00:00:03.100 --> 00:00:05.600
[seabirds calling]
[waves lapping]

00:00:05.624 --> 00:00:09.624
[explosion rumbling]

00:00:25.300 --> 00:00:30.800
- Before dawn, on the 16th of July,
1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico,

00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:34.217
an event took place which was
to change the world for all

00:00:34.221 --> 00:00:35.838
time to come.

00:00:36.041 --> 00:00:39.260
The Atomic Age was born.

00:00:40.064 --> 00:00:43.064
[shimmering ambient tones]
[frenetic sci-fi sound effects]

00:00:49.589 --> 00:00:52.307
It all began at the
Atomic Energy Commission.

00:00:52.311 --> 00:00:55.027
Scientists there knew that
atomic radiation could keep

00:00:55.031 --> 00:00:56.128
food from spoiling

00:00:56.131 --> 00:01:00.149
because it could kill the
bacteria that spoil food.

00:01:00.909 --> 00:01:02.927
Chickens were fed
irradiated food

00:01:02.931 --> 00:01:06.487
to determine whether nutritional
vitamins, fats, starches,

00:01:06.492 --> 00:01:08.908
or other food elements
had been destroyed.

00:01:08.912 --> 00:01:12.288
These tests proved that there
were absolutely no harmful

00:01:12.292 --> 00:01:14.292
effects to the chickens.

00:01:14.294 --> 00:01:15.527
[chicken clucking]

00:01:15.529 --> 00:01:18.288
- The free world must have
armed  strength.

00:01:18.292 --> 00:01:20.888
The free world must have it now.

00:01:20.892 --> 00:01:24.028
Not in reserve, not later, but now.

00:01:24.032 --> 00:01:28.067
We must have men, ships, planes,
tanks, and bombs on hand,

00:01:28.072 --> 00:01:30.349
ready for any emergency.

00:01:30.353 --> 00:01:33.353
[explosion rumbling]

00:01:38.348 --> 00:01:41.348
[protestors chanting]

00:01:42.769 --> 00:01:45.769
[explosion rumbling]

00:01:57.993 --> 00:02:00.993
[explosion rumbling]

00:02:19.307 --> 00:02:22.307
[explosion rumbling]

00:02:38.241 --> 00:02:41.241
[woman on loudspeaker speaking
in Japanese]

00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:49.500
[flames crackling]

00:02:49.610 --> 00:02:51.027
- What's it like, Chaplain?

00:02:51.031 --> 00:02:55.247
- First of all, one sees
a very, very bright light,

00:02:55.251 --> 00:02:59.207
followed by a shockwave, and then
you hear the sound of the blast,

00:02:59.211 --> 00:03:02.947
and then it seems as though
there's a minor earthquake.

00:03:02.951 --> 00:03:07.268
And then you look up and
you see the fireball as it

00:03:07.271 --> 00:03:09.447
ascends up into the heavens.

00:03:09.451 --> 00:03:13.328
It contains all of the
rich colors of the rainbow,

00:03:13.331 --> 00:03:16.567
and then as it rises
up into the atmosphere

00:03:16.571 --> 00:03:21.507
it turns a beautiful pale yellow,

00:03:21.511 --> 00:03:25.387
and then assembles
into the mushroom.

00:03:25.391 --> 00:03:27.967
It's a wonderful sight to behold.

00:03:27.971 --> 00:03:33.471
♪ Oh, the shark has
pretty teeth, dear ♪

00:03:34.889 --> 00:03:39.989
♪ And he shows them pearly white ♪

00:03:40.930 --> 00:03:45.930
♪ And the AEC has figures ♪

00:03:47.230 --> 00:03:52.730
♪ But it keeps them out of sight ♪

00:03:53.330 --> 00:03:58.830
♪ When the shark bites
with his teeth, dear ♪

00:03:59.829 --> 00:04:05.329
♪ Scarlet billows start to spread ♪

00:04:06.230 --> 00:04:11.687
♪ Strontium-90 shows no color ♪

00:04:12.891 --> 00:04:17.890
♪ But it leaves you just as dead ♪

00:04:18.150 --> 00:04:21.548
- The United States knows
that if the fearful trend of

00:04:21.552 --> 00:04:25.029
atomic military buildup
can be reversed,

00:04:25.050 --> 00:04:29.207
this greatest of destructive forces
can be developed into a great boon

00:04:29.211 --> 00:04:32.310
for the benefit of all mankind.

