Say No To Nuclear Weapons

BY AMBAR MAINALI

Human civilization has come a long way ever since the first atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki on August 9 in the same year. The sordid tale of Hiroshima and the extent of damage, which a nuclear weapon can cause, is as clear as the morning sun. But still all pledges to end the arms race and destroy the nuclear stockpiles have been confined to mere rhetoric. The quest for peace appears to be a faint shadow in the distant horizon, with additional number of nations conducting nuclear tests each passing year. The question that looms large is why are the nuclear states finding it difficult to destroy their nuclear weapons before they are used once again to destroy mankind?
Unlike Japan, a country, which was the victim of the first nuclear attack the realization for peace among the nuclear states, is yet to transform into reality. It would not be out of place here to resound the peace chord once again. Perhaps the stories of grief, broken families, disease, aftereffects in the form of harmful radiation of the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima could spread the message that man cannot co-exist with nuclear weapons.
It would be important to note here the massive heat energy released during the explosion of an atomic bomb. When the nuclei atoms are artificially split, enormous energy is released as intense heat, blast, and lethal radiation. Atomic bomb uses this energy to kill and destroy. Elements like uranium 235 or plutonium 239 are used to form an atomic bomb. Huge amount of energy is released when the neutrons in the nucleus of fissile materials like uranium and plutonium are split off.
The newly released neutrons in turn hit other nuclei, splitting them and releasing more energy and neutrons. Under certain conditions, the fission process can build into a chain reaction that splits millions of atoms instantaneously and generating tremendous power.
Development and Manufacture of the First A-bomb was carried out under the Manhattan project. Research to form the atomic bomb started simultaneously in many countries of the west including Germany. The United States of America was putting all its efforts to manufacture the atomic bomb under the code name �gManhattan Project�h by 1942.
This project was carried out ensuring optimum secrecy and by hiring the top scientists. The budget is said to have been unlimited. It was in September 1944, it was determined that an atomic bomb would be used against Japan. The United States successfully conducted the world�fs first nuclear test on July 16, 1945 in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Following the successful testing of the first atomic bomb, orders were issued on July 25 to drop an atomic bomb on Japan.
The Potsdam Declaration was announced in the United States, United Kingdom and China on July 26 of the same year demanding that the Japanese surrender unconditionally in the war. But Japan on the 28th of July announced that it would ignore the Postdam declaration.
The city of Hiroshima prior to the bombing prospered during the Edo period (1603-1868) as the largest castle town in Chugoku and Shikoku regions. After the Meiji restoration (1868) the city was reborn as the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture. The city later became an important military center, leading to the construction of many army facilities. Besides it was also a center of learning and had earned a good name in terms of education and culture.
It was a sunny Monday morning. An air raid warning had been sounded the previous night at 12:25 a.m. No attack came however and the warning was cleared at 2:10 a.m. After a few hours of sleep, the people were awakened by another alert at 7:09 a.m. Many retreated again to air-raid shelters. The alert was triggered by a single American plane flying over at high altitude; it was lifted at 7:31 a.m. The people then left their shelters and started off to work.
On this day many people from the nearby villages and towns had been mobilized to help remove the debris from buildings demolished to make fire lanes in the city. The total number of people in the city is believed to have been over 350,000 including over 40,000 military personnel.
The war prevented schools from taking normal vacations. Students in middle school and above were mobilized for daily work at factories or removing debris at demolition sites. On the day the bomb was dropped 8,400 children were involved in helping to take ahead the demolition work.
The Aioi Bridge was the actual target of the first atomic bombing situated to the west of the Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall now known as the A-bomb domb. Research conducted so far has revealed that the actual point where the A-bomb exploded was approximately 300 meters southeast of the Aioi Bridge, approximately 580 meters above the Shima Hospital. The ground exactly below the point where the bomb exploded is referred to as the hypocenter.
The temperature of the air at the point of explosion exceeded a million degrees Celsius. A huge fireball having a diameter of approximately 28 meters with temperature close to 300,000 degrees Celsius was created immediately after the explosion.
The intense heat rays emitted by the explosion caused buildings and vegetation to burst into flames. Fire broke out in the city and combustible material within 2 Km of the hypocenter was totally burned.
The total number of people killed by the atomic bomb is still a matter of research as the bomb destroyed all population records. However, widely accepted estimates place the civilian population at 280,000-2,90,000 and military personnel at approximately 40,000.
The physical harm caused by the atomic bombing included a complex combination of burns from heat rays and fire, broken bones and lacerations sustained from the blast and damage to skin and internal organs caused by radiation.
The survivors of the atomic bombing are in their seventies and are referred to as Hibakusha. Research conducted by Japanese and foreign scientists have revealed the effects of radiation no longer exist in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the survivors of the atomic bombing are still receiving regular treatment for different diseases.
Despite the agony and pain, which the whole of Japan had to endure due to the devastating effects of the bomb, the Japanese people do not want to dig the past. They are not for blaming anybody for whatever happened and are determined to work towards creating the environment of peace throughout the globe.
Anybody touching the soil of Hiroshima can hardly imagine that the city once blown into cider stands out so elegantly to greet its guests as if it never saw any horrific moments. The city is a living example of the hard work of the Japanese people who are still pursuing peace and are warning the entire world about the detrimental effects of a nuclear weapon.
The South West Asia Youth Forum that was held in Hakuni, Japan on August 11 and 12 got the seven countries from South Asia- India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives joining hands with their Japanese counterparts to promote peace and work for international solidarity.
The programme organized by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was instrumental in building a wider understanding among the youths to lobby for a peaceful world free from nuclear weapons.

NB: The data in the article has been obtained from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum