Nuclear Weapons are a Health Issue

As healthcare professionals and concerned citizens, we are concerned about the potential and historical damage to human health caused by nuclear weapons. WPSR’s vision has long been to build a vital statewide anti-nuclear movement that understands these risks, and that can be mobilized to effect nuclear weapons policy change, by putting public pressure on our members of Congress in every congressional district across the state.

WPSR pursues this work in two ways. First, through its Nuclear Weapons Abolition Task Force, led by WPSR health professionals who bring the credibility of the health voice — and health arguments — to the fight for policy change. Second, through the WPSR-led Washington Against Nuclear Weapons Coalition, a state-wide group of over 70 diverse organizations working together to advocate for public policies that will realize our hope for a safer world and a nuclear-free future.

There are nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world, 90% of which are in the hands of the United States and Russia. Nearly 2,000 are on hair-trigger alert, meaning they could be launched within minutes. From mining to production, testing, use, accidents, and miscalculation, every part of the nuclear weapons system damages human health.

The Health Impacts of Nuclear Weapons

From mining to production, testing, use, accidents, and miscalculation, every part of the nuclear weapons system damages human health.

The Health Impacts of Nuclear Weapons Usage
The direct health effects of a nuclear explosion include blindness, deafness, and other injuries such as ruptured organs, fractured skulls, and penetrating wounds from collapsing buildings, fires, and flying debris. Radiation exposure causes central nervous system disruption, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, uncontrolled bleeding, and infections. In the case of a nuclear explosion, treatment would be largely unavailable as medical services would be destroyed and medical personnel would be dead or severely injured.

The Health Impacts of Nuclear Weapons Spending
Nuclear weapons arsenals divert critical social spending to weapons of mass destruction. The United States is planning to spend over $1 trillion over the next 30 years rebuilding our entire nuclear weapons arsenal. Every dollar spent on our nuclear arsenals is a dollar stripped from critical social programs including housing, food assistance programs, healthcare, and education.

The Health Impacts of Nuclear Weapons Contamination
There are 517 nuclear weapon sites that were considered for radioactive clean-up in the United States. 43 sites were found by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to have “potential for significant radioactive contamination”, including the Midnite Mine in WA, which exposes people accessing water from the Spokane River and the Spokane Tribe to dangerous radiation.

• Production sites such as the Hanford Nuclear Site in Eastern Washington have resulted in massive leaks of liquid radioactive material, contaminating surrounding soil and groundwater. Hundreds of workers at the site have been exposed to harmful chemical vapors, and recent assessments have found the safety culture at the site to be seriously flawed.

• The Castle Bravo test in 1954, which was 1,000 times more powerful than the bombing of Hiroshima, vaporized three entire islands in the Bikini Atoll, and the fallout from the bomb spread radioactive material over 11,000 sq. km from the detonation point, exposing around 665 island inhabitants to significant levels of radioactivity. Marshallese folks are part of our communities here in WA State, and they still lack proper access to healthcare and cancer care services.

The Health Impacts of Radiation and Nuclear Weapons Testing
Radiation exposure from nuclear testing, production, and waste storage causes serious health problems for exposed communities. It has been estimated by International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War that exposure to radioactive material from tests will eventually result in 2.4 million cancer deaths. Over 500,000 workers in nuclear weapons complexes during the Cold War were exposed to radioactivity and dangerous chemicals. Uranium mining poses a significant health risk to workers and surrounding communities, especially through exposure to radon-222, which can cause lung cancer. Drinking water and soils can be contaminated due to mining waste seepage and dam failure.