00:04:33.250 --> 00:04:35.228
- Animals had passed the tests,

00:04:35.232 --> 00:04:37.908
and the next most important
test was scheduled.

00:04:37.912 --> 00:04:42.750
- A family food center to store
atomically irradiated food.

00:04:42.751 --> 00:04:44.154
[Music - The Commodores, "Uranium"]

00:04:44.159 --> 00:04:46.939
♪ U-ranium, U-ranium ♪

00:04:47.054 --> 00:04:49.854
♪ U-ranium, U-ranium ♪

00:04:50.415 --> 00:04:53.415
♪ I'm gonna dig it some more ♪

00:04:55.086 --> 00:04:57.686
♪ Gonna dig uranium high on a
mountaintop ♪

00:05:00.467 --> 00:05:04.475
♪ Hey, gonna dig uranium high on
a mountaintop ♪

00:05:06.999 --> 00:05:11.051
♪ Well, the passion for my baby
and love, love, love never stop ♪

00:05:13.313 --> 00:05:17.469
♪ Hey, packin' up my burro,
I'm gonna take a hikе ♪

00:05:17.484 --> 00:05:19.144
[donkeys braying]

00:05:19.161 --> 00:05:22.561
♪ Hey, packin' up the burro,
I'm gonna take a hikе ♪

00:05:25.408 --> 00:05:29.428
♪ Well, goin' to the mountains
and make a uranium strike ♪

00:05:31.832 --> 00:05:34.532
♪ U-ranium, U-ranium ♪

00:05:34.868 --> 00:05:36.768
♪ U-ranium ♪

00:05:37.400 --> 00:05:39.498
- We realize that when these
multinational corporations

00:05:39.502 --> 00:05:41.918
come into the Black Hills,

00:05:41.922 --> 00:05:45.197
we're going to have uranium
mining and uranium milling.

00:05:45.201 --> 00:05:47.437
We're gonna have possibly
nuclear power plants.

00:05:47.442 --> 00:05:50.297
We're gonna possibly have high-level
nuclear waste disposal

00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:51.697
in South Dakota.

00:05:52.700 --> 00:05:55.358
- It has not started here yet.

00:05:55.420 --> 00:05:58.197
The hills and the
trees are still there,

00:05:58.201 --> 00:06:02.319
and the people
and the living things.

00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:08.260
We have a chance
here to stop it cold,

00:06:08.340 --> 00:06:09.497
and we have to.

00:06:09.502 --> 00:06:13.718
We have to save these
sacred Black Hills.

00:06:13.722 --> 00:06:19.222
We're talking about our
mother, which is the Earth.

00:06:21.339 --> 00:06:24.039
- One night, I had a horrible dream.

00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:31.659
I was in bed, and we were
gonna have a meltdown.

00:06:32.620 --> 00:06:37.798
And we all left in a hurry
because we weren't sure

00:06:37.802 --> 00:06:39.377
what was gonna happen.

00:06:39.382 --> 00:06:42.358
And the roads were kind of crowded,

00:06:42.362 --> 00:06:46.577
and everybody was going like
100 miles an hour to get out.

00:06:46.581 --> 00:06:49.718
- We were at school just
gettin' ready to go for lunch

00:06:49.722 --> 00:06:53.077
when everybody started
leavin one by one,

00:06:53.081 --> 00:06:55.298
and we wondered what was happening.

00:06:55.302 --> 00:06:59.957
And then the teacher told us that
they had an accident at the island.

00:06:59.961 --> 00:07:02.057
- Somethin' happened
with the cool rods,

00:07:02.062 --> 00:07:06.218
and the water started to heat,

00:07:06.222 --> 00:07:10.637
and it just got
overheating and it started.

00:07:10.641 --> 00:07:13.358
Somethin' broke down
or somethin', I'm not sure.

00:07:13.362 --> 00:07:16.777
- Another leak came out of TMI,

00:07:16.781 --> 00:07:20.060
and we had to evacuate.

00:07:20.220 --> 00:07:23.017
- They say they're gonna
open it in two years.

00:07:23.021 --> 00:07:25.337
I don't want it opened ever.

00:07:25.341 --> 00:07:28.197
- I think of holding my breath,

00:07:28.201 --> 00:07:32.478
and then you won't get radiation
unless it leaks through your skin,

00:07:32.482 --> 00:07:33.877
which I don't think it would.

00:07:33.882 --> 00:07:37.798
It's something that you can't
see, smell, or anything like that.

00:07:37.802 --> 00:07:41.777
And it's in the air, and
if you get too much of it,

00:07:41.781 --> 00:07:47.158
like it could cause
leukemia or cancer.

