Life with Nukes in the Wild

by  Harvey Xu

“President Putin puts Russia’s nuclear weapons on high alert” reports the BBC news concerning the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. With current world affairs screaming across the globe of possible nuclear warfare and “World War III” it is no doubt that people have been estimating the global destruction an event at this level could cause. Although the likelihood of a genuine nuclear threat to the globe is extremely slim, what could the consequences be for an occurrence of this magnitude?

Firstly, let’s talk about what a “nuke” really is. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device releasing energy derived from nuclear reactions which ultimately come down from nuclear fission and fusion. But what is that? To understand we need to revisit the concepts of atomic structure and radioactivity. Every atom in the universe is made up of 3 subatomic particles. Protons which are positively charged and neutrons which have a neutral charge make up a nucleus in the centre of an atom.

Negatively charged electrons orbit the nucleus of the atom. Atoms will be stable when the ratio of protons to neutrons is the same however not all atoms are like this. When there is a different number of neutrons in the nucleus of an atom but the same number of protons you end up with an isotope. Depending on the element and isotope, they can be unstable and radioactive and this can emit radiation. 

Nuclear bombs undertake nuclear fission which involves splitting the nucleus of the atom in 2. As the nucleus split it releases neutrons along with bursts of electromagnetic energy known as gamma rays. Fusion involves bringing together 2 nuclei to form a single larger nucleus which also releases lots of energy. The chain reaction of fission and fusion of heavy nuclei creates the explosion that atomic bombs are known for. Several heavy elements are capable of such a reaction and usually, Uranium-235 is used in these reactions. There are many different methods to release enough energy for an explosion but the main factor is that enough mass of nuclear material is concentrated in 1 place known as critical mass. The higher density of the material the bigger the wave of heat, light, air pressure and radiation the explosion gives off.

Radiation is one of the main factors of the results of these nuclear reaction explosions. There are 3 types of ionising radiation: alpha, beta and gamma. Alpha radiation does not do much harm and your clothing will protect you from your exposed skin. Beta radiation can cause significant damage about several metres from the source such as radiation burns and cataracts. However, gamma radiation with its high penetration power can permeate the body causing radiation sickness, cancer and gene mutations. 

Currently, 9 countries have access to nuclear weapons. However, the entire world's nuclear arsenal would not be able to destroy the entire planet. There are an estimated 19,000 nuclear warheads in the world of which 95% come from Russia and the USA. Assuming all warheads went off right now and all had the capacity of 500-kilo tons, most life would cease to exist. Life after surviving the initial explosion would not be long due to the amount of radiation which would spread across the globe. Giant tsunamis and earthquakes would demolish cities and life as well as huge creators as large as 10km would scatter the earth. Nuclear fallout would cover the earth for hundreds of thousands of years and dust clouds would block the sun.

According to research, an estimated 5 billion people would die with 75% coming from starvation and radiation sickness after initial impacts so it is safe to say nuclear war would be devastating to our planet and almost definitely terminate human life.