When world war II ended, the nuclear age was born and several countries joined in on a nuclear arms race. Many countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), France, and China all at once became nuclear armed countries from the year 1945 to 1964. About 13,000 warheads were possessed by nine countries by the early months of 2022. Now more than ever people fear that nuclear weapons will be used sooner or later. This is all due to the multiple countries in possession of vast amounts of nuclear warheads, all the terrorism going on, and all these political instabilities. Today I will be discussing the many different effects that nuclear weapons have had and might have on the general public. “So long as nuclear weapons exist, it is inevitable that someday they will be used, whether by design, accident, or miscalculation.” (Xu and Dodt, 2023)
Everyone is getting more and more concerned about the destructive humanitarian outcomes that this age of great advancement in nuclear technology may cause, and rightfully so. Ever since the attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the world has developed and advanced in nuclear technology. In this day and age a nuclear bomb could attack at a larger scale, longer range, and with a much greater destructive force than ever before.
What happens when it’s launched?
IN AIR
First, there is an intense light flash one that comes with a strong pulse of radiation. This radiation is powerful enough to ignite light combustibles as far as 14 km away. Then a very strong pulse of gamma rays appear, killing almost everyone within a distance of 3 km.
Next there is a blinding flash that comes with a ‘fireball’, which rises for a few seconds and radiates an insane amount of heat. Everyone within an 8 km radius will suffer permanent or transient blindness on a day that there are no clouds. Within 10 km the exposed parts of people’s bodies will experience deep burning, within 15 or more they would experience superficial burning. The 1st flash will cause a lot of fires and this will make it very difficult for even the ones uninjured to get to safety. In bomb shelters and basements temperatures would rise to a deadly level, and all the available oxygen will be completely consumed by the fire.
A massive power wave then spreads at slower velocities. People within 3 km would be killed directly by the blast and 50% of people within 8 km would be killed by the blast. Buildings within 8km would be destroyed, and severely damaged if within 14 km. Winds could reach velocities of 600 km/hr and would have the force of a tornado.
ON GROUND
An enormous crater would be created, radioactive dust and debris would fly around everywhere. If the explosion was near a harbour, it will cause a tidal wave with a radioactive downpour coming onto the city, rendering the area within a 10 km radius uninhabitable for years to come. Buildings will be damaged as if the area had been hit by an earthquake, and only half the size of the area will be affected compared to an airburst.
Types of radiation
After a nuclear explosion, there are two types of residual radioactivity. One is fallout of the nuclear material and the fission products. Most of it is dispersed in the atmosphere or taken away by the wind, but there are some that fall onto the city as black rain. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki for example, the level of radioactivity today is very low, it can barely be distinguished from the few amounts presents throughout the world, due to some atmospheric tests done in the 1950s and 1960s. The other type of radiation is neutron activation. When caught by atomic nuclei, neutrons can cause non-radioactive materials to turn radioactive causing quite a lot of contamination (Listwa, 2012).
Early symptoms of radiation
Some major symptoms of radiation include epilation, petechiae, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, additional oropharyngeal diseases, and hemorrhage.
Epilation: Patients who experience epilation usually show more involvement of the crown than bilateral sides.
Petechiae: On the pressure points of the skin tiny round spots start appearing as a result of bleeding. Great ecchymoses: Around places where needles have punctured, dark purple spots appear, due to blood leaking out of blood vessels, and wounds that haven’t completely healed start to free blood.
Retinal hemorrhage: This happens in most cases, there is an extended bleeding and coagulation period. The platelet count decreases by a lot.
Nausea and Vomiting: This usually starts only a few hours after the explosion. Normally there will be some improvement the next morning, but it can last for 2 to 3 days.