00:07:47.162 --> 00:07:51.718
- If they open it, they're probably
gonna push the wrong button,

00:07:51.722 --> 00:07:56.737
pull the wrong cord and
switch the wrong switch,

00:07:56.742 --> 00:07:59.399
and it's gonna blow up.

00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:03.257
- The meltdown was so terrible
that some people died,

00:08:03.262 --> 00:08:07.137
and some people were badly
injured and couldn't get anywhere,

00:08:07.141 --> 00:08:09.017
and the radiation got them.

00:08:09.421 --> 00:08:14.117
And then we came back
a few years later,

00:08:14.122 --> 00:08:16.517
and everything was destroyed.

00:08:16.521 --> 00:08:19.699
There were giant
holes in the ground,

00:08:19.819 --> 00:08:23.980
and TMI had big holes in it.

00:08:23.982 --> 00:08:25.802
[wind howling]

00:08:26.715 --> 00:08:30.535
[funk guitar music]

00:08:31.889 --> 00:08:37.068
♪ I am ion, the neutron batter ♪

00:08:37.072 --> 00:08:40.208
♪ Tryin' to break up matter ♪

00:08:40.512 --> 00:08:43.908
♪ But atoms have a strong makeup ♪

00:08:44.112 --> 00:08:47.830
♪ They don't wanna break up ♪

00:08:48.829 --> 00:08:51.488
- We live in an age that's nuclear.

00:08:51.492 --> 00:08:54.929
Just what that means
to some is unclear.

00:08:55.029 --> 00:08:57.902
- You know, I've heard
that nuclear power plants

00:08:57.904 --> 00:08:59.485
are just like bombs.

00:08:59.487 --> 00:09:00.584
- No, they're not.

00:09:00.592 --> 00:09:02.688
The way the plant is built
and the way it operates

00:09:02.692 --> 00:09:04.668
are very different from a bomb.

00:09:04.672 --> 00:09:08.888
Besides, there are all kinds of
controls and safety things built in,

00:09:08.892 --> 00:09:11.768
so it can't possibly
behave like a bomb.

00:09:11.772 --> 00:09:17.272
- When we're talking about
100 tons or so of material

00:09:17.950 --> 00:09:23.988
melting at 5,000 degrees
Fahrenheit and burning explosively,

00:09:23.992 --> 00:09:26.648
melting through
concrete in the soil,

00:09:26.652 --> 00:09:28.828
when somebody tells me,

00:09:28.832 --> 00:09:32.008
"But we're sure it isn't
going to go far away,"

00:09:32.012 --> 00:09:34.468
I look at them as a chemist,

00:09:34.472 --> 00:09:38.408
and I say I have heard
various forms of insanity,

00:09:38.412 --> 00:09:41.169
but hardly this form.

00:09:41.998 --> 00:09:46.031
[Native drumming and vocalizing]

00:10:21.454 --> 00:10:24.954
[Native drumming and vocalizing]

00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:27.278
Whether it melts down
or doesn't melt down,

00:10:27.282 --> 00:10:29.698
you've created an
astronomical amount of

00:10:29.702 --> 00:10:31.378
radioactive garbage,

00:10:31.382 --> 00:10:37.658
which you must contain and isolate
better than 99.99% perfectly

00:10:37.662 --> 00:10:42.559
for the future, in the
future I mean forever.

00:10:47.215 --> 00:10:49.515
[Geiger counter crackling]

00:10:49.517 --> 00:10:50.867
[barrels clattering]

00:10:50.870 --> 00:10:53.728
- We have moved far to
tame for peaceful uses

00:10:53.732 --> 00:10:57.628
the mighty forces unloosed
when this atom was split,

00:10:57.632 --> 00:11:01.588
and we have only just begun.

00:11:01.592 --> 00:11:05.788
This energy is to propel
the machines of progress,

00:11:05.792 --> 00:11:08.988
to light our cities and our towns,

00:11:08.992 --> 00:11:11.288
to fire our factories,

00:11:11.292 --> 00:11:13.468
to provide new sources
of fresh water

00:11:13.472 --> 00:11:17.548
as it brightens our life
on this planet.

00:11:17.552 --> 00:11:21.110
- What was your first reaction
to seeing the NU Tower?

00:11:21.870 --> 00:11:24.628
- The tower was distinctly
the symbol

00:11:24.632 --> 00:11:26.688
which was probably gonna
have to get removed

00:11:26.692 --> 00:11:29.848
in order to get a movement
going here in the valley

00:11:29.852 --> 00:11:31.188
to stop the nuke.

