Dangers of Nuclear Power and Radiation

Cells are undamaged. Cells are damaged, repair damage and…. operate abnormally (cancer). Cells die as a result of damage. radiation Operate normally

Effects of radiation  Radiation breaks apart cell tissue and DNA.  Cells can repair some of the damage of low level exposure over time.  Higher levels of radiation can cause an increased rate of cancer, sterility, birth defects, death.

Radiation does not  Cause an instant mutation in a person  (You won’t grow a third eye)  You won’t glow in the dark either  Radiation is measured in mrem (millirems)

Doses  The average person receives 360 mrem a year with no adverse effects.  56% of the survivors of 1945 bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still alive in 1990, and they received ~500,000 mrem.  These effects are still being studied.

Biological effects depend on…  1. Energy of Radiation  2. Penetrating ability of radiation  3. Ionization ability of the radiation  4. length of exposure

Ionization ability  Radiation can “knock” electrons off of atoms creating ions.  Some radiation is better at this than others.  Ionizing radiation- EM radiation higher than visible light (UV, X-rays, and gamma rays)  Meaning they are good at this.  All radiation lower than this (visible, IR, microwaves, radio waves) are nonionizing.  Meaning they don’t create ions very well.

Cell Phones  Cell phones send and receive information using radio waves.  This is nonionizing.  Nonionizing is still dangerous if the energy is high enough (look at a microwave oven).  Cell phones should release radiation in low enough energy levels that they are not harmful.

Immediate effects of large doses of radiation Dose of radiationEffects above 5,000 mremcan cause observable effects (more susceptible to illnesses) 100,000 mrem -200,000 mrem nausea loss of hair 200,000 mrem-500,000 mrem ulcers, internal bleeding above 500,000 mremDeath

Large Scale Nuclear War  The scariest part of large scale nuclear war is that no one on the planet could possibly escape the after effects.  Even if you were outside of all blast regions, you would still be exposed to the fallout.  Fallout is radioactive material spread around from a nuclear explosion.  In a large scale nuclear war, enough radioactive material would be spread to cover the entire planet.

Nuclear Winter  Even if you were safe from the fallout (somehow), the planet would enter a nuclear winter.  This is the same idea as a comet hitting the planet and kicking up a huge dust cloud (the theory on what killed the dinosaurs).  Instead of a comet, it would be several nuclear bombs hitting cities. They burn releasing ash and soot into the stratosphere that would takes decades to settle out.

What this would do  It would block out sunlight from getting to the surface.  The amount that would be blocked out would depend on the amount of soot in the atmosphere which depends on the number of bombs exploding.  Even a small exchange of nuclear bombs would have a dramatic effect on the planetary climate.

Blocked out Sun  Some light would still get through, but average temperatures would fall.  Plants would begin to die.  Crops would fail.  Animals that eat those plants begin to die.  Bodies would begin to pile up, increasing the amount of harmful decomposers.

How bad?  According to a report published in The Journal of Geophysical Research in 2007, a war using most of the world’s arsenal would result in a global cooling of about 7-8 o C.  The last ice age 18,000 years ago was 5 o C colder.  After a decade the planet would still be 4 o C, colder.  A war using 50 Hiroshima sized bombs (the approximate arsenal of India and Pakistan) could cool the planet by 2-3 o C for almost 10 years

Ozone Depletion  The soot could chemically react with the ozone layer in the stratosphere.  This could create “holes” in the ozone layer.  Not only would you have to deal with lower global average temperatures, but the sunlight that does get through would come with dangerous levels of UV radiation.

Likely results  This would probably result in a mass extinction of most species across the planet.  Eventually temperatures would return to normal, and new species would come back through evolution.  Given the adaptability and ingenuity of humans, some are likely to survive.  I Don’t Know With What Weapons World War III Will Be Fought, But World War IV Will be Fought With Sticks and Stones~ “Albert Einstein”