Nowadays, one of the most important priorities of countries in this world is to build a
strong and powerful army for their countries. Talking about getting a powerful army, pretty much means having the best technology and getting the best armaments. When it comes to armaments, nuclear weapons will be the most powerful weapon on earth because of the amount of damage that could result from the blast. On the next paragraphs, I will be talking about how nuclear weapons are built, how they work, the effects resulting from the blast and finally, the laws of acquisition of the weapon.
To start
up, the actual bomb is made up of very powerful atomic particles. An atom is
made up of three subatomic particles which are protons, neutrons that
constitute the center called nucleus, and electrons. Protons are positively
charged and neutrons are negatively charged. The proton-to-electron ratio is
always one to one which makes the whole has a neutral charge. Atom’s properties
change considerably depending on how many of each particle it has. Now if the
number of protons is changed, you end up with a different type of element. And
if it is the number of neutrons that gets changed you end up with an element
called isotope. Most atomic nuclei are usually stable but a few of them
sometimes aren't and they spontaneously emit particles that scientists refer to
as “radiation”.
After the
release of radiation from the nuclei, they become radioactive and this type of
process is called “radioactive decay”. This radioactive decay consists of three
types which are alpha, beta, and gamma ray. The last type is the only nuclear
radiation coming from energy instead of fast moving particles. Also, other
types of nuclear radiation such as Uranium, plutonium, and X-rays are the
biggest constitute of nuclear weapons radiation. A great scientist named Lise
Meitner found that, uranium atom can be split into two lighter, more stable,
smaller nuclei by the firing of a single neutron into its nucleus. The nucleus
will oscillate straining the nuclear force and splitting the nucleus due to
neutron hits. Because of this fission process, the mass of the uranium atom
turns up to be heavier than the combined mass of the products. That little mass
difference eventually gets converted into energy according to the equation E=mc^2 demonstrated by one of the greatest
scientist of all time named Einstein who is pretty much the center of
consideration to be the actual reason for the existence of nuclear weapons. E
represents the energy, m correspond mass of particle, and c correspond to the
speed of the light. Based on that equation, we actually realize that even a
tiny small mass multiplied by the speed of the light which is about three
hundred millions meters per second could produce a pretty large amount of
energy. if this is now multiplied by the number of uranium atoms (biggest
particle factor for construction of nuclear weapons) in a kilogram of uranium
and the amount of energy released from a kilogram of uranium is “breathtaking”.
Compared to some conventional weapons such as TNT (trinitrotoluene) this is one
of the reasons why nuclear weapons are so devastating. Based on all of the
above, the nuclear fission reaction could be summarized by the equation:
(_92^235)U+(_0^1)n → (_56^139)Ba+(_36^94)Kr+3(_0^1)n
Where you could notify that the
number of nucleons is the same on both sides of the equation (235+1=236 on the
left side of the arrow and 139+94+1=236 on the right side). Looking at that
above equation kind of brings in some worries in your mind because you are
wonder exactly where does the energy come from. On the left side of the arrow,
the global mass of the nucleons is just a little bit more than the one on the
right. And it is that tiny mass differential which is converted into energy
(pretty much hit and light) using the Einstein equation E=mc^2. The collision
of the neutron and uranium’s nucleus causes it to become unstable and split
into two smaller nuclei. Now there will be a release of three neutrons from
each uranium nucleus that splits and theses also split other uranium nucleus
into three more neutrons and so on and so on until the reaction soon escalade
and finally releases a tremendous amount of energy and this is pretty much how
nuclear weapons work. Now that we are aware of how these nuclear weapons are
built and how they work, we tend to get more concern on the effects that could
result from using them.