00:11:31.192 --> 00:11:33.148
I just thought that it
had just stuck up there

00:11:33.152 --> 00:11:35.548
so succinctly, you know,

00:11:35.552 --> 00:11:39.508
that I just knew it would
end up tippin' over.

00:11:39.512 --> 00:11:43.508
And by February 22nd, and
yet still no one had done it,

00:11:43.512 --> 00:11:45.708
and we had never gotten
really any kind of movement

00:11:45.712 --> 00:11:48.768
off the ground to stop the
plant in the local area,

00:11:48.772 --> 00:11:51.068
I just figured it was time.

00:11:51.072 --> 00:11:54.288
It made this, like,
double wanging noise

00:11:54.292 --> 00:11:56.328
that carried up the cable.

00:11:56.332 --> 00:12:01.269
It repeated it twice,
like wang, wang.

00:12:02.004 --> 00:12:05.504
[insects buzzing]
[birds chirping]

00:12:07.819 --> 00:12:10.158
I just had to tell people
that the raw gamble

00:12:10.162 --> 00:12:13.118
that was being handed to the
citizens of Franklin County

00:12:13.122 --> 00:12:16.538
and ask them if they wanted
to send Sam Lovejoy to jail

00:12:16.542 --> 00:12:19.001
for five years.

00:12:19.003 --> 00:12:20.940
When they confront his act

00:12:20.942 --> 00:12:24.518
with the nuclear power
plant reality,

00:12:24.522 --> 00:12:28.600
the concept of jail, should
this person go to jail?

00:12:29.719 --> 00:12:31.958
- Listen, it's your children
as well as our children

00:12:31.962 --> 00:12:32.998
that we're concerned about.

00:12:33.002 --> 00:12:34.840
- You've been asked to leave,
you're trespassin'.

00:12:34.940 --> 00:12:37.379
- Yeah, well children come
before private property.

00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:39.458
What I'm trying to tell
you about radiation

00:12:39.462 --> 00:12:41.998
and unborn children is it
causes their legs to deform.

00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:45.738
- And that's why y'all
worried 'em last year,

00:12:45.742 --> 00:12:47.758
and that's why they ain't
got nothin' left to do to ya

00:12:47.760 --> 00:12:48.998
but bring the tanks out now

00:12:49.002 --> 00:12:50.798
when you got nerve
enough to go to jail.

00:12:50.802 --> 00:12:52.218
First time in the history
of this country

00:12:52.222 --> 00:12:53.738
they had to bring the
National Guard out

00:12:53.742 --> 00:12:57.299
to a jail where people wasn't
tryin' to escape.

00:12:57.839 --> 00:12:59.900
They didn't understand that.

00:13:00.275 --> 00:13:02.075
They didn't understand that.

00:13:02.362 --> 00:13:04.362
[crowd cheering and applauding]

00:13:04.649 --> 00:13:05.807
And poor folks and black folks

00:13:05.812 --> 00:13:08.208
across this country related with you

00:13:08.212 --> 00:13:10.508
and understood you
better then because

00:13:10.512 --> 00:13:12.568
for years poor folks and black folks

00:13:12.572 --> 00:13:15.389
always thought jails was for them.

00:13:15.450 --> 00:13:17.268
And when we look around and see

00:13:17.272 --> 00:13:19.427
where a group of whites
that's not poor,

00:13:19.432 --> 00:13:20.927
that didn't have to stay
in that jail,

00:13:20.932 --> 00:13:25.208
decided, "I will stay because
we're going to stop this mess,"

00:13:25.212 --> 00:13:27.028
it meant a whole lot to
a whole lot of people.

00:13:27.032 --> 00:13:32.108
♪ Just give me the warm
power of the sun ♪

00:13:32.992 --> 00:13:36.848
♪ Give me the steady flow
of a waterfall ♪

00:13:37.652 --> 00:13:40.788
♪ Give me the spirit of
living things ♪

00:13:40.792 --> 00:13:44.350
♪ As they return to clay ♪

00:13:45.349 --> 00:13:47.830
- If you took $2 billion

00:13:49.129 --> 00:13:52.708
that it would cost to build a
modern nuclear power plant,

00:13:52.712 --> 00:13:55.788
and you divided that $2 billion

00:13:55.792 --> 00:13:58.488
into the 200,000 households

00:13:58.492 --> 00:14:01.188
that there are in the
state of New Hampshire,

00:14:01.192 --> 00:14:03.708
that is enough money to put

00:14:03.712 --> 00:14:07.427
a solar-powered
space heating system,

00:14:07.432 --> 00:14:10.508
solar-powered domestic
hot water system,

00:14:10.512 --> 00:14:13.188
and a wind-driven electric generator

00:14:13.192 --> 00:14:16.568
on every single one of the
200,000 households.

