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CATASTROPHIC
HUMANITARIAN
HARM
WARNING
Some images may disturb.
Creative Commons
Published in August 2012 by the
International Campaign to Abolish
Nuclear Weapons (info@icanw.org)
in partnership with Peace Boat and
International Physicians for the
Prevention of Nuclear War
IPPNW
A
bolishing nuclear weapons
is a paramount challenge
for people and governments the
world over – a pre-condition for
survival, sustainability and the
health of our planet and future
generations. Both in the scale of
the indiscriminate devastation
they cause, and in their uniquely
persistent, spreading, genetically
damaging radioactive fallout,
nuclear weapons are unlike any
other weapons. A single nuclear
bomb detonated over a large
city could kill millions of people
in an instant. The use of tens
or hundreds of nuclear bombs
would disrupt the global climate,
causing widespread famine.
A HUMANITARIAN APPROACH
Although the number of nuclear
weapons in global stockpiles is
declining, the risk of their use,
by accident or design, appears to
be growing. Any such use would
have catastrophic humanitarian
consequences. Despite new
rhetoric in favour of achieving a
world without nuclear weapons,
governments have not yet
begun negotiations on a global
nuclear disarmament treaty.
The International Campaign
to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
(ICAN), a movement of non-
government organizations in
60 countries advocating such a
treaty, believes that discussions
about nuclear weapons must
focus not on narrow concepts
of national security, but on the
effects of these weapons on
human beings – our health, our
societies, and the environment
on which we all depend. The
processes that led to treaties
banning landmines in 1997
and cluster munitions in 2008
demonstrated the importance
of adopting a humanitarian-
based discourse: new political
coalitions were formed,
longstanding deadlocks were
broken, and two whole classes
of weapons were outlawed.
Today we must adopt a similar
approach for nuclear weapons.
Reframing the nuclear weapons debate
1
The catastrophic effects of nuclear weapons on our health, societies and the environment
must be at the centre of all discussions about nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
N
uclear weapons are the
most destructive, inhumane
and indiscriminate instruments
of mass murder ever created.
The term “catastrophic
humanitarian consequences”
– now commonly used by
governments – describes their
unique and horrifying effects on
people, including lethal harm to
those who are not part of the
conflicts in which they are used.
Physicians and scientists have
long studied and documented
the medical consequences of
nuclear war, concluding that
human security and survival
depend upon ridding the Earth
of these indefensible weapons.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS USE
Nuclear weapons have been
used twice in warfare – on the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in 1945. More
than 200,000 innocent civilians
died, while many more suffered
acute injuries. Even if a nuclear
weapon were never again
exploded over a city, there are
effects from the production,
testing and deployment of
nuclear arsenals that are
experienced as an ongoing
personal and community
catastrophe by many people
around the globe. This must
inform and motivate efforts to
eliminate these weapons.
NUCLEAR ARSENALS
The dangers of nuclear weapons
arise from their very existence.
Nine countries today possess
an estimated 19,000 nuclear
weapons, around 2,000 of which
are kept on hair-trigger alert –
ready for use within minutes.
Most of today’s nuclear weapons
are dozens of times more
powerful than the Hiroshima
bomb. The failure of the nuclear
powers to disarm has heightened
the risk that other countries, or
terrorists, will one day acquire
nuclear weapons. The only
guarantee against their spread
and use is to eliminate them
without delay.
A unique existential threat to humanity
2
The effects of nuclear weapons cannot be controlled in space or time.
Their existence anywhere is a threat to people everywhere.
NUCLEAR FORCES IN 2012
Country Warheads
United States 8,000
Russia 10,000
United Kingdom 225
France 300
China 240
India 80–100
Pakistan 90–110
Israel 80
North Korea <10
Total ~19,000
Source: FAS
“The conference expresses its deep concern at the catastrophic
humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons.”
Final Document, Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, 2010
Mushroom cloud: A 37-kiloton nuclear device
is exploded in Nevada. Credit: US Government
Obliteration: The Japanese city of Hiroshima was instantly reduced to ashes when
a single US 15-kiloton nuclear bomb was detonated over it. Credit: US Government
“As a 16-year-old boy, I was
riding my bicycle down the street
when the atomic bomb exploded
1.8 km away, scorching my back
and leaving the skin on my
right arm hanging down from
the shoulder to the fingertips.
