Despite growing opposition from the public, the Pentagon continues to push their plans to detonate the 700-ton Divine Strake bomb test in Nevada. The blast is expected to be 50 times larger than the biggest weapon in the US arsenal. The Pentagon is holding public meetings next week in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, but opponents have called the meetings nothing but propaganda. Joining me on the line is Mary Dickson, a founder of Downwinder United, a group fighting to end all testing at the Nevada nuclear test site. Mary Dickson, what are the possible health and environmental threats from the Divine Strake test?

Dickson: What the real concern from this is, as you know there were 928 tests at the Nevada test site, so the fear is long living radio nuclides left over from those blasts will be sucked in that debris and the atmosphere which is absolutely not acceptable for downwind populations.

FSRN: Historically the government has performed tests in this region. Have you personally been affected by past government bomb tests in Nevada?

Dickson: Oh most definitely. I suffer from thyroid cancer. My sister died from lupus. In the neighborhood I grew up in Salt Lake City, we’ve counted in a five-block area at least 45 people with cancer which we are guessing are due to testing.

FSRN: This is a non-nuclear test, is that correct?

Dickson: Yes, yes.

FSRN: Does this is any way violate the nuclear non-proliferation treaty?

Dickson: That’s an interesting question because it’s non-nuclear, that’s how it kind of got slipped in. The Congress said last year they would not allow any testing of these small nuclear devices, so the way this gets sneaked in is to say, well this is not a nuclear device, but if they’re looking at this, this is kind of a contradiction, because the Defense Department has said Divine Strake is des to indefinite the smallest nuclear yield possible to destroy targets, so if they're looking at this as a precursor to the development of some sort of new nuclear weapon, this is a huge concern for Downwinders and the rest of the country.

FSRN: You mention the public hearings. The Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency is holding meetings on the blast next week. What’s problematic about these meetings?

Dickson: Okay, we are really skeptical of these tests. The feds promised hearings in Utah, Nevada and Arizona, they have some schedule in Utah and Nevada, but these are not public hearings in the traditional sense. These are basically information sessions where they will have representatives from Department of Energy and Defense on hand to answer technical question but there is not an opportunity for public citizens to make their concerns heard. So they will not be given a voice at these hearings, so in our book, it is not a real hearing. Once again, we’re seeing the tactics being used during the years of nuclear testing where we’re being ask to trust the government, and scientific experts, but as I said those scientists have been wrong before. The fact that our voices are not going to be heard is a major problem and that's why we are asking our elected representatives to demand a legitimate hearing.

Mary Dickson is a Downwinder living in Salt Lake City. She said her group and others may boycott the Pentagon’s meetings and protest instead. The meetings are scheduled for Jan. 9 in Las Vegas, Jan. 10 in Salt Lake City and Jan. 11 in St. George, Utah.