ABSTRACT

Uranium from Africa was, and remains, a major source of fuel for atomic weapons and power plants throughout the world. Uranium for the Hiroshima bomb, for example, came from the Belgian Congo. During any given year of the Cold War, between 20 percent and 50 percent of the Western world’s uranium came from African places: Congo, Niger, South Africa, Gabon, Madagascar, and Namibia. Today, there is a renewed uranium boom throughout the continent. The author writes on the ambiguities of the nuclear state, and the state of being nuclear, and why the nuclear designation matters. She looks at two countries to uncover different dimensions of nuclearity: Niger, which has long struggled with France over the price of its uranium; and Gabon, where cancer and other illnesses related to four decades of uranium production remain invisible.

摘要

来自非洲的铀曾经而且现在仍然是全世界原子武器和发电厂的主要燃料来源。例如，广岛炸弹的铀来自比利时刚果。在冷战的任何一年中，西方世界中有20％至50％的铀来自非洲地区：刚果，尼日尔，南非，加蓬，马达加斯加和纳米比亚。今天，整个非洲大陆都有新的铀繁荣。作者写了核国家的模棱两可，核国家的状态，以及核名称为何重要的原因。她着眼于两个国家，以揭示核能的不同方面：尼日尔，该国长期以来一直与法国在铀价方面苦苦挣扎；和加蓬，与铀生产四十年有关的癌症和其他疾病在这里仍然看不见。