FOI delivers: on US nuclear accidents and mistakes

Eric Schlosser Author,Command And Control, interviewed last night on ABC Lateline:

TONY JONES: Now, if this is all happening in the world's most advanced technological nuclear power, what's happening in Pakistan, which has the fastest-growing nuclear arsenal in the world, but we know the problems of the political system in Pakistan?

ERIC SCHLOSSER: We don't know. We don't know how Russia is handling its nuclear weapons. I'm very critical of my government in my book, but the United States has been much more open about its nuclear weapons systems than any other country in the world and much more open about its accidents and mistakes. I mean, it took me years through the Freedom of Information Act to get this information, but at least I was able to get it.

TONY JONES: It was kept secret until then.

ERIC SCHLOSSER: It was kept secret ...

TONY JONES: Hundreds of pages of incident reports which you acquired had all been kept secret.

ERIC SCHLOSSER: I found more than 1,000 accidents and incidents involving nuclear weapons. And in many ways it's a testament to the skill of our weapons designers that none of them detonated full scale, but I interviewed many of them for my book and they feel it's not a question of whether this is gonna happen, but when.

ICAN lists the following countries with, or hosting nuclear weapons. Many (well there are obvious exceptions) have FOI/RTI acts. Important challenging comparative study there for the taking.

Nations with nuclear weapons	United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea
Nations hosting nuclear weapons	Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey

Schlosser will participate in the Guardian Masterclass on Investigative Journalism in Sydney on 6 September to be hosted by Paul Farrell as part of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas.