What is the Treaty?The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty or NPT is an international treaty with the objective to decrease the dangers nuclear weapons have on world security and to promote the spread of nuclear energy. The treaty itself is composed of three fundamental cornerstones - disarming involved parties with nuclear weapons, ensuring that non-nuclear states will never get them, and to safely spread nuclear energy technology.
HISTORY PILLARS
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The Danger of Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear weapons are weapons that tap into the immense energy contained in matter by utilizing nuclear reactions to unleash catastrophic destruction. There are two types of nuclear weapons: those that use nuclear fission reactions, and those that use nuclear fusion reactions. The former of which was first developed in WW2 and was the type that was detonated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the prelimerary tests, the bomb released energy equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT and was capable of decimating the two cities. In the first test of the more modern fusion bomb, it released the energy equivalent to 10 million tons of TNT, 500 times as much energy as the fission bomb which was capable of decimating an entire city.
Fallout
When a nuclear weapon detonates, it releases larges waves of radiation that incinerate anyone who is too close. However, in addition to that, it also releases a plethora of radioactive residue up into the atmosphere which in due time fall to the ground. The radioactive residue from the nuclear blast is called the nuclear fallout. The nuclear fallout can contaminate the locaiton surounding a blast for many years and human exposure can cause cancer and genetic mutations.
Winter
In the event of a nuclear war, where many countries decide to launch their weapons in retalliation or attack, the most dangerous effect is not the radiation of the blast or the nuclear fallout, but is the nuclear winter that follows. Nuclear explosions release alot of energy, but also dust, and debris. In the event that as few as 1,000 nuclear weapons are launched, the debris from the blasts are enough to blanket the earth and launch a small ice age known as a Nuclear Winter. In the Nuclear Winter, there would be year round winter conditions, and society as a whole would collapse.
Nuclear weapons are weapons that tap into the immense energy contained in matter by utilizing nuclear reactions to unleash catastrophic destruction. There are two types of nuclear weapons: those that use nuclear fission reactions, and those that use nuclear fusion reactions. The former of which was first developed in WW2 and was the type that was detonated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the prelimerary tests, the bomb released energy equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT and was capable of decimating the two cities. In the first test of the more modern fusion bomb, it released the energy equivalent to 10 million tons of TNT, 500 times as much energy as the fission bomb which was capable of decimating an entire city.
Fallout
When a nuclear weapon detonates, it releases larges waves of radiation that incinerate anyone who is too close. However, in addition to that, it also releases a plethora of radioactive residue up into the atmosphere which in due time fall to the ground. The radioactive residue from the nuclear blast is called the nuclear fallout. The nuclear fallout can contaminate the locaiton surounding a blast for many years and human exposure can cause cancer and genetic mutations.
Winter
In the event of a nuclear war, where many countries decide to launch their weapons in retalliation or attack, the most dangerous effect is not the radiation of the blast or the nuclear fallout, but is the nuclear winter that follows. Nuclear explosions release alot of energy, but also dust, and debris. In the event that as few as 1,000 nuclear weapons are launched, the debris from the blasts are enough to blanket the earth and launch a small ice age known as a Nuclear Winter. In the Nuclear Winter, there would be year round winter conditions, and society as a whole would collapse.
The Benefits of Nuclear Technology
Nuclear technology as a whole is extremely powerful. Just as nuclear weapons have the capability of decimating entire cities, nuclear energy has the potential for fulfilling mankind's energy needs. One kilogram of Uranium 235 generates the equivalent energy of 10,000 kilograms of oil, and 14,000 kilograms of coal. Nuclear energy is a safe, and clean method of producing energy. Due to pollution and air effects, Nuclear energy has caused fewer deaths per unit of energy than any other source of energy used, even including accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukishima. Furthermore, Nuclear Energy is an energy source that does not emit greenhouse gases into the air. Since 1976, nuclear energy has reduced the potential greenhouse gas emissions by 6.4 giga tonnes, and this number is sure to increase.