Most of the people around me
had no one to look after them,
and passed away while begging
for water. I spent two nights up
in the mountainside before a
rescue squad found me on the
morning of the third day and
took me to a first-aid station
some 28 km away. I went from
one aid station to another until I
was finally released from Omura
Naval Hospital in March 1949. I
suffered such awful pain during
that time that I often called out
‘Please kill me!’ as I was being
treated. Among the survivors of
the atomic bombing, there are
those who committed suicide
and those who died after saying
they couldn’t stand yet another
operation. As someone who
knows about this, I feel that I
have a responsibility to live my
life to the very end. Sometimes
it’s a struggle. I’ll keep on
fighting until all nuclear weapons
are banished from this Earth. To
everyone who is reading this, I
beg you to think of yourselves as
parents building a bright future
for your descendants.”
SUMITERU TANIGUCHI’S STORY
Burns: Nagasaki bomb victim Sumiteru Taniguchi looks
at a photo of himself taken in 1945. His horrific burns
have required 17 operations. Credit: Yuriko Nakao
T
he highly enriched uranium
bomb detonated over
Hiroshima on 6 August 1945
had an explosive yield equal to
15,000 tonnes of TNT. It razed
and burnt around 70 per cent
of all buildings and caused an
estimated 140,000 deaths by
the end of 1945, along with
increased rates of cancer and
chronic disease among the
survivors. A slightly larger
plutonium bomb exploded
over Nagasaki three days later
levelled 6.7 km
2
of the city and
killed 74,000 people by the end
of 1945. Ground temperatures
reached 7,000°C and black
radioactive rain poured down.
MEDICAL RESPONSE
In Hiroshima 90 per cent of
physicians and nurses were killed
or injured; 42 of 45 hospitals
were rendered non-functional;
and 70 per cent of victims had
combined injuries including, in
most cases, severe burns. All the
dedicated burn beds around the
world would be insufficient to
care for the survivors of a single
nuclear bomb on any city. In
Hiroshima and Nagasaki most
victims died without any care
to ease their suffering. Some
of the people who entered the
cities after the bombings to
provide assistance also died from
radiation-related illnesses.
LONG-TERM EFFECTS
The incidence of leukaemia
among survivors increased
noticeably five to six years
after the bombings, and about
a decade later survivors began
suffering from thyroid, breast,
lung and other cancers at higher
than normal rates. For solid
cancers, the added risks related
to radiation exposure continue
to increase throughout the
lifespan of survivors even to this
day, almost seven decades after
the bombings. Women exposed
to the bombings while they were
pregnant experienced higher
rates of miscarriage and deaths
among their infants. Children
Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings
5
The two atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 killed and maimed hundreds
of thousands of people, and their effects are still being felt today.
DEATHS BY END OF 1945
Hiroshima ~140,000
Nagasaki ~74,000
exposed to radiation in their
mother’s womb were more likely
to be mentally retarded, and
have smaller brains and impaired
growth, as well as increased risk
of developing cancer.
3 km radius A radioactive fireball hotter
than the Sun and with the
force of 100,000 tonnes of
TNT kills everyone.
5 km radius The vast majority of people
die quickly from blast injuries,
asphyxiation or (over weeks)
radiation sickness.
10 km radius About half die from trauma
and burns. Many succumb
soon after to fires and
radiation sickness.
80 km radius Radioactive fallout spreads.
Over time, many thousands
will die from radiation
sickness and cancers.
EFFECTS OF A 100-KT NUCLEAR BOMB
Heat and blast: House No. 1, located 1 km from ground
zero, is completely destroyed during a nuclear test in
Nevada in 1953. The elapsed time from the first picture
to the last is two seconds. Credit: US Government
N
uclear weapons are unique
in their destructive power
and the threat they pose to
the environment and human
survival. They release vast
amounts of energy in the form
of blast, heat and radiation.
BLAST
A nuclear explosion creates
an enormous shockwave
that reaches speeds of many
hundreds of kilometres an hour.
The blast kills people close to
ground zero, and causes lung
injuries, ear damage and internal
bleeding further away. People
sustain injuries from collapsing
buildings and flying objects.
HEAT
Thermal radiation from the
explosion is so intense that
almost everything close to
ground zero is vaporized. The
extreme heat causes severe
burns and ignites fires over a
large area, which coalesce into a
giant firestorm. Even people in
underground shelters face likely
death due to a lack of oxygen
and carbon monoxide poisoning.
