub-title of the report is very unusual. It is based upon the song written and performed by Tom Lehrer from the 1950s. His lyrics were perhaps prophetic: “And we will all go together when we go. What a comforting fact that is to know. Universal bereavement, An inspiring achievement, Yes, we all will go together when we go.”

The focus of the report is the continuing spread of the nuclear industry throughout the world. Human beings are encountering unpleasant facts about our planet: there are limits which are non-political. For example, the world population is growing with amazing speed. The population of the world wants, demands and expects more energy. There is a finite amount of oil on the planet, and the use of oil allows us to produce energy with by products. This is not a discussion of whether Global Warming, which is unquestionably happening, is due to the growth of carbon dioxide in out upper atmosphere or not. The reasons why Global Warming is occurring are under some considerable discussion. We are not sure why the atmosphere seems to be getting warmer (over long periods of time), but it certainly is.

As a species we have a demand for energy that can only be met by nuclear energy. The current method is to use fission reactors, which use Uranium for fuel. This process has some unpleasant drawbacks. It is possible to imagine fusion reactors. They haven’t been built yet, but they are conceptually feasible. The fuel is sea water, and the by product is fresh water. This seems like a good idea, and we are, as a species, short of fresh water.

But I was commenting on the Future of Mankind. The growth of the nuclear industry has resulted (from the Maldon Institute report) in nuclear reactors existing in many countries throughout the world. And, the security of these plants is not perfect. Countries like China and North Korea are building nuclear plants and selling their expertise and the output of their plants to other countries. The spread of nuclear fissionable material is not coming in the future: it is here, now.

What does this mean? I think that man’s political hatreds and insistence on the truth of one belief over another means that we shall have nuclear events. In less elegant language, it means that the political extremists will have their hands on bombs and will happily detonate them at a time and place of their choosing for political reasons.

What will the United States do when (say) Butte Montana disappears in a mushroom cloud? There will be some furious reaction and soon there will be many places in the world (and their inhabitants) which will cease to exist. You can pick your country and its response.

I consider this not probable, but certain. The world, as we know it, will be coming to an end shortly. It is just a matter of time.

I will have more to observe and comment on in future observations and musings.