A Nuclear Future

Originally published in the Informanté newspaper on Thursday, 11 August, 2016. 

This week, 71 years ago, the nuclear age was ushered in. It was the last days of World War II. Japan, already militarily defeated by June 1945, with its once mighty Imperial Navy in tatters, and its air force now non-existent, was near collapse. With no oil available since April 1945, the Japanese were willing to surrender on any terms, as long as their emperor was not touched. So on 6 August 1945, the Americans gave their response. A 15 kiloton nuclear bomb, detonated above Hiroshima. 90 000 people were killed immediately, with 40 000 injured. Only 20 000 were soldiers. Three days later, a 21 kiloton nuclear bomb killed 37 000 people in Nagasaki, and injured 43 000. Nagasaki had no military contingent, and most of those injured in these two bombings succumbed to radiation sickness, dying in agony. The nuclear age was ushered in by eventually killing 200 000 Japanese civilians.

With such an inauspicious start, it is no wonder that the scientific advances from nuclear research is often overlooked. After all, its first invention was a weapon of mass destruction, dropped on enemy civilians. And that resulted in its first side-effect as well – radiation sickness. When high amounts of ionizing radiation hit living cells, it degrades the DNA and other key molecular structures, affecting the ability of these cells to divide as normal. 

This presents with several visible symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain and a loss of appetite. The skin reddens for a short while, but by the time that subsides, the internal damage is much worse. Your blood cells start dying, and cannot be replaced, resulting in aplastic anaemia. And even your nervous system is affected, resulting in dizziness and headaches, and finally a decreased level of consciousness. Death can follow in 3 to 30 days, and even if you survive, your odds of contracting cancer increases markedly. 

But while the nuclear age has ushered in some true horrors, it has also been helpful. For although it could cause disease as mentioned above, it has been invaluable to our efforts to heal humanity as well. Nuclear medicine and radiology is used in medical diagnostics to determine health, monitor illnesses and follow the progress of treatment. It is extensively used in medical imaging, such as X-Rays, and even I had a nuclear procedure when I had my angiogram, where I was injected with nuclear isotopes to map out my cardiovascular system. Nuclear radiation is further used for treatment of diseases such as cancer. It is estimated that almost a third of all procedures in modern hospitals use nuclear technology. 

But it goes further than that. Irradiation is used to sterilize bones before transplants and equipment before surgery. It’s used to sterilise medical products such as bandages, catheters, cotton tips and more. Given its use in the medical community, it should therefore be no surprise that irradiation is used much further! It’s quite prevalent in the food industry as well, where food is irradiated to kill microorganisms and keep food fresh longer – just like pasteurisation. But unlike pasteurisation, which uses heat, irradiation does this without changing the taste, appearance, texture or nutritional value of food. Since it does not induce radioactivity in the food, it remains safe to eat.

It is further used in agriculture as a form of insect control, instead of pesticides. By sterilizing insects, no insecticides need to be used – a much more environmentally friendly approach! And it’s not just in agriculture that nuclear technology has proven useful. It’s used in mining to test for mineral deposits. In industrial applications, pipelines can be tested for blockages, and welds can be tested non-destructively. This is extensively used in the construction of airplanes and ships. Radionuclide gauges are used extensively in industrial processes to test thickness and strength, ranging from steel manufacturing to testing the levels of liquid in soft drink cans.

Perhaps the most visible technology that would not exist without nuclear science is the mobile phones and computers we see all around us these days – the silicon chips inside would be impossible to make without nuclear technology. This continues into our homes. The venerable microwave oven uses radiation to heat food, and smoke detectors rely on nuclear technology to work. 

Of course, the most well-known result of the nuclear age is nuclear power. Nuclear power has no greenhouse gas emissions during generation, and it remains vastly more efficient than alternative energy sources. In fact, only 28g of uranium produces as much energy as is produced from 100 tons of coal. And while the cost per kWh is a bit more expensive than utilizing low-cost fossil fuels, these costs do not take into account the negative externalities of carbon fuel usage – like the costs of climate change, or the environmental damage by pollution. Nuclear power is also more reliable than current alternative power sources, but it is not without its own issues. The costs of disposing the waste of nuclear fuel remains contentious, as well as determining where this highly dangerous and radioactive waste should be stored. 

It should thus be clear that the Nuclear Age is here to stay, and it can bring many benefits. With Namibia’s Uranium reserves, and our government searching for ways to jump-start our economy out of poverty, the solution should be clear. After all, the Ministry of Mines and energy has had a Nuclear Fuel Cycle policy for years that’s just waiting to be implemented. Namibia is already a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, with our own established Atomic Energy Board, and supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency. We have constitutional protections against nuclear waste, so our people are protected. And a nuclear industry also necessitates the development of a skilled, high-tech, well-educated workforce – the development of which has been a proven boon to many a society, as it can be to us.

The nuclear age might not have started the best way, but that is no reason to let it languish. We here in Namibia have a light that could shine for our entire region. When we come together, there is nothing we can’t do. We may sometimes falter, we may stumble and we may fall, but when we come together we have a kind of magic that can see us through. Together, we will always shine. Let us work together, so that this will be our nuclear time.