RADIATION
Unlike conventional weapons,
nuclear weapons release ionizing
radiation: particles and rays given
off by radioactive materials. At
high doses, radiation kills cells,
damages organs and causes
rapid death. At low doses, it
can damage cells and lead to
cancer, genetic damage and
mutations. In human beings, it
causes most types of leukaemia,
or blood cancer, as well as solid
cancers such as thyroid, lung
and breast cancers. Increased
rates of leukaemia and thyroid
cancer among exposed children
begin to appear after five years,
while the incidence of most
solid cancers rises after about
10 years, with the increased risk
persisting throughout one’s life.
Radiation exposure can also
heighten the risk of hereditary
effects in future generations.
Radiation exposure can occur
externally (from particles in the
air, water and soil) or internally
(from breathing, eating and
drinking). Many radioisotopes
are concentrated in plants and
animals, and thus the food chain.
Blast, heat and radiation
7
It takes around 10 seconds for the fireball from a nuclear explosion
to reach its maximum size, but the effects last for decades.
Genes: Chromosomal damage in a
nuclear test veteran. Credit: R. Rowland
N
uclear weapons are the
only devices ever created
with the capacity to destroy all
complex life forms on Earth
within a relatively short period.
A war fought using 1,000 nuclear
weapons – around 5 per cent of
the total global stockpile – would
render the planet uninhabitable.
REGIONAL NUCLEAR WAR
In addition to causing tens of
millions of immediate deaths, a
regional nuclear war involving
around 100 Hiroshima-sized
weapons would disrupt the
global climate and agricultural
production so severely that
more than a billion people
would be at risk of famine,
according to recent research by
the International Physicians for
the Prevention of Nuclear War.
Although it would not result
in the extinction of the human
race, it would bring about an
end to modern civilization as we
know it. Even the relatively small
nuclear arsenals of countries
such as India and Pakistan could
cause long-lasting global damage
to the Earth’s ecosystems.
AGRICULTURAL COLLAPSE
The smoke and dust from
a limited nuclear war would
cause an abrupt drop in global
temperatures and rainfall by
blocking up to 10 per cent
of sunlight from reaching
the Earth’s surface. Sudden
global cooling would shorten
growing seasons, threatening
agriculture worldwide. Increases
in food prices would make
food inaccessible to hundreds
of millions of the poorest
people in the world. For those
who are already chronically
malnourished, just a 10 per cent
decline in food consumption
would result in starvation.
Infectious disease epidemics and
conflict over scarce resources
would be rife. If the entire global
nuclear arsenal were used, 150
million tonnes of smoke would
be emitted into the stratosphere,
resulting in a 45 per cent global
reduction in rainfall and average
surface cooling of –7 to –8°C.
By comparison, the global
average cooling at the depth of
the last ice age more than 18,000
years ago was –5°C.
OZONE DEPLETION
A nuclear war would cause
prolonged and severe depletion
of the ozone layer and have a
devastating impact on human
and animal health. Substantial
increases in ultraviolet radiation
would cause increases in skin
cancer rates, crop damage and
the destruction of marine life.
Climate disruption and nuclear famine
8
A regional nuclear war involving as few as 100 Hiroshima-sized weapons
would disrupt the global climate and put a billion people at risk of famine.
“Climate change may be the global policy issue that has captured most attention
in the last decade, but the problem of nuclear weapons is at least its equal in
terms of gravity – and much more immediate in its potential impact.”
International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, 2009
Crop failure: A regional nuclear war would result in agricultural
collapse over a wide area. Credit: UN Photo/Martine Perret
Famine: Somali men carry a severely malnourished child to hospital. The use of 100
nuclear weapons would put a billion people at risk of famine. Credit: UN Photo/Stuart Price
Total devastation: A mother and her son in Hiroshima four
months after the atomic bombing. Credit: Alfred Eisenstaedt
“We witnessed a sight totally unlike
anything we had ever seen before.
The centre of the city was sort
of a white patch, flattened and
smooth like the palm of a hand.
Nothing remained. Every living
thing was petrified in an attitude
of acute pain.”
Dr Marcel Junod, International Committee of
the Red Cross, Hiroshima, September 1945
S
cientists have modelled the
catastrophic humanitarian
consequences of nuclear strikes
against various urban centres. In
a city like Mumbai, India, with
population densities in some
areas of 100,000 people per
square kilometre, a Hiroshima-
sized bomb is estimated to cause
up to 870,000 deaths in the first
weeks. A 1-megaton bomb could
promptly kill several million.
