I think the scientific consensus is that most of the radiation would have dissipated quickly. He told Newsweek: "'No' is really the correct answer. Peter Kuznick is director of the Nuclear Studies Institute and professor in the Department of History at American University. Since the bombs were detonated far above the ground there was little contamination in terms of neutron activation, which causes non-radioactive materials to become radioactive. According to the city of Hiroshima local government website, research has indicated that 80 percent of residual radiation was emitted within 24 hours of the bombing.Īccording to the University of Columbia Center for Nuclear Studies, most nuclear fallout from the bombings was dispersed in the atmosphere or blown away by the wind. Depending on the material, this could be a fraction of a second or multiple decades.ĭoes this mean that the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still radioactive today? The answer is a definitive no.Īfter the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, residual radiation was left behind but this declined rapidly. Radioactive materials decay over a period of time known as a half-life. Residual radiation is partly the result of nuclear fallout-radioactive particles that are sent up into the atmosphere and fall back to Earth. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki are no longer radioactive due to the bombings. The ruins of the Museum of Science and Industry in Hiroshima, Japan, seen shortly after the U.S. This releases radioactive particles and harmful electromagnetic waves such as gamma rays that can harm people not just immediately after the explosion, but also for some time afterward in the form of residual radiation. Nuclear weapons explode because of a rapid nuclear reaction in which atoms are either split apart or fused together. Radiation poisoning is part of what makes nuclear weapons so destructive. These deaths were caused by both the initial destructive blast and fires as well as radiation poisoning. bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, respectively.Īccording to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the most credible estimates of the total death toll from both bombings range from 110,000 to 210,000 fatalities, including men, women, and children-most of who were civilians. These effects are known not just from thousands of test detonations, but also from the aftermath of the only time nuclear weapons have ever been used in warfare. Nuclear weapons are feared the world over due to their unparalleled destructive strength and their potential to sicken populations with radiation.
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