Running head: CATASTROPHIC NUCLEAR RADIATION ACCIDENTS 1

Catastrophic Nuclear Radiation Accident

Donovan Brown

Northern Virginia Community College/VWCC

CATASTROPHIC NUCLEAR RADIATION ACCIDENTS 2

The radiation catastrophic of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Chernobyl. The United States and

America dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, during

World War Two. The preventable nuclear disaster of 1986 in Chernobyl in Ukraine. These three

disasters have caused hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths indirectly and directly from the

bombing and the explosion.

On August 6, 1954, the first atomic bomb was dropped on the civilians of the city of

Hiroshima by the US air force. The atomic bomb was the first of its kind and it had destroyed

approximately 13 square kilometers of Hiroshima. According to The Lancet “, the world

changed irreversibly when the first nuclear weapon in warfare was used by the USA against

Japan. The target of Hiroshima had been spared the previous bombing so that the destructive

force of the 15-kiloton uranium bomb could be assessed” (2015). The United States president

Harry S. Truman and other allies had pushed back the Japanese military back to their homeland.

The invasion of Japan could result in the death of hundreds of thousands of U.S soldiers. The

U.S president wanted the war to be ended with the minimum causality on the US side but the

maximum on the Japanese side. “The Potsdam Declaration made it clear to the Japanese that they

could anticipate severe consequences if they chose to continue the war, Japan rejected the

ultimatum. Truman ordered the use of the bomb. His secretary of war, Henry L. Stimson,

regarded the use of the bomb as less abhorrent than sacrificing U.S. lives” (Barnhill, J.H. 2016)

The day after the first nuclear bomb was dropped, a second was deployed upon the

neighboring city of Nagasaki. The atomic was called the “Fat Man” and it flattened buildings,

destroyed power supply, and generated fires on impact. Many have argued in the past about the

real reasons for the bombing of these cities. According to the World History states that “the

Japanese were prepared to ask for peace before the bombs were dropped and had already sought
CATASTROPHIC NUCLEAR RADIATION ACCIDENTS 3

peace in previous months…the real reason for the use of the bombs was Truman's desire to

frighten and impress the Soviet Union, which was already moving from ally to rival” Barnhill, J.

H. (2016). In both cities, the victims died of flash burns from the heat of the atomic bomb blast.

In addition, the explosion of the homes and others were killed by flying debris, not to mention

the biological effect of the massive nuclear blast that has produced an overwhelming amount of

man-made radiation.

In contrast to the Nagasaki and Hiroshima nuclear bombing, the accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine

in the former Soviet Union. Unlike the bombing of Japanese cities, this radiation explosion of the

1986 nuclear power plant. The Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law documented that “on

26 April 1986, one of the most terrible ecological disasters in human history occurred - the

accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP). According to the International Atomic

Energy Agency (IAEA), the causes were drawbacks in the reactor design, staff mistakes and the

low level of safety culture” (Aug 2016). The disaster claimed 31 people as a direct result of the

disaster of the 31 people that died 29 were firemen. They pass away because of acute radiation

exposure which didn’t them immediately but months later. The efforts of Ukraine aimed at

making their own atomic bomb in doing so they neglect the regards for human lives within the

working environment and safety was paramount for them. The effects of the radiation on people

in these three cities, directly and indirectly, are quite devasting.

Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a resident of Nagasaki and an engineer at the Mitsubishi Heavy

Industries. He was 29 years old when a business trip took to Hiroshima heard a noise in the skies,

this noise could consider to be common because Hiroshima functions an industrial town and

military base for the Japanese. This time the noise was the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay

dropping the first bomb on Japan. Even though Yamaguchi was approximately 2 miles away
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from ground zero, the impact knocked him out. “Though less than two miles from Ground Zero,

he lived, suffering serious burns to his upper body and half his face, and a perforated eardrum.

Yamaguchi and others who survived the blast” (Gale, 2010). The effects of the bombing were

massive on so many levels. The lives of the people of the two cities and surrounding

environments were forever changed due to the effects of radiation. The explosion from the

atomic bombs sent supercharge gamma rays in all directions from the hypocenter. When the

gamma rays hit an individual, it damages the DNA and breaking down some of the chemical

bonds inside. In contrast to the victims of Chernobyl, the Ukraine disaster was mostly propelled

by the miss handling of the situation. According to the article “If You Are Hit By Two Atomic

Bombs, Should You Have Kids?” mentioned that “the Chernobyl meltdown released different

types of radioactivity, fewer gamma rays and more radioactive poisoning from cesium,

strontium, and iodine — which can do more harm at close range. Plus, Soviet officials made

matters much worse by allowing cows to graze on grass downwind from the accident and didn't

destroy crops that had absorbed the radioactive waste, so people continued to eat and drink

contaminated produce” (Krulwich 2012). The effects of whole-body radiation may be shown in

three symptomatic phases; prodromal, manifest syndrome, and latent phase.