00:14:16.572 --> 00:14:19.728
And I can't imagine
what kind of an army

00:14:19.732 --> 00:14:22.128
of carpenters and tin snippers,

00:14:22.132 --> 00:14:24.568
glaziers, plumbers, and all the rest

00:14:24.572 --> 00:14:28.688
that it would take to go out
and fit out these houses.

00:14:28.692 --> 00:14:30.848
That's where the jobs are.

00:14:30.852 --> 00:14:33.307
- Here in San Bernardino,
California,

00:14:33.312 --> 00:14:37.668
we're installing solar
skylight water heaters.

00:14:37.672 --> 00:14:39.768
We're installing them on
public housing

00:14:39.772 --> 00:14:41.528
for low-income people.

00:14:41.532 --> 00:14:44.168
Developing, designing
and manufacturing,

00:14:44.172 --> 00:14:46.988
installing and maintenance
of solar systems

00:14:46.990 --> 00:14:48.168
are fairly simple.

00:14:48.172 --> 00:14:49.908
We can do it, anyone can.

00:14:50.612 --> 00:14:55.412
♪ Just give me the restless
power of the wind ♪

00:14:56.149 --> 00:15:00.148
♪ Give me the comforting
glow of a wood fire ♪

00:15:00.952 --> 00:15:05.952
♪ But please take all your
atomic poison power away ♪

00:15:08.359 --> 00:15:10.138
- I'm asking the
Atomic Energy Commission

00:15:10.142 --> 00:15:12.057
to speed up the licensing
and construction

00:15:12.062 --> 00:15:13.938
of nuclear plants.

00:15:13.942 --> 00:15:16.118
By the end of this decade,

00:15:16.122 --> 00:15:17.818
we will have developed
the potential

00:15:17.822 --> 00:15:20.158
to meet our own energy needs

00:15:20.162 --> 00:15:23.662
without depending on any
foreign enemy--

00:15:23.999 --> 00:15:26.051
foreign energy sources.

00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:30.378
- The people of the American state,

00:15:30.382 --> 00:15:32.258
the people of South Dakota,

00:15:32.262 --> 00:15:34.438
it is up to us.

00:15:34.442 --> 00:15:36.838
We are going to have
to make a decision.

00:15:36.842 --> 00:15:39.138
And that decision is,
do we want to live,

00:15:39.142 --> 00:15:41.518
continue to pass on to
the coming generations

00:15:41.522 --> 00:15:45.177
values of hypocrisy,
values of greed?

00:15:45.182 --> 00:15:49.598
- Our people have always
looked to the future,

00:15:49.602 --> 00:15:54.139
at least seven
generations ahead.

00:15:54.179 --> 00:15:59.679
The decisions that are
made by our people today,

00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:04.378
we have to consider,
how is that going to affect

00:16:04.382 --> 00:16:07.299
seven generations from now?

00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:10.518
- In the past, we have never
been able to come together

00:16:10.522 --> 00:16:12.778
to deal with these issues
because of the separations

00:16:12.782 --> 00:16:15.838
of age, sex, class and race.

00:16:15.842 --> 00:16:19.098
But no matter which category
that we fall into today,

00:16:19.102 --> 00:16:21.458
the nuclear madness
is going to destroy

00:16:21.462 --> 00:16:23.458
each and every one of us.

00:16:23.462 --> 00:16:25.738
If we want to survive,

00:16:25.742 --> 00:16:27.918
if we want to fulfill
our natural role

00:16:27.922 --> 00:16:29.998
and the natural part
of the creation,

00:16:30.002 --> 00:16:31.198
we are human beings.

00:16:31.202 --> 00:16:33.358
Our only duty,
our total duty,

00:16:33.362 --> 00:16:36.138
our obligation is to protect
the sacred Mother Earth

00:16:36.142 --> 00:16:39.320
because this is what
gives us our life.

00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:43.720
[protestors clapping and chanting]

00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:03.720
[protestors clapping and chanting]

00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.720
[protestors clapping and chanting]

00:17:47.020 --> 00:17:50.020
[protestors clapping and chanting]

00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:13.920
[protestors clapping and chanting]