CONSEQUENCES OF A NUCLEAR EXPLOSION.
Introduction
Currently, our planet contains nuclear weapons millions of times more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The international political and economic climate today dictates the need for a cautious attitude towards nuclear weapons, but the number of “nuclear powers” is increasing and although the number of bombs they have is small, their charge is sufficient to destroy life on planet Earth.
In the history of human development there are many events, discoveries, and accomplishments that we can be proud of, bringing goodness and beauty to this world. But in contrast to them, the entire history of human civilization is overshadowed by a huge number of cruel, large-scale wars that destroy many of the good undertakings of man himself.
Since ancient times, man has been fascinated by the creation and improvement of weapons. And as a result, the most deadly and destructive weapon was born - nuclear weapons. It has also undergone changes since its creation. Ammunition has been created whose design makes it possible to direct the energy of a nuclear explosion to enhance the selected damaging factor.
The rapid development of nuclear weapons, the large-scale creation and accumulation of them in huge quantities, as the main “trump card” in possible future wars, has pushed humanity to the need to assess the likely consequences of their use.
In the seventies of the twentieth century, studies of the consequences of possible and real nuclear strikes showed that a war using such weapons will inevitably lead to the destruction of most people, the destruction of the achievements of civilization, the contamination of water, air, soil, and the death of all living things. Research was carried out not only in the field of studying the direct factors of damage from explosions of various directions, but also took into account possible environmental consequences, such as the destruction of the ozone layer, sudden climate changes, etc.
Russian scientists took a significant part in further studies of the environmental consequences of the massive use of nuclear weapons.
The conference of scientists in Moscow in 1983 and the conference “The World after Nuclear War” in Washington in the same 1983 made it clear to humanity that the damage from a nuclear war would be irreparable for our planet, for all life on Earth.
Climate effects
The consequences of the explosion of the atomic bomb were equivalent to the explosion of the Tambor volcano in 1814, which had greater explosive force than the charge dropped on Nagasaki. Following this eruption, the coldest summer temperatures were recorded in the northern hemisphere.
For a long time, when planning military operations using nuclear weapons, humanity consoled itself with the illusion that a nuclear war could ultimately end in victory for one of the warring parties. Studies of the consequences of nuclear strikes have established that the most terrible consequence will not be the most predictable radioactive damage, but the climate consequences that were least thought about before. Climate change will be so severe that humanity will not be able to survive it.
In most studies, a nuclear explosion was associated with a volcanic eruption, which was presented as a natural model of a nuclear explosion. During an eruption, as well as during an explosion, a huge amount of small particles are released into the atmosphere, which do not transmit sunlight, and, consequently, lower the temperature of the atmosphere. 
Since the target of bombing will be mainly cities, where, along with such consequences as radiation, destruction of buildings, means of communication, etc., one of the main catastrophic consequences will be fires. Because of which not only clouds of dust will rise into the air, but also a mass of soot.
Massive fires in cities give rise to so-called fire tornadoes. Almost any material burns in the flames of fire tornadoes. And one of their terrible features is the release of large amounts of soot into the upper layers of the atmosphere. Rising into the atmosphere, soot practically does not allow sunlight to pass through.
Scientists in the USA have modeled several hypotheses, based on the assumption that a nuclear bomb can serve as a “match” that sets a city on fire. Current stockpiles of nuclear weapons should be enough to cause firestorms in more than a thousand cities in the northern hemisphere of our planet.
The explosion of bombs with a total equivalent of about 7 thousand megatons of TNT will create soot and dust clouds over the northern hemisphere, transmitting no more than one millionth of the sunlight that usually reaches the ground. Constant night will come on the earth, as a result of which its surface, devoid of light and heat, will begin to quickly cool. The publication of these scientists' findings gave rise to new terms "nuclear night" and "nuclear winter."As a result of the formation of soot clouds, the surface of the earth, deprived of heating by the sun's rays, will quickly cool down. Already within the first month, the average temperature at the land surface will drop by about 15-20 degrees, and in areas far from the oceans by 30-35 degrees. In the future, although the clouds will begin to dissipate for several more months, temperatures will decrease and light levels will continue to remain low. “Nuclear night” and “nuclear winter” will come. Precipitation will stop falling in the form of rain, and the surface of the earth will freeze several meters deep, depriving surviving living creatures of fresh drinking water. Almost all higher forms of life will die at the same time. Only the lowest will have a chance of survival.
However, you should not expect the soot cloud to settle quickly. And restoration of heat exchange.
Due to the dark cloud of soot and dust, the planet's reflectivity will be significantly reduced. Therefore, the Earth will begin to reflect less solar energy than usual. The thermal balance will be disrupted and the absorption of solar energy will increase. This heat will concentrate in the upper layers of the atmosphere, causing soot to rise upward instead of settling.
The constant influx of additional heat will greatly warm up the upper layers of the atmosphere. The lower layers will remain cold and will cool even more. A significant vertical temperature difference is formed, which does not cause movement of air masses, but, on the contrary, additionally stabilizes the state of the atmosphere. Consequently, soot loss will slow down by another order of magnitude. And with this, the “nuclear winter” will drag on.
Of course, everything will depend on the power of the blows. But explosions of average power (about 10 thousand megatons) are capable of depriving the planet of the sunlight necessary for all life on earth for almost a year.
Ozone layer depletion
The settling of soot and dust and the restoration of illumination, which will happen sooner or later, most likely will not be such a blessing.
Currently, our planet is surrounded by the ozone layer - part of the stratosphere at an altitude of 12 to 50 km, in which, under the influence of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, molecular oxygen dissociates into atoms, which then combine with other O molecules 2, forming ozone O3.
In high concentrations, ozone is able to absorb hard ultraviolet radiation and protect all life on earth from harmful radiation. There is a theory that the presence of the ozone layer made it possible for the emergence of multicellular life on land.
The ozone layer is easily destroyed by various substances.
Nuclear explosions in large numbers, even in a limited area, will lead to the rapid and complete destruction of the ozone layer. The explosions and fires themselves that occur after them will create temperatures at which transformations of chemical substances occur that are impossible under normal conditions or proceed sluggishly.
For example, radiation from an explosion produces nitrogen oxide, a powerful ozone destroyer, much of which will reach the upper atmosphere. Ozone is also destroyed by reacting with hydrogen and hydroxyls, a large amount of which will rise into the air along with soot and dust, and will also be delivered into the atmosphere by powerful hurricanes.
As a result, after the air is cleared of aerosol pollution, the surface of the planet and all life on it will be exposed to harsh ultraviolet radiation.
Large doses of ultraviolet radiation in humans, as well as in animals, cause burns and skin cancer, damage to the retina, blindness, affect hormonal levels, and destroy the immune system. As a result, survivors will get sick much more. Ultraviolet light blocks normal DNA replication. What causes cell death or the appearance of mutated cells that are unable to properly perform their functions.
The consequences of ultraviolet radiation for plants are no less severe. In them, ultraviolet radiation changes the activity of enzymes and hormones, affects the synthesis of pigments, the intensity of photosynthesis and the photoperiodic reaction. As a result, photosynthesis may practically cease in plants, and representatives of the flora such as blue-green algae may completely disappear.
Ultraviolet radiation has a destructive and mutagenic effect on microorganisms. Under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, cell membranes and cell membranes are destroyed. And this entails the death of the microcosm under the influence of sunlight.
