After the Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident in 1979, a local Pennsylvania resident told The New York Times 'You live with that plant over there for years and years and don't think much about it. But it's like living with a rattlesnake. Sooner or later it's going to bite you. This article considers the official responses to Chernobyl in the first decade after the accident and compares them to the statements surrounding the sudden 1998 decision to decommission the nuclear reprocessing plant at Dounreay in Scotland. Its frequency, together with its ferocity, indicates a potent biological cause.
Cohesion is given through the collective consciousness and collective memory.
The analogy is to multicellular organisms that evolved from the association of single cell organisms. All biological organisms are subject to the survival instinct, which is thus the potent biological cause of inter-group aggression. Groups compete for territory and see other groups as a threat. For more information on this journal, including subscription details, future contents and how to request sample copies please visit the Medicine, Conflict and Survival home page .