Chuck Hansen
Chuck Hansen (May 13, 1947 - March 26, 2003) compiled, over a period of 30 years, the world's largest private collection of documents on how America developed the atomic bomb. These documents were obtained through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and since Hansen's death have been housed at the National Security Archive at George Washington University.[1][2]
In 1988, Hansen wrote the book U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History,[3] which was critical of the U.S. Defense Department, the Atomic Energy Commission, and some other government agencies. In the book Hansen reported that the early years of nuclear testing were less successful than claimed; bombs failed, or yielded smaller or larger explosions than anticipated or announced, and attempts to develop a radioactivity-free bomb were unsuccessful.[1][2]
An extensive new collection of his most valuable and important acquisitions has been published in 1995 on compact disk under the title Swords of Armageddon. It is a veritable encyclopedia of nuclear weapons history. While Hansen´s U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History (1988 book) was very instructive, his 1995 collection called Swords of Armageddon contains much more informations and details about nuclear weapons developed by United States. However, Hansen´s 1988 book is very rare today and has been out of print for a long time already. So, books from 1988 are very expensive and original books (from Arlington, TX) can be bought for 795 U.S. dollars. The value of standard books is estimated to be around 320 dollars. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has also released a news about Swords of Armageddon.[1] More informations about Swords of Armageddon can also be found on these sites:[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Original U.S.Nuclear Weapons:The Secret History book and more about this book and it´s purchase: [7]
See also
- List of books about nuclear issues
- List of nuclear whistleblowers
- Nuclear disarmament
- Nuclear weapons and the United States
- Nevada Test Site
- Alvin C. Graves
- National Security Archive
References
- ^ a b Christopher Reed. Chuck Hansen: Obsessive collector whose files told America's A-bomb secrets The Guardian, 25 April 2003.
- ^ a b William J. Broad. From Cold War to Nuclear Nostalgia The New York Times, December 12, 1989.
- ^ Jeffrey G. Barlow. U. S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History (Review) The Journal of Military History, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 105-106.
External links
- Chuck Hansen, The Swords of Armageddon: U.S. Nuclear Weapons Development Since 1945 (CD-ROM).
- The National Security Archive The George Washington University
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