International Day against Nuclear Tests: Understanding environmental impacts of this notorious practice
It’s International Day against Nuclear Tests today. This day recalls the official closing of the Semipalatinsk testing site in today’s Kazakhstan in 1991. That single site alone recorded at least 456 nuclear test explosions in the period from 1949 to 1989.
From 1954 to 1984, the global community recorded at least one nuclear test every 7 days. The concerning fact here is that most of these blasts far exceeded the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Tests happened in the air, on and under the ground and even in the sea.
Time to end nuclear testing once and for all
Things have drastically changed since the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty came into existence in 1996. The CTBT is one of the landmark treaties globally. In the 28 years since 1996, there have been lesser than a dozen nuclear tests.
On the International Day against Nuclear Tests, it is important for all countries to be open to the bold but principled decisions needed to reach a final global consensus under the CTBT. To end nuclear testing for once and for all.
Nuclear tests are unhealthy for everyone. Radioactivity from these explosions spread deep into the environment. It can still be traced and measured elephant tusks, in the deepest ocean trenches and of course in the coral of the Great Barrier Reef.
Radiation sensitivity of all mammals is almost the same
The refuge produced from nuclear testing causes significant contamination resulting in decreased agricultural production and severe damage to marine life. But the effects of nuclear tests are not limited to mere contamination.
It has been reported that the radiation sensitivity of all mammals is almost the same. Therefore, it can be assumed that the place that has seen humans get killed because of nuclear radiation can expect the same lethality for animals, according to DLP Forum.
