Nuclear War

Nuclear War

“WHEEL” the very useful and most important inventions of human and on the other side “NUCLEAR BOMBS” the most destructive inventions human ever made.  A nuclear war is a war in which countries fight with nuclear weapons. Because nuclear weapons are extremely powerful and could cause destruction throughout the world, the possibility of nuclear war has had a great effect on international politics.

So far, two nuclear weapons have been used during warfare. They were used in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and resulted in the deaths of approximately 120,000 people. Thousands of much more powerful bombs were made in later years. They have not yet been used in war.

History of nuclear bomb

Scientists first developed nuclear weapons technology during World War II. Atomic bombs have been used only twice in war—both times by the United States against Japan at the end of World War II. A period of nuclear proliferation followed that war, and during the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union vied for supremacy in a global nuclear arms race.

A discovery by nuclear physicists in a laboratory in Berlin, Germany, in 1938 made the first atomic bomb possible, after Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassman discovered nuclear fission.

When an atom of radioactive material splits into lighter atoms, there’s a sudden, powerful release of energy. The discovery of nuclear fission opened up the possibility of nuclear technologies, including weapons.

Atomic bombs are weapons that get their explosive energy from fission reactions. Thermonuclear weapons, or hydrogen bombs, rely on a combination of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is another type of reaction in which two lighter atoms combine to release energy.

The Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was the code name for the American-led effort to develop a functional atomic bomb during World War II. The Manhattan Project was started in response to fears that German scientists had been working on a weapon using nuclear technology since the 1930s.

On December 28, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the formation of the Manhattan Project to bring together various scientists and military officials working on nuclear research.

Much of the work was performed in Los Alamos, New Mexico, under the direction of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. On July 16, 1945, in a remote desert location near Alamogordo, New Mexico, the first atomic bomb was successfully detonated—the Trinity Test. It created an enormous mushroom cloud some 40,000 feet high and ushered in the Atomic Age.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings            

Scientists at Los Alamos had developed two distinct types of atomic bombs by 1945—a uranium-based design called “the Little Boy” and a plutonium-based weapon called “the Fat Man.”

While the war in Europe had ended in April, fighting in the Pacific continued between Japanese forces and U.S. troops. In late July, President Harry Truman called for Japan’s surrender with the Potsdam Declaration. The declaration promised “prompt and utter destruction” if Japan did not surrender.

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped its first atomic bomb from a B-29 bomber plane called the Enola Gay on Japanese city of Hiroshima. The “Little Boy” exploded with about 13 kilotons of force, leveling five square miles of the city and killing 80,000 people instantly. Tens of thousands more would later die from radiation exposure.

When the Japanese did not immediately surrender, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb three days later on the city of Nagasaki. The “Fat Man” killed an estimated 40,000 people on impact.

Nagasaki had not been the primary target for the second bomb. American bombers initially had targeted the city of Kokura, where Japan had one of its largest munitions plants, but smoke from firebombing raids obscured the sky over Kokura. American planes then turned toward their secondary target, Nagasaki.

Citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb,” Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s surrender on August 15, ending World War II.

Consequences of war

The immediate effects of nuclear war, the completeness of the devastation it brings, and the detailed accounting of the expected human suffering have all been the subject of numerous studies. We begin with a war scenario which provides the basis for estimating the demands placed on the medical system, and sets the parameters for determining the direct and indirect economic impacts. The results are then reexamined in the context of what is known about organizational behavior and transformation.

Damage To Cities

Other papers in this volume have touched on many of the direct effects of a limited nuclear war. In order to avoid repetition we will briefly describe the scenario which is used as a point of departure for the issues raised in this paper. The following calculations are based on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's CRP-2B scenario which assumes that the United States is exposed to 6,559 megatons (Mt) of nuclear explosives targeted primarily at military installations and 250 centers of population exceeding 50,000.

In the absence of warning and any subsequent evacuation, about 125 million people would be caught within the 2-psi circles (geographic areas which sustain a blast overpressure of 2 pounds per square inch); nearly 58 million would be inside the 15-psi region. In preparing the scenario, defense planners anticipated the delivery of 843 1-Mt warheads. It is estimated that each ground burst would leave a crater 1,000 feet (about 305 m) in diameter and 200 feet (about 61 m) deep. All structures from the point of detonation to a distance of 0.6 miles (about 1 km) would be leveled. Within the band between 1.7 and 2.7 miles (about 2.7 and 4.3 km) (5 psi) only skeletal remains of commercial and residential multistory structures would be observed. The 2-psi circle, characterized by moderately damaged structures (cracked load-bearing walls, windowless, contents blown into the streets), would reach 4.7 miles (about 7.6 km)