Nowadays,
an average bomb is able to destroy everything within about 50 miles diameter meaning
about 25 miles radius in all directions from point of ground impact. Then about
45 miles is the killing zone for those whom will be killed by the thermal wave
or radiation exposure will be pretty intense to live. Also out to about 75
miles, people or things around that zone get exposed to radiation but with
probably different burns all over their bodies, some will probably die due to
exposure and infection. Now talking about those exposed to about 100 miles,
there are radioactive dust settling on everything that can get in eye’s breathed
into lungs, or open sores. Today’s nuclear weapons are ten times stronger than
the previous one. If an average bomb of nowadays is able to cause these damage
mentioned above, imagine what could happen if a pretty strong one gets
released. Let’s say this situation happens then you could give or take about
200 miles of lethal weapon destruction plus, you are going to have to take in
consideration the radioactive downdraft which will be another 1000 miles. Also the
wind will probably carry radioactive particles all over. From all of these, if
we take an example like if Minnesota gets hit with a nuclear weapon, it is not
just Minnesota that will suffer from it, but whole entire U.S.A. could greatly
suffer from it as well. So it could pretty much take about 6 to 7 nuclear
weapons to blow up the entire world. We also get to wonder how a blast can be
so destructive. Actually most of the damage done by a nuclear blast is not from
the blast or the radiation, but from the electromagnetic pulse caused by the
blast. Basically when a nuclear blast occurs, it does wipe out all of the
electronics within several hundred miles of the blast zone. And everything
functioning with electricity gets easily wiped out creating those electric
stuffs to generate more energy and power destruction. Now that we do acknowledge
how far nuclear weapons could cause damage, we are curious on the effects that
the blast could cause to the humanity.
The
atomic bombing of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the united stated in World
War II in 1945 are the two events that represent the only usage of nuclear
weapons on the humanity. In the city of Hiroshima, according to U.S. estimation,
about sixty thousand to seventy thousand people were killed or missing, 140
thousands were injured and many more were homeless. The deadly radiation
reached over 100 thousand in the blast, and about a thousand died right away on
the spot. Among the 90 thousand building in the city, over 60 thousand were
demolished. In the industrialized city of Nagasaki, the second bomb thrown
according to U.S. estimation took the lives of 42 thousand people or never
found and injured 40 thousand more. It also destroyed 39 percent of all
buildings standing in the city. The survey also states that severe injury occurred
to all exposed people within the range of a kilometer and moderate radiation
injury occurred between one and two kilometers. People within two to four kilometers
suffered of slight radiation effects. Because of all these, there could not be
a city or a nation that could easily or rapidly recover from such a devastating
blast.
According
to the devastating blast on people of the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the
medical effects of the blast on human have been categorized in 4 types. The first
stage is called initial stage that occurs within 1-9 weeks in which are the
highest numbers of death, with about 90% due to thermal injury from infrared
heat radiation from the blast and 10 percent due to super lethal radiation
exposure. The second stage called intermediate stage occurs within 10-12 weeks.
The deaths in this period are from ionization radiation in the median lethal
range. The radiation poisoning on this stage damage the organ tissue due to
excessive exposure to ionizing radiation. The next stage that occurs from 13-20
weeks is called the late period. This is the stage where there could be some
improvement on survivor’s conditions. And the final stage that occurs from 20
weeks to up is called the delay period. This stage has many complications,
which is a lot related to healing of thermal and mechanical injuries coupled
with infertility. Also, due to the ionizing radiation, cancer, birth defect and
other effects on tissue and organs could be generated. This is why even
nowadays people in Japan are still affected physically by a blast that happened
since 1945. From all of the above information, we actually realize that nuclear
weapons are very powerful and dangerous weapons to posses which is why there
have been laws and regulations for the acquisition of the weapon.
