Nuclear Security

‘Nuclear winter’ threat dismissed by Thatcher govt, papers reveal

Published time: December 30, 2014 17:22

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Threats of a “nuclear winter” in the wake of a catastrophic war with the Soviet Union were rejected as alarmist scaremongering by the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government, Home Office papers reveal.

Intriguingly, officials working under the Thatcher administration were more concerned with tracking the actions of anti-nuclear campaigners and lobbyists who opposed the deployment of cruise missiles, papers released by the National Archives on Tuesday suggest. 

One file, called “Nuclear winter – global atmospheric consequences of nuclear war,” indicates that government officials tasked with emergency defense planning in 1984 concluded they did not need to research the potential impacts of a so-called Nuclear Winter.

Other government figures agreed with the Home Office’s emergency planning division that the theory did not require serious assessment, an internal memo dated December 1984 notes.

The confidential documents were contained in a cache of classified files released under Britain’s 30-Year Rule, which requires the publication of sensitive government documents after three decades.

The end of civilization?

A product of Cold War tension, the nuclear winter theory predicted serial nuclear strikes would create disastrous firestorms characterized by colossal plumes of black smoke.

Advocates of the hypothesis suggested these toxic clouds would hang in the Earth’s stratosphere for prolonged periods, depriving human civilization of adequate sunlight. It was also estimated ground level temperatures would plummet for months or even years, making life for survivors of such a disaster very difficult.

Following a slew of newspaper articles suggesting that US scientists backed the concept, MPs serving under late PM Margaret Thatcher raised concerns. Alluding to its “policy of deterrence,” the government responded, saying it believed nuclear warfare was “extremely unlikely.”

Read more at: http://rt.com/uk/218743-nuclear-winter-dismissed-thatcher/