The whole-body radiation is referred to as Acute Radiation Syndrome or radiation sickness, this

is irradiation of the entire in a short period of time. According to the Center for Disease Control

and Prevention states that “the major cause of this syndrome is depletion of immature

parenchymal stem cells in specific tissues. Examples of people who suffered from ARS are the

survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs, the firefighters that first responded after

the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant event in 1986, and some unintentional exposures to

sterilization irradiators” (CDC 2018). The amount of radiation is greater than 0.5 Gy which is
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delivered at a high dose rate has a severe impact on the body-specific tissue and tissue of the

organs. The first phase of Acute Radiation Syndrome is the Prodromal state, this is the initial

phase of radiation sickness where victims start to show signs and symptoms within 1-3 days after

exposure. During this time victims may experience nausea, vomiting, fever, anorexia, and the

possibility of diarrhea. The severity of the signs and symptoms is dependent upon the dose

received and the symptoms can be mild or severe; lasting for several minutes up to several days.

The second phase is the Manifest syndrome is the phase where the victim’s symptoms are

depending on the specific syndrome. The National Institute of Health (NIH) defines the Manifest

stage to be “phase-specific signs and symptoms of each syndrome appear depending on the dose.

The hematopoietic syndrome develops at doses of between 1 and 8 Gy although a slight decrease

in blood cell counts can be seen with doses below 1 Gy” (NIH 2011). The latent stage is where

victims may start looking and feeling healthy because their symptoms start to improve but their

lab result may say otherwise, abnormal with lymphopenia (a lower than normal number of

lymphocytes) and granulocytopenia ( a lower than normal of granulocytes). This phase may last

for hours to months and it is also dependent on dose.

The signs and symptoms of the phases were experienced in all three disasters in all the phases.

In the Hiroshima and Nagasaki accident, the victims frequently reported that they have

experienced nausea and vomiting within a few hours of the explosion. The cases of diarrhea vary

in the degrees of severity and it was reported that some were so severe that it was frequently

bloody. During the first to the sixth week, the victims start looking and feeling good even though

their stem cells in the bone are dying. Some of the victims of the blast cardiovascular system

may return to normal function. The victims of the bombing also experience symptoms of fever,

malaise, and anorexia. Several weeks after the explosion the drop in blood count continues to
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drop. During this phase, the primary cause of death was infection and hemorrhage, which may

occur within a few months.

The victims of the Chernobyl accident at the nuclear have left “almost one-third of the reported

cases of acute radiation sickness (ARS) reported worldwide. Cases occurred among the plant

employees and first responders but not among the evacuated populations or general population.

The diagnosis of ARS was initially considered for 237 persons based on symptoms of nausea,

vomiting, and diarrhea. Ultimately, the diagnosis of ARS was confirmed in 134 persons” (NIH

2007). The toxicity of Chernobyl is much more than the atomic bombing of the Japanese

bombing, the Chernobyl explosion has put 400 times more radioactive material into the earth’s

atmosphere than the atomic bomb that was deployed on Japan.

The U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is in charge of the safety of nuclear reactors.

According to The Bulletin, “these regulations include specific guidelines about what should be

done to ensure that necessary security measures do not compromise plant safety; prevent theft or

diversion of plutonium-bearing mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel; prevent cyber-attacks; respond to an

aircraft attack; mitigate the effects of large explosions and fires; implement more rigorous

programs for authorizing personnel access; strengthen security personnel training and

qualification; and enhance physical security. Regulations like those developed by the NRC

should be implemented at nuclear power plants worldwide” (Kang 2011). The regulation and

safety measures that have been implemented by NRC is to prevent another incident like

Chernobyl from happening in the United States.

In conclusion, catastrophic nuclear radiation accidents have impacted the regions that they had

occurred. The loss of lives was devasting, to say the least, where the bombing of two cities was

avoidable and the explosion of Chernobyl in Ukraine was preventable if the necessary safety
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measures and personnel’s in place. The Acute Radiation Syndrome affected all three disasters in

various and significant ways, whether it is prodromal, manifest syndrome, or latent. It was

evident that people had suffered a great deal during this period. As the government officials and

the NRC work together to prevent something like happening again in our lifetime is crucial.
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reference

Anisimov, A. P., & Ryzhenkov, A. J. (2016). Thirty years after the accident at the chernobyl

nuclear power plant: Historical causes, lessons and legal effects. Journal of Energy &

Natural Resources Law, 34(3), 265-283.

doi:http://dx.doi.org.eznvcc.vccs.edu/10.1080/02646811.2016.1162047

Barnhill, J. H. (2016). bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Facts on File (Ed.), World

history: a comprehensive reference set. Facts On File. Credo Reference:

https://eznvcc.vccs.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/

fofworld/bombing_of_hiroshima_and_nagasaki/0?institutionId=2848

CDC Radiation Emergencies | Acute Radiation Syndrome: A Fact Sheet for Physicians. (2018).

CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/emergencies/arsphysicianfactsheet.htm

Lancet, T. (2015). A nuclear shadow from hiroshima and nagasaki to fukushima. The

Lancet, 386(9992), 403. doi:http://dx.doi.org.eznvcc.vccs.edu/10.1016/S0140-

6736(15)61429-5

Krulwich, R. (2012, July 18). If You Are Hit By Two Atomic Bombs, Should You Have Kids?

Retrieved November 18, 2020, from

https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/07/17/156915881/if-you-are-hit-by-two-

atomic-bombs-should-you-have-kids
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Tsutomu Yamaguchi. (2010). In Gale Biography Online Collection. Gale.

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1650006906/BIC?

u=viva2_nvcc&sid=BIC&xid=c0c1f87e

Macià I Garau, M., Lucas Calduch, A., & López, E. (2011, July 6). Radiobiology of the acute

radiation syndrome. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3863296/