The moment we first noticed the tremendous effect of the bomb was when the bomb was dropped on Japan during World War II. Therefore, in 1970, countries started to prevent the further spread of nuclear weapons through Non-Proliferation Treaty, which I will refer to as NPT in short. While 191 countries including the US, UK, Russia, France, and China have joined the NPT, some countries have chosen not to participate. In this place, I want to talk about what countries should consider when they are deciding to whether follow the NPT or not. To be more specific, I will talk about how countries should consider the impacts of nuclear weapons on the environment, economy, and health before their decision.
I’ll start with the environmental contamination that nuclear weapons can induce. Historically, nuclear bomb explosions in Hiroshima were found to be the main cause of the black rain. The experiments showed that after the bomb has exploded, its residue fused with the vapor in the atmosphere and fell as a form of precipitation. Then, why is it such an issue? It’s because environmental contamination can further lead to climate changes when the black rain spread dust particles in the atmosphere and reduce the total amount of sunlight reaching the earth’s surface. Imagine what would happen if sunlight can’t reach the earth. Obviously, plants can’t grow. Well, you might think plant doesn’t have a direct relationship with human; however, we have to be aware that vegetations that we consume every day are also in danger in such circumstance. Thus, environmental devastation is one factor that governments should consider. However, it’s true that these pieces of evidence are based on one historic event and that we can’t be sure whether this result applies to other countries.
Another aspect that countries should consider in deciding to follow the NPT is the medical impacts of nuclear weapons. As you can see, when the nuclear weapon explodes, the initial temperature is similar to that of the center of the sun. This directly can cause skin burns and eye injuries. What seems more important is that the nuclear weapon testing procedure is also not safe. Before 1963, the world had conducted more than 500 nuclear weapons tests, and the chemical particles were spread across the air. These particles caused various diseases including thyroid cancer, leukemia, bone marrow depression, and cardiovascular disease. Such diseases even lead people to death. If we think about it, the government’s main role is to protect the citizen. Therefore, the government should fully understand that nuclear weapons harm innocent citizens. While this is based on past data, the fact that today’s weapon still contains the same chemical particles makes the data plausible to be considered even today.
Finally. when deciding to join the NPT, the government should consider the economic aspect of holding the nuclear weapon. This is the picture of the city after a nuclear bomb exploded. Nuclear weapon devastates the city, and the economic loss is substantial. Moreover, the economic risks of cleaning nuclear waste also are high. For example, the cleanup cost of radioactive waste itself costs more than $120 billion, and the cleanup cost of infrastructures that were exposed to radiation costs more than $30 billion. What does this show? This demonstrates that such costs can be saved if the country truly considers the economic loss derived from a nuclear weapon and join NPT. While this graph is based on the US economy and might do not apply to different countries, what we should consider is not the exact number, but the idea of how such costs are ineffectively lost.
However, even though countries are considering these three aspects, I am aware that some countries are currently under warfare and they can’t just decide to denuclearize; for those countries, considering environmental, medical, and economical aspects won’t have significant impacts. Thus, I would say that it’s important to keep the peace between countries in the first place so that countries can further consider diverse aspects and decide to follow the NPT.
Writer: Grace Jun
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