Due
to the devastating nuclear blast occurred in war world II, this brought up the
need to express nuclear issues. The first resolution adopted by the united
nation adopted was that the assembly established the United Nation Atomic
Energy Commission in order to deal with problems raised by the discovery of
atomic energy. Also a landmark address by the president of united state in 1953
led to the establishment of the IAEA which means International Atomic Agency. This
agency is actually responsible of conducting the on-site inspections to ensure
the peaceful usage purpose of nuclear materials. Prior to the Iraq war, it needs
to be mentioned that this agency is actually the one responsible for the non accordance
of Iraq to get nuclear materials. The 2003 Iraq war could have been a lot worse
if Iraq had acquired nuclear weapons. Also, the United Nation put in place, the
convention on the physical protection of Nuclear Material in order to prevent
the danger of nuclear terrorism. There has been an assessment methodology
developed at the Texas University for predicting usable material acquisition by
terrorist organization which is pretty much based on network. It has been designed
to include all of the materials, facilities and expertise that must be obtained
in order to acquire special nuclear material. In order for an organization to
get nuclear materials, there should be a path to follow in attempting to
acquire Special Nuclear material.
After
fulfilling the laws of acquisition of nuclear materials and technology, and
build the weapon, it needs to be tested to assure its effectiveness. After acknowledging
how far and type of damage it could cause, we also tend to wonder where it can
be tested. According to Wikipedia.org, nuclear
weapons have been tested in 4 categories reflecting the medium or location of
the test. It could be tested in the atmosphere and what happens is, the devices
are dropped from airplanes far away possible from earth. It could also be
tested underground. The tests in this case are actually conducted under the
surface of the earth, at varying depths. There is also an exoatmospheric
testing which is referred to as the tests are conducted above the atmosphere. There
is also an underwater testing which is where the tests are under the water.
To
sum up, I would like to say that the blast coming from nuclear blasts are
pretty powerful and very devastating not only to infrastructures and humans,
but also to the fact that it could be the one responsible for the destruction
of the whole entire world. Because of that blast, there are still birth defects
nowadays in Japan, and it also took several years for the country to, I won’t
say fully recover because some people are still affected, but to mostly be able
to recover what was destroyed. I also think that the fact of having laws and
requirements for the acquisition of nuclear weapons is a very important principle.
There are plenty of terrorist organizations out there that I believe if they
get access to those weapons, the earth will be torn apart.
Works Cited
Harris, W., Freudenrich, C., Fuller, J. 2012. "How Nuclear Bombs Work." Retrieved from
Harris, W., Freudenrich, C., Fuller, J. 2012. "How Nuclear Bombs Work." Retrieved from
http://www.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-bomb.htm.
Nuclear Energy. n.d. "Nuclear Energy Fission Reaction." Retrieved from http://www.dynamicscience.com.au/tester/solutions/chemistry/atomic%20structure/nuclearenergy1.htm
Nuclear Energy. n.d. "Nuclear Energy Fission Reaction." Retrieved from http://www.dynamicscience.com.au/tester/solutions/chemistry/atomic%20structure/nuclearenergy1.htm
United Nations. 2012. "Atomic Energy." Retrieved from . http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/atomicenergy/index.shtm
The Bombings of Hiroshima. n.d. "The Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Retrieved from . . . http://www.atomcentral.com/hiroshima-nagasaki.aspx.
Wikipedia Encyclopedia Online. 7 December 2012. "Effects of Nuclear Explosion on Human Health." Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_nuclear_explosions_on_human_health#Types_of_radioactive_exposure_after_a_nuclear_attack.
Ford, D.G. 2007. "Assessment Tool for Nuclear Material Acquisition Pathways." Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_testing.
The Bombings of Hiroshima. n.d. "The Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Retrieved from . . . http://www.atomcentral.com/hiroshima-nagasaki.aspx.
Wikipedia Encyclopedia Online. 7 December 2012. "Effects of Nuclear Explosion on Human Health." Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_nuclear_explosions_on_human_health#Types_of_radioactive_exposure_after_a_nuclear_attack.
Ford, D.G. 2007. "Assessment Tool for Nuclear Material Acquisition Pathways." Retrieved from
http://nsspi.tamu.edu/topical-subsections/research/research-projects/terrorism-pathway-analysis-and-assessments/assessment-tool-for-nuclear-material-acquisition-pathways.
Ford, D.G. 2007. "Assessment Tool for Nuclear Material Acquisition Pathways." Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_testing.
