A nuclear explosion is an explosion that occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from a high-speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or a multistage cascading combination of the two, though to date all fusion-based weapons have used a fission device to initiate fusion, and a pure fusion weapon remains a hypothetical device.
1. NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
• A nuclear explosion is an explosion that occurs as
a result of the rapid release of energy from a high-
speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be
nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or a multistage
cascading combination of the two, though to date
all fusion-based weapons have used a fission device
to initiate fusion, and a pure fusion weapon remains
a hypothetical device.
2. Contd…
• Atmospheric nuclear explosions are
associated with mushroom clouds, although
mushroom clouds can occur with large
chemical explosions. It is possible to have an
air-burst nuclear explosion without these
clouds. Nuclear explosions produce radiation
and radioactive debris.
3. Contd…
• Nuclear disasters generally occur in nuclear
reactors which are used to generate electric
power. Accidents can occur during
transportation of nuclear waste or during
temporary storage of spent radioactive fuel at
nuclear power plants.
• Strontium-90, Uranium-235, Cesium-137 are
some examples of radio active materials
4. CAUSES OF NUCLEAR HAZARDS
• Nuclear disasters occur as a result of result of
release of massive amount of radiation and
radio active material into the environment.
They have the greatest damage potential,
over a wide geographical area, often leading
to mass destruction of human civilization.
5. CAUSES OF NUCLEAR HAZARDS
• Nuclear disasters and accidents usually occur in
nuclear reactors that are used to generate electric
power. Some of the major causes
• Release of massive amounts of radiation and
radioactive material
• Improper transportation of nuclear waste has
potential risk of pollution and environmental
contamination.
• Improper storage of spent radioactive fuel at
nuclear power plants.
6. CAUSES OF NUCLEAR HAZARDS
• Non-standard operations, mismanagement
of nuclear reactors
• Poor instrumentation
• Lack of well-trained staff
• Unreliable Instruments
• Errors in operation procedures
• Spills & Leaks from nuclear industry,
medical radiology and defense activities
7. CHERNOBYL DISASTER
• The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
in north-central Ukraine on April 26, 1986 is
considered as one of the greatest nuclear accidents
of all time. On the fateful day, one of the reactors of
the nuclear power plant exploded and released
thirty to forty times the radioactivity of the atomic
bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
8. Contd…
• About 30 people were killed immediately, including 28
from radiation exposure, 209 cases were treated for acute
radiation poisoning. Large areas of Ukraine, Russia and
beyond were contaminated with radioactive material in
varying degrees. A second explosion caused burring of
1200 tonnes of graphite for nine days and releasing of
radioactive material into the environment. About 5000
tonnes of boron, dolomite, sand, clay and lead were
dropped on the flames bursting out of the graphite
moderator in an effort to put off the blaze and control the
release of radioactive particles.
9. Impacts of the nuclear disaster
• Nearly, 45% of children have experience with
thyroid exposure to radiation.
• In order to protect the children from radiation
exposure, the top soil from the school yards have
been removed, the walls of the school building
have been cleaned, and the gutters have been
cleared of the mud as well.
10. Impacts of the nuclear disaster
• Reports from WHO indicate that the
Agricultural Products, milk and seafood have
been contaminated with radioactive material.
• The nation may be struggled to find effective
methods to monitor health, protect its food
supply from contamination and complicated
poster disaster clean up.