A Primary Law for Europa

One of the greatest problems facing humanity on Earth is the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The bombs are so powerful that they create the prospect for a terrible conflict that might destroy civilization. The environmental harm might be catastrophic. As Professor Stephen Hawking asks, “Does intelligence have much long-term survival value?”

It has been discovered that Europa, a moon of Jupiter, has more than twice the water of Earth. Its potential use for humanity is enormous, though there are no certain prospects for human travel there yet. Indeed, there are currently no widely published plans in English for sending a human to Europa. This essay presumes that humanity may someday go to Europa and even colonize the area.

In order to avoid recreating the problems of this planet, all of the space agencies and their sponsoring nations should sign a treaty agreeing never to send nuclear weapons to Jupiter or Europa. That treaty would be easier to negotiate now before nations start competing to go. It would be critically stupid for humanity to repeat the mistakes of the past and to allow nuclear weapons to proliferate, this time across the solar system.

Such a law might simply read: There shall be no nuclear weapons near Jupiter or within the vicinity of any of its moons. No nuclear weapons shall be transported to any place within 380 million miles (611.55 million kilometers) of Jupiter.

Europa is currently the largest known water source in the solar system. It would be tremendously wise to keep it nuclear-free in order to preserve it. That way, if there is ever a major conflict there, it will not destroy this spectacular natural resource.

Reasonable minds can differ as to whether nuclear propulsion should be prohibited around Europa. There were protests in 1989 when the Galileo probe launched for Jupiter. That was the probe that provided the information for most that Europa has a subterranean ocean. If use of nuclear propulsion means that nuclear weapons are taken to Jupiter, then nuclear propulsion should be banned, too.

It would be wise for humanity to keep nuclear weapons out of space altogether, but at a minimum they should never be transported to Europa and Jupiter.

It is true that there are still significant technical issues concerning a human colony on Europa. There are lethal levels of radiation hitting the Jovian moon, not to mention a voyage that has never been accomplished in under a year, even by the fastest of probes. Still, presuming that a colony may someday develop, it is wise to agree to keep the area free of nuclear weapons.

(Writer’s note: The above image is by Mr. Michael Carroll of NASA/JPL.)