Photo of Henry Moore Sculpture to Nuclear Power, by Blanche H. SchroerThe event sponsored by Beyond Nuclear, Friends of the Earth, and Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS), and co-sponsored by UChicago Climate Action Network and International House at the University of Chicago, attracted 200 participants, from across the U.S., as well as Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, and a number of Native American First Nations. "A Mountain of Radioactive Waste 70 Years High: Ending the Nuclear Age" marked the tragic observance of Enrico Fermi creating the first nuclear chain reaction, in the world's first atomic reactor, and generating the world's first high-level radioactive reactor wastes, at the University of Chicago at 3:25 PM local time, December 2, 1942, as an early milestone on the Manhattan Project's journey of death that culminated, less than three years later, with the atomic test blast "Trinity" in New Mexico, and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
The gathering featured: two solid days of powerful conference presentations; the Chicago premiere of the documentary film "Atomic States of America"; a memorial observance at the Henry Moore Sculpture to Nuclear Power (held at the exact moment of the 70th year, on the very spot where the chain reaction was conducted; see photo, above left), and a fact-finding trip to Red Gate Woods, a forest preserve 25 miles from the downtown Chicago Loop, which represents the world's first radioactive waste dump.