The worst consequence of the destruction of the ozone layer will be that its restoration may become almost impossible. This may take several hundred years, during which the earth's surface will be exposed to constant ultraviolet radiation.
Radioactive contamination of the planet
One of the main environmental impacts that have serious consequences for life after a nuclear war is contamination with radioactive products.
The products of nuclear explosions will form a stable radioactive contamination of the biosphere over areas of hundreds and thousands of kilometers.
The scientists' assessment states that a nuclear strike with a power of 5 thousand megatons or more can create a contaminated zone with a dose of gamma radiation exceeding 500-1000 rem (with a dose of 10 rem in a person's blood, changes caused by radiation begin, radiation sickness begins; normal is 0.05-1 rem), an area larger than the entire territory of Europe and part of North America.
At such doses, a danger is created for humans, animals, insects, and especially for soil inhabitants.
According to a machine analysis of the consequences of a nuclear war with any scenario, all life on earth that has survived explosions with a power of 10 thousand megatons and fires will be exposed to radioactive radiation. Even areas far from the explosion sites will be contaminated.
As a result, the biotic component of ecosystems will be subject to massive radiation damage. The consequence of such radiation impact will be a progressively changing species composition of ecosystems and general degradation of ecosystems.
With the large-scale use of nuclear weapons, there will be, first of all, large losses among the animal world in zones of continuous nuclear destruction.
People located in areas with high levels of radiation will develop a severe form of radiation sickness. Even relatively mild forms of radiation sickness will cause early aging, autoimmune diseases, diseases of the hematopoietic organs, etc.
The surviving population will be at risk of cancer. After nuclear strikes, for every 1 million survivors, about 150-200 thousand people will develop cancer.
The destruction of genetic structures under the influence of radiation will spread beyond just one generation. Genetic changes will have a detrimental effect on the offspring for a long time and will manifest itself in unfavorable pregnancy outcomes and the birth of children with congenital defects or hereditary diseases
Mass death of living beings
The severe cold that will set in in the first months after the explosions will cause enormous damage to the plant world. Photosynthesis and plant growth will practically stop. This will be especially noticeable in tropical latitudes, where most of the world's population lives.
Cold, lack of drinking water, poor lighting will lead to mass death of animals.
Powerful storms, frosts that will lead to the freezing of shallow reservoirs and coastal waters, and the cessation of plankton reproduction will destroy the food supply for many species of fish and aquatic animals. The remaining food sources will be so heavily contaminated with radiation and chemical reaction products that their consumption will be no less destructive than other factors.
The cold and the death of plants will make it impossible to conduct agriculture. As a result, human food supplies will be depleted. And those that still remain will also be subject to severe radiation contamination. This will have a particularly strong impact on areas importing food products.
Nuclear explosions will kill 2-3 billion people. “Nuclear night” and “nuclear winter”, depletion of edible food and water, destruction of communications, energy supplies, transport communications, and lack of medical care will claim even more human lives. Against the backdrop of a general weakening of people's health, pandemics previously unknown and with unpredictable consequences will begin.
Conclusion:
A nuclear war would be the suicide of all humanity, and at the same time the destruction of our habitat.Nuclear weapons are designed to destroy enemy personnel and military facilities. The most important damaging factors for people are shock wave, light radiation and penetrating radiation; the destructive effect on military targets is mainly due to the shock wave and secondary thermal effects.
When conventional explosives detonate, almost all the energy is released in the form of kinetic energy, which is almost completely converted into shock wave energy. In nuclear and thermonuclear explosions, the fission reaction is approx. 50% of all energy goes into shock wave energy, and approx. 35% - into light radiation. The remaining 15% of the energy is released in the form of various types of penetrating radiation.
During a nuclear explosion, a highly heated, luminous, approximately spherical mass is formed - the so-called. fire ball. It immediately begins to expand, cool and rise. As it cools, the vapors in the fireball condense to form a cloud containing solid particles of bomb material and water droplets, giving it the appearance of a regular cloud. A strong air draft arises, sucking moving material from the surface of the earth into the atomic cloud. The cloud rises, but after a while it begins to slowly descend. Having dropped to a level at which its density is close to that of the surrounding air, the cloud expands, taking on a characteristic mushroom shape.
Table 1 Shock wave action
nuclear weapons radiation radiation
Direct energetic effect. Shock wave action. A split second after the explosion, a shock wave spreads from the fireball - like a moving wall of hot compressed air. The thickness of this shock wave is much greater than that of a conventional explosion, and therefore it affects the oncoming object longer. The pressure surge causes damage due to its entraining action, causing objects to roll, collapse and be thrown around. The strength of the shock wave is characterized by the excess pressure it creates, i.e. exceeding normal atmospheric pressure. At the same time, hollow structures are more easily destroyed than solid or reinforced ones. Squat and underground structures are less susceptible to the destructive effects of a shock wave than tall buildings.
The human body has amazing resistance to shock waves. Therefore, the direct impact of the excess pressure of the shock wave does not lead to significant casualties. Most people die under the rubble of collapsing buildings and are injured by fast moving objects. In table Figure 1 shows a number of different objects, indicating the overpressure that causes serious damage and the radius of the zone in which serious damage is observed in explosions with yields of 5, 10 and 20 kt TNT equivalent.
Action of light radiation. As soon as a fireball appears, it begins to emit light radiation, including infrared and ultraviolet. There are two flashes of light emission: an intense but short duration explosion, usually too short to cause significant casualties, and then a second, less intense but longer lasting one. The second outbreak is responsible for almost all human losses due to light radiation.
Light radiation travels in a straight line and acts within the visibility of the fireball, but does not have any significant penetrating power. An opaque fabric, such as a tent fabric, can provide reliable protection against it, although the fabric itself can catch fire. Light-colored fabrics reflect light radiation and therefore require more radiation energy to ignite than dark ones. After the first flash of light, you can have time to hide behind one or another shelter from the second flash. The extent to which a person is damaged by light radiation depends on the extent to which the surface of his body is exposed.
The direct action of light radiation usually does not lead to major damage to materials. But because such radiation causes fire, it can cause great damage through secondary effects, as evidenced by the colossal fires in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Penetrating radiation. Penetrating nuclear radiation affects humans and other living organisms almost exclusively. There are two types of penetrating radiation: initial and residual. The initial radiation, consisting mainly of gamma rays and neutrons, is emitted by the explosion itself for about 60 s. It operates within line of sight. Its damaging effect can be reduced if, upon noticing the first explosive flash, you immediately hide in cover. The initial radiation is highly penetrating, so protection from it requires a thick sheet of metal or a thick layer of soil. A steel sheet 40 mm thick transmits half of the radiation incident on it. As a radiation absorber, steel is 4 times more effective than concrete, 5 times more effective than earth, 8 times more effective than water, and 16 times more effective than wood. But it is 3 times less effective than lead.
Residual radiation is emitted for a long time. It may be associated with induced radioactivity and radioactive fallout. As a result of the action of the neutron component of the initial radiation on the ground near the epicenter of the explosion, the ground becomes radioactive. In explosions on the surface of the earth and at low altitudes, the induced radioactivity is especially high and can persist for a long time.
“Radioactive fallout” refers to contamination by particles falling from a radioactive cloud. These are particles of fissile material from the bomb itself, as well as material drawn into the atomic cloud from the earth and becoming radioactive as a result of exposure to neutrons released during a nuclear reaction. Such particles gradually settle, which leads to radioactive contamination of surfaces. The heavier ones quickly settle near the explosion site. Lighter radioactive particles carried by the wind can settle over distances of many kilometers, contaminating large areas over a long period of time.
