Time-Lapse of Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945

Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto has created a time-lapse video of the 2053 nuclear explosions which have taken place between 1945 and 1998. Hashimoto created this map with the aim of showing the “fear and folly of nuclear weapons” and “for the means of an interface to the people who are yet to know of the extremely grave, but present problem of the world”.

The first nuclear explosion took place near Los Alamos in New Mexico, United States. All, but two nuclear explosions, were tests or experiments in order to determine the effectiveness, scope and explosive capacity of the bombs. The only two bombs that were not intended as tests were the bombs that the United States dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War. Hundreds of thousands of people died or got seriously injured, and many more suffered from the long-term effects of radiation, such as cancer and blindness. Hashimoto simulated the nuclear explosions in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the second and third explosion.

You can find the video here.

Nuclear testing has been conducted in four environments:

1. Testing in the atmosphere
2. Testing underground
3. Testing in the outer space
4. Testing underwater

Over time, protests against nuclear testing increased. Both the natural environment and human beings are vulnerable to the damaging effects of nuclear weapons. Nuclear tests spread radiation over a wide distance. For instance, the fallout of radioactive debris from nuclear testing by France in the Pacific caused a severe impact on the health and environment of the Pacific islanders. Radiation-induced diseases include among others different forms of cancer, immune destruction, stillbirths, birth defects and genetic abnormalities. Furthermore, radiation causes environmental contamination: underwater tests, for example, have diffused large amounts of radioactive water and vapor thereby contaminating the water, animals, people, islands, etc.

Treaties prohibiting Nuclear Testing

Fortunately, the protests against nuclear testing have had an impact on the political debate on the legality of nuclear testing and nuclear weapons in general. Several treaties have been concluded on prohibiting nuclear testing of which the most important treaties are explained below.

Limited Test Ban Treaty, 1963

This treaty forbids nuclear weapons testing or any other nuclear explosion in the atmosphere, in the outer space, and underwater. Although the treaty does not prohibit nuclear explosions underground, underground nuclear explosions are prohibited when radioactive debris would reach beyond the territorial boundaries of the State under whose jurisdiction or legal authority the explosions were carried out. Thus the territories of other countries than the country that conducted the nuclear explosion should not be affected by the nuclear explosion.

At that time, the biggest hurdle to the Limited Test Ban Treaty was the problem of how to verify or check that countries are complying with the Treaty. Countries wanted to know for sure that other countries would stop the testing of nuclear weapons and this was not possible without an effective system of checks and balances. Initially, the United States and the United Kingdom on one hand, and the Soviet Union on the other, disagreed about the methods of verification. In the end these countries were able to overcome their disagreement and signed and ratified the Treaty along many other countries. China, France and North Korea did not sign the treaty and continued to test their nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, in the outer space and underwater.

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, 1996

After the year of 1998, which is the final year on the time-lapse map of Hashimoto, only few nuclear explosions have occurred as a result of the end of the Cold War – the ongoing state of conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union from around 1946 to 1991 – and the adoption of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by the United Nations Assembly in 1996. The CTBT Treaty bans all nuclear explosions, thus also underground explosions. Since August 2011, 182 countries have signed the Treaty and 154 countries, including Russia and excluding the United States, have ratified it.'

It is important to understand the difference between signing and ratifying a treaty with regards international multilateral treaties, treaties to which various countries can become a party. When a state wants to become a party to a particular treaty, then that state’s representative first signs the treaty. However, at this stage – when a state has only signed and not ratified a treaty – the particular state is not yet bound to the treaty. Only when the state has also ratified the treaty, it can be legally punished for non-compliance. Nevertheless, signing does oblige the State to refrain from acts that would undermine the treaty’s objective or purpose. Signing a treaty shows the state’s intent to consider the treat domestically for ratification. Ratification follows after the appropriate national organ of the country (e.g. Parliament, Senate, the Crown, Government or Head of State) approves the treaty. For instance, when New Zealand would like to become part of a particular international treaty, then the House of Representatives will first have to approve this by implementing the international treaty in New Zealand’s domestic law.

The entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty requires a total amount of 44 states that are specified in the Treaty itself, which are those countries that possessed nuclear power plants and/or nuclear research reactors at the time of creation of the Treaty. Currently, 41 out of these 44 countries have signed and 35 countries have ratified the Treaty. On the following website you can find a map that shows which countries have signed or/and ratified the CTBT: http://www.ctbto.org/map/. It thus becomes clear that the Treaty has still not entered into force, which means that the Treaty still has no legal effect and thus cannot be legally enforced at the moment.

The future

Since 1998 only 6 nuclear tests have been carried out. In 1998, four nuclear explosions occurred that were carried out by India and Pakistan, and in 2006 and 2009 North Korea tested two nuclear weapons. All three countries are no signatories to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Why should we worry about these few tests? Although the number of nuclear tests has decreased significantly, the few nuclear tests that have been conducted over the past decade are still too many. Today thousands of nuclear weapons are still on standby, ready to be fired within a second. This great danger would affect us all, whether physically or emotionally, or directly or indirectly, because when a nuclear weapon is finally being detonated the unimaginable destruction is irreversible and will destroy a great part of humanity and the earth. We cannot permit ourselves a nuclear war. Therefore, it is important that the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty enters into force as soon as possible and that all countries eliminate their nuclear weapons.

Capturing the bomb on film

From 1945 to 1962, the United States military detonated hundreds of nuclear bombs in the atmosphere. George Yoshitake, 82, speaks about his experiences documenting the explosions and their destructive effects.

Photo’s of testing: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/09/14/science/20100914_atom.html