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Inspired by President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" speech, scientists at the Atomic Energy Commission and the University of California's Radiation Laboratory began in 1957 a program they called Plowshare. Joined by like-minded government officials, scientists, and business leaders, champions of "peaceful nuclear explosions" maintained that they could create new elements and isotopes for general use, build storage facilities for water or fuel, mine ores, increase oil and natural gas production, generate heat for power production, and construct roads, harbors, and canals. By harnessing the power of the atom for nonmilitary purposes, Plowshare backers expected to protect American security, defend U.S. legitimacy and prestige, and ensure access to energy resources.
Scott Kaufman’s extensive research in nearly two dozen archives in three nations shows how science, politics, and environmentalism converged to shape the lasting conflict over the use of nuclear technology. Indeed, despite technological and strategic promise, Plowshare’s early champions soon found themselves facing a vocal and powerful coalition of federal and state officials, scientists, industrialists, environmentalists, and average citizens. Skeptical politicians, domestic and international pressure to stop nuclear testing, and a lack of government funding severely restricted the program. By the mid-1970s, Plowshare was, in the words of one government official, "dead as a doornail." However, the thought of using the atom for peaceful purposes remains alive.
"Scott Kaufman has written a clear and compelling account of the Plowshare program. He provides a comprehensive analysis of Plowshare with extensive archival research, especially in material that has only recently been opened to scholars. While specialists will certainly be attracted to Kaufman's work, his clear narrative style will also allow the broader public to benefit from his insights."-Shane J. Maddock, Stonehill College, author of Nuclear Apartheid: The Quest for American Atomic Supremacy from World War II to the Present
"This book is the type that all scholars aspire to write, but seldom do. It is impressive in both its intellectual breadth and depth. Project Plowshare makes important contributions to the fields of diplomatic history, the history of science and technology, western history, environmental history, presidential studies, and Australian national history. Scott Kaufman connects environmental history to diplomatic history-a relationship that might not seem obvious at first glance-and challenges conventions in both. This book will clearly be the standard account of its topic for several decades to come."- Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, U.S. Naval War College, author of Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, the Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War
"Historians already knew about Project Plowshare. Until this book we didn't know how little we actually knew about one of the early Cold War's most infamous and intriguing nuclear programs. Based on extensive research, Scott Kaufman's book will be the go-to work on Plowshare for years to come."-Jeffrey A. Engel, Director of Presidential History Projects, Southern Methodist University, author of Cold War at 30,000 Feet: the Anglo-American Fight for Aviation Supremacy
"Project Plowshare recovers a fascinating but forgotten strand of Cold War history, when the idea of nuclear explosions conjured up not only death and destruction but a future of technological achievement and progress toward peace and disarmament. In deft, fast-paced writing that draws on extraordinarily wide research, Scott Kaufman recreates the extraordinary vision of Plowshare proponents and their allies in Congress and the private sector, showing how their prospects and ultimate failure were shaped by politics and science, fear and hope, economics and Cold War competition. For anyone interested in the future of the planet, Project Plowshare's rise and fall offers salient lessons about unintended consequences, technological hubris, and balancing risk and promise."-Barbara Keys, University of Melbourne, author of Globalizing Sport: National Rivalry and International Community in the 1930s
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