In the midst of war between Russia and Ukraine, the possibility of a nuclear war haunts people’s minds. Risks for humans, distance of propagation of the nuclear bomb, protection… Interview with Abraham Behar, president of the AMPFGN, Association of French doctors for the prevention of nuclear war.
In the midst of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the possibility of a nuclear conflict haunts people’s minds. Concretely, what are the risks for the populations of a nuclear attack ? How far distance can you be touched? What effects in case of accidents ? The point with Abraham Behar, president of theAMPFGNAssociation of French Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, French branch of theIPPNWInternational Association of Physicians for the Prevention of War.
What are the effects of a nuclear attack on humans?
“In the event of a nuclear attack, if it is a single missile, impossible to survive if we are in the absolute lethal zone” explains from the outset, Abraham Behar, former nuclear doctor in Paris, president of the AMPFGN, former nuclear doctor at the AP-HP and director of a radiobiology laboratory. For the others, it all depends on the size of the missile, the level and the time of radiation exposure especially. The most exposed populations suffer:
► radiation syndrome (former radiation sickness). “Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) is a combination of several syndromes. It appears after high-dose whole-body irradiation. The magnitude of the IAS depends not only on the total absorbed dose, the duration of the irradiation and the type of radiation, but also on the distribution of the dose in the organism.explains the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). We first suffer from the initial syndrome in the first 24 hours. Depending on the doses absorbed, the symptoms are:
- nausea
- vomiting
- asthenia
- diarrhea
- hyperthermia
- low blood pressure
- headaches
- early erythema
A latency phase then appears. Finally, a state phase comprising “clinical and biological manifestations which can lead to death”.
► hematopoietic syndrome : the bone marrow manufactures which manufactures blood cells, ceases to function, which leads to aplasia which can cause the death of the patient.
► gastrointestinal syndrome : “It is characterized by the appearance of diarrhea, abdominal cramps, sometimes even digestive bleeding and sepsis due to the rupture of the intestinal mucosa and digestive ulcerations. It can lead to death in one to two weeks” says IRSN.
► The neurovascular syndrome “lethal in a few days, it is characterized by temporo-spatial disorientation, ataxia, convulsive seizures and coma, caused by the presence of cerebral edema, intracranial hypertension and cerebral anoxia”, explains the IRSN.
► In the short term, there is also what is called localized radiation syndrome, again according to the IRSN. It’s about a burn radiological, which, unlike thermal burns, is extensive on the surface and in depth. It can lead to necrosis.
► Radiation-induced diseases : the effects are variable in the more or less long term, “impossible to predict”, emphasizes Abraham Brehar. “They are responsible for many cancers, so-called radioactive cataracts and can appear decades after exposure!”he adds. Breast cancer, thyroid cancer, leukemia, skin cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer… Many diseases are said to be radiation-induced. In the event of a nuclear attack, these illnesses concern the populations that survived but were irradiated. After the attacks from Hiroshima and Nagasakithe Japanese who survived were exposed to very high risks of cancers of the thyroid, a gland very sensitive to radiation. A study conducted in 2012 and published in theInternational Journal Of Cancer shows that children and adolescents were very exposed to the risk of developing cancer, 50 years after being irradiated. After the age of 20, researchers observed that there was no evidence of an increase in this type of cancer.
Are some people more sensitive to radiation?
“The effects of radiation will be extremely differentiated depending on the power of the missile and also very heterogeneous according to what is called individual radiosensitivity to ionizing radiation. The distribution of sensitive, very sensitive or resistant subjects is completely random”, explains Abraham Behar. “However, we know that the most sensitive people are pregnant women and the embryo or fetus. Babies born after in utero exposure are four times more likely to develop radiation disease throughout their lives.” Children and then adolescents are also among the populations most at risk.
“After an atomic explosion, we observe the rise of a mixed cloud in which there are radioactive elements”
How far does the nuclear bomb spread?
