The Bomb.

A comprehensive analysis of the human implications of the escalating nuclear arms race, presented by Jonathan Dimbleby. The film moves from the ‘Hibakusha’ (survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) in Japan to the computerised weapons systems of the US military, spanning time and space as it traces the evolution of the Bomb. Dimbleby reports from outside the White House ahead of the 1980 US election, a campaign dominated by the issue of defence. Back in Hiroshima, two female Hibakusha discuss the atrocities they witnessed in 1945. Their experiences contrast with the didactic reassurances of the British government-produced Protect and Survive television series. Dr Howard Hiatt, Dean of Public Health at Harvard University, points out that treating critically injured victims would be impossible even in optimal conditions. At Northallerton Town Hall in Yorkshire, officials undergo a training exercise simulating the aftermath of a nuclear attack, quickly revealing the extent to which society would disintegrate in such circumstances. Professor George Kistiakowsky, Chief Scientific Advisor to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, discusses the psychology behind the arms race, blaming the superpowers for influencing the foreign policies of other nations. Kistiakowsky’s concerns are shared by Herbert Scoville, former Deputy Director of the CIA. Scoville fears that volatile nations with nuclear weapons will resort to them in a crisis. Another concern is the possibility of accidents. The NORAD headquarters, which monitors the risk of nuclear attack, has encountered three false alarms in the past year. New technology will enable missile counterstrikes issued by computers, increasing the risk of error. For decades, peace has relied on the concept of mutual assured destruction (MAD); the presumption that neither side would risk a nuclear conflict in the knowledge that they too would be obliterated. But President Carter recently endorsed the PD59, a new strategy that sanctions counterforce in the form of ‘limited nuclear war’. US Under-Secretary of Defence Walter Slocombe explains the doctrine, which incorporates ‘demonstration’ firings through to targeted nuclear attacks. He admits that there is no guarantee that this type of warfare will remain ‘limited’. Paul Warnke, former Chief SALT II Negotiator, fears that the PD59 will result in nuclear holocaust, a view shared by Kistiakowsky. The programme explores the development of MX missiles – a mobile system engineered to protect against Russian strikes, and considers the growing opposition to the absurdities of the Civil Defence programme. In part three, the documentary returns to Japan, reporting from a hospital set up to care for the victims of the 1945 attacks. Dimbleby reports on the SALT II agreement and its aftermath. Admiral Sir Terence Lewin discusses the escalation of the arms race in the ‘theatre’ of Europe, a form of one-upmanship that threatens to run out of control. The British Trident nuclear programme and the public protests it engendered are shown. The British Secretary of State for Defence, Francis Pym, labels the protestors hypocrites, benefiting from the protection of the US nuclear programme without wishing to house weapons on their own soil. When Dimbleby asks if he supports the better ‘dead than red’ adage, Pym defends nuclear armament on grounds of the protection of freedom. The film concludes in Hiroshima on 6 August, 1980, a national day of remembrance and show of affirmation against nuclear armament.