On August 6th, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb, Little Boy, over the Japanese city of Hiroshima: “The sky over Hiroshima became illuminated with a flash brighter and more powerful than the sun.” The explosion levelled 90% of the city and instantly vaporized over 80,000 people, something nobody could’ve ever imagined. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb, Fat Man, on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people: “[The city] had been there just a few minutes before… but it was absolutely gone,” said one witness. The two Japanese cities were levelled in seconds, leaving hundreds of thousands dead from the initial blast and later radiation poisoning. In total, over 300,000 innocent civilians were killed.
Detonation of Little Boy over Hiroshima.
Detonation of Fat Man over Nagasaki.
“My arms were badly burned and there seemed to be something dripping from my fingertips. My back was incredibly painful, but I had no idea what had just happened. I assumed I had been close to a very large conventional bomb. I had no idea it was a nuclear bomb and that I’d been exposed to radiation. There was so much smoke in the air that you could barely see 100 meters ahead, but what I did see convinced me that I had entered a living hell on earth.
“There were people crying out for help, calling after members of their family. I saw a schoolgirl with her eye hanging out of its socket. People looked like ghosts, bleeding and trying to walk before collapsing. Some had lost limbs.
“There were charred bodies everywhere, including in the river. I looked down and saw a man clutching a hole in his stomach, trying to stop his organs from spilling out. The smell of burning flesh was overpowering.”
– Sunao Tsuboi, Hiroshima Survivor
The few who survived the initial blast had been exposed to hundreds of times more radiation than anybody ever before and they were left terribly sick and mutated, only to die a certain death from something they couldn’t even see or understand. When news of this so called “radioactivity,” along with images of endless rubble and contorted survivors, reached the American general public, nuclear warfare soon became a very real fear.
Ground zero in Hiroshima, 1945.
One of many Japanese victims suffering from severe burns and radiation.
8 year old radiation victim.
Nagasaki victim, vaporized from the searing heat of the blast.
Initially, the catastrophic events marked the end of World War Two, liberation in Europe, and total victory for the allies. However, the genie was out of the bottle and it wasn’t long before the United States and the USSR broke out into an all out international arms race. The weapon to end all wars, all debates, and potentially humanity was at stake. A weapon so powerful and dangerous that it surrounded all foreign policy, and had no casual use other than complete and utter annihilation. The Atomic age had begun and there was no going back as the doomsday clock ticked closer and closer to midnight.
Fat Man being prepped for launch.
Baker Test, Bikini Atoll, 1946.
Titan I launch, Vandenberg Air Force Base, 1962.
Development of the first U.S. hydrogen bomb, 1953.
People were scared, plagued by constant and unbearable fear that the world could end at any moment. It was a war between governments, and people realized that what happened in Japan could happen anywhere. A nuke could drop with less than three minutes warning. If you weren’t killed from searing heat, flying debris, or the impending shock wave, you could still easily succumb to deadly amounts of poisonous radiation, and you would have no house, no car, and no friends or family to go back to.
Fast forward to 2017 and the dooms day clock still ticks day by day as the fear of nuclear war progresses in the South Pacific.
The doomsday clock, dating back to the start of the Cold War.
Recently, the U.S. military launched a series of several powerful missile strikes against the Syrian Government and the terrorist group known as ISIS, creating tension in the East. Trump has also mobilized the USS Carl Vinson, powered by nuclear reactors, along with destroyers, cruisers and a submarine to the South Pacific in response to a sixth North Korean Nuclear test that took place on Saturday, a day after the 105th birthday of late North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.
USS Carl Vinson.
Though the test failed, the long-range ballistic missiles, designed to reach the North American mainland, were still an immense showcase of power, representing a potential nuclear attack. North Korea’s number two official Choe Ryong-Hae declared that they are ready to respond to any nuclear attack by the United States: “We’re prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war and we are ready to hit back with nuclear attacks of our own style against any nuclear attacks.” With international tensions rising, Donald Trump and his senior officials stated on Sunday that the US would consider any lever – diplomatic, economic or military – to forestall North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
North Korean parade to celebrate the 105th birthday of late North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.
