World War II – Atomic Bomb
The
First Blast:
Suddenly,
at 5:29 a.m., the morning calm was broken by an enormous flash that lit up the
surrounding mountains and could be seen as far as 150 miles. At the same time,
an enormous explosion rumbled across the desert as a huge orange fireball,
expanding into a pulsating red as it cooled, began shooting upward at around
360 feet per second. This was quickly followed by a swirling mushroom-shaped
cloud that reached an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 feet above ground zero. Called
the Trinity Test, this 18-20-kiloton blast was the culmination of years of
research and development that ushered in the so-called Atomic Age.
Early
Development and Experiments:
The
development of the Atomic Bomb was actually the result of a convergence of
political and scientific events beginning in the 1930s. The advances in
understanding the nature of the atom and its role as a source for immense
amounts of energy coincided with the rise of fascist governments in Europe.
These parallel activities aroused much fear that Nazi Germany could become
technologically capable of developing a weapon that used the recently
discovered nuclear fission techniques.
The
earlier experiments of the 1930s were instrumental in discovering methods for
spitting the uranium atom. These discoveries pointed out that splitting the
nucleus of a single uranium atom was possible by bombarding the atom with
neutrons. By splitting the atom’s nucleus large amounts of energy, equivalent
to 200,000,000 electron volts, could be released as well as additional
neutrons, a process called nuclear fission. This release of nuclear energy was
the conversion of about .1 percent of the mass of the uranium atom into energy,
as previously postulated by Albert Einstein.
Fears
of Germany Splitting The Atom First:
There
was also the possibility that these additional freed neutrons, under specific
conditions, could trigger a nuclear chain reaction which had the potential of
releasing even greater amounts of energy. It was this scenario that prompted
wide spread fears within the scientific community that grave consequences could
result if Nazi Germany became the first to use this new nuclear technology.
My grandfather's
experience of A-bomb by Kanae Ichinose1st June,1998. http://www.coara.or.jp/~ryoji/abomb/e-index.html
My
grandfather went to his office on the day.
He
was in the second floor standing before a window on his back. He suddenly felt
a strong flash of light. He looked back
and saw the building crushing down next by next just like a domino. Next
moment, he found nothing around him in sight.
Luckily,
as he was in between the two window frame, he was not rushed by the wall and
barely survived. He had his back scared by glass fragments. But he was still
lucky. His colleague and a female clerk looked like crushed between the wall,
their hair, blood, and flesh were stuck to the wall.
He
feared about the rumor that if he stayed in the incinerated city, he would be
killed by American army. He took hand of an unfamiliar person nearby and
evacuated to a hill side to hide for a week or so. On the way of evacuation,
they saw a river dammed up corpse and still squirming in bloodshed for life. It
was a hell on earth itself.
After
several days he returned home only to find flattened ruins. He looked for
something of remnant but found nothing except once called a radio. He picked it
up in silence. Then he got on a train and went back to Tsukumi only with the
radio.
My
grandmother received then time 10 yen as her husband's insurance. The radio had
been used by my father in his boyhood calling it "A-bomb radio." More
than fifty years have passed since the war was over. My grandfather goes to
A-bomb center in Beppu city every once a year for medical inspection. My father
and uncles also go there every four years for the same purpose. My grandfather
can by no means erase this experience from his memory. We also should not
deteriorate the memory forever.
Protesters against nuclear war, wastes and weapons
Nuclear effects on the climate has protesters angry and moving
A real life nuclear bomb
The effects of a nuclear fallout
This is encouraging natural energy instead of nuclear energy
