Interview
Interview with Prof. Angelo Baracca, University of Florence
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Prof. Angelo Baracca, |
Prof. Baracca, please describe the main focus of the conference. The content and the ideas.
We started from the consideration that the mechanisms of nuclear proliferation have become increasingly complex since the beginning of the nuclear age. And even more after the end of the cold war, since nuclear armaments, far from becoming obsolete as we thought, have assumed a primary relevance, no longer in the old role of deterrence, but as weapons to be used in the battlefield. The mechanisms of nuclear proliferation have not been fully understood, as is evident by such examples as Israel, or Pakistan. A multi-disciplinary approach is necessary in order to clarify many crucial points. We have in mind a project, that could be developed if we will be able to promote a wide coordination, a collective work. I hope that the participants in the Florence events were conscious of this aim, and will be open to carry on the collaboration. A big institution like the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin is involved, and I think that it could play an important role. I deem it important also that these events were officially promoted from an Academic institution, although we had to overcome several oppositions. We are far from expiating that “original sin”, that Oppenheimer referred to, but we try at least to contribute to some step in that direction. It must be not merely an academic program, but we must be able to transfer the results to the public opinion.
What are the main results of the conference?
In my opinion the results must be measured against a general context of great difficulty, in which nuclear disarmament is not on the political agenda, and it seems extremely difficult to resume. Even small steps may be important, mainly if we work in an intermediate time perspective. It is very important to enlarge and deepen contacts at every level with all the movements, organisations, groups of activists and scientists. I hope that we have succeeded in throwing solid bridges. I was already working together with the Italian Section of IALANA (the juridical actions against the US Government for the nukes at the Aviano military basis), and with the Italian movement for peace (and recently at an European level against the projects of missile shield). It was not easy to make of the conference an event for the large public, but we tried to take advantage of it in several ways in order to enlarge the consciousness of the nuclear danger: concretely, an evening debate with David Krieger, Hans Kristensen and Pavel Podvig; the public interest raised by the prize to ElBaradei; the coincidence of the events with the launch of an Italian campaign for collecting the signatures on two projects of laws on de-nuclearization and against military bases. We must confess that we did not succeed completely in these public efforts, but this means that unfortunately public opinion is not very sensitive on nuclear danger. We must take into account this situation in our work. Bush threatens a Third World War, Putin a nuclear rearmament, but the common people are distracted by false problems, or their everyday life. We have a great work to perform, and I hope that the connections we have established will help us.
How did you achieve the big success that Dr. ElBaradei accepted the prize? How was the behaviour of the university? Did you get support?
From the side of Dr. ElBaradei and the IAEA, this result was one step, a part of a wider process and program. In the first place, early contacts were taken with the IAEA at various levels with the aim of a direct involvement in the Conference. In the meantime we perceived a growing opposition raising from the scientific academic community (especially, and not for chance, the community of Physicists, the “fathers” of the bomb), and we decided to raise the level of the confrontation. In this context we proposed, and promoted the Honorary Degree and Honorary Citizenship to Dr. ElBaradei, we met his acceptance and his willingness to coordinate the initiatives. With the Honorary Citizenship we hoped to promote a wider collaboration from the local administration, but at the end we were quite disappointed. The main Administration, that of the Toscana Region, openly refused any financial support! With the Municipality, we tried a connection with the Mayors for Peace campaign (participation of the Mayor of Hiroshima was not possible only for a complication), but the Mayor of Florence, Leonardo Domenici – although he is one of the Vice-Presidents of the campaign – seems much more absorbed by the problem of the immigrated window cleaners than by nuclear disarmament! Several Italian Mayors were present, by they were not even acknowledged. In any case, the Executive Board of the campaign will take place in Florence at mid November.
But, besides Dr. ElBaradei’s prizes, the idea originated from a proposal of the University of Florence an innovative, multi-disciplinary Master course, on the control of nuclear materials for peaceful use and of the non-proliferation regime. It was here that we met, besides an even growing opposition from my colleagues, the very positive reaction from organisations such as the IAEA and the EURATOM. In the next months our main challenge will be the success of this Master: it will be crucial in order to see if we really succeeded in opening a breach in the academic community on these themes.
Was this conference a single event? Please describe the future plans.
I already mentioned the Board of the Mayors for Peace Campaign, promoted by the IPB-Italy in Florence next November. In the Master we will actively collaborate with the IAEA and EURATOM: if successful, we could think in the future of a European project promoting an official engagement of the Universities on control of peaceful uses on nuclear technology (Obviously, I am against every use of nuclear energy, but a fortiori a pretend that they are safe). We will go on with IALANA and other organisation in the objective of submitting again the question of nuclear armaments to the International Court of Justice, through the UN General Assembly. I hope that we will, all together, promote also the petition proposed by David Krieger to the Direction of the University of California, in order that it cuts every collaboration with the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory on nuclear armaments. Our capacity of collaborating with the peace movement, and to develop a higher sensitivity in the public opinion will be obviously crucial in the future.
The interview was done by Reiner Braun, INES Activities Coordinator