Direct human losses from radioactive fallout can be significant near the epicenter of the explosion. But as the distance from the epicenter increases, the radiation intensity quickly decreases.
NUCLEAR WAR. Although nuclear weapons were used in hostilities only twice (in 1945), throughout the subsequent decades, international diplomacy and the military strategy of states were strongly influenced by the development of plans for waging a possible nuclear war.
The bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki would now be lost in the vast nuclear arsenals of the superpowers as insignificant trifles. Now even weapons for individual use are much more destructive in their effects. The trinitrotoluene equivalent of the Hiroshima bomb was 13 kilotons; The explosive power of the largest nuclear missiles that appeared in the early 1990s, for example the Soviet SS-18 strategic missile (surface-to-surface), reaches 20 Mt (million tons) TNT, i.e. 1540 times more.
To understand what the nature of a nuclear war may turn out to be in modern conditions, it is necessary to use experimental and calculated data. At the same time, one should imagine possible opponents and the controversial issues that could cause them to clash. You need to know what weapons they have and how they can use them. Considering the damaging effects of numerous nuclear explosions and knowing the capabilities and vulnerabilities of society and the Earth itself, it is possible to assess the scale of the harmful consequences of the use of nuclear weapons.
The first nuclear war. At 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was suddenly covered in a dazzling bluish-whitish light. The first atomic bomb was delivered to the target by a B-29 bomber from the US Air Force base on the island of Tinian (Mariana Islands) and exploded at an altitude of 580 m. At the epicenter of the explosion, the temperature reached millions of degrees and the pressure was approx. 109 Pa. Three days later, another B-29 bomber passed its primary target, Kokura (now Kitakyushu), as it was covered in thick clouds, and headed for the alternate target, Nagasaki. The bomb exploded at 11 a.m. local time at an altitude of 500 m with approximately the same effectiveness as the first one. The tactic of bombing with a single aircraft (accompanied only by a weather observation aircraft) while simultaneously carrying out routine massive raids was designed to avoid attracting the attention of Japanese air defense. When the B-29 appeared over Hiroshima, most of its residents did not rush for cover, despite several half-hearted announcements on local radio. Before this, the air raid warning had been announced, and many people were on the streets and in light buildings. As a result, there were three times more dead than expected. By the end of 1945, 140,000 people had already died from this explosion, and the same number were injured. The area of destruction was 11.4 square meters. km, where 90% of houses were damaged, a third of which were completely destroyed. In Nagasaki there was less destruction (36% of houses were damaged) and loss of life (half as much as in Hiroshima). The reason for this was the elongated territory of the city and the fact that its remote areas were covered by the physical effects of a nuclear explosion. The energy of a nuclear explosion spreads in the form of a shock wave, penetrating radiation, thermal and electromagnetic radiation. After the explosion, radioactive fallout falls on the ground. Different types of weapons have different explosion energies and types of radioactive fallout. In addition, the destructive power depends on the height of the explosion, weather conditions, wind speed and the nature of the target (Table 1). Despite their differences, all nuclear explosions share some common properties. The shock wave causes the greatest mechanical damage. It manifests itself in sudden changes in air pressure, which destroys objects (in particular, buildings), and in powerful wind currents that carry away and knock down people and objects.
The shock wave requires approx. 50% explosion energy, approx. 35% - on thermal radiation in the form emanating from the flash, which precedes the shock wave by several seconds; it blinds when viewed from a distance of many kilometers, causes severe burns at a distance of up to 11 km, and ignites flammable materials over a wide area. During the explosion, intense ionizing radiation is emitted.
It is usually measured in rems - the biological equivalent of x-rays.
A dose of 100 rem causes an acute form of radiation sickness, and a dose of 1000 rem is fatal.
In the dose range between these values, the probability of death of an exposed person depends on his age and state of health.
Doses even significantly below 100 rem can lead to long-term illnesses and a predisposition to cancer.
Table 1 Destruction caused by a 1 MT nuclear explosion
|
Distance from the epicenter of the explosion, km |
Destruction |
Wind speed, km/h |
Excess pressure, kPa |
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Severe destruction or destruction of all ground structures. |
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Severe destruction of reinforced concrete buildings. Moderate destruction of road and railway structures. |
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Severe damage to brick buildings. 3rd degree burns. |
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Severe damage to buildings with wooden frames. 2nd degree burns. |
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Fire of paper and fabrics. 30% of trees felled. 1st degree burns. |
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Fire of dry leaves. |
In the explosion of a powerful nuclear charge, the number of deaths from the shock wave and thermal radiation will be incomparably greater than the number of deaths from penetrating radiation. When a small nuclear bomb explodes (such as the one that destroyed Hiroshima), a large proportion of deaths are caused by penetrating radiation. A weapon with increased radiation, or a neutron bomb, can kill almost all living things solely through radiation.
During an explosion, more radioactive fallout falls on the earth's surface, because At the same time, masses of dust are thrown into the air. The damaging effect depends on whether it is raining and where the wind is blowing. When a 1 Mt bomb explodes, radioactive fallout can cover an area of up to 2600 square meters. km. Different radioactive particles decay at different rates; Particles thrown into the stratosphere during atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s are still returning to the earth's surface. Some lightly affected areas can become relatively safe in a matter of weeks, while others take years.
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) occurs as a result of secondary reactions - when gamma radiation from a nuclear explosion is absorbed by air or soil. It is similar in nature to radio waves, but its electric field strength is much higher; EMR manifests itself as a single burst lasting a fraction of a second. The most powerful EMPs occur during explosions at high altitudes (above 30 km) and spread over tens of thousands of kilometers. They do not directly threaten human life, but are capable of paralyzing power supply and communication systems.
Consequences of nuclear explosions for people. While the various physical effects that occur during nuclear explosions can be calculated quite accurately, the consequences of their effects are more difficult to predict. Research has led to the conclusion that the non-foreseeable consequences of a nuclear war are just as significant as those that can be calculated in advance.
The possibilities of protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion are very limited. It is impossible to save those who find themselves at the epicenter of the explosion. It is impossible to hide all people underground; this is only feasible to preserve the government and the leadership of the armed forces. In addition to the methods of escape from heat, light and shock wave mentioned in civil defense manuals, there are practical methods of effective protection only from radioactive fallout. It is possible to evacuate large numbers of people from high-risk areas, but this will create severe complications in transport and supply systems. In the event of a critical development of events, the evacuation will most likely become disorganized and cause panic.
As already mentioned, the distribution of radioactive fallout will be influenced by weather conditions. Failure of dams can lead to floods. Damage to nuclear power plants will cause further increases in radiation levels. In cities, high-rise buildings will collapse and create piles of rubble with people buried underneath. In rural areas, radiation will affect crops, leading to mass starvation. In the event of a nuclear strike in winter, the people who survived the explosion will be left without shelter and will die from the cold.
Society's ability to somehow cope with the consequences of the explosion will very much depend on the extent to which government systems of government, healthcare, communications, law enforcement and fire-fighting services will be affected. Fires and epidemics, looting and food riots will begin. An additional factor of despair will be the expectation of further military action.
Increased doses of radiation lead to an increase in the number of cancers, miscarriages, and pathologies in newborns. It has been experimentally established in animals that radiation affects DNA molecules. As a result of such damage, genetic mutations and chromosomal aberrations occur; True, most of these mutations are not passed on to descendants, since they lead to lethal outcomes.
