Environmental Impact of Nuclear Activities: PART 1

In the synergetic context of Cold War geopolitics and lack of effective international disarmament policies, countries like the United States, the USSR, the United Kingdom, France, and China became nuclear powers. From 1945 through 1964, many nuclear tests were conducted around the globe in all environments: the atmosphere, underground, and underwater. Participants in these activities carried out tests from onboard barges, on top of towers, suspended bombs from balloons, on the Earth’s surface, more than 600 meters underwater, and over 200 meters underground. The nuclear arms race marked the beginning of the atomic age. (1)

After several phases of banning nuclear arming of all states of the world through legislation like the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 and the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968, a large number of nuclear weapons tests carried out in the atmosphere and underground between 1945-2013. These nuclear weapons tests are the main culprit for the current environmental contamination of radioactive waste. The extremely high levels of radioactivity resulted in ecologically and socially destroyed sites. (2)

According to statistical data provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, from 1945 to 2006, over 2053 nuclear tests were conducted worldwide. Of these tests, approximately 25% were completed in the atmosphere and 75% in the underground. When it comes to the energy released in nuclear explosions expressed in megatonnes (Mt) of TNT equivalent, there were two different processes involved: fission and fusion. In terms of radioactivity, the fission process produces a wide range of radionuclides. The fusion process generally only produces tritium (3H) but can also generate other radioactive materials responsible for large amounts of radioactive debris. Between 1951 and 1992, nuclear tests totaled an explosive yield of approximately 530 Mt. The atmospheric tests alone accounted for 428 Mt, equivalent to over 29,000 Hiroshima-sized bombs. (3)

Radioactive Pollution of the Atmosphere and Marine Environment

Approximately 90% of all nuclear tests were completed in the northern hemisphere and only about 10% in the southern hemisphere, making the northern hemisphere substantially more contaminated with the presence of large quantities of radioactive isotopes. In addition to nuclear weapons tests, nuclear power-plant accidents contribute to the northern hemisphere’s higher radioactivity. The horrific accidents at Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima Daiichi (2011) released large amounts of radionuclides into the atmosphere.

Atmospheric nuclear weapons testing is another contributor to the direct release of radioactive materials into the environment. Such materials include the radionuclide 14C, which is created by nitrogen in the atmosphere and capturing the neutrons released in excess during nuclear tests. After forming, it is rapidly oxidized and transferred to the global carbon reservoirs (the atmosphere, the ocean, and the terrestrial biosphere), which is almost impossible to remove due to its extremely long half-life. (4)    

In a report published by the United Nations Scientific Committee, the committee states “the main man-made contribution to the exposure of the world’s population has come from the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, from 1945 to 1980. Each nuclear test resulted in unrestrained release into the environment of substantial quantities of radioactive materials, which were widely dispersed in the atmosphere and deposited everywhere on the Earth’s surface”(UNSCEAR, 1993).

Effects of Radionuclides and First Steps Towards Mitigation

Before 1950, very few considerations were given to the health impacts of nuclear weapon testing. Still, public protests in the 50s regarding the dispersion of radioactivity around the globe and concerns about the radionuclide strontium-90 and its effect on human health were crucial to the conclusion of the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) in 1963 (5).

After the nuclear testing encountered disapproval, governments signed the PTBT, with which all test detonations of nuclear weapons were prohibited, except for those conducted underground. Although this ban mitigated the adverse effects, there still were health problems arising from radiation doses from short-lived radionuclides released underground. (6)

Gradual Increase in Knowledge About the Dangers of Radiation Exposure

Over the past century, scientists gathered scientific evidence about the hazards of radioactivity. The gradual knowledge of the effects of radiation exposure was recognized from the conclusion that sufficient radiation dosage could cause injuries to internal organs, skin, and eyes. As stated in the 2000 Report of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation to the UN General Assembly, “radiation exposure can damage living cells, causing death in some of them and modifying others, and may eventually lead to cancer, and hereditary disorders may arise.” This report states: “Radiation exposure has been associated with most forms of leukemia and with cancers of many organs, such as lung, breast and thyroid gland” (UNSCEAR, 2000).

Long-Term Environmental Impact of Nuclear Testing 

There are several perspectives in analyzing the environmental impacts of nuclear testing. For example, from 1946 to 1996, over 300 tests were carried out in the Pacific Ocean. The long-term impact of these tests has been visible in through increased earthquakes, tsunamis, and other geological and hydrological effects. (7)

France conducted tests in Algeria between 1960-1966. Initially, it was considered that tests were conducted in the Algerian desert, but recently declassified military documents indicate that the tests were not restricted to the Saharan desert and had an impact on the entire continent of Africa, southern Spain, and Italy. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) examined the test sites in Algeria 40 years after the tests were conducted and concluded that the “vegetation is scarce and only two plant samples could be collected“. (8) (10)

In the case of underground tests at In Ekker, Taourirt Tan Afella, a study conducted by IAEA found that long-term exposure might result from “external radiation in the vicinity of ejected lava, inhalation or ingestion of dust, ingestion of contaminated water, ingestion of contaminated food.” (9)  

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