By Dr Arun Mitra
Visit to Hiroshima to participate in the All Asia Conference of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in 2009 and again on the occasion of 20th World Congress of IPPNW in 2012 is an unforgettable experience. We had the opportunity to go around the Peace Memorial Museum situated adjacent to the epicentre where the atom bomb was dropped. This left a heart rending imprint in the mind about the destruction caused due to the atomic bombing. Never before in the history of mankind has so much catastrophic damage been heard of in such a short span of time.
The visit strengthened our commitment to consistently work for a nuclear weapons free world. It is therefore important that the present generation, embroiled in their own dilemmas, should have a clear conception of what lessons are to be learnt from the past dreadful moments which the people affected by atomic bombing had to pass through. In this context it would be relevant to revisit those times of history and share the very basic information with the younger generation.
In the present day well connected world, any event even in faraway part of the globe affects our life. People must be made aware about the increasing danger of warfare particularly the nuclear weapons in the wake of on-going wars in Ukraine and Middle East. The present day warfare impacts environment, climate change, health, education, employment and means of livelihood as the expenditure on wars channels limited resources away from health and other social needs.
The type of destruction which the atomic weapon can cause on the human population was little known to the world till they were dropped on 6th August 1945 by the United States on the city of Hiroshima. The bomb known as “Little Boy” had 15 kilotons of force. It is estimated that bombing killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima, and 74,000 in Nagasaki.
Survivors tell that the intense blast razed nearly 70% of the buildings to the ground. Temperature rose so much that everything in the near vicinity melted. It is estimated that the temperature rose to 4000 degree Celsius. In the years that followed, many of the survivors fell ill to leukaemia, cancer, or other terrible side effects from the radiation. The incidence of thyroid, breast, lung and other cancers increased. Pregnant women experienced higher rates of miscarriage and deaths among their infants; some of the new born children developed intellectual disabilities, impaired growth and an increased risk of developing cancer. Cancers related to radiation exposure still continue to increase even to this day.
Dr Marcel Junod from International Red Cross, who was the first foreigner to visit Hiroshima in September 1945 described the situation very grim and beyond imagination. Medical care was impossible, he observed. There was serious lack of medical equipment and medicines to treat such large number of people. Most victims died without any care to ease their suffering. Some of those who entered the cities after the bombings to provide assistance also died from the radiation.
In modern nuclear arsenals, those devastating weapons are considered “low-yield.” According to the information provided at the website of International Campaign to Abolish of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), many of the modern nuclear weapons with Russian and U.S are thermonuclear weapons and have explosive yields of the equivalent at least 100 kilotons of dynamite – and some are much higher. One 100-kiloton nuclear weapon dropped on New York City could lead to roughly 583,160 fatalities. Casualties from a major nuclear war between the US and Russia would reach hundreds of millions and according to recent research up to 5 billion would die from famine due to “nuclear winter” where sunlight would be blocked by soot and particles from the explosions. Even a “limited” regional war involving exchange of 100 nuclear weapons between India and Pakistan could have devastating global climatic consequences due to the effect of nuclear winter and put two billion people at risk of starvation and death.
It is therefore imperative that the nuclear weapons be abolished for good from the earth. It is being propagated by the nuclear lobby that it is irrelevant to talk of nuclear weapons because they will never be used as those who possess these weapons of mass destruction themselves realise the destructive powers and also that this destruction can fall back upon them. Therefore the presence of these weapons serves as deterrence. Russia, the United States, and the host states all claim that the reason for having these weapons stationed abroad is one of deterrence.
But the deterrence doctrine is an unproven theory, based on flawed assumptions about human behaviour. Deterrence doctrine is also inadequate for evolving security challenges such as terrorism, emerging and disruptive technologies, cyber, hybrid, and “grey zone” warfare.
Instead of cutting down expenditure on arms, the world military expenditure increased to $2240bn in 2022. The expenditure on nuclear weapons alone increased from $82.9 billion in 2022 to $91.4 billion in 2023 i.e an increase of 13.4%. This comes to $2598 per second. The United States had the biggest increase, at nearly 18%. The United States spent more than all of the other nuclear-armed states combined, at $51.5 billion. China surpassed Russia as the second-highest spender at $11.9 billion, and Russia came in third, spending $8.3 billion.
A comparison of this expenditure to the social needs gives startling figures. An ICAN report points out that this amount could have been better spent to cover the annual salary of 718,930 nurses in the United States; Vaccinating 534,354,072,239 children against measles, mumps, and rubella; Vaccinating 2,283,027,774 people against COVID. Saving 587,064,285 people from famine for a year; Planting 608,807,406,304 trees; or providing a year of clean water sanitation to 1,398,101,964 people.
In the present circumstances the war between Russia and Ukraine and Israeli action in Gaza instead of receding are escalating; the danger of use of nuclear weapons increases with every escalation. Global voice for end to these wars has to be strengthened. Third party interventions like the NATO in Ukraine and Middle East must stop. There is need for resolution of issues through dialogue, declaration by all the nuclear weapons possessing countries not to use them and join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is need of the hour. We do not want a repeat of Hiroshima and Nagasaki events. (IPA Service)