The first long-term detrimental effect will be the destruction of the ozone layer. The ozone layer of the stratosphere shields the earth's surface from most of the sun's ultraviolet radiation. This radiation is harmful to many forms of life, so it is believed that the formation of the ozone layer is ca. 600 million years ago became the condition due to which multicellular organisms and life in general appeared on Earth. According to a report by the US National Academy of Sciences, in a global nuclear war, up to 10,000 megatons of nuclear charges could be detonated, which would lead to the destruction of the ozone layer by 70% over the Northern Hemisphere and 40% over the Southern Hemisphere. This destruction of the ozone layer will have disastrous consequences for all living things: people will receive extensive burns and even skin cancer; some plants and small organisms will die instantly; many people and animals will become blind and lose their ability to navigate.
A large-scale nuclear war will result in a climate catastrophe. During nuclear explosions, cities and forests will catch fire, clouds of radioactive dust will envelop the Earth in an impenetrable blanket, which will inevitably lead to a sharp drop in temperature at the earth's surface. After nuclear explosions with a total force of 10,000 Mt in the central regions of the continents of the Northern Hemisphere, the temperature will drop to minus 31? C. Will the temperature of the world's oceans remain above 0? C, but due to the large temperature difference, severe storms will occur. Then, a few months later, sunlight will break through to the Earth, but apparently rich in ultraviolet light due to the destruction of the ozone layer. By this time, the death of crops, forests, animals and the starvation of people will have already occurred. It is difficult to expect that any human community will survive anywhere on Earth.
Nuclear energy is fraught with danger as a result of accidental circumstances of radioactive contamination of the natural environment, which can occur not only as a result of the use of atomic weapons, but also due to accidents at nuclear power plants.
The fact that the modern environmental crisis is the reverse side of scientific and technological revolution is confirmed by the fact that it was precisely those achievements of scientific and technological progress that served as the starting point for announcing the onset of scientific and technological revolution that led to the most powerful environmental disasters on our planet. In 1945, the atomic bomb was created, indicating new and unprecedented human capabilities. In 1954, the world's first nuclear power plant was built in Obninsk, and many hopes were placed on the “peaceful atom”. And in 1986, the largest man-made disaster in the history of the Earth occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as a result of an attempt to “tame” the atom and make it work for oneself.
This accident released more radioactive material than the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The “peaceful atom” turned out to be more terrible than the military one. Humanity is faced with such man-made disasters that may well qualify for the status of super-regional, if not global.
The peculiarity of radioactive damage is that it can kill painlessly. Pain, as is known, is an evolutionarily developed protective mechanism, but the “cunning” of the atom is that in this case this warning mechanism is not activated. For example, the water discharged from the Hanford nuclear power plant (USA) was initially considered completely safe. However, it later turned out that in neighboring reservoirs the radioactivity of plankton increased 2000 times, the radioactivity of ducks that fed on plankton increased 40,000 times, and the fish became 150,000 times more radioactive than the waters discharged by the station. Swallows that caught insects whose larvae developed in the water detected radioactivity 500,000 times higher than that of the waters of the station itself. The radioactivity in the yolk of waterfowl eggs has increased a millionfold.
The Chernobyl accident affected more than 7 million people and will affect many more, including the unborn, since radiation contamination affects not only the health of those living today, but also those who are about to be born. The funds for eliminating the consequences of the disaster may exceed the economic profit from the operation of all nuclear power plants in the territory of the former USSR.
It was in radiation, in various manifestations of radiation sickness, that scientists and the public saw the main danger of the new weapon, but humanity was able to truly appreciate it much later. For many years, people saw the atomic bomb, although very dangerous, as just a weapon capable of ensuring victory in the war. Therefore, leading states, intensively improving nuclear weapons, were preparing both for their use and for protection against them. Only in recent decades has the world community begun to realize that a nuclear war would be the suicide of all humanity. Radiation is not the only, and perhaps not the most important, consequence of a large-scale nuclear war.
The magnitude of the temperature drop does not depend much on the power of the nuclear weapon used, but this power greatly affects the duration of the “nuclear night.” The results obtained by scientists from different countries differed in detail, but the qualitative effect of “nuclear night” and “nuclear winter” was very clearly identified in all calculations. Thus, the following can be considered established:
1. As a result of a large-scale nuclear war, a “nuclear night” will establish over the entire planet, and the amount of solar heat entering the earth’s surface will be reduced by several tens of times. As a result, a “nuclear winter” will come, that is, there will be a general decrease in temperature, especially strong over the continents.
2. The process of purifying the atmosphere will continue for many months and even years. But the atmosphere will not return to its original state - its thermohydrodynamic characteristics will become completely different.
The decrease in the temperature of the Earth's surface a month after the formation of soot clouds will be significant on average: 15-20 C, and at points remote from the oceans - up to 35 C. This temperature will last for several months, during which the earth's surface will freeze several meters, depriving everyone of fresh water , especially since the rains will stop. A “nuclear winter” will also come in the Southern Hemisphere, as soot clouds will envelop the entire planet and all circulation cycles in the atmosphere will change, although in Australia and South America the cooling will be less significant (by 10-12 C).
Until the early 1970s. the problem of the environmental consequences of underground nuclear explosions was reduced only to protective measures against their seismic and radiation effects at the time of implementation (i.e., the safety of blasting operations was ensured). A detailed study of the dynamics of processes occurring in the explosion zone was carried out exclusively from the point of view of technical aspects. The small size of nuclear charges (compared to chemical ones) and the easily achievable high power of nuclear explosions attracted military and civilian specialists. A false idea arose about the high economic efficiency of underground nuclear explosions (a concept that replaced the less narrow one - the technological efficiency of explosions as a truly powerful method of destroying rock masses). And only in the 1970s. It began to become clear that the negative environmental impact of underground nuclear explosions on the environment and human health negates the economic benefits received from them. In 1972, the United States terminated the Plowshare program for the use of underground explosions for peaceful purposes, adopted in 1963. In the USSR, since 1974, they abandoned the use of external underground nuclear explosions. Underground nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes in the Astrakhan and Perm regions and in Yakutia.
At some sites where underground nuclear explosions were carried out, radioactive contamination was detected at a considerable distance from the epicenters, both in the depths and on the surface. Dangerous geological phenomena begin in the vicinity - movements of rock masses in the near zone, as well as significant changes in the regime of groundwater and gases and the appearance of induced (provoked by explosions) seismicity in certain areas. Operated explosion cavities turn out to be very unreliable elements of technological schemes of production processes. This violates the reliability of industrial complexes of strategic importance and reduces the resource potential of subsoil and other natural complexes. Prolonged stay in explosion zones causes damage to the human immune and hematopoietic systems.
The main environmental problem in Russia from Murmansk to Vladivostok is massive radiation pollution and contamination of drinking water.
1. From the history of the creation of nuclear weapons 3
2. Current US policy in the field of nuclear weapons. 4
3. Characteristics of nuclear explosions and their damaging factors. 5
3.1 Types of nuclear explosions. 5
3.2 Damaging factors of a nuclear explosion. 5
4. Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 9
5. Further development of nuclear weapons 10
5.1 EMP or “non-lethal” weapons 11
6. Accidents at NPP 13
7. Conclusion 13
8. Literature used: 14
From the history of the creation of nuclear weapons
In 1894, Robert Cecil, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, in his address to the British Association for the Advancement of Scientific Progress, listing the unsolved problems of science, focused on the problem: what really is an atom - does it really exist or is it just a theory, suitable only to explain some physical phenomena; what is its structure?
