Nuclear Accidents and Holocaust

1 Renjitha R Kumar, B.Sc. Ed CBZ

Regional Institute of Education, Mysore.

INTRODUCTION:

At times, a triumph for humanity can also create tragedy for other people in the world. The

triumphant development of nuclear power by those who took part in the

secret Manhattan Project changed the progress of World War II and the future forever. This

development led to the making of a weapon of mass destruction, the atomic bomb. During

World War II, no one else in the entire world possessed this weapon except for the United

States. Since America had the option of using the atomic bomb and desired to bring a quick

end to World War II, America dropped it on two Japanese cities: one on Hiroshima on

August 6th, 1945 and the other on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. This marked the

beginning of new age with nuclear accidents and holocaust.

Probability for Nuclear Accidents:

The nuclear power plant design strategy for preventing accidents and mitigating their

potential effects is "defense in depth"--- if something fails, there is a back-up system to limit

the harm done, if that system should also fail there is another back-up system for it, etc., etc.

Of course it is possible that each system in this series of back-ups might fail one after the

other, but the probability for that is exceedingly small. Risks from reactor accidents are

estimated by the rapidly developing science of "probabilistic risk analysis" (PRA). A PRA

must be done separately for each power plant (at a cost of $5 million) but we give typical

results here: A fuel melt-down might be expected once in 20,000 years of reactor operation.

In 2 out of 3 melt-downs there would be no deaths, in 1 out of 5 there would be over 1000

deaths, and in 1 out of 100,000 there would be 50,000 deaths. The average for all

meltdowns would be 400 deaths. Two of the most famous nuclear accidents occurred at the

Three Mile Island reactor 2 in the United States and the Chernobyl reactor 4 in the former

Soviet Union. In this text we will discuss these two disasters, along with correcting a few

common misconceptions about nuclear accidents.

Three Mile Island:

Equipment failures and worker mistakes contributed to a loss of coolant and a partial core

meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor 15 km (9 miles) southeast of Harrisburg.

While the reactor was extensively damaged on-site radiation exposure was under 100

millirems (less than annual exposure due to natural sources), with exposure of 1 millirem (10

Sv) to approximately 2 million people. There were no fatalities. Follow up radiological

studies predict at most one long-term cancer fatality.

Chernobyl reactor:

A mishandled reactor safety test led to an uncontrolled power excursion, causing a severe

steam explosion, meltdown and release of radioactive material at the Chernobyl nuclear

power plant located approximately 100 kilometers north-northwest of Kiev. Approximately

fifty fatalities resulted from the accident and the immediate aftermath most of these being

cleanup personnel. An additional nine fatal cases of thyroid cancer in children in the

Chernobyl area have been attributed to the accident. The explosion and combustion of the



graphite reactor core spread radioactive material over much of Europe. 100,000 people were

evacuated from the areas immediately surrounding Chernobyl in addition to 300,000 from

the areas of heavy fallout in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. An "Exclusion Zone" was created

surrounding the site encompassing approximately 1,000 mi (3,000 km) and deemed off-

limits for human habitation for an indefinite period. Several studies by governments, UN

agencies and environmental groups have estimated the consequences and eventual number

of casualties. Their findings are subject to controversy.

Nuclear weapons and holocaust:

If all the nuclear weapons in the world were used, then all of humanity would most like be

destroyed. This is for several reasons. Firstly, most major cities would be destroyed by

incoming warheads. However, this would leave some areas untouched. Thes e areas would

most likely be reached by radioactive fall-out blown by the wind. These would be the

immediate repurcussions. Later, the world would go into what is called "Nuclear Winter".

Global temperatures would drop significantly, as well as the amount of sunlight received by

the earth. This is very similar to what is believed happened to the dinosaurs. It is believed th

at a large asteroid collided with the earth, and stirred up a lot of dust into the atmosphere.

This blotted out the sun, and plants died. With very few plants to eat, the dinosaurs (and

many other animals) went extinct. Nuclear winter would be a lot like this. The only difference

is that there the dust would be raised up by impacting nuclear warheads and their

explosions. Additionally, the dust would be radioactive. The combination of radioactivity, lack

of food, and lowering temperatures cause a Nuclear Holocaust, with the chances of humans

surviving it very low.

Consequences of Nuclear Winter:

Climatic effects

A study presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in December

2006 found that even a small-scale, regional nuclear war could disrupt the global climate for

a decade or more. In a regional nuclear conflict scenario where two opposing nations in

the subtropics would each use 50 Hiroshima-sized nuclear weapons (about 15 kiloton each)

on major populated centers, the researchers estimated as much as five million tons of soot

would be released, which would produce a cooling of several degrees over large areas

of North America and Eurasia, including most of the grain-growing regions. The cooling

would last for years, and according to the research could be "catastrophic".[9][10]

Ozone depletion

A 2008 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found that a

nuclear weapons exchange between Pakistan and India using their current arsenals could

create a near- global ozone hole, triggering human health problems and wreaking

environmental havoc for at least a decade.[11] The computer-modeling study looked at a

nuclear war between the two countries involving 50 Hiroshima-sized nuclear devices on

each side, producing massive urban fires and lofting as much as five million metric tons of

soot about 50 miles (80 km) into the stratosphere. The soot would absorb enough solar

radiation to heat surrounding gases, setting in motion a series of chemical reactions that

would break down the stratospheric ozone layer protecting Earth from harmful ultraviolet

radiation.



Tragic results on Hiroshima:

At 8:15 am August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb dropped in history exploded approximately

580 meters above the city of Hiroshima. Three days later, "Fat Man" was dropped onto

Nagasaki. In an instant, the atomic bomb reduced the city to a scorched plain, wiping out

countless precious lives and inflicting devastation on all city structures. This unprecedented

tragedy was on a completely different scale from the destruction caused by natural disasters

or conventional weapons. Furthermore, the large amount of radiation that instantly

descended upon the earth penetrated deeply into people's bodies, destroying cells.

The temperature of the fireball from the Atomic Bomb at the time of explosion was over

100,000 degrees Celsius. The surface temperature of was 7,700 degrees Celsius within 0.2

seconds.

The death toll of Hiroshima was approximately 140,000. Nagasaki approximately lost 70,000

of its citizens.Cataracts were common after exposure to the brilliance of the blast. An

increase in cancer was also common. Survivors might have experienced thyroid, breast,

lung, or salivary gland cancer.

CONCLUSION:

Of course the nuclear accidents are hypothetical. But the holocaust caused when nuclear

power is misused is much large. Nevertheless, the common plea for all the survivors was the

abolition of nuclear weapons. Our planet still bristles with too many nuclear weapons. The

danger that a nuclear weapon will be used is actually increasing. Each of us has a more

grave responsibility than ever to take another step toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.

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Nuclear Accidents and Holocaust