SK: This may sound strange at this point but what the hell is a nuke? <\/span><\/span>You have mentioned nuclear power, nuclear waste, nuclear weapons and now a nuke<\/i>, but if I don’t have any idea what you are talking about. How are my readers supposed to understand?<\/p>\n JS: Good.<\/p>\n SK: Good what?<\/p>\n JS: You are starting to understand what you don’t understand. <\/span><\/span>You may eventually turn out to be a good reporter, not a journalist, but a good reporter at least.<\/p>\n SK: What is the difference?<\/p>\n JS: We will get to that later. <\/span><\/span>There is a whole lot of science behind your first question. <\/span><\/span>Far more than I understand. <\/span><\/span>Do the school books where you come from cover the topic of molecules and atoms?<\/p>\n SK: You mean, like the periodic table of the elements?<\/p>\n JS: Yes, exactly. <\/span><\/span>One of those elements, uranium, has about six naturally occurring isotopes. <\/span><\/span>No, don’t ask. <\/span><\/span>I have to quote big words from memory here and I don’t have the definitions at hand. <\/span><\/span>One of the most common forms is U-238.<\/p>\n Scientists found out that they could enrich U-238, adding various pieces of other atoms, turning it into something that could be used as either fuel for a nuclear reactor or enriched further to become the core of a nuclear bomb.<\/p>\n All anyone really needs to know is that all forms of uranium and some forms of other elements gave off an invisible and deadly energy wave known as radiation. <\/span><\/span>While you do not see the wave itself, if you venture near the forbidden zones, you can see the effects of prolonged exposure to very low levels of this radiation.<\/p>\n Have you ever seen images from those forbidden zones?<\/p>\n SK: Of course, everyone who ever attended school has. <\/span><\/span>We’ve seen the distorted plants and bizarre insects.<\/p>\n JS: Well, even depleted uranium gives off some level of radiation.<\/p>\n SK: And that is what a nuke is?<\/p>\n JS: No, it’s a symptom. <\/span><\/span>Many electrons and various types of radiation are given off whenever an atom is forced to split. <\/span><\/span>I don’t understand the science but when enriched uranium was formed into rods or bars, and those bars are placed inside of a container with graphite or carbon bars interspersed, the resulting nuclear fission or splitting of atoms releases massive amounts of heat and radiation. <\/span><\/span>When water is circulated around the container with some kind of radiation shield that lets heat out and keeps the radiation contained, the heat could instantly create steam from water. <\/span><\/span>The steam was then used to turn turbines for electric and other energy. <\/span><\/span>That was nuclear energy.<\/p>\n Scientists also found out that if you didn’t control the chain reaction of fission, with those carbon rods and containers, a tiny amount of enriched uranium could create a massive explosion, l<\/span><\/span>arger than anything that could be created with gunpowder. <\/span><\/span>Eventually, they came up with different methods of enrichment: one to produce fuel and the other to produce something that would make a gigantic boom when properly detonated. <\/span><\/span>Military types chose to refer to nuclear weapons as nukes<\/i>. <\/span><\/span>The short phrase, which evolved to indicate someone wanted a nuclear strike, was \u201cnuke ’em.\u201d<\/p>\n SK: So these forbidden zones are all from the nuclear power plants that once existed?<\/p>\n JS: Not all. <\/span><\/span>Some were storage sites for nuclear missiles and bombs. <\/span><\/span>Others were due to the enrichment facilities. <\/span><\/span>Still others were places where nukes were made. <\/span><\/span>A few exist because the supposedly safe<\/i> disposal sites weren’t so safe<\/i>. There is plenty of blame to go around.<\/p>\n SK: What was the purpose of all this nuclear stuff if it was so dangerous?<\/p>\n JS: Clean, limitless, near-free electrical power.<\/p>\n SK: So everybody had nearly free electricity?<\/p>\n JS: Gosh, no. <\/span><\/span>That was just the marketing pitch. <\/span><\/span>Nuclear power cost more than any other form of electricity, especially when you add in the human and animal lives.<\/p>\n SK: Why would anyone want it then?