In the USA they like to say that the atom is native to America, but this is not true.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was mainly European scientists who were involved. The English scientist Thomson proposed a model of an atom, which is a positively charged substance with interspersed electrons. The Frenchman Becqueral discovered radioactivity in 1896. He showed that all substances containing uranium are radioactive, and the radioactivity is proportional to the uranium content.
The French Pierre Curie and Marie Skłodowska-Curie discovered the radioactive element radium in 1898. They reported that they were able to isolate an element from uranium waste that was radioactive and had similar chemical properties to barium. The radioactivity of radium is approximately 1 million times greater than the radioactivity of uranium.
The Englishman Rutherford developed the theory of radioactive decay in 1902, in 1911 he discovered the atomic nucleus, and in 1919 he observed the artificial transformation of nuclei.
A. Einstein, who lived in Germany until 1933, developed the principle of equivalence of mass and energy in 1905. He connected these concepts and showed that a certain amount of mass corresponds to a certain amount of energy.
The Dane N. Bohr in 1913 developed a theory of the structure of the atom, which formed the basis of the physical model of a stable atom.
J. Cockfort and E. Walton (England) in 1932 experimentally confirmed Einstein's theory.
In the same year, J. Chadwick discovered a new elementary particle - the neutron.
D.D. Ivanenko in 1932 put forward the hypothesis that the nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons.
E. Fermi used neutrons to bombard the atomic nucleus (1934).
In 1937, Irène Joliot-Curie discovered the fission process of uranium. Irene Curie and her Yugoslav student P. Savich had an incredible result: the decay product of uranium was lanthanum - the 57th element, located in the middle of the periodic table.
Meitner, who worked for Hahn for 30 years, together with O. Frisch, who worked for Bohr, discovered that when a uranium nucleus fissions, the parts obtained after fission are in total 1/5 lighter than the uranium nucleus. This allowed them to use Einstein’s formula to calculate the energy contained in 1 uranium nucleus. It turned out to be equal to 200 million electron volts. Each gram contains 2.5X10 21 atoms.
In the early 40s. 20th century A group of scientists in the USA developed the physical principles of a nuclear explosion. The first explosion was carried out at the Alamogordo test site on July 16, 1945. In August 1945, 2 atomic bombs with a yield of about 20 kilotons each were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bomb explosions caused huge casualties - Hiroshima over 140 thousand people, Nagasaki - about 75 thousand people, and also caused colossal destruction. The use of nuclear weapons was not caused by military necessity at that time. The US ruling circles pursued political goals - to demonstrate their strength to intimidate the USSR.
Soon nuclear weapons were created in the USSR by a group of scientists led by Academician Kurchatov. In 1947, the Soviet government declared that the USSR no longer had the secret of the atomic bomb. Having lost the monopoly on nuclear weapons, the United States intensified work on the creation of thermonuclear weapons, which began in 1942. On November 1, 1952, a 3 Mt thermonuclear device was detonated in the United States. In the USSR, a thermonuclear bomb was first tested on August 12. 1953.
Today, in addition to Russia and the United States, France, Germany, Great Britain, China, Pakistan, India, and Italy also have the secret of nuclear weapons.
Current US nuclear weapons policy.
For more than 50 years after the creation of nuclear weapons in the United States, the basis of all existing American military strategies, such as “massive retaliation” (50s), “flexible response” (60s), “realistic elimination” (70s) years), defining the goals, forms and methods of using this barbaric means of exterminating people, the principle has always remained unchanged - outright nuclear blackmail and the threat of using nuclear weapons in any situation. In general, if you analyze the essence and direction of modern US policy and specific plans for the development of its strategic forces, then their aggressive aspirations are quite clearly visible. In the context of the existing military-strategic parity between the United States and the Russian Federation, Washington is trying to give its nuclear potential such properties that would provide the opportunity, in the words of the US President, “to gain the upper hand in a nuclear war.” And although at the present stage there is a warming in the international situation: an agreement on the destruction of medium-range missiles in Europe was signed, plants for the destruction of chemical weapons were built, a unilateral reduction of the Russian Armed Forces, etc. we must be prepared to conduct combat operations in the face of the use of weapons of mass destruction. This is possible if we know the measures to protect against weapons of mass destruction, their combat properties, and damaging factors.
Characteristics of nuclear explosions and their damaging factors.
A nuclear explosion is the process of fission of heavy nuclei. In order for the reaction to occur, at least 10 kg of highly enriched plutonium is required. This substance does not occur naturally. This substance is obtained as a result of reactions produced in nuclear reactors. Natural uranium contains approximately 0.7 percent of the isotope U-235, the rest being uranium 238. For the reaction to occur, the substance must contain at least 90 percent uranium 235.
Types of nuclear explosions.
Depending on the tasks solved by nuclear weapons, on the type and location of objects on which nuclear strikes are planned, as well as on the nature of the upcoming hostilities, nuclear explosions can be carried out in the air, near the surface of the earth (water) and underground (water). In accordance with this, the following types of nuclear explosions are distinguished:
air (high and low)
ground (surface)
underground (underwater)
Damaging factors of a nuclear explosion.
A nuclear explosion can instantly destroy or disable unprotected people, openly standing equipment, structures and various material assets. The main damaging factors of a nuclear explosion are:
shock wave
light radiation
penetrating radiation
radioactive contamination of the area
electromagnetic pulse
a) The shock wave in most cases is the main damaging factor of a nuclear explosion. It is similar in nature to the shock wave of a conventional explosion, but lasts longer and has much greater destructive power. The shock wave of a nuclear explosion can injure people, destroy structures and damage military equipment at a considerable distance from the center of the explosion. A shock wave is an area of strong air compression that propagates at high speed in all directions from the center of the explosion. Its propagation speed depends on the air pressure at the front of the shock wave; near the center of the explosion it is several times higher than the speed of sound, but with increasing distance from the explosion site it drops sharply. In the first 2 seconds, the shock wave travels about 1000 m, in 5 seconds - 2000 m, in 8 seconds - about 3000 m. This serves as a justification for the N5 ZOMP standard "Actions during the outbreak of a nuclear explosion": excellent - 2 sec, good - 3 sec, satisfactory - 4 sec. The damaging effect of a shock wave on people and the destructive effect on military equipment, engineering structures and materiel are primarily determined by the excess pressure and speed of air movement in its front. Unprotected people can, in addition, be affected by fragments of glass flying at great speed and fragments of destroyed buildings, falling trees, as well as scattered parts of military equipment, clods of earth, stones and other objects set in motion by the high-speed pressure of the shock wave. The greatest indirect damage will be observed in populated areas and forests; in these cases, troop losses may be greater than from the direct action of the shock wave. The shock wave can also cause damage in enclosed spaces, penetrating through cracks and holes. Damages caused by a shock wave are divided into light, medium, severe and extremely severe. Mild lesions are characterized by temporary damage to the hearing organs, general mild contusion, bruises and dislocations of the limbs. Severe lesions are characterized by severe contusion of the entire body; In this case, damage to the brain and abdominal organs, severe bleeding from the nose and ears, severe fractures and dislocations of the limbs may occur. The degree of damage from a shock wave depends primarily on the power and type of nuclear explosion. In an air explosion with a power of 20 kT, minor injuries to people are possible at distances of up to 2.5 km, medium - up to 2 km, severe - up to 1.5 km from the epicenter of the explosion. As the caliber of a nuclear weapon increases, the radius of shock wave damage increases in proportion to the cube root of the explosion power. An underground explosion produces a shock wave in the ground, and an underwater explosion produces a shock wave in water. In addition, with these types of explosions, part of the energy is spent creating a shock wave in the air. The shock wave, propagating in the ground, causes damage to underground structures, sewers, and water pipes; when it spreads in water, damage to the underwater parts of ships located even at a considerable distance from the explosion site is observed.