TERRORIST SCENARIO
A 12.5-kiloton nuclear explosion
in a New York shipping yard
would produce casualties more
than one order of magnitude
greater than those inflicted in the
September 11 terrorist attacks.
Blast and thermal effects would
kill 52,000 people immediately.
Another 238,000 would be
exposed to direct radiation
from the blast. Fallout would
expose a further million and a
half people. In total, more than
200,000 would die.
FULL-SCALE NUCLEAR WAR
The effects of a war involving
many nuclear explosions
would be on a scale larger than
anything previously experienced
in human history. If 500
warheads were to hit major US
and Russian cities, 100 million
people would die in the first half
The radioactive incineration of cities
11
The death toll from a nuclear attack against a large city today could be
measured in the millions rather than the tens or hundreds of thousands.
an hour and tens of millions
would be fatally injured. Huge
swaths of both countries would
be blanketed by radioactive
fallout. Most Americans and
Russians would die in the
following months from radiation
sickness and disease epidemics.
15M
10M
5M
BRAZIL CHINA EGYPT FRANCE INDIAIRAN ISRAEL JAPAN PAKISTAN RUSSIAUKUS
MILLIONS KILLED
This graph shows
the estimated
number of fatalities
due to immediate
radiation, blast and
fire damage from 50
nuclear weapons
with 15-kiloton yields
on various countries.
The total death toll
from cancers and
wider environmental
effects would be
substantially higher.
Source: Science
Nevada: Judith Vollmer, poet and teacher, has
come to Sedan Crater on the Nevada Test Site
to better understand the loss of her father to
radiation-related illnesses. Credit: Lynn Johnson
Utah: Dave Timothy, a “down winder”, believes
his multiple thyroid cancers were caused by the
radiation from atomic tests that rained down on his
boyhood home in Utah. Credit: Lynn Johnson
Semipalatinsk: A Kazakh nuclear test victim receives
treatment. Between 1949 and 1991, 456 Soviet
nuclear tests were conducted at Semipalatinsk.
Credit: Jonathan Silvers/Saybrook Productions Ltd
“Nuclear weapons constitute the greatest
immediate threat to the health and welfare
of mankind .... It is obvious that no health
service in any area of the world would
be capable of dealing adequately with
the hundreds of thousands of people
seriously injured by blast, heat or radiation
from even a single one-megaton bomb
.... Whatever remained of the medical
services in the world could not alleviate
the disaster in any significant way .... To
the immediate catastrophe must be added
the long-term effects on the environment.
Famine and diseases would be widespread,
and social and economic systems would
be totally disrupted .... Therefore the only
approach to the treatment of the health
effects of nuclear explosions is primary
prevention of such explosions.”
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Refugees: Libyan refugees line up for food near the
border with Tunisia. A nuclear attack would potentially
displace millions of people. Credit: OCHA/David Ohana
N
uclear bombings eradicate
the social infrastructure
required for recovery from
conflict. Communications
and transportation systems,
fire-fighting equipment, and
hospitals and pharmacies would
all lie in rubble throughout a
zone of complete destruction
extending for kilometres. Those
attempting to provide relief
to the sick or wounded would
be exposed to high levels of
radioactivity, risking their own
lives. Nowhere in the world
would it be possible to render an
effective humanitarian response,
underscoring the absolute
imperative of nuclear abolition.
THE RED CROSS
Consistent with the humanitarian
vision of its founder Henry
Dunant, the International
Committee of the Red Cross
first called for nuclear weapons
to be banned in September
1945, just weeks after the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. Since then, it has
repeatedly warned that nuclear
weapons will not spare hospitals,
prisoner-of-war camps and
civilians, and “their inevitable
consequence is extermination”.
In 2010 the Committee adopted
the prohibition and complete
elimination of nuclear weapons
as one of its top priorities.
UN AGENCIES
In 1984, at the height of the
cold war, the World Health
Organization published a
definitive study on the global
health repercussions of nuclear
war. Its report, updated in 1987,
concluded that the immediate
and delayed loss of human
and animal life would be
enormous, and “the plight of
survivors would be physically
and psychologically appalling”.
