Nuclear Weapons

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Recommended: The atomic bomb and it's impact

Nuclear Warfare: World War 3 The Past This essay aims to explore technology in warfare: in particular, nuclear weapons. I will be taking a look at the past, present and future of this in general, and in my nuclear collage, referring to the film ‘Equilibrium’ and the ‘Art nucleare movement’, an art and literary group founded in 1951 as a response to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (in particular, the works of Voltolino Fontani). Firstly, I want to take a closer look at the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To date, this is the only time nuclear weapons have been used in a war. Although the war in Europe had ended when the Nazis surrendered in May 1945, ‘Pacific War’ continued. On July the 26th, 1945, the US teamed up with China and the UK, calling for the surrender of Japanese forces in the ‘Potsdam Decleration’- literally threatening ‘prompt and utter destruction’. Japan refused, and what came after was a horrendous, violent attack on many innocent civilians. On August 6th and August 9th , two separate bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One was a uranium ‘gun-type’ bomb, and the other a plutonium ‘implosion-type’ bomb. Within the first four months- 90,000-166,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki. Over half of these deaths occurred on the first day- but afterwards, many died from radiation sickness. Plutonium exposure external to the body poses very little health risk, but once ingested- the results can be serious. Most plutonium swallowed with food or water passes through the body, but when inhaled, the lungs may absorb chemicals into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, plutonium moves throughout the body and into multiple organs. Plutonium is a toxic metal. It... ... middle of paper ... ...wledges five states as ‘nuclear-weapon states’- the US, Russia, the UK, France and China. An additional four states are believed to have nuclear weapons (India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel), and all of those are not currently part of the NPT. While there are only 5 nuclear-weapon states, the US ‘weapon-share’ under NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation). Basically, this means that the US provide over 180 nuclear bombs for use if needed by Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. This ‘weapon-sharing’ is contested by many states, who argue that this violates key parts of the treaty. Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Non-Proliferation_of_Nuclear_Weapons http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Nuclear/NPT.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Non-Proliferation_of_Nuclear_Weapons#United_States-NATO_nuclear_weapons_sharing

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