“Everything will depend on the caliber of the missile used. For a bomb that would have twice the power of the one sent to Hiroshima and which would be sent to Paris, all the boroughs would be affected. Above all, it is a projection for 20 Megatons (Mt) but currently most missiles have much higher power. it is no longer a single target that is planned but multiple targets. For example, a projectile can fall on Place Vendôme, another in Seine-et-Marne, another in Seine-Saint-Denis. Those multi-head rockets have a power at least ten times the power of Hiroshima” develops the president of the AMPFGN. the Nukemap simulator, an online simulation software created by Alex Wellerstein, historian of nuclear science and weapons, allows to realize the damage caused by a nuclear explosion. We inform the city targeted and the power of the bomb. It is also possible to choose from the list of known nuclear missiles. For a 100 Mt bomb, everything would be vaporized within a radius of 117 km2 constituting the nuclear fireball. Within a radius of 3,350 km2, buildings collapsed and multiple fires broke out, with a considerable number of deaths. The risk of developing radiation syndrome extends over 17080 km2. The blast of the explosion can cause the explosion of windows up to 26,450 km2 surroundings. “Regarding radiation exposure for peripheral populations who would have survived, the consequences are very unpredictable because the atmospheric circumstances, and especially the wind, change everything“emphasizes Abraham Behar. “After an atomic explosion, we observe the rise of a mixed cloud in which there are radioactive elements and all possible debris. Depending on the wind, this mixture moves through the atmosphere and falls back in variable regions..” These fallouts are dangerous for the health of the populations concerned.
What to do in the event of an attack is to flee very far if you can.
What to do in the event of a nuclear attack?
“The peripheral populations who survived Hiroshima and Nagasaki had to drink radioactive water. It is in this population that the greatest number of radiation-induced diseases has been observed. Indeed it is not enough to survive an explosion, it is also necessary to create the living conditions so as not to add to the radioactivity : supply of water, food…”, warns the former nuclear doctor. What to do in the event of an attack is run very far if you can. “But as we saw during the Fukushima disaster, there are so many people on the roads, the traffic jams are such, that in reality, we know that it is not not a real option in the field” adds the retired doctor. The deep dug shelters can allow populations to survive. “Practically from the first minutes, everything surrounding the area is radioactive. The shelters are then effective, against neutrons, in particular capable of making everything they touch radioactive, what is called neutron activation which multiplies the effects secondary to an explosion. In addition, the persistent nature of the radioactivity ruins the hopes of survival of those who have been able to take shelter. According to the most recent calculations, you would have to wait months before you could get out of a shelter. In this perspective, we cannot keep our stocks for such a long period or it is a solution for a handful of people only” details Abraham Behar. However, if you reach a shelter, you have to remove your clothes, your shoes and immerse your whole body in water to remove all the radioactive particles.
In the event of a nuclear alert, the French government recommends:
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What is iodine used for in the event of a nuclear attack?
During a nuclear attack, radioactive iodine is released into the atmosphere. It is found in the body, inhaled or ingested via contaminated water or food. The thyroid gland stores iodine until saturation. If it is radioactive iodine, then the person is at an increased risk of developing thyroid cancer. In the event of a nuclear threat, authorities may recommend taking non-radioactive iodine, which is available in tablet form. “The goal is to saturate the thyroid with stable iodine so that it does not store radioactive iodine in the event of an attack or accident. The thyroid is very active during adolescence and decreases over time, but in older subjects, the thyroid being already at rest, it is useless.However even if the population has access to iodine, it is ultimately derisory in the event of a nuclear attack“, explains the specialist.
“Prevention really is the only option”
Indeed, this iodine does not protect against other radioactive elements that can be released during an accident or a nuclear attack. : uranium, plutonium, tritium, lithium… And the pill should be taken before the nuclear attack and radiation exposure. “Prevention is truly the only possibility: our AMPFGN movement was born in nuclear madness, when each of the two countries, USSR and USA, held between them enough to destroy the planet 10 times. And in my job, we know that sometimes, the curative is powerless, this is the case after a nuclear explosion” concludes Abraham Behar.