b) Light radiation from a nuclear explosion is a stream of radiant energy, including ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation. The source of light radiation is a luminous area consisting of hot explosion products and hot air. The brightness of light radiation in the first second is several times greater than the brightness of the Sun. The absorbed energy of light radiation turns into heat, which leads to heating of the surface layer of the material. The heat can be so intense that flammable material can char or ignite and non-combustible material can crack or melt, causing huge fires. In this case, the effect of light radiation from a nuclear explosion is equivalent to the massive use of incendiary weapons, which is discussed in the fourth educational question. The human skin also absorbs the energy of light radiation, due to which it can heat up to a high temperature and receive burns. First of all, burns occur on open areas of the body facing the direction of the explosion. If you look in the direction of the explosion with unprotected eyes, eye damage may occur, leading to complete loss of vision. Burns caused by light radiation are no different from ordinary burns caused by fire or boiling water. they are stronger the shorter the distance to the explosion and the greater the power of the ammunition. In an air explosion, the damaging effect of light radiation is greater than in a ground explosion of the same power. Depending on the perceived light pulse, burns are divided into three degrees. First degree burns manifest themselves in superficial skin lesions: redness, swelling, pain. With second degree burns, blisters appear on the skin. With third degree burns, skin necrosis and ulceration occur. With an air explosion of ammunition with a power of 20 kT and an atmospheric transparency of about 25 km, first-degree burns will be observed within a radius of 4.2 km from the center of the explosion; with the explosion of a charge with a power of 1 MgT, this distance will increase to 22.4 km. second degree burns appear at distances of 2.9 and 14.4 km and third degree burns at distances of 2.4 and 12.8 km, respectively, for 20 kT and 1 MgT ammunition.
c) Penetrating radiation is an invisible stream of gamma rays and neutrons emitted from the zone of a nuclear explosion. Gamma quanta and neutrons spread in all directions from the center of the explosion for hundreds of meters. As the distance from the explosion increases, the number of gamma quanta and neutrons passing through a unit surface decreases. During underground and underwater nuclear explosions, the effect of penetrating radiation extends over distances much shorter than during ground and air explosions, which is explained by the absorption of the neutron and gamma ray flux by water. The zones affected by penetrating radiation during explosions of medium- and high-power nuclear weapons are somewhat smaller than the zones affected by shock waves and light radiation. For ammunition with a small TNT equivalent (1000 tons or less), on the contrary, the damage zones of penetrating radiation exceed the zones of damage by shock waves and light radiation. The damaging effect of penetrating radiation is determined by the ability of gamma rays and neutrons to ionize the atoms of the medium in which they propagate. Passing through living tissue, gamma rays and neutrons ionize atoms and molecules that make up the cells, which lead to disruption of the vital functions of individual organs and systems. Under the influence of ionization, biological processes of cell death and decomposition occur in the body. As a result, affected people develop a specific disease called radiation sickness. To assess the ionization of atoms in the environment, and therefore the damaging effect of penetrating radiation on a living organism, the concept of radiation dose (or radiation dose), the unit of measurement of which is the x-ray (r), was introduced. A radiation dose of 1 r corresponds to the formation of approximately 2 billion ion pairs in one cubic centimeter of air. Depending on the radiation dose, there are three degrees of radiation sickness. The first (mild) occurs when a person receives a dose of 100 to 200 rubles. It is characterized by general weakness, mild nausea, short-term dizziness, increased sweating; Personnel who receive such a dose usually do not fail. The second (medium) degree of radiation sickness develops when receiving a dose of 200-300 r; in this case, signs of damage - headache, fever, gastrointestinal upset - appear more sharply and faster, and personnel in most cases fail. The third (severe) degree of radiation sickness occurs at a dose of more than 300 r; it is characterized by severe headaches, nausea, severe general weakness, dizziness and other ailments; severe form often leads to death.
d) Radioactive contamination of people, military equipment, terrain and various objects during a nuclear explosion is caused by fission fragments of the charge substance and the unreacted part of the charge falling out of the explosion cloud, as well as induced radioactivity. Over time, the activity of fission fragments decreases rapidly, especially in the first hours after the explosion. For example, the total activity of fission fragments in the explosion of a nuclear weapon with a power of 20 kT after one day will be several thousand times less than one minute after the explosion. When a nuclear weapon explodes, part of the charge substance does not undergo fission, but falls out in its usual form; its decay is accompanied by the formation of alpha particles. Induced radioactivity is caused by radioactive isotopes formed in the soil as a result of irradiation with neutrons emitted at the moment of explosion by the nuclei of atoms of chemical elements that make up the soil. The resulting isotopes, as a rule, are beta-active, and the decay of many of them is accompanied by gamma radiation. The half-lives of most of the resulting radioactive isotopes are relatively short: from one minute to an hour. In this regard, induced activity can pose a danger only in the first hours after the explosion and only in the area close to its epicenter. The bulk of long-lived isotopes are concentrated in the radioactive cloud that forms after the explosion. The height of the cloud rise for a 10 kT munition is 6 km, for a 10 MgT munition it is 25 km. As the cloud moves, first the largest particles fall out of it, and then smaller and smaller ones, forming along the path of movement a zone of radioactive contamination, the so-called cloud trail. The size of the trace depends mainly on the power of the nuclear weapon, as well as on wind speed, and can reach several hundred kilometers in length and several tens of kilometers in width. Injuries resulting from internal radiation occur as a result of radioactive substances entering the body through the respiratory system and gastrointestinal tract. In this case, radioactive radiation comes into direct contact with internal organs and can cause severe radiation sickness; the nature of the disease will depend on the amount of radioactive substances entering the body. Radioactive substances do not have any harmful effects on weapons, military equipment and engineering structures.
e) An electromagnetic pulse affects primarily radioelectronic and electronic equipment (insulation breakdown, damage to semiconductor devices, blown fuses, etc.). An electromagnetic pulse is a powerful electric field that appears for a very short time.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Throughout the spring of 1945, many Japanese bombers were constantly attacked by American B-29 bombers. These planes were practically invulnerable; they flew at altitudes inaccessible to Japanese planes. For example, as a result of one of these raids, 125 thousand residents of Tokyo died, during another - 100 thousand; on March 6, 1945, Tokyo was finally turned into ruins. American leaders feared that subsequent raids would leave them with no target to demonstrate their new weapons. Therefore, 4 pre-selected cities - Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata and Nagosaki - were not bombed. On August 5, at 5 hours 23 minutes 15 seconds, the first atomic bombing in history was carried out. The hit was almost perfect: the bomb exploded 200 meters from the target. At this time of day, in all parts of the city, small coal-fired stoves were lit, as many were busy preparing breakfast. All these stoves were overturned by the blast wave, which led to numerous fires in places far removed from the epicenter. It was assumed that the population would take refuge in shelters, but this did not happen for several reasons: firstly, the alarm signal was not given, and secondly, groups of planes had already flown over Hiroshima before and did not drop bombs.
