Hailey Duffy

Professor Marcia Shottenkirk

English Comp I
1 December 2014
Nuclear Weapons
On August 6, 1945, the city of Hiroshima, Japan was hit with a nuclear bomb named
little-boy, dropped from a B-20 bomber. These bombs are equivalent to a blast equal to 1215,000 tons of TNT. Nearly 180, 000 people died immediately from burns and trauma, and
many died later as a result of radiation. This explosion destroyed everything within a one-mile to
five-mile radius. A shorty three days later, a second bomb named fat-man was dropped over
the city of Nagasaki, also located in Japan. This bomb killed nearly 40,000 people an just like
Hiroshima, this city was left destroyed and in major disbelief, even though the United States had
warned them before hand. During this time the United States, part of the Allied powers and
Japan, part of the Axis power, were fighting in World War II against each other along with many
other countries. Nearly every country fought in World War ii, besides those who chose to remain
neutral. However, after all of this devastation and defeat on August 15, 1945, Japans Emperor at
the time, Hirohito, surrendered to the United States over a radio broadcast stating this was the
new and bost cruel bomb. This day is now known as V-day in the United States and around the
world. These two days were primarily devastating to the Japanese, but also to the entire nation.
Next, a nuclear weapon is a bomb, missile, or warhead that uses nuclear energy to cause
an explosion. A nuclear weapon is very destructive and releases large amounts of heat and
radiation after being dropped. The United States, Russia (formerly the Soviet Union), the United
Kingdom, France, and China have been internationally recognized as having a status of nuclear

weapons (At Issue: Nuclear Weapons 1). Nearly twenty-five years ago president George H.W.
Bush AND Soviet President Gorbachev signed a treaty named START, which called for the
elimination of almost fifty-percent of nuclear weapons. There was also a START II treaty signed
later in 1993 by the United States President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yesltsin.
Recently President Barack Obama has signed a treaty which has reduced the number of nuclear
weapons in both Russia and the United States. Although they have signed a treaty, Russia still
obtains 2,430 nuclear weapons, the United States has 1,950 ranking second in the world, and
France and the United Kingdom both have close to two hundred. However, these types of
weapons are very dangerous to the environment, humans, security of the United Nations, and the
economy. Nuclear weapons should be banned by the United Nations, with strict worldwide
enforcement.
Additionally, nuclear weapons pose a constant threat to people everywhere in the world.
If a nuclear war was ever to break out, the attackers will presumably target large cities which will
result in death of millions of humans and destruction of countless acres of land. The effects of
nuclear weapons on humans can be very destructive. First, if a person is within a certain
distance of where the nuclear bomb was dropped they can face burns and trauma to their face
and body. After the nuclear bomb is dropped, there is radiation that is let out of it that can have
short-term and long-term affects on humans. Short-term affects from radiation can be sickness,
like nausea and vomiting. Long-term affects are usually different types of cancers and
malformations to children inside the womb at the time of the mothers exposure to the radiation.
Even without the explosion of a nuclear weapon, there are affects therefore we should ban
nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons pose a threat not only to the current human population, but
also to future generations. As this makes clear, almost seventy years after the atomic bombings

of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, humanity remains defenseless in the face of the catastrophic effects
that any use of nuclear weapons would inevitably produce (Ikeda 1).
Furthermore, nuclear weapons provide mistrust among nations security. Nuclear
weapons should not be used as a source of military weapons. Nuclear weapons do not help
resolve problems when it comes to security threats like terrorism, global warming, poverty, and
disease. Nuclear weapons only cause national and global insecurity. Numerous times nuclear
weapons have had near destruction of cities because of miscalculations or by accident. It isnt
tolerable for some countries to have nuclear weapons and for some not to. When it comes to
nuclear weapons, they are never in safe hands.
Next, the effects nuclear weapons have on the environment are horrendous. Nuclear
weapons pose the single biggest threat to the Earths environment, scientists have warned (Jha 1).
Even a small-sized nuclear war could do major destruction to the earths climate and ecosystem.
Also, many water and soil resources, have been polluted already and will be polluted if a nuclear
war broke out in the future. The effects of nuclear war would result in millions of people dying,
temperatures would decline, and many crops would not be able to grow. Also, nuclear weapons
being manufactured and tested have and continue to produce nuclear waste. Further pollution
occurs during the transport and processing of the uranium, which is used in making nuclear
weapons. Productions of nuclear weapons involves the generation of large quantities of waste
material and contamination of surrounding areas. There have been some efforts to figure out
how to dispose of nuclear weapons the proper way, but it is still an on-going process.
In addition, economically nuclear weapons have cost the United States alone 640 billion
dollars. The cost includes manufacturing and developing the nuclear weapon, as well as
maintaining them, clean-up, and providing them with enough security. The United States has

plans to keep building onto their nuclear weapon collection. It will take a bunch of money from
the military budget and any budget for that matter of a country or nation that is interested in
military use.
Next, people in support of nuclear weapons may feel as if they provide world power, a
country that has significant influence in international affairs, or a form of defense, the action of
defending from or resisting attack to a country. They also feel it prevents wars and is used as a
powerful negotiation tool. Some think that nations will start taking over each other if there is no
force behind nations. They may feel as if the world has become a safer place for humans for
several decades because of nuclear weapons. Some countries have no chance to defeat their
target countries as easily with the help of these weapons. These weapons are equipped with
nuclear energy that can help people to achieve and maintain peace in the different parts of the
globe. Two generations of human beings have successfully maintained peace in the past because
with nuclear weapons being in the world.
Although some people think that nuclear weapons are good, they are not. Nuclear
weapons only isolate and lead to distrust among nations. Countries need to have a force behind
them, but it should not be nuclear weapons. They do not provide as a preventer of wars or as a
negotiator, but only provide with a sense of uneasiness as a country. Hostile countries such as
Pakistan or Russia, are more likely to use nuclear bombs against each other and the result could
prove disastrous for the entire planet. Having nuclear weapons doesnt mean the country is more
powerful or more developed, it can however mean they are unstable and have to have that big of
a force to make them feel stable. Some countries who dont have a single weapon are better off
in many aspects rather than countries who do have nuclear weapons.

Lastly, the year 2015 will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the United States atomic
bombings if Nagasaki and Hiroshima, stirring nuclear nightmares of a bygone area (Deen 1).
Over sixteen thousand nuclear weapons remain in the world, with countries like the United
States and Russia obtaining the greatest amount. Nuclear weapons should be banned due to the
fact that they provide harm to humans, even by being produced and tested, they are very costly,
and also they give a sense of insecurity to nations around the world. Nuclear weapons provide
more bad to the world compared to good. However, it will take a great deal of persuading to a
nation to have them ban all of their nuclear weapons. If there were ever to be a nuclear war,
hundreds of millions of innocent people would be killed, and the world would be left in complete
destruction. If nuclear weapons continue to be in existence, people must remain alert to the
dangers they present.

Works Cited

Deen, Thalif, 2015 A Make-or-Brake Year for Nuclear Disarmament. Global Information
Network. 09 Oct. 2014: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 05 Dec. 4014.
Ikeda, Deisaku. Exploring the Path Towards a Nuclear-Free World. Global Information
Network. 29 Mar. 2014: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 05 Dec. 4014.
ProQuest Staff. At Issue: Nuclear Weapons. ProQuest LLC. 2014: n.pg. SIRS Issues
Researcher. Web, 04 Dec. 2014.