I think a lot of people wish the invention of the atomic bomb is something we could all take back. It’s not necessarily a realistic thought — there’s always the argument that someone would have eventually developed one — but the AEC’s insane attempts to use atomic bombs for public works projects aside, the a-bomb will go down in history as one of those things we wish we really didn’t have to deal with. So why not celebrate the forever spectre of nuclear war with a national park?That was the idea behind the Manhattan Project National Historic Park, a GOP sponsored effort to celebrate the brilliant minds who gave America the bomb — oh, and who are also to thank for the Cold War and that whole military-industrial complex. The park was actually going to be in multiple locations, encompassing some of the labs that developed the first bomb, including ones in New Mexico, Tennessee, and Washington. To make it all the more realistic, some nuclear waste remains at the sites, but the Department of Energy said it’s totally safe to visit them.The proposed bill to create the park needed a two-thirds vote to pass the House and failed yesterday with a vote of 237-180 amidst bipartisan (!) opposition.112 Republicans voted no, citing that whole fiscal conservative thing. And, really, it’s an argument that makes sense: National parks are woefully underfunded as it stands and even more budget cuts are looming, so where the hell are we supposed to find money to build a tri-state national park and maintain it, on top of funding the extra security required so that little Johnny doesn’t dip his hands in radioactive goo?On the other hand, there’s also the very real question of whether or not we should even be building massive monuments to the Manhattan Project at all. The Manhattan Project does represent some of the most incredible engineering and science work of the 20th century, and it would’t be hard to argue that opening the atomic age was quite possibly the most transformative event of the last 100 years. But Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich summed up the opposition best, saying “At a time when we should be organizing the world toward abolishing nuclear weapons before they abolish us, we are instead indulging in admiration at our cleverness as a species.”Kucinich followed that up with a doozy: “The bomb is about graveyards; it’s not about national parks.” Presumably he didn’t drop the mic.There’s no doubt that the pure scientific work of the Manhattan Project was admirably brilliant; the end product and resulting proliferation is decidedly more depressing. But I do understand the desire to acknowledge that work. But in a time of supposed national debt crisis and as the U.S. struggles to escape its longest war, why in the world would anyone think it’s a good idea to try to inspire the next generation of scientists that we desperately need by glorifying the incredible destructive excess of the nuclear program?Follow Derek Mead on Twitter: @derektmead.
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