Nuclear disarmament is directly
relevant to the work of many
UN agencies, including those
responsible for refugees, human
rights, development, food
security and the environment.
No adequate response capacity
15
A nuclear attack anywhere in the world would overwhelm the health
infrastructure, making an effective humanitarian response impossible.
Marshall Islands: Iroji Kebenli, a Marshallese boy, suffered radiation burns to
his skin after contact with “Bikini snow” – radioactive ash and coral fragments
dispersed over the islands from US nuclear tests. Credit: US Government
Australia: As a 10-year-old boy, Yami Lester was covered by a cloud of
radioactive fallout from a British nuclear test conducted at Emu Junction in
1953 with the support of the Australian government. Credit: Jessie Boylan
Algeria: A danger sign warns of the toxic
legacy of French nuclear testing in Algeria
in the 1960s. Credit: Nic Maclellan
S
ince the dawn of the
atomic age in July 1945,
nuclear weapons have been
tested on more than 2,000
occasions – in the atmosphere,
underground and underwater.
The toll on human health and
the environment has been
staggering. Today we each
carry in our bodies radioactive
substances from the fallout of
nuclear testing, increasing our
risk of developing cancer. Much
of the Earth’s surface has been
contaminated at some point with
radioactive particles. Nuclear
testing enables governments to
increase the destructiveness and
lethality of their nuclear forces.
NUCLEAR TEST SITES
Nuclear tests have been carried
out at more than 60 locations
around the globe, often on
the lands of indigenous and
minority peoples, far away from
those who made the decisions
to conduct them. While some
test sites have been virtually
uninhabited, others have
been densely populated. The
tests have irradiated people
working on the programmes,
the downwind and downstream
communities, and the whole
global population. The
Nobel Peace Prize-winning
organization International
Physicians for the Prevention
of Nuclear War has estimated
that roughly 2.4 million people
will eventually die as a result of
the atmospheric nuclear tests
conducted between 1945 and
1980, which were equal in force
to 29,000 Hiroshima bombs.
A NUCLEAR TEST BAN
Public concern in the 1950s
about the health and environ-
mental impacts of nuclear
testing, including its effect on
mothers’ milk and babies’ teeth,
led to the negotiation in 1963
of a treaty banning atmospheric
and underwater nuclear tests. A
comprehensive nuclear test ban,
covering underground tests, was
negotiated in 1996. Although the
latter treaty has not yet entered
into legal force, full-scale nuclear
testing has largely come to halt.
However, a number of countries
continue to test their nuclear
weapons sub-critically, involving
no chain reaction.
The legacy of nuclear testing
17
Physicians project that some 2.4 million people worldwide will eventually die from
cancers due to atmospheric nuclear tests conducted between 1945 and 1980.
NUCLEAR TESTS
Programme No. tests
USA 1,054
Russia/USSR 715
France 210
United Kingdom 45
China 45
India 6
Pakistan 6
North Korea 2
Total 2,083
N
uclear weapons derive
their explosive force from
uranium and/or plutonium, the
latter of which is a by-product
of nuclear fission in reactors.
The production of both
substances causes widespread
environmental contamination
and is harmful to human health.
MINING & ENRICHING URANIUM
Uranium, its radioactive decay
products, and other substances
released through uranium mining
and processing can cause disease
in mineworkers, nuclear industry
workers and nearby inhabitants.
More than 70 per cent of the
world’s uranium is mined on the
lands of indigenous peoples.
Large volumes of waste tailings
result in long-lasting radioactive
and chemical pollution. No
uranium mine anywhere in the
world has been fully cleaned up
after mining has finished. Fissile
materials created from uranium
ore remain toxic and weapons-
usable for many millennia. Any
enrichment plant that can enrich
uranium to reactor grade can
also enrich it to weapons grade.
NUCLEAR REACTORS
Plutonium is produced from
uranium in a nuclear reactor.
Military and civilian nuclear
programmes are often closely
linked. Most of the recent
instances of nuclear proliferation
have stemmed from ostensibly
peaceful programmes. Releases
of radiation similar to or larger
than those from a nuclear bomb
can come from nuclear reactors
and spent fuel ponds – meaning
that every reactor is, in effect, a
giant pre-positioned dirty bomb.
Nuclear accidents, such as that at
Chernobyl in 1986, will eventu-
ally cause at least several tens
of thousands of cancer deaths.