The initial explosion was followed by other disasters. First of all, it was the impact of a heat wave. It lasted only seconds, but was so powerful that it even melted roof tiles and quartz crystals in granite slabs, turning telephone poles 4 km away into charcoal. from the center of the explosion.
The heat wave was replaced by a shock wave. The whirlwind rushed at a speed of 800 km/hour. With the exception of a couple of walls, everything else. In a circle with a diameter of 4 km. was turned into powder. The dual effects of heat and shock waves caused thousands of fires in a few seconds.
Following the waves, a few minutes later a strange rain began to fall on the city, large as balls, the drops of which were painted black. This strange phenomenon is due to the fact that the fireball turned moisture contained in the atmosphere into steam, which was then concentrated in a cloud that rose into the sky. When this cloud, containing water vapor and small dust particles, rising upward, reached the colder layers of the atmosphere, the moisture re-condensed, which then fell in the form of rain.
People who were exposed to the fireball from the “Kid” at a distance of up to 800 m were burned so much that they turned to dust. The surviving people looked even more terrible than the dead: they were completely burned, under the influence of the heat wave, and the shock wave tore off their burnt skin. The drops of black rain were radioactive and therefore left permanent burns.
Of the 76,000 in Hiroshima, 70,000 were completely damaged: 6,820 buildings were destroyed and 55,000 were completely burned. Most of the hospitals were destroyed, and 10% of all medical personnel remained operational. The survivors began to notice strange forms of the disease. They consisted of the person feeling sick, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Later, fever and attacks of drowsiness and weakness began. There was a low number of white globules in the blood. All these were the first signs of radiation sickness.
After the successful bombing of Hiroshima, the 2nd bombing was scheduled for August 12. But since meteorologists promised worsening weather, it was decided to carry out the bombing on August 9. The city of Kokura was chosen as the target. At about 8:30 a.m., American planes reached the city, but were prevented from bombing by smog from the steel mill. This plant had been raided the day before and was still burning. The planes turned towards Nagasaki. At 11:02 the “fat man” bomb was dropped on the city. It exploded at an altitude of 567 meters.
Two atomic bombs dropped on Japan killed more than 200 thousand people in seconds. Many people were exposed to radiation, which led to radiation sickness, cataracts, cancer, and infertility.
Further development of nuclear weapons
Having lost its atomic monopoly, the Truman administration seized on the idea of creating thermonuclear weapons. At the first stages of work on the hydrogen bomb, serious difficulties arose: high temperatures were required to start the fusion reaction. A new model of the atomic bomb has been proposed in which the mechanical shock of the first bomb is used to compress the core of the second bomb, which in turn ignites from the compression. Then, instead of mechanical compression, radiation was used to ignite the fuel.
On November 1, 1952, a secret test of a thermonuclear device was conducted in the United States. Mike's capacity was 5-8 million tons of trinitrotoluene. For example, the power of all explosives used in World War II was 5 million tons. Mike's nuclear fuel was liquid hydrogen, the explosion of which was detonated by an atomic charge.
On August 8, 1953, the world's first thermonuclear bomb was tested in the USSR. The power of the explosion exceeded all expectations. The nearest observation point was located 25 kilometers from the explosion site. After the experiment, Kurchatov, the creator of the first Soviet atomic and thermonuclear bomb, stated that this weapon should not be allowed to be used for its intended purpose. His work was subsequently continued by A.D. Sakharov.
On November 22, 1955, another test of a thermonuclear bomb was carried out. The explosion was so powerful that accidents occurred. At a distance of several tens of kilometers, a soldier died - a trench was blocked. In a nearby settlement, people died who did not have time to take refuge in bomb shelters.
In the spring of 1955, Khrushchev announced a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing (testing would resume in 1961, as American researchers began to overtake Soviet developments).
In the spring of 1963, the first version of a neutron charge was tested in Nevada. Later the neutron bomb was created. Its inventor is Samuel Cohen. This is the smallest weapon in the atomic family; it kills not so much with an explosion as with radiation. Most of the energy is spent releasing high-energy neutrons. When such a bomb explodes with a power of 1 kiloton (which is 12 times less than the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima), destruction will be observed only within a radius of 200 meters, while all living organisms will die at a distance of up to 1.2 km from the epicenter.
EMP or “non-lethal” weapons
In the early 90s, a concept began to emerge in the United States, according to which the country’s armed forces should have not only nuclear and conventional weapons, but also special means that ensure effective participation in local conflicts without causing unnecessary losses to the enemy in manpower and material assets.
EMP (super EMP) generators, as shown by theoretical work and experiments carried out abroad, can be effectively used to disable electronic and electrical equipment, to erase information in data banks and damage computers.
Theoretical studies and results of physical experiments show that EMR from a nuclear explosion can lead not only to the failure of semiconductor electronic devices, but also to the destruction of metal conductors of cables of ground-based structures. In addition, it is possible to damage the equipment of satellites located in low orbits.
The fact that a nuclear explosion would necessarily be accompanied by electromagnetic radiation was clear to theoretical physicists even before the first test of a nuclear device in 1945. During nuclear explosions in the atmosphere and outer space carried out in the late 50s and early 60s, the presence of EMR was recorded experimentally.
The creation of semiconductor devices, and then integrated circuits, especially digital devices based on them, and the widespread introduction of means into electronic military equipment forced military specialists to evaluate the EMP threat differently. Since 1970, the issues of protecting weapons and military equipment from EMP began to be considered by the US Department of Defense as having the highest priority.
The mechanism for generating EMR is as follows. During a nuclear explosion, gamma and X-ray radiation are generated and a flux of neutrons is formed. Gamma radiation, interacting with molecules of atmospheric gases, knocks out so-called Compton electrons from them. If the explosion is carried out at an altitude of 20-40 km, then these electrons are captured by the Earth's magnetic field and, rotating relative to the lines of force of this field, create currents that generate EMR. In this case, the EMR field is coherently summed towards the earth's surface, i.e. The Earth's magnetic field plays a role similar to a phased array antenna. As a result of this, the field strength sharply increases, and consequently the amplitude of the EMR in the areas south and north of the epicenter of the explosion. The duration of this process from the moment of explosion is from 1 - 3 to 100 ns.
At the next stage, lasting approximately from 1 μs to 1 s, EMR is created by Compton electrons knocked out of molecules by repeatedly reflected gamma radiation and due to the inelastic collision of these electrons with the flow of neutrons emitted during the explosion. In this case, the EMR intensity turns out to be approximately three orders of magnitude lower than at the first stage.
At the final stage, which takes a period of time after the explosion from 1 s to several minutes, EMR is generated by the magnetohydrodynamic effect generated by disturbances of the Earth's magnetic field by the conductive fireball of the explosion. The intensity of EMR at this stage is very low and amounts to several tens of volts per kilometer.
Accidents at nuclear power plants
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was the largest disaster of our time in its long-term consequences.
There have been other accidents related to nuclear energy.
In the United States, the largest accident, which is now called a Chernobyl warning, occurred in 1979 in Pennsylvania at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. Before and after it there were 11 more minor accidents at nuclear reactors.
In the Soviet Union, to some extent, the forerunners of Chernobyl can be considered three accidents, starting in 1949, at the Mayak production association on the Techa River.
After it, there were more than ten more accidents at the country’s nuclear power plants.