Long term effects
Exposure to radiation causes an almost immediate impact by killing off cells, damaging tissue, and possibly creating new illnesses in the body. Some of these illnesses that can be created include cancer. It happens through triggering mutations of DNA in live cells. These incidents of radiation-caused cancers can sometimes be noted years after exposure. One chronic impact that atomic bomb survivors experience is leukemia. It is the most deadly of the impacts; it peaks around 4 to 6 years after the bombing and it most seriously affects children. The chances of an atomic bomb survivor getting other types of cancers is lower by 10.7%, than the chances of them getting leukemia. One other long term effect is to the children of survivors that were in the womb at the time of the attack. For them, there is an increased rate of coming out with smaller heads, mental disabilities, and an impaired physical growth. Though for the future (2nd generation) children of the survivors, there doesn’t seem to be any radiation-associated diseases that they may have acquired or will acquire, but there is still more time needed to completely verify these findings (Listwa, 2012).
Kunihiko Iida, a survivor, would like for people to know that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States are still, to this day, claiming lives and causing a lot of suffering. In August of 1945 Iida was only 3 years old, his father had died in battle, and he was living with his mother and her parents in a house that was 900 meters from Hiroshima’s hypocenter, the spot right beneath the detonation. The blast destroyed their house, and the family fled the city. Soon though Iida’s mother and older sister died from their injuries, something that the little boy did not quite understand or grasp. “Until I entered elementary school, I thought they were living and that we would meet someday,” he says. The injuries he sustained himself had left him bedridden for several years, and ever since he has had to suffer and endure several debilitating illnesses. He had childhood anemia and this caused him to collapse at school. He had ulcers and asthma, and underwent two surgeries to remove brain tumors, and now has thyroid growths. “There has never been a break in these illnesses,” he says. (Normile, 2020)
How to help yourself
Some good places to stay after a nuclear attack would be a basement that is made of concrete, an underground parking lot, air-raid shelter, or subway station. If there is no basement, higher floors will be safer from radiation than land on the ground. At least two floors above those sheltering. Also, you’ll need to avoid radiation that settles on the roof. Restrooms and stairwell cores far from deposited radioactive fallout provide good protection. To prevent radioactive dust from entering air gaps one can use plastic, tape, newspapers, or clothing to cover up. Though it is important to note that these measures are of use in case of a direct hit. Those sheltering in areas several miles from ground zero, should stay there for about three days. The radiation is the strongest on the second day after the explosion, then it drops by one-third on day 3, and one-fifth on day 5. Those above ground could stay at home if the fallout plumes do not blow towards them. If you are not specifically told to leave by a rescue team it is better to stay in the shelter for a week. If one is able to find a place with food, clean water, and a few different supplies, and they know that they have been contaminated by the radiation, it is important to take these steps immediately (Xu and Dodt, 2023).
- Take off outer layer of clothes
- Move gently as to not shake off radioactive dust
- Clean yourself with warm water, use soap
- Cover cuts and wounds when cleaning, so radioactive material doesn’t enter an open wound
- Clean hands, face, and body with lots of clean water and soap
- Clean below nose, eyelids, and eyelashes
- Seal the clothes, used wipes, and towels in a plastic bag and keep away from people and pets
Conclusion
Nuclear weapons are the most dangerous weapons that we have on earth, they can kill many people, destroy multiple cities, ruin the environment, and jeopardize the lives of the present and future generations. Between 90,000 to 166,000 people died in Hiroshima, and another 60,000 to 80,000 died in Nagasaki, after the 1st few months of the bombing. Many of the survivors feared that nothing would grow on the wasted land. By the spring of 1946, the citizens of Hiroshima were surprised to find blooming red petals of the oleander spotting the landscape. The oleander flower, called the kyochikuto in Japanese, now dissipated their worries that their city that was demolished had lost all its fertility. This instilled in a lot of people, a new hope that Hiroshima will soon recover from the tragic bombing. The oleander, now the official flower of Hiroshima, offers a wonderful symbol for the city as a whole.
References
Listwa, D. (2012, August 9). Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Long term Health Effects
Normile, D. (2020, July 23). Aftermath: By allowing scientists to study their suffering, atomic bomb survivors have transformed our understanding of radiation’s health effects.
Xu, S., & Dodt, A. (2023, August 4). Nuclear bomb and public health.
Xu, S., & Dodt, A. (2023, June 14). Nuclear bomb and public health.