Testing of Nuclear Weapons

An offshoot of the NPT, the Zangger Committee, which first met in 1971, maintains a list of nuclear exports that require IAEA safeguards as a condition of supply. 

The Committee is made up of 30 NPT members who export nuclear material and equipment. 

The NSG conditions for transfer apply to all NNWS whether or not they are NSG 

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction [referred to as the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)l was opened for signature in Januaiy 1993. Over 160 countries have signed the Treaty, It entered into force on April 29, 1997. 

The CWC provides for routine and challenge inspections to assist in the verification of compliance w ith the Convention. Routine inspections of declared facilities are mandated by the Convention. In accordance w ith CWC provisions, challenge inspections may be conducted at a facility w here a Party suspects illegal activities. The CWC does not include a specific list of controlled chemicals or equipment. It does contain an Annex on Chemicals in which are listed three Schedules of toxic 

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Linus Pauling is portrayed on this 1977 Volta stamp The chemical formulas depict the two resonance forms of ben zene and the explosion in the background symbolizes Pauling s efforts to limit the testing of nuclear weapons... 

Linus Pauling (1901-1994) was born in Portland Ore gon and was educated at Oregon State University and at the California Institute of Technology where he earned a Ph D in chemistry in 1925 In addition to re search in bonding theory Pauling studied the structure of proteins and was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for that work in 1954 Paul ing won a second Nobel Prize (the Peace Prize) in 1962 for his efforts to limit the testing of nuclear weapons He was one of only four scientists to have won two Nobel Prizes The first double winner was a woman Can you name her" ... 

Today, the most important environmentally damaging anthropogenic radiation comes from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons conducted 20 to 30 years ago, authorized discharges to the sea from nuclear reprocessing plants, and from the Chernobyl accident in 1986 (Aarkrog 1990). 

Humans are exposed to radiation from the testing and explosion of nuclear weapons and the wastes of nuclear reactors and power plants. Strontium-90 is a fission product from nuclear reactors. It is of particular concern because it has a long half-life of 38 years and becomes concentrated in the food chain, particularly plants-to-milk. The ban on atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons has reduced this hazard. Strontium-90 does have some industrial uses. Most people in developed countries receive minor exposure to radiation through medical procedures such as X-ray and various treatments for some diseases. 

Finally, a study is underway to determine the suitability of the Nevada Test Site in southern Nevada which has been used in the past for both surface and underground testing of nuclear weapons, to see if it may possibly be suitable as a potential permanent radioactive waste repository site. 

The 1958-1961 moratorium on testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere was broken by the U.S.S.R. in the fall of 1961. The U. S. resumed testing in May 1962, and both nations conducted numerous tests until the end of 1962. Except for minor amounts from the small-scale tests by the Chinese and French there has been no significant production of 14C from nuclear testing in the atmosphere since 1962. 

Linus C. Paulingb Peace Ending atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons... 

C reaches the Earth s surface at the rate of 2.3 atoms/cm2/s after production by cosmic ray interaction in the atmosphere, corresponding to a total production of 1.4 x 1015Bq/y. 14C is also formed by the 14N(n, p) reaction by atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons. About 2.2 x 1017 Bq were made in the atmospheric test spike of the 1950s and 1960s that has been primarily transferred to the oceans and the biosphere. This means that 14C is the most significant fallout nuclide from the point of view of population dose. Nuclear power plants also release 14C as part of their normal operation contributing 0.1 x 1015 Bq/y. 

Pu(IV), which forms highly charged polymers, strongly sorbs to soils and sediments. Other actinide III and IV oxidation states also bind by ion exchange to clays. The uptake of these species by solids is in the same sequence as the order of hydrolysis Pu > Am(III) > U(VI) > Np(V). The uptake of these actinides by plants appears to be in the reverse order of hydrolysis Np(V) > U(VI) > Am(III) > Pu(IV), with plants showing little ability to assimilate the immobile hydrolyzed species. The further concentration of these species in the food chain with subsequent deposit in humans appears to be minor. Of the 4 tons of plutonium released to the environment in atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, the total amount fixed in the world population is less than 1 g [of this amount, most (99.9%) was inhaled rather than ingested]. 

The biological effects of different radiation doses are given in Table 22.5. Although the effects sound fearful, the average radiation dose received annually by most people is only about 120 mrem. About 70% of this radiation comes from natural sources (rocks and cosmic rays) the remaining 30% comes from medical procedures such as X rays. The amount due to emissions from nuclear power plants and to fallout from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the 1950s is barely detectable. 

Figure 8.3 Linus Pauling also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his efforts to end open-air testing of nuclear weapons, making him the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes.

The isotope strontium-90 is produced during the testing of nuclear weapons. If 100.0 mg of strontium-90 was released in the atmosphere in 1960, how much of the radioisotope remains 85 years later The half life of strontium-90 is 29 years. 

Major concern about rapidly increasing levels of radioactive fallout in the environment and in foods developed as a result of the extensive testing of nuclear weapons by the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Nuclear fission generates more than 200 radioisotopes of some 60 different elements. Many of these radioisotopes are harmful to humans because they may be incorporated into body tissues. Several of these radioactive isotopes are absorbed efficiently by the organism because they are related chemically to important nutrients for example, strontium-90 is related to calcium and cesium-137 to potassium. These radioactive elements are produced by the following nuclear reactions, in which the half-life is given in parentheses ... 

During the 1950s, Patey became concerned about the health hazards of the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere. In addition to speaking at meetings, in 1957 Patey edited the book, Fall Out Radiation Hazards from Nuclear Explosions, 108 a compilation of contributions from nine scientists across a range of disciplines, which became an authoritative source on the subject. Patey died on 11 October 1991 at Oxford. 

After stops at the post office and bank, we came to a local newspaper office. There Pauling submitted an article he d written about fallout from testing of nuclear weapons. As we were about to go, he said to the editor, "You might like to have this, too," and drew from an envelope a large glossy photo of himself. Linus handed it over with the same broad smile and twinkling eye captured in his photograph. 

These changes in soil C stocks are relatively rapid, due to rapid turnover of soil organic matter (SOM) in these tropical soils. Using radiocarbon derived from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the 1960s as a tracer, Trumbore et al. (1995) estimated that the mean residence time of C in the top 10 cm of soil is about 3 years for 30% of the SOM and 10-30 years for 60% of the SOM. Only about 10% of the C in the top 10 cm of soil cycles on a millennial time scale. This very old C fraction increases to 40-80% in the... 

The primary source of radionuclides produced in the fission process and found in the environment is atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. The public has been exposed to these and other radionuclides for five decades, but there has been a substantial decline in atmospheric testing in the past two decades. Therefore the major source of fission product radionuclides in recent years has been from nuclear accidents. A nuclear reactor meltdown could release a spectrum of radionuclides similar to that of a nuclear bomb explosion, but the ratios of nuclides would greatly differ for the two cases. The reason for the differences in ratios of radionuclides is that during the reactor operation the long-lived radionuclides tend to build up progressively, whereas the... 

Tests of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere were conducted by five countries during the period 1945-1980. The most active test period was between 1952 and 1962, when many tests were conducted by the United States and the former Soviet Union and a limited testing programme was carried out by the United Kingdom. Atmospheric testing by France occurred from 1960 through 1974 and by China from 1964 through 1980. No further atmospheric tests have taken place since 1980. 

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