Even during normal use, nuclear
reactors emit radiation into the
air, water and soil, resulting in
increased rates of leukaemia in
children living within 50 km.
Production of nuclear weapons
18
The production of the explosive materials used in all nuclear weapons – highly enriched
uranium and separated plutonium – is harmful to human health and the environment.
Ranger Mine: Yvonne Margarula, a
Mirarr elder from Australia, has long
fought to protect her country from
uranium mining. Credit: Dominic O’Brien
Fukushima: A baby is tested for radiation in 2011,
four days after an earthquake and tsunami struck the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Credit: Kyodo
Chernobyl: Useless against gamma radiation, these
gas masks lie strewn across an empty classroom
floor in Pripyat, Ukraine. Credit: Ricky Pitman
“A phase-out of civilian nuclear energy would provide the most effective and
enduring constraint on proliferation risks in a nuclear-weapon-free world.”
International Panel on Fissile Materials, 2009
“The world is over-armed and peace is under-funded .... The end of the cold war has led the
world to expect a massive peace dividend. Yet, there are over 20,000 nuclear weapons around
the world. Many of them are still on hair-trigger alert, threatening our own survival.”
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Mexico City, 2009
Hunger: A woman holding her young malnourished baby queues for
food in Somalia. Money spent on nuclear weapons could be redirected
towards meeting basic human needs. Credit: UN Photo/Stuart Price
T
he production, maintenance
and modernization of
nuclear forces diverts vast
public resources away from
health care, education, climate
change mitigation, disaster relief,
development assistance and
other vital services. Globally,
annual expenditure on nuclear
weapons is estimated at US$105
billion – or $12 million an hour.
SPENDING ON DEVELOPMENT
The World Bank forecast in
2002 that an annual investment
of just US$40–60 billion,
or roughly half the amount
currently spent on nuclear
weapons, would be enough to
meet the internationally agreed
Millennium Development
Goals on poverty alleviation
by the target date of 2015.
Nuclear weapons spending in
2010 was more than twice the
official development assistance
provided to Africa, the poorest
continent on Earth, and equal to
the gross domestic product of
Bangladesh, a nation of some
160 million people. The Office
for Disarmament Affairs – the
principal UN body responsible
for advancing a nuclear-weapon-
free world – has an annual
budget of $10 million, which is
less than the amount spent on
nuclear weapons every hour.
A diversion of public resources
21
As millions across the globe go hungry and are denied access to clean water, basic medicines and
sanitation, the nuclear-armed nations spend close to US$300 million a day on their nuclear forces.
ESTIMATED SPENDING ON
NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN 2011
Country USD
United States 61.3 bn
Russia 14.8 bn
China 7.6 bn
France 6.0 bn
United Kingdom 5.5 bn
India 4.9 bn
Israel 1.9 bn
Pakistan 2.2 bn
North Korea 0.7 bn
Total US$104.9 bn
Source: Global Zero
Poverty: Achan Ajwal, a villager in South
Sudan, shows riverweed, her only diet
before a World Food Programme food
distribution. Credit: UN Photo/Fred Noy
“Some governments tell us that a nuclear weapons convention is premature and
unlikely. Don’t believe it. They told us the same thing about a mine ban treaty.”
Anti-landmine campaigner and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams
Landmines: Kabibi Tabu lost both legs in a landmine
explosion in 2006 in the Democratic Republic of
Congo. Credit: UN Photo/Martine Perret
Cluster bombs: Abdullah Yaqoob was
injured in a British cluster bomb strike
in Iraq in 2003. Credit: DanChurchAid
T
he international community
has negotiated conventions
to eliminate certain types of
weapons that cause unacceptable
harm to people and the
environment. These include
biological and chemical weapons,
landmines and, most recently,
cluster munitions. Although
the destructive capacity of
nuclear weapons is many times
greater than that of these and
all other weapons, they are not
yet subject to a universal treaty
ban. Nevertheless, their use is
prohibited under international
humanitarian law, and all nations
are obliged to negotiate in good
faith for nuclear disarmament.
HUMANITARIAN LAW
Nuclear weapons cannot
distinguish between military
and civilian targets, or
between combatants and
non-combatants. Most of the
casualties of a nuclear attack
would inevitably be civilians.
Once the explosive energy of a
nuclear chain reaction has been
released, it cannot be contained.
