Rachel Carson's book SILENT SPRING  cited that atmospheric atom bomb testing contaminated the whole earth. We eat, drink and breath man-made, long-lived radioactive elements everyday. It is in our DNA and will affect the health of future generations.

Nuclear Tests Statistics for the Period of 1945 - 1996:

United States:  215 atmospheric tests + 815 underground tests = 1,030
USSR:  219 atmospheric tests + 496 underground tests = 715
UK:  21 atmospheric tests + 24 underground tests = 45
France:  50 atmospheric tests + 160 underground tests = 210
China:  23 atmospheric tests + 22 underground tests = 45

The grand total of global atmospheric tests = 528

Source:  Page 52, "Atomic Audit, the Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940," Stephen Schwartz, Editor, Brookings Institution Press, Washington D.C., 1998.

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