I think a lot of them are aware of it, but also grifters, and hoping to profit off of it before the bomb goes off so that they can claim ignorance and escape blame. New and powerful thing that people don't fully understand becomes fertile ground for grifters to sew their sins. Like when Marie Curie discovered radium and everyone and their mother started forcing it into products, including toothpaste and "medicine", within like 5-10 years.