The scale of the global Chernobyl disaster boggles the imagination. The Soviet report at the IAEA meeting in Vienna in 1986 noted that 50 million curies of radioactive radionuclides were released into the external environment.
The release of just one of its radioactive components - cesium-137 - is equal to 300 Hiroshimas.
One way or another, the Chernobyl zone includes, in the broad sense of the word, the entire globe, in particular the entire population of the Soviet Union.
The most intense radioactive contamination in the Soviet Union was in four regions of Russia, five regions of Ukraine and five regions of Belarus.
Conclusion
Scientists believe that with several large-scale nuclear explosions, resulting in the burning of forests and cities, huge layers of smoke and fumes would rise to the stratosphere, thereby blocking the path of solar radiation. This phenomenon is called “nuclear winter”. Winter will last for several years, maybe even just a couple of months, but during this time the Earth's ozone layer will be almost completely destroyed. Streams of ultraviolet rays will pour onto the Earth. Modeling of this situation shows that as a result of an explosion with a power of 100 kt, the temperature at the Earth's surface will drop on average by 10-20 degrees. After a nuclear winter, the further natural continuation of life on Earth will be quite problematic:
There will be a shortage of nutrition and energy. Due to severe climate change, agriculture will decline, nature will be destroyed or greatly changed.
radioactive contamination of areas will occur, which will again lead to the destruction of wildlife
global environmental changes (pollution, extinction of many species, destruction of wildlife).
Nuclear weapons are a huge threat to all humanity. Thus, according to the calculations of American experts, an explosion of a thermonuclear charge with a power of 20 Mt can level all residential buildings within a radius of 24 km and destroy all life at a distance of 140 km from the epicenter.
Considering the accumulated stockpiles of nuclear weapons and their destructive power, experts believe that a world war using nuclear weapons would mean the death of hundreds of millions of people, turning into ruins all the achievements of world civilization and culture.
Fortunately, the end of the Cold War has somewhat eased the international political situation. A number of agreements have been signed to stop nuclear testing and nuclear disarmament.
Another important problem today is the safe operation of nuclear power plants. After all, the most ordinary failure to comply with safety regulations can lead to the same consequences as a nuclear war.
Today people must think about their future, about what kind of world they will live in in the coming decades.
References:
Samuel Glasston, Philip Dolan, The Effects of Nuclear Weapon, 1977.
A.I. Ioyrysh, “What the bell rings for,” 1991.
Civil Defense, 1982.
American scientists have found that the background radiation of Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands still exceeds the maximum permissible values. Experts believe that background radiation levels do not allow the repopulation of Bikini and other nearby islands. /website/
Researchers from Columbia University in New York organized several expeditions to Bikini Island, where they measured background radiation in water, air, soil, flora and fauna. The results of hundreds of measurements showed that the background radiation on Bikini Atoll is approximately twice as high as in other places on the planet. In some parts of the island it is increased by 5–10 times.
Nuclear testing at Bikini
The small Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean gained worldwide fame after the nuclear tests that the Americans carried out on it from 1946 to 1958. In total, during this time, according to various sources, from 23 to 67 atomic and hydrogen bombs were detonated. This had an extremely negative impact on the health of the inhabitants of neighboring atolls and on the ecosystem as a whole.
Bikini Atoll. View from space. Photo: wikimedia.org/public domain
The most powerful explosion occurred on March 1, 1954. “The force of the explosion was equivalent to almost a thousand atomic bombs like the one dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, and the hurricane-force winds created by the nuclear explosion reached the island, located 250 miles from the test site,” Marshall Islands Senator Tomaki Judah described what was happening at the time.
Judah is a native of Bikini and was a small boy during the ordeal. Back in 1946, he and the other 166 inhabitants of the island were persuaded by the American military to move to another atoll in the Marshall Islands archipelago. The islanders were convinced that the military had come to do a good deed. The Americans promised to put this destructive force at the service of man. The residents believed and agreed to voluntarily leave the island.
Meanwhile, residents of other islands of the archipelago were not warned about the tests. After the first explosions, called “Crossroads,” the neighboring islands were covered with a layer of radioactive dust 2 cm thick. However, people did not know about the danger, children played carefree in the ash. That same night, residents felt the effects of radiation poisoning: hair loss, vomiting, weakness. Only two days later, the US government provided medical assistance to the islanders and evacuated them.
The hydrogen bomb test carried out at Bikini Atoll in 1954 had global consequences. According to the Hiroshima Peace Institute, radioactive ash that rose into the atmosphere after the explosion was recorded at 122 weather stations around the world for four months. The ash cloud covered almost the entire Pacific Ocean and spread over North America, parts of South America, Australia, East Asia and even Africa.
“Documents indicate that nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll affected the ecology of the entire planet,” noted Professor Hiroko Takahashi. She believes that the damage caused by the tests is seriously underestimated.
Consequences of nuclear weapons
Scientists have long found out that nuclear tests cause enormous harm to the entire planet. The number of nuclear warheads in the world exceeds reasonable limits. Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto calculated that from 1945 to 1998 there were 2,053 nuclear explosions worldwide. An artist created an animated map of the ordeal to visualize the scale of the disaster.
The first nuclear test was carried out by the United States in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. The explosion of the bomb, called Trinity, was equivalent to approximately 21 kilotons of TNT. It ushered in the nuclear age. The Fat Man bomb, dropped on August 9, 1945 on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, was of the same type.
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 became the first and only examples in the history of mankind of the combat use of nuclear weapons. The consequences of the nuclear attacks were so terrible that they shocked both the Japanese government and other countries, including the United States.
The total death toll is believed to have reached 413,000, including those who died from radiation sickness. However, the actual number of victims of the terrible attack is unknown, since in that situation there was no one to count the dead. Later, many researchers would call this act “senseless and merciless cruelty.” Discussions about the advisability of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still ongoing.
Tests of the Tsar Bomba
The largest thermonuclear charge during the entire testing period was possessed by the Soviet “Tsar Bomba”. It is also the most powerful explosive device in human history. It was blown up in 1961 on Novaya Zemlya. The nuclear mushroom from the explosion rose to a height of 67 kilometers, the radius of the “cap” of the mushroom was 95 kilometers. The shock wave of the explosion was recorded three times by instruments around the globe.
The bomb received the informal name “Kuzka’s Mother”, since during its presentation Khrushchev himself was present, who loved to scare the whole world with this saying. After the tests, there were rumors that the explosion flashed much longer than the estimated time. Soviet scientists were afraid of the start of an irreversible nuclear reaction that could destroy the Earth. This possibility was predicted by the Dane Niels Bohr.
According to the official version, the explosion was quite clean and did not pose a danger to the test participants. However, in fact, a colossal area was contaminated, and people began to die some time after the explosion. Testing a nuclear bomb became a real rehearsal for the end of the world, the apotheosis of the Cold War. Shortly thereafter, the United States and the Soviet Union entered into a nuclear test ban treaty, which is still in effect today. According to some opinions, a nuclear war did not happen in the 20th century precisely because of the Tsar Bomba tests.
Today, eight countries are considered to have nuclear weapons. The so-called nuclear club includes the USA, Russia, Great Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea. Previously, there were more such countries, but some of them voluntarily abandoned the use of nuclear weapons. These include South Africa, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
Atomic bombs are weapons whose use cannot be justified. But today they make money from the tragic facts of history, for example, they organize excursions to the sites of nuclear bomb explosions and nuclear disasters. Modern engineers and physicists believe that if the Third World War begins and nuclear weapons are used, there will be no winners...
