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Despite all efforts to the contrary, there is still confusion in the minds of many people as to the differing and even contradictory meanings of the … - Lewis Strauss
" "Despite all efforts to the contrary, there is still confusion in the minds of many people as to the differing and even contradictory meanings of the words "nuclear energy". I am sure that all of you have encountered, in your civil defense work, a rather widespread misunderstanding of the significance of such words as "fallout" and "radioactivity." There is a disposition among some persons to think of what might happen in event of a nuclear attack upon us in terms of what does happen when we test nuclear weapons under strictly controlled conditions affording maximum safety. There also is lack of understanding as to the true meaning of such phrases as "permissible dose levels" as applied to peacetime activities in the field of atomic energy. There is a tendency to regard these peacetime safety standards as being the limits for survival in event of actual attack. Sensational and oftentimes irresponsible articles have no doubt contributed to this confusion.
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About Lewis Strauss
Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss (January 31, 1896 - January 21, 1974) was an American government official, businessman, philanthropist, and naval officer. He was one of the original members of the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1946, and he served as the commission's chair in the 1950s. Strauss was a major figure in the development of nuclear weapons after World War II, nuclear energy policy, and nuclear power in the United States. During World War II, Strauss served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and rose to the rank of rear admiral due to his work in the Bureau of Ordnance in managing and rewarding plants engaged in production of munitions. Strauss was the driving force behind the controversial hearings, held in April and May 1954 before an AEC Personnel Security Board, in which physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance was revoked. As a result, Strauss has often been regarded as a villain in American history. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's nomination of Strauss to become U.S. secretary of commerce resulted in a prolonged, public political battle in 1959 where Strauss was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
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Alternative Names:
Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss
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Lewis L. Strauss
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Additional quotes by Lewis Strauss
Exposure to radioactivity, as a vague, unproven danger to generations yet unborn, must be weighed against the more immediate and infinitely greater dangers of defeat and perhaps of obliteration at the hands of an enemy who possesses nuclear weapons of mass destruction and who might have no compunction about using such weapons if he thought we were too weak to defend ourselves and retaliate in kind.
Thus, the words "nuclear energy" have many interpretations. As they bring to mind the terrifying spectre of a war of exploding A-bombs and H-bombs, they are horrible words. Yet those same words, used to describe the many uses of the atom for man's peaceful progress -- in medicine, agriculture, biology, industry and the production of electric power -- bear no relation of association to the uncontrolled fury of the atom as it might be employed in war. And finally, the words "nuclear energy" as they relate to the controlled testing of nuclear weapons so that we may be assured of the means of defending ourselves, ought not to be confused with the unrestrained use of large numbers of such weapons in actual warfare.
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Until others in the world come to their senses, and join with us in banishing the awful spectre of nuclear war, we must be strong; we must have weapons fully as modern and as effective -- if possible more effective -- than the weapons which we know to be in possession of others who would destroy our way of life. At the same time, we must do all in our power to ensure the survival of the largest possible numbers of our population if war should be forced upon us. A major part of this latter effort is, of course, the responsibility of you who are engaged in civil defense.
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