Brittle Power- PARTS 1-3 (+Notes) - Natural Capitalism Solutions

Chapter Eleven: Nuclear Power 143interest in nuclear matters. A Europe-wide NATO alert shortly after the assassinationof Aldo Moro was reportedlyprompted by an explicit warning from the West German state security officials ofpossible terrorist plans for atomic blackmail: raids on nuclear bomb depots, kidnapingof specialized NATO officers, hijacked raw materials, occupation of nuclearplants, to name a few possibilities in what the Red Brigades speak of as “a growingsensitization to international security objectives.” 9In a clandestine interview with the German magazine Stern, defectedGerman terrorist Michael Baumann stated: “I do not want to suggest thatsome group, at this time [1978], has concrete plans or even definite plans [fornuclear extortion]....But nonetheless, this is in the spirit of the times” and hasbeen discussed among terrorists. As governments harden their no-concessionspolicy against terrorism, terrorists are drivento do something that will work for sure, and what else can that be except the ultimatething? Q. Could that mean that they might occupy a nuclear power station?Sure. These are intelligent people and they have vast amounts of money. They alsocan build a primitive nuclear bomb. But an attack on a storage depot is more likely.After the killings in Lebach, the Americans noted that in a barracks sixteen halfforgottennuclear warheads were stored. Only a few German guards were therewith their police dogs. Q. And how would the...terrorists proceed in the course of anuclear action? A. That is, initially, completely without importance. Anyone whohas something like that [nuclear weapons] in hand has enough power to make thePrime Minister dance on a table in front of a T.V. camera. And a few other statesmenalongside with him. That is an I.O.U. of ultimate power. 10While Baumann’s statements are somewhat speculative and cannot be takenas a definitive indication of the intentions of today’s hard-core terrorists–hewas a somewhat peripheral figure, and defected in the early 1970’s–they arenonetheless a useful starting point for further inquiry. More indirect motivesmight also be important:Given that leftist radicals see nuclear programs as symbols of a corrupt, militarist,capitalist state, they may attempt violent actions against nuclear targets as a way torally opponents of civilian or military nuclear programs to their cause....[I]t hasbeen reported that in Italy a Red Brigades document urged attacks on nuclearpower plants to exploit anti-nuclear sentiment in the country. 11Has this interest actually been manifested in overt acts of sabotage and terrorismagainst nuclear facilities? Unfortunately, the list of such incidents isalready long and is growing rapidly. The perpetrators seem no longer to be