<\/p>\n JS: Nuclear power provided cover for enriching uranium and building nuclear bombs. <\/span><\/span>All of the militaries wanted to watch their enemy cringe in fear from the mere threat of a nuclear strike.<\/p>\n SK: Did that really happen?<\/p>\n JS: Oh yes, eventually.<\/p>\n SK: After everybody learned about the potential damage?<\/p>\n JS: Goodness, no. <\/span><\/span>Nobody is scared when you talk about potential<\/i> damage. <\/span><\/span>It isn’t real. <\/span><\/span>Everybody believes it won’t happen to them or that they can, in some way, mitigate the damage so that it isn’t really noticed. <\/span><\/span>People didn’t cringe until after a world war was brought to an end by dropping two of those bombs on two different major cities.<\/p>\n SK: Was this one of the Microsoft Wars?<\/p>\n JS: No. <\/span><\/span>It was the Second World War.<\/p>\n SK: Did nukes play a role in the Microsoft Wars?<\/p>\n JS: Yes.<\/p>\n SK: What role did nukes play?<\/p>\n JS: You aren’t ready for that yet. <\/span><\/span>You don’t even know how two small ones ended the Second World War.<\/p>\n SK: Small ones? <\/span><\/span>You mean we, or someone, built bigger ones?<\/p>\n JS: Yes. <\/span><\/span>As I told you before, they increased in size and potential damage\u2014all the way up to those planet crackers we talked about earlier. <\/span><\/span>I have no knowledge of any larger ones, but I would believe there were at least plans on paper to build bigger and better. <\/span><\/span>Everybody was caught up in the one nuke to win a war race.<\/p>\n SK: Was there ever a war won by a single nuke?<\/p>\n JS: No. <\/span><\/span>Many wars were prevented because of the massive stockpiles. <\/span><\/span>Limited wars were started in other countries that didn’t have nukes, so one country could drag another country into a war of attrition. <\/span><\/span>International political pressure always seemed to stop actual deployment of nukes during these conflicts.<\/p>\n SK: Nuclear wars weren’t wars of attrition?<\/p>\n JS: Not for the side with the nukes. <\/span><\/span>The side that was attacked with them would suffer massive population attrition in seconds.<\/p>\n For centuries, armies had destroyed large population centers by laying siege to them. <\/span><\/span>It took days, if not months or years, to capture and level a city of significant size and fortification. <\/span><\/span>Thousands of lives would be lost on both sides. <\/span><\/span>This cost, more than anything else, stopped countries from going to war.<\/p>\n If only one side had nuclear weapons, there was no real cost to wiping out a city. <\/span><\/span>Perhaps they would lose a few planes and air crew if they didn’t have long-range missiles but attrition wasn’t a factor. <\/span><\/span>The Second World War ended when the world learned this. <\/span><\/span>The Unites States suffered no casualties dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but both cities, for all practical purposes, ceased to exist, taking roughly a quarter million Japanese with them. <\/span><\/span>They left a wake of illness and ash that plagued the people for years.<\/p>\n SK: How could anyone justify that?<\/p>\n JS: It’s easy when you did the math. <\/span><\/span>Each island battle in that protracted war was costing thousands of troops on both sides. <\/span><\/span>Unspeakable atrocities were being committed against prisoners and civilians alike. <\/span><\/span>The Japanese government had organized all citizens on the main island to defend the emperor with whatever weapons they had at hand when the invasion finally happened.<\/p>\n War had been going on for over four years. <\/span><\/span>Final estimates put the combined civilian and military dead somewhere between 40 to 60 million. <\/span><\/span>Yes, that’s correct\u201440 to 60 million. <\/span><\/span>When the final enemy tells you they are going to fight to the last person despite that kind of hardship having already occurred, you look for any<\/i> tool that will change the attrition factor.<\/p>\n SK: But killing a quarter million with only two bombs. <\/span><\/span>That would be the equivalent of wiping out our entire population.<\/p>\n ***********************
You are reading a special promotional version of \u201cJohn Smith – Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars.\u201d This is the third book of the “Earth That Was” trilogy. You can obtain the entire trilogy in EPUB form from here:<\/p>\n