Damage to Electronic Systems: Effects of Electromagnetic Pulse

In contrast to the effects of blast and fire, the electromagnetic pulses (EMP), generated as a result of airbursts, leave no visible signs. Nonetheless, in theory such pulses could be highly damaging to microcircuitry. Because of the partial test ban treaty (1963) and the highly sensitive nature of EMP to national security, there is little hard evidence to conclude just how much damage might be incurred. However, recent military interest in new communications technology, such as the $10 billion MILSTAR project, to protect against the effects of EMP suggests how serious the problem may prove to be. Although much of what is known about EMP either is classified as secret information or is highly speculative, the danger the phenomenon poses is very real. Telecommunications networks, information processing equipment, and highly sophisticated medical technology would be vulnerable and could be irreparably harmed by such a blast.¹ The problems this pulse poses for electronic equipment are twofold. Electrical power grids would pick up the EMP and transmit a transient spike in voltage to equipment drawing power at the time of the detonation. The rapid rise in voltage would damage microprocessors in a way similar to that resulting from lightning strikes. However, the rise in voltage would be typically 100 times faster, thereby rendering common surge protectors ineffective. Second, the electronic component itself could pick up the pulse and generate internally induced currents. The result could produce physical damage to the equipment.

Direct Consequences for Medical Care

Abrams (1984), in pulling together a plausible set of projections regarding the direct effects of such an attack, provides a sobering view of the situation. Abrams' calculations are based on the assumption that the attack is sudden, leaving the victims no time to take protective actions. Furthermore, the need for health care assistance is based on preattack medical procedures. Beginning with the fact that 73 percent of the nation’s populace resides in areas assumed to be attacked, along with 80 percent of the country's medical supplies, it quickly becomes evident that the need for care would far outpace the medical resources which survive the attack. However, it is the extent of the imbalance which is so startling. He concludes that of the 93 million survivors, 32 million would require medical care.

It is difficult to imagine how the estimated 48,000 physicians surviving the attack could cope with a workload which would tax 1.3 million How long medical care organizations could continue to function effectively under such conditions is open to question. There is, however, a body of research regarding the sociology of organizations which suggests that cohesiveness and the will to carry on in such an overwhelmingly stressful environment would be a limiting factor in delivering care. This perspective is developed more fully below.

The Lingering Effects of Nuclear War

The longer-term effects of war would pose an altogether different set of challenges for the medical care system. Maintenance of a reasonable standard of health may be impossible without the rapid recovery of the economy's critical industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, electronics, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals. Without these it is difficult to imagine how the potential for the transmission of disease could be controlled.

Leaning has forcefully argued that some of the greatest risks to health lie in the postattack period. The prolonged period of crowding in makeshift fallout shelters, which are likely to be poorly ventilated and ill equipped to treat or dispose of wastes, would create the conditions for the rapid spread of disease. Providing that the survivors endure this period, they would face similar difficulties outside. The lack of sanitary systems, the absence of power for refrigeration, the presence of millions of unburied dead, and a disturbed ecological balance fostering the rapid growth in insect populations would combine to produce an environment fertile for the contraction and transmission of disease. The complex interactive effects of stress, malnutrition, and an immune system damaged by radiation would tend to weaken the physiological defenses to a point where people may succumb to diseases presently considered to be only moderately virulent.It might not be unreasonable to anticipate postwar pandemics similar to those just described. Survivors weakened by malnutrition could not expect to be vaccinated nor would antibiotics be available in sufficient quantities to prevent complications.

Current scenario

·         There are about 14,500 nuclear weapons in the world.

·        Nine nations are members of the world’s nuke club.

·        The U.S. and Russia own the majority of the world’s nuclear weapons.

1. Russia

Total nuclear weapons: ~6,800

Total nuclear tests: ~ 715

First tested: August 1949

Most recent test: October 1990

2.   America

Total nuclear weapons: ~ 6,550

Total nuclear tests: ~ 1,030

First tested: July 1945

Most recent test: September 1992

3.   France

Total nuclear weapons: ~300

Total nuclear tests: ~210

First tested: February 1960

Most recent test: January 1996

4.   China

Total nuclear weapons: ~270

Total nuclear tests: ~45

First tested: October 1964

Most recent test: July 1996

5.   United kingdom

Total nuclear weapons: ~215

Total nuclear tests: ~45

First tested: October 1952

Most recent test: November 1991

6.   Pakistan

Total nuclear weapons: ~130 to 140

Total nuclear tests: ~2

First tested: May 1998

Most recent test: May 1998

7.   India

Total nuclear weapons: ~120 to 130

Total nuclear tests: ~3

First tested: May 1974

Most recent test: May 1998

8.   Israel

Total nuclear weapons: ~80

Total nuclear tests: 0

First tested: No confirmed tests

Most recent test: No confirmed tests

9.   North Korea

Total nuclear weapons: ~10 to 20

Total nuclear tests: ~6

First tested: October 2006

Most recent test: September 2017

CONCLUSION

All the nuclear powered countries must dispose these nuclear weapons and should stop producing more. Rather than investing millions of dollars on these nuclear bombs one must try to invest in the betterment of mankind. All the nuclear powered countries should stop threatening non- nuclear powered states. Every country should adopt “NO FIRST USE” policy like India, this policy refers to a pledge not to use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare unless first attacked by other nuclear powered state.

Countries like China and Pakistan are continuously increasing their number of warheads and which is not a good sign. Countries like Russia, America and France

have reduced their warheads. All the countries should maintain healthy relationship among them and should make a better place to live in.