Nuke Inquiry Report
By Amiteez and Joshua
Should the production of nukes stop in all countries
Question 1: What are Nukes?
Nukes or nuclear bombs are missiles that use atomic energy to decimate entire cities. How nukes work is the energy that is released when the particles of the nucleus. (protons and neutrons) are either split or merged and then harness the forces that keep the nucleus of an atom intact. All of this causes the devasting explosion of a nuclear bomb. As we all know the first nukes were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. But the first testing of these atomic bombs began back on July 16 1945 in New Mexico, at 5:29 am. This bomb explosion was the equivalent of 21000 tons of TNT. when the cold war kicked off in the cold war the soviets and Americans made many thousands of nukes. In 1965 the Americans had a mind-blowing 31 thousand nukes. While the Soviets at this time have 6000. Then we skip the late 1980s with the
having an amazing 60 thousand nukes which was 0ver double the Americans had which they had 23 thousand. There are many types of nukes like dirty bombs which are bombs when detonated release radioactive material across an area Luckily these types of nukes have only been tested. We also have thermonuclear which is 1 thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. And how could forget possibly the most powerful nuke ever concocted by humanity. This one bomb shows the destructiveness of our kind and our advancement and destruction at the same time. The mighty tsar Bomba. Made by the destructive and insane minds of the Soviet scientists on the day of November 22nd 1955 and tested on october 30th 1961. The tsar bomba is the biggest and probably the most deadly and effective nuclear device ever constructed. This one bomb is 1570 stronger than the first nukes dropped on nagasaki and Hiroshima combined.
Question 2: What damages can Nukes cause?
The damages that can be caused by just 1 nuclear bomb can be more extreme than anything else imaginable. The first is the most destructive part of the nuke, the explosion. The Fireball can extend to a few kilometres wide, burning everything within a 50 km radius or even more. The shockwave blast can also spread hundreds of kilometres and wipe out houses and send tons of debris flying. Entire cities and nearby areas can be decimated and wiped off the map.
One prime example is Hiroshima, which killed hundreds of thousands and left the city to nothing. However, this happened in 1945 when nuclear weapons were first created. The ones that exist nowadays can dwarf the damages of Hiroshima as well as the invention of Thermonuclear and Hydrogen bombs.
The deadliest part of a nuclear bomb is the radiation. A couple of hours after the explosion, hazardous materials such as radiation are dropped on the ground and begin to spread several kilometres. Most likely, you may only survive underground as it may be impossible to survive above ground. The radiation may linger for a couple of weeks before it is safe to enter the surface.
Nuke graph
This graph shows all the countries that have nukes and the amount they have. Intotal all these countries have a scary 12705 nukes. If they wanted to, all these countries can end the world multiple times. Cause it probably only takes 195 nukes to take out every country. With all these nukes all these countries can nuke the world 65 times over which is 12675 nukes. And they would still have 30 nukes left over. This is a scary reality we live in knowing if the wrong leader is put into power we could all die in the press of a button.
Question 3: Why do countries have these nukes?
Ever since the creation of nuclear weapons in 1945, many countries feared the US attacking them as well as threats by other countries. After the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were absolutely destroyed by nukes, this only made the fears worse. Countries like the Soviet Union, China and India would begin nuclear programs over time for their own defence and which is why the Cold War never got Hot.
By 1962, The US and the Soviet Union had tens of thousands of nukes and also improved more. After Cuba’s communist regime took over, this led to the Soviet’s interest to send nukes to Cuba which caused the US to do the same thing in Turkey. This would later cause a crisis which would be known as the Cuban missile crisis. This is because both the US and the Soviets were on the brink of total conflict. This was the closest humanity was on the verge of doomsday.
Eventually, after the Cold War, several countries began dismantling nuclear weapons however, tensions still exist between countries like China, Russia and the US and they still keep hold of their nuclear weapons.
Question 4: Are there any benefits for these Nukes?
Though it may seem as if there are only negatives to nukes. Nukes are one of the reasons that we haven't had a major war such as ww3. Since many countries are too afraid of well dying and getting annihilated by nuclear weapons. And there is the fact that nukes can serve as a strategic weapon to make a country surrender in a conflict causing one quick nuke to the capital and down goes the country. Then there is the fact that nukes have helped with some advancements in technology. Like mainly in the nuclear sector with nuclear power plants.
Question 5: What would happen in a full scale nuclear war?
A single nuke can already cause a significant amount of damage. However, if there was a full-scale nuclear war, it could be way deadlier than just a small nuke. This involves hundreds of nukes used on several major cities as in a major world conflict. The power of using hundreds of nukes can absolutely destroy entire continents and leave countries nothing but barren wastelands. The radiation would pollute the world making it uninhabitable for decades and the smoke and ash would block the sun for several years causing massive temperature drops leading to a nuclear winter. If any survivors remain, they would have to survive underground for long periods of time if they have enough supplies to last for decades. Even after the winter, the Ozone Layer would have been destroyed and the Earth unprotected by the sun.
Question 6: Why aren’t they illegal?
The production of nuclear weapons has been prohibited so don't expect more nukes anytime soon although there is always north korea. Nukes have been regulated to some degree but the reason the nations that have nukes haven't dismantled their nukes is down to border protection like how India and Pakistan hate each other and would refuse to give up their nukes unless the other does. And there is the fact that they've had many wars and both are threatened by each other merely existing. The same could be said for India and China also since they don't have the best track record with each other. Another factor is the geopolitical side of things like the USA, Britain and France mainly caused Russian Chinese and North Korean aggression. Israel because they are literally surrounded by enemies. So from what we can see the main reason seems to be just because one of the countries that do have nukes are major world players and are powerful countries with strong influence and because all these countries are threatened by enemies so they believe nukes will be a deterrent for their enemies not to attack which has had effectiveness, especially for north korea.
PMI:
The PMI shown above explains if it is better to keep nuclear weapons or not. The answer to the PMI shows how major factors like the Environment and Disaster ratings would not be as destructive. Though Deterring wars would be preferable with nukes, There are more factors that support the idea of banning them altogether.
Thesis
The answer to our question of whether should we ban or keep nukes is indeed a complicated question with many factors to it. But in the end, we have decided that the best course of action is the banning of nukes. We have come to this decision through many things in our criteria such as we believe we would be safer without nukes. There would be less of a disaster because without nukes like ww3 being less destructive if it ever happens. These criteria alone are the main reason we have come to our conclusion that nuclear weapons should be banned. Although nukes do have their benefits such as the advancement of nuclear technology that doesn't include weapons and they are a good deterrent. But nukes are very very dangerous weapons and their negatives overshadow their positives so they must go.
Conclusion
The topic of nuclear bombs as a whole is complicated. There are many problems and discussions about nukes as to their use, purpose and place in our society. They are dangerous weapons and if the wrong person got their hands on even a couple there would be massive consequences. Nukes do have benefits but I don't believe that it's worth knowing that at the press of a few buttons mankind our future and all we have created could be gone is worth it.