Date

Oct 23, 1963

Description

The AIBS symposium consisted of the following presentations: “Types of Catastrophes and their Physical Proportions,” providing general information of the physical results of a massive nuclear attack,[4] “Behavior of Radionuclides in Ecosystems,” describing the cycling of fission products from soil to grass to cows to milk, “Effects of Fire on Major Ecosystems,” on the effects of simultaneous ignition of fires in non-urban areas, “Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Major Ecosystems,” paralleling one of the co-author’s essay in Scientific American on the impact of chronic radiation exposure on pine-oak forests and fields of weeds,[5] “Homeostasis and Succession in Disturbed Ecosystems,” presentation of data on differential species kill caused by the Lockheed aircraft nuclear reactor in Dawsonville, Georgia, and “Biological Interactions Within Ecosystems,” on the implications of insecticide spraying for recovery of ecosystems after a nuclear war.

According to the assessment by TAB staffers of the presentations, most of the authors were overly preoccupied with radiation effects: “there seemed to be a lack of interest in the long-term recovery aspects of ecosystems following a nuclear catastrophe.” The participants generally agreed that the long-term recovery problem was “so vast and complex and the available information which is needed for prediction so sparse that much research will be needed to permit more definitive speculation on the ecological consequences of a nuclear war.”

Source

Record Group 330, Records of the Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Atomic Energy), Accession 69-A-2243, "AW- Ecological Study, Volumes I and II"

Document published in following posting(s):

"Clean" Nukes and the Ecology of Nuclear War

Aug 30, 2017