When looking at recent history, the atomic bomb is a display of strength and power; a monster made by man. After shattering a nation, killing over 300,000 innocent people, and plaguing the island nation of Japan with radioactive fallout, the A-bomb truly represents fear its self. For decades people all around the world lived in fear of poisonous radioactivity and the possibility of complete and utter annihilation. However, now more than ever, North Korea is rapidly advancing their nuclear program as a show of strength, producing atomic weapons at an alarming rate with the intent to hit the United States. To me, that sounds like a legitimate threat. They’re using the fear of radioactivity and utter destruction to manipulate the American government and general public into a position of weakness and negotiation. On the other end of the spectrum, the U.S. is using a similar strategy, deploying missiles and aircraft carriers as a way of enforcing dominance and deterring the North Korean government from pursuing a war they cant win, that nobody can win; an un controllable nuclear holocaust. The fear of utter destruction has always been a deterring factor. It was the same throughout the cold war, daily headlines, immense tension, and the constant threat of nuclear warfare with no actual destruction taking place. But the bottom line is that nuclear science is necessary for the successful development of the future.
With the increasing threat of global warming and diminishing fossil fuels, we must once again ask ourselves the critical question: Is it time to start thinking about other controversial alternatives despite the immediate dangers linked to nuclear science and atomic energy?
Throughout the Cold War, the American public was largely in debate over the construction and operation of electrical generating nuclear reactors. The government assured everyone that nuclear power plants were safe. However, after the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979, simultaneous to the release of the popular Hollywood movie “The China Syndrome,” the extreme corporate greed and danger surrounding nuclear power plants was finally exposed, shaking America’s confidents in nuclear power.
The 70’s fictional film: “The China Syndrome.”
Three Mile Island.
The popular 70’s film “The China Syndrome” depicts a nuclear power plant in Los Angeles, California, that is owned and operated by a corrupt businessman. Throughout the movie the plant is accidentally proven to be extremely unsafe with employees running the plant past maximum capacity in order to generate more money. When a team of news broadcasters secretly record an incident within the plant, management is forced to act fast to do whatever is necessary to protect the footage.
Throughout this fictional, but very realistic, film, the audience becomes increasingly aware that these nuclear plants are dangerous, corporate, business schemes. At one point in the movie, an experienced worker for the plant finally realizes that the reactor almost experienced a full melt down and attempts to share these dangers with the media. His life is threatened by the higher up employees, and he is driven to extreme lengths to share the information. Once he does share it in an interview with a news team on live TV, he is shot and the plant workers immediately disregard what he says, labelling him as a lunatic drunk.
This film, along with the Three Mile Island disaster, put nuclear energy into the dark for its viewers. It predicted not only the potential dangers within a nuclear power plant, but it also foreshadowed the power companies’ dishonest response and unsuccessful attempts to explain away the danger. The film’s accuracy destroyed the credibility of pro-nuclear scientists, but it wasn’t until the massive Chernobyl meltdown in 1986 that the immense fear of nuclear power truly came to surface. The Chernobyl disaster sent a radioactive plume of fear across the world, and ultimately drew a halt to the continuation of nuclear power.
A picture that radiates fear: An abandoned swing set in front of the contaminated Three Mile Island reactor.
The movie “Nuclear Nightmare” asses the radiation released from Chernobyl, talking about how radiophobia, the fear of radioactivity, is widespread but not necessarily based on scientific evidence. After the Chernobyl reactor meltdown, widespread death tolls were publicized all across the world, some close to 400,000 people dead. However, the reality is that only 57 deaths can actually be linked to the accident.
The Chernobyl Disaster, 1986.
Through conducting studies, scientists have concluded that low doses of radiation are not harmful, since the body already has natural methods of defense. So it becomes increasingly clear how the media feeds off fear to control the free thought of the public, as they over exaggerated and manipulated the incident to sound much worse than it actually was.
Overnight, nuclear power plants and radiation became a widespread symbol of fear and paranoia, casting a negative image on nuclear energy. Claims of radiation causing mutation, contortion and death evoked a large fear response, and other false claims of mass graves, sick children and a world in fallout were headlining newspapers. The atomic logo became a symbol that struck unbearable fear into the hearts of civilians, ultimately leading to the steady decline of nuclear power back into conventional energy; leading back to my original statement: With the increasing threat of global warming and diminishing fossil fuels, we must once again ask ourselves the critical question: Is it time to start thinking about other controversial alternatives despite the dangers linked to nuclear science and atomic energy?
In my opinion, I believe nuclear energy is necessary for the development of the future. Conventional methods of energy and the burning of fossil fuels, garbage, and plastics are the main contributors to global warning. Nuclear energy is sustainable, cheaper, cleaner, and more efficient than burning coal and using other sources of alternative energy such as solar and wind. I understand that nuclear meltdowns have occurred in the past, but I believe that if power plants were government owned, and constantly equip with the latest technology, than less accidents would happen and it would both slow the affects of global warming and ease the immense public fear of nuclear energy.