It is estimated that about seven to ten tons of nuclear fuel were released and at least 28 people died directly as a result of the explosion. It is further estimated that over 90, square miles of land was seriously contaminated with the worst effects being felt in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. However, radiation quickly spread in the wind and affected wide swaths of the northern hemisphere and Europe, including England, Scotland and Wales.
Hard data on the number of people who died as a result of the radioactive release are difficult to find. It is known that of the people exposed to super high radiation levels immediately after the accident, 47 are now deceased. Additionally, it has been reported that thyroid disease skyrocketed in those countries closest to Chernobyl; by , 7, cases of thyroid cancer were recorded in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
Most experts agree that the areas in the 30 kilometer Chernobyl exclusion zone are terribly contaminated with radioactive isotopes like caesium, strontium and iodine, and, therefore, are unsafe for human habitation.
Yet neither Nagasaki nor Hiroshima suffer these conditions. This difference is attributable to three factors: 1 the Chernobyl reactor had a lot more nuclear fuel; 2 that was much more efficiently used in reactions; and 3 the whole mess exploded at ground level. Little Boy had around pounds of uranium, Fat Man contained about 14 pounds of plutonium and reactor number four had about tons of nuclear fuel. As a result, the radioactive debris was taken aloft and dispersed by the mushroom cloud rather than being drilled into the earth.
Residual radiation was emitted later. Thus, residual radiation declined rapidly. Hours of Operation Monday-Friday from am to pm except the Ninoshima Branch Office: to pm Please visit the office by 5 pm except the Ninoshima Branch Office: by pm Offices will be closed on national holidays, August 6, and December January 3.
Hiroshima lost over 75, people due to initial bomb devastation, ensuing radioactivity related deaths, and displacement.
However, Hiroshima today has roughly tripled in population since the days of those horrors. The predominant architectural style in the city shows how strong growth was in the s through s. There were many fears that the intense radioactivity would preclude inhabitation.
Greatly overstated fears have now given way to scientific reality. The firestorms were fierce, but flowers literally soon rose from the ashes. More concretely, radioactivity testing by the US military a month after the bomb showed negligible lingering effects.
Today, Hiroshima is the largest city for hours in any direction. Besides the peace memorial , Miyajima is also a must-see. Just then, the alert warning turned into an air raid warning. I decided to stay inside the factory.
The air raid warning eventually subsided. It must have been around I started to look forward to the baked potato that I had brought for lunch that day, when suddenly, I was surrounded by a blinding light. I immediately dropped on my stomach.
The slated roof and walls of the factory crumbled and fell on top of my bare back. I longed for my wife and daughter, who was only several months old. I rose to my feet some moments later. The roof had been completely blown off our building. I peered up at the sky. The walls were also destroyed — as were the houses that surrounded the factory — revealing a dead open space. The factory motor had stopped running. It was eerily quiet. I immediately headed to a nearby air raid shelter.
There, I encountered a coworker who had been exposed to the bomb outside of the factory. His face and body were swollen, about one and a half times the size.
His skin was melted off, exposing his raw flesh. He was helping out a group of young students at the air raid shelter. Arakawa has very little recollection of how she survived the bombing after August 9, having lost both of her parents and four siblings to the atomic bomb attack. I lived in Sakamotomachi — m from the hypocenter — with my parents and eight siblings. As the war situation intensified, my three youngest sisters were sent off to the outskirts and my younger brother headed to Saga to serve in the military.
I worked at the prefectural office. As of April of , our branch temporarily relocated to a local school campus 2. On the morning of August 9, several friends and I went up to the rooftop to look out over the city after a brief air raid.
As I peered up, I saw something long and thin fall from the sky. At that moment, the sky turned bright and my friends and I ducked into a nearby stairwell.
After a while, when the commotion subsided, we headed to the park for safety. Upon hearing that Sakamotoma- chi was inaccessible due to fires, I decided to stay with a friend in Oura. As I headed back home the next day, an acquaintance informed me that my parents were at an air raid shelter nearby. I headed over and found both of them suffering severe burns. They died, two days later. My older sister was killed by the initial blast, at home. My two younger sisters were injured heavily and died within a day of the bombing.
My other sister was found dead at the foyer of our house. There are countless tombstones all over Nagasaki with a name inscription but no ikotsu cremated bone remains.
I take solace in the fact that all six members of my family have ikotsu and rest together peacefully. At age 20, I was suddenly required to support my surviving family members. I have no recollection of how I put my younger sisters through school, who we relied on, how we survived. I am now 92 years old. I pray everyday that my grandchildren and great-grandchildren spend their entire lives knowing only peace. I had been diagnosed with kakke vitamin deficiency a few days earlier and had taken the day off school to get a medical exam.
As my mother and I were eating breakfast, I heard the deep rumble of engines overhead. Our ears were trained back then; I knew it was a B immediately. I stepped out into the field out front but saw no planes.
Bewildered, I glanced to the northeast. I saw a black dot in the sky. A gust of hot wind hit my face; I instantly closed my eyes and knelt down to the ground. As I tried to gain footing, another gust of wind lifted me up and I hit something hard. I do not remember what happened after that. When I finally came to, I was passed out in front of a bouka suisou stone water container used to extinguish fires back then. Suddenly, I felt an intense burning sensation on my face and arms, and tried to dunk my body into the bouka suisou.
The water made it worse. It burns! I drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few days. My face swelled up so badly that I could not open my eyes. I was treated briefly at an air raid shelter and later at a hospital in Hatsukaichi, and was eventually brought home wrapped in bandages all over my body. I was unconscious for the next few days, fighting a high fever.
I finally woke up to a stream of light filtering in through the bandages over my eyes and my mother sitting beside me, playing a lullaby on her harmonica. I was told that I had until about age 20 to live. Yet here I am seven decades later, aged All I want to do is forget, but the prominent keloid scar on my neck is a daily reminder of the atomic bomb. We cannot continue to sacrifice precious lives to warfare.
All I can do is pray — earnestly, relentlessly — for world peace. I, Hayasaki, have been deeply indebted to the Heiwasuishinkyokai for arranging this meeting, amongst many other things.
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