By. Brianna

August 6th-9th, 1945. This day would go down in history as the beginning of the nuclear attack on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It would also go down as the first use of atomic weapons in war.

During the end years of World war II, the “Allies” (also known as the United Nations) would plan a attack on Japanese cities. Two of which were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 6th and August 9th the United States detonated bombs over these two cities causing 100,000-200,000 deaths. (Most being civilians) The bombs detonated over these cities were named “Little boy” (Hiroshima) and “Fat man” (Nagasaki)

Mushroom clouds as a result of the bombs being dropped over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right)

The effect these bombs had on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was extreme. the uranium bomb detonated over Hiroshima had an explosive yield equal to 15,000 tonnes of TNT. This bomb burnt around 70% of all buildings in Hiroshima. A plutonium bomb (slightly larger) exploded over Nagasaki three days later. As a result the of the detonation, ground temperatures of Nagasaki reached 4,000°C and radioactive rain poured down. Not all victims of this bombing died on impact from the bomb or from collision with debris. The bomb itself only lasted for around 30 seconds. The biggest issue was Radiation poisoning.

Most of the casualties were actually caused from Radiation Poisoning. People would continue to die in the areas of Hiroshima and Nagasaki months after the bombing due to the radiation in the air. Radiation poising took the lives of many during the bombing, those who survived being exposed to the Radiation experienced many sicknesses. some of them being Leukemia, thyroid, breast, lung and other cancers. Pregnant women exposed to the bombings had higher rates of miscarriage and deaths among their infants and their children were more likely to have intellectual disabilities, impaired growth and an increased risk of developing cancers. The Japanese named the survivors “Hibakusha”

Photos of survivor's of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing 

The bombs that were detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki were called “Fat man” and “Little boy” . The stats of the little boy bomb are

• Weight: 9,700 lbs
• Length: 10 ft.; Diameter: 28 in.
• Fuel:  Highly enriched uranium; “Oralloy”
• Uranium Fuel: approx. 140 lbs; target – 85 lbs and projectile – 55 lbs
• Target case, barrel, uranium projectile, and other main parts ferried to Tinian Island via USS Indianapolis
• Uranium target component ferried to Tinian via C-54 aircraft of the 509th Composite Group
• Efficiency of weapon: poor
• Approx. 1.38% of the uranium fuel actually fissioned
• Explosive force: 15,000 tons of TNT equivalent
• Use:  Dropped on Japanese city of Hiroshima; August 6, 194

The fat man bomb stats are

• Weight: 10,800 lbs
• Length: 10 ft 8 in.; Diameter: 60 in.
• Fuel:  Plutonium 239
• Plutonium Fuel: approx. 13.6 lbs; approx. size of a softball
• Plutonium core surrounded by 5,300 lbs. of high explosives; plutonium core reduced to size of tennis ball
• Bomb Initiator:  Beryllium – Polonium
• Efficiency of weapon: 10 times that of Little Boy
• Approximately 1 kilogram of plutonium fissioned
• Explosive force: 21,000 tons of TNT equivalent
• Use:  Dropped on Japanese city of Nagasaki; August 9, 1945
• Nuclear Weaponeer: Cdr. Frederick Ashwort

As you can see the “Fat man” bomb was heavier and slightly larger. Another difference between the bombs is their fuels. “Little boy” was a uranium bomb whilst “Fat man” was fueled by plutonium. “Fat man” was also much more powerful than “Little boy” resulting in a larger explosion.

Photo of the Fat man bomb being created (information above obtained by the "atomic heritage foundation")

How are the cities effected now ? Well currently Hiroshima and Nagasaki have actually recovered from the nuclear attack. With Hiroshima having a current population of 1.2million and Nagasaki having a population of 500 thousand. As you can tell from these numbers, these Japanese cities are not isolated at all and are actually popular locations to visit when visiting Japan. The bombs detonated on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were actually exploded in the air. causing 90% of the radiation to be pulled into the atmosphere. which is the reason the nuclear radiation is “on a par with the extremely low levels of background radiation (natural radioactivity) present anywhere on Earth. And has no effect on humans” This is said by the official website of Hiroshima. (here). In fact. due to the explosion being so high up. The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were actually inhabitable for humans within 2 months after the attack! (Radiation wise. the debris and home destruction took years to fix.)

(information above obtained from Reuters.com)

Photo of current day Hiroshima.