People in neighbouring and
distant countries who have
nothing to do with the conflict
would suffer from the effects
of radioactive fallout, even if
they were at a safe distance
from the blast and thermal
destruction near ground zero.
This disproportionate and
indiscriminate destructiveness
is clearly a violation of
international humanitarian law.
HUMAN SECURITY
The catastrophic health and
environmental consequences of
nuclear war are at the extreme
end of a continuum of armed
violence that undermines health
and security. Outlawing and
eliminating nuclear weapons
is part of a broader struggle
for genuine human-centred
security founded on respect for
basic rights, including rights to
education, health care, decent
work and a clean environment.
Outlawing inhumane weapons
23
There are treaties prohibiting biological weapons, chemical weapons, landmines
and cluster munitions, but no such treaty exists – as yet – for nuclear weapons.
PROHIBITED WEAPONS
Type of weapon Banned
Biological weapons 1972
Chemical weapons 1993
Anti-personnel mines 1997
Cluster munitions 2008
A
n understanding of “the
devastation that would be
visited upon all mankind by a
nuclear war” was the motivating
force behind the adoption of
the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty in 1968. Article VI of the
agreement obliges all nations
to negotiate in good faith for
total nuclear disarmament under
strict and effective international
control. More than four decades
on, however, this provision
remains largely unfulfilled. At an
important review of the treaty in
May 2010, governments warned
that catastrophic humanitarian
consequences could result from
continued failure to act.
A UNIVERSAL BAN
The most effective, expeditious
and practical way to achieve
and sustain the abolition of
nuclear weapons would be to
negotiate a comprehensive,
irreversible, binding, verifiable
treaty – a nuclear weapons
convention – bringing together
all the necessary aspects of
nuclear disarmament and non-
proliferation. Negotiations
should begin without delay
and progress in good faith and
without interruption until a
successful conclusion is reached.
Such an approach is supported
by the vast majority of people
and governments worldwide.
WHAT IT COULD ENTAIL
A nuclear weapons convention
could take any number of
forms. Most likely, the treaty
would oblige nations to
disarm according to a series of
progressive phases, beginning
with taking their nuclear
weapons off high-alert status.
Preferably, it would also
ban the production of fissile
materials and stipulate that
existing stocks be eliminated or
placed under secure international
control. An international
monitoring system and dedicated
agency could be established
to verify compliance with all
provisions of the treaty.
A nuclear weapons ban
24
To avert a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, nations
must intensify efforts to outlaw and eliminate nuclear weapons.
A nuclear attack anywhere in
the world would have profound
implications for the work of
organizations that provide
disaster relief, refugee assistance
and health care, as well as those
promoting human rights, food
security, poverty alleviation and
environmental sustainability. All
such groups must play an active
role now in efforts to avert a
humanitarian catastrophe by
eliminating nuclear weapons.
1
Engaging the
development sector2
Engaging United
Nations agencies3
Building the political
will for a ban4
Raising public
awareness
Nuclear disarmament is a
longstanding objective of the
United Nations. It is directly
relevant to the work of most
of its major agencies, including
the World Health Organization,
the Food and Agriculture
Organization, unicef, unesco,
and the High Commissioners
for Human Rights and Refugees.
The UN family must join forces
to address the continuing threat
of nuclear conflict.
Ultimately, the responsibility to
disarm rests with governments.
All barriers to achieving a world
free of nuclear weapons are
political, not technical. The
growing recognition among
governments of the catastrophic
humanitarian consequences of
nuclear weapons is a positive
development. It must now
translate into meaningful action
towards a treaty to outlaw and
eliminate nuclear weapons.
Generating a powerful
groundswell of public support
for nuclear abolition will be key
to ensuring that all governments
engage constructively in
negotiations for a nuclear
weapons ban. Information
about the catastrophic effects of
nuclear weapons must be spread
through the mass media, become
part of the national education
curriculum, and be shared widely
through ngo networks.
Everyone’s responsibility
CATASTROPHIC HUMANITARIAN HARM
Катастрофические гуманитарные последствия
Conséquences humanitaires catastrophiques
壊滅的な人道的被害
الأضرارالإنسانيةالك ارثية
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קזנהומניאטרי טסטקרולפי
לפורטסטק יראטינמוה קזני
ה קזנונמיאטרטק יטסלפורי
灾难性的人道主义伤害
Daño humanitario catastrófico
치명적인 인도주의적 피해
