Uranium-235 has a half-life of 700 million years! Why did people live in Hiroshima so soon after the atomic bombing of Japan, and the Chernobyl accident is still a "ghost town"?
As we all know, nuclear weapons, as a weapon with tremendous destructive power, cause many harms to human beings and the earth's environment. The explosion of a nuclear weapon is so powerful that it can destroy a city in an instant, causing a large number of casualties. The explosion is accompanied by intense radiation that can have long-term effects on surrounding organisms.
To date, there have been two explosions of nuclear weapons in the history of mankind. The atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 took place.
However, one wonders why Chernobyl, which had also suffered from the effects of the nuclear disaster, was still considered a "forbidden land" today, while Hiroshima and Nagasaki had become populous and prosperous metropolises? The time is inevitably too fast.
Authoritative military analysts from the United States have already claimed that the land that has been subjected to nuclear explosions will no longer be habitable for humans in the coming century. Many people speculate that the Japanese are not afraid of death, so they have to live in a nuclear-contaminated city regardless of the danger to their lives. Not really.
The lethality of nuclear weapons is not only reflected in the regional strong shock wave and high-temperature damage released at the moment of explosion, but more importantly, the long-distance continuous killing effect of photothermal radiation, which is the main reason why nuclear weapons are defined as weapons of mass destruction.
The radioactive decay period of uranium-235, which is used to make nuclear weapons, is as long as 7 billion years, and the decay period of plutonium-239 can last for 24,000 years.
When the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the explosion was about 500 meters above the ground, and the main pollutant material rose with the heat flow and gradually dispersed with the wind, resulting in relatively little pollution falling on the surface.
In addition, shortly after the nuclear explosion, Japan received abundant rainfall, and a large amount of radioactive contamination was washed and diluted by the rainwater, and most of it was discharged into the ocean with the current, effectively reducing the level of surface pollution.
It is also worth noting that the "Little Boy" nuclear bomb dropped by the United States at that time contained up to 64 kilograms of uranium, but the actual mass of uranium that caused the chain reaction was only about 1 kilogram.
In this comparison, it is clear that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not exert their original power, and the danger to the surrounding environment was naturally reduced.
Not only that, but at that time the method of air explosion was chosen for the implementation of a large-scale collective offensive. Although this method is extremely destructive, most of the radioactive fallout is deposited on the surface of the ground and the surface of buildings, and actually penetrates into the ground, causing relatively few particles of long-term radiation, so they naturally decay relatively quickly.
Of course, the Japanese government took this very seriously, and quickly launched emergency relief measures in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and carried out extensive removal of contaminated soil and buildings, effectively slowing down the spread of radiation doses.
It is worth mentioning that Japan re-established ties with the United States shortly after the atomic bomb attack and surrendered, and with the support of the international community, the reconstruction work was quickly put on the right track.
The Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred on 25 April 1986, when mankind had entered an advanced stage of nuclear energy technology in the 80s, and the reactor No. 4 that exploded significantly surpassed the "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" atomic bombs in its nuclear material reaction capability and efficiency.
For a time, massive nuclear fallout severely eroded the adjacent 100,000 square kilometers, making it difficult for Chernobyl to imitate Hiroshima and Nagasaki in achieving its goal of reconstruction and restoration through natural decay and complete cleanup. In fact, the shadow of the Chernobyl accident still lingers on the European continent to this day.
Scientists estimate that the explosion of the Chernobyl-4 reactor released more than 400 times the amount of dust that was exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. It can be seen that the Chernobyl nuclear radiation is far more verifiable than that of Japan.
After the nuclear accident, the Soviet authorities concealed the truth of the incident in the early stage, resulting in delays in rescue and aftermath operations, and failed to carry out emergency measures in a timely and effective manner. As a result, the best and most effective control of nuclear contamination has been delayed.
In short, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nothing compared to the remnants of nuclear material and radioactive contamination in Chernobyl, and the degree of contamination between the two was not at all on the same order of magnitude.
This shows why Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan are inhabitable, while the area around Chernobyl is still in an environment contaminated with nuclear weapons. However, the habitability of Hiroshima and Nagasaki does not mean that the harmful residues from nuclear explosions have been completely wiped out.
Source: China Social Science Network - "Western Media: Why hasn't Hiroshima and Nagasaki become a "ghost town" like Chernobyl?".
