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Essay on How Hiroshima and Nagasaki Were Affected by Radiation
On the 6th August 1945, exactly 56 years ago, an atom bomb destroyed Hiroshima. Nagasaki faced devastation three days later. When the bombs were dropped, these cities had an estimated population of 310,000 and 250,000 respectively. About 90,000- 140,000 in Hiroshima and 60,000- 80,000 people in Nagasaki died immediately or within two to four months after bombing, resulting from collapse of houses caused by the blast and from heat rays and fires and radiation exposure. In the 1950 Japanese national census, nearly 280,000 persons stated that they "had been exposed" in the two cities.
Radiation fogged X-ray films stored at the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital. Exposed material became radioactive. Kimura and Tajima of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research determined that the Hiroshima bomb exploded at a height of 577 m. They used an electric furnace and a carbon arc furnace to simulate charring observed on the surface of a wooden board of Japanese cypress and estimated that the bomb had a radiant energy of 4.6 million calories (Gilbert, Petersen, Buchanan, 1989).
Scientists could enter the bombed area only after 3 to 4 weeks because of frequent typhoons. They measured higher radiation levels due to induced radioactivity near the epicenter. Additional radiation levels were 10-15 per cent of the natural background (U.S. Committee, 1990).
On November 18, 1946 Harry Truman authorized the National Research Council to establish an agency "to undertake a long range, continuing study of the biological and medical effects of the atomic bomb on man". This organization grew into the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC). ABCC continued to work till 1975 when Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) was set up as a bi-national endeavor.
Many believe in the myth that birth defects are more common among the children of the survivors of the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.......
