ABSTRACT
The civilian and military nuclear technologies have been compared by many to the ‘so called’ nuclear ‘Siamese twins’ since they are so closely connected one can hardly separate them. In one of the richest countries in the world, untroubled by severe conflicts, it has for many years been difficult to focus on the core concern of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the abolition of nuclear weapons. Over the entire existence of the Swiss affiliate of IPPNW, however, issues involving the entire nuclear chain were of concern. The dawn of the nuclear age marked the acquisition of unprecedented human power over the earth and all forms of life, as the Caen symposium pointed out. Trans-generational impacts of nuclear war, and nuclear catastrophes must– similarly to climate change – be seriously considered, and require a paradigm shift in our legal thinking about the future.
