Written by: Sashwat Paudel - 23038, Grade XII
Posted on: 11 July, 2022
Imagine I came up to you and said that I have the power to convert the place you’re living at right now into rubble and dust. I say that I have the power to turn everything you see around you into absolute nothingness in a matter of seconds. What if I told you that I have a device that mimicked the heat of the sun, and the winds of neptune?
One click of a finger and everything would be gone, vapourized. It would be like dropping a bit of water onto a hot stove. A mere sizzle and nothing left. The person who just walked past you, the home that you live in, all the people in the area, your beloved pet, your belongings, and most importantly, you, yourself would cease to exist, in a matter of moments.
What would your reaction be? Would you be intrigued ? Would you believe me and be frightened? I’d say that would be very unlikely. Most probably you would burst into a hysterical laugh and question the mere existence of such a thing. To put it plainly, the truth is, we do possess devices as such, and they can unleash frightening amounts of chaos, and they are nuclear devices.
So what is a nuclear bomb and why should you bother?
Nuclear bombs get their name from the two words “Nuclear” and “Bomb” , the word bomb is pretty self explanatory, as it generally denotes an explosive. The word Nuclear denotes that it works by the process of nuclear reaction, which includes nuclear fission or fusion. In fusion, two lighter atoms fuse together into heavier nuclei, with the release of energy. Fission, on the other hand, a heavy atom is split into heavier atoms again,with the release of energy. This is the same process by which the Sun produces its energy.
The factor that separates a nuclear bomb from a conventional explosive is it’s far greater blast radius and damage overall. A nuclear bomb can be many thousands or millions of times more powerful than the largest conventional detonations we could ever do. For perspective, about 64 kilograms of uranium was used in the bomb which was released over Hiroshima. It had a 16 kiloton yield which implies that it was equivalent to 16,000 tonnes of TNT. Imagine blasting 16 million kilograms of TNT. That would not be possible in any way. It is literally impractical, but when we factor in nuclear weapons, that job becomes way easier with just 64 kilograms of uranium.
The result? 80,000 people killed by the explosion itself; tens of thousands more would later die due to the hazardous levels of radiation. But wait.., that;s not all. The 64 kg of uranium was what was packed in the bomb. Reports claim that only 1.38% of the uranium actually fissioned in the blast. The rest did not have a chance to fission, it was already blown away before that could happen.
We can think of devices that can unleash hell in just seconds, but we can’t think of working out our differences and stopping such a threat. The danger of nuclear war is still looming around us, and with the recent invasion of Ukraine, it is looking more likely than ever. Sadly, the only thing we can realistically do is ask for reform and nothing else.
