Anti-Nuclear Protests

The anti-nuclear movement was led by people who opposed anything that had to do with nuclear technologies. Before the protests started the protesters stated that their protest would not be violent due to moral reasons. The reason they chose to not use violence to get their points across is because they believed that the focus would not be one the real issue. Groups that took place in this protest even went and got training on how to protest without violence. The two groups protesting anti-nuclear were nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. The weapons movement goes back to the 1950s atmosphere testing from when the use of weapons started. The energy movement then started in the 1960s not long after that. Environmentalists during this time were concerned about the storage and waste from the Atomic Energy Commission. There were talks in the 1970s of combining these two movements, but the leaders of the weapons movement felt that having an attack on a single industry would go against their morals. But those who focused their time on the energy movement later put more effort into supporting the weapons movement in the 1980s. This was due to NATO’s deployment of intermediate-range nuclear forces in Europe soon approached. During 1978 the energy movement hit its peak but then declined while the weapons movement which has declined the year before peaked during 1983.Protests against nuclear weapons normally took place on government owned grounds, while the nuclear energy protests took place at power plant sites. The nuclear weapons movement seemed to have more arrests than at the energy protests. Arrests took place at 69 percent of the weapons protests, while only 49 percent of the energy protests had arrests.

Anti-nuclear outside the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian. 

While the nuclear energy and weapons were two different groups that were protesting during this time, and they considered combining both at one time. Leaders of these groups decided to not combine because they had different goals at this time. But the tactics in this movement were similar to the anti-segregation and anti-war movements. The anti-nuclear protests had rallies, sit-ins, marches, prayer vigils, music festivals were the most common activities. These new protests had much more planning than protests in the past. The biggest threat of the anti-nuclear protest movement was the fear that radical environmentalists could join at any moment. The reason that there was such a fear with these radicals joining was because they mostly wanted to do more violence than had been done so far. During the entire time of the anti-nuclear protests the main idea was to have no violence. The people involved in this movement really believed that violence is not going to help solve the problem. In a June 18, 1982 article written by the New York Times, it talked about how the marchers from the weekend directed a speech to President Reagan and Leonid I. Brezhnev, the Soviet leader at the time, that they were not going to stop until they won. The message then stated that at each and every march they will have more and more people than they did before.

No Nukes and Nuclear Freeze movement of the 1970s. Image courtsey of American Friends Service Committee.

The anti-nuclear protests connect with Gaudium et spes because during the whole protest movement the protesters involved wanted to make sure there was no violence. As well as making sure there was no violence, protesters also believed the movement was a moral issue. The reason it was a moral issue is because of the nuclear energy. People believed the nuclear energy was a harm to the environment and people. Which would be destroying was God had created. The reason that the anti-nuclear protests connect with Gaudium et spes is because these civilians were protesting to try and save the lives of those who were dying because of the cold war. As well as, the use of nuclear weapons and energy that were destroying people’s lives and other aspects around them.

If interested in learning more about the anti-nuclear protests check out this video called the Anti-Nuclear Movement. It goes into more detail about the meaning, definition, and explains it a little more. Also, check out this other website it is called Anti-nuclear Activist and Protest Actions. It goes into more detail on what efforts people in South Dakota did during this movement.