Eighty years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world has maintained a fragile norm of nuclear non-use. This long peace has prevailed despite a rise in the number of nuclear-armed states and the continuous modernisation of their arsenals. However, mounting geopolitical tensions and a new arms race are placing unprecedented strain on this restraint, forcing a renewed confrontation with the lessons of 1945.
The Catastrophe and the Cover-Up
On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM, the United States dropped the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. The blast and subsequent firestorm immediately incinerated tens of thousands of people. Three days later, on August 9, a second bomb, "Fatman," was detonated over Nagasaki, inflicting similar devastation. By the end of 1945, the death toll from Hiroshima alone had climbed to an estimated 140,000, and Nagasaki to 70,000, as victims succumbed to horrific injuries and the invisible poison of radiation sickness.
In the immediate aftermath, a deliberate deception masked the true nature of the attacks. A survivor from Nagasaki recounted how U.S. Brigadier General Thomas Farrell declared that all those affected had already died and that there were "no continuing effects of the bomb." Relief centres were shut down, leaving thousands to suffer and die from radiation-related illnesses without understanding their cause.
The Hibakusha and a Global Awakening
The survivors, known as Hibakusha (literally "explosion-affected people"), carried the physical and psychological scars of the bombings. Their voices, initially suppressed under the post-war U.S. occupation of Japan, became instrumental in exposing the true horror of nuclear weapons.
A pivotal moment came in 1954 with the U.S. "Castle Bravo" thermonuclear test in the Pacific. The explosion was twice as powerful as projected, creating massive radioactive fallout that contaminated the Japanese fishing boat Lucky Dragon, 86 miles away. Its crew suffered acute radiation sickness, and the incident laid bare for the world to see that the effects of nuclear weapons were not confined to the blast zone but constituted a long-term, indiscriminate humanitarian threat.
This event galvanised the Hibakusha. They formed the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo. Its members travelled the globe, sharing their harrowing testimonies and building a powerful moral case against the existence of nuclear weapons. In recognition of their decades of tireless advocacy, Nihon Hidankyo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024.
The Long Peace: Stigma and Deterrence
Since 1945, the absence of nuclear warfare has rested on two pillars. The first is the moral stigma cultivated by the Hibakusha and their supporters, which framed nuclear weapons as unacceptable tools of indiscriminate slaughter. The second is the theory of deterrence: as more nations, notably the USSR, acquired nuclear capabilities, the prospect of mutually assured destruction (MAD) created a terrifying stability where no power dared to initiate a nuclear exchange.
The Modern Nuclear Precipice
Today, the nuclear landscape presents new and acute dangers. While overall stockpile numbers have decreased since the Cold War, the weapons themselves are far more sophisticated. A particularly alarming development is the focus on tactical nuclear weapons. These are smaller, high-precision warheads designed for battlefield use, which some strategists argue could be deployed without triggering a full-scale thermonuclear exchange. This perception of "usability" dangerously lowers the threshold for nuclear conflict.
Flawed Guardrails: The Limits of International Law
The global governance framework designed to control nuclear weapons is increasingly showing its age and limitations:
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has successfully limited the spread of nuclear weapons to new countries but has failed to compel existing nuclear powers to disarm.
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) prohibits nuclear explosions but has not been ratified by key nations, including the United States and China, and thus has not formally entered into force.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), adopted in 2017, is the most robust legal instrument, banning the use, threat of use, production, and stockpiling of nuclear weapons. However, its practical impact is limited as no nuclear-armed state has signed it.
In 1996, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion stating that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would "generally be contrary" to international humanitarian law, but it stopped short of declaring them illegal in all circumstances.
Recent events have highlighted these frailties. Russia's repeated nuclear threats during the Ukraine war have challenged the 80-year taboo. Similarly, during the hypothetical "Operation Sindoor," India issued warnings against "nuclear blackmail," demonstrating how regional conflicts can quickly acquire a nuclear dimension.
Conclusion
Eighty years after Hiroshima, the world is at risk of forgetting its most painful lesson. The true, lingering horror of nuclear fallout was only understood globally after the miscalculation of the Castle Bravo test. We cannot afford to wait for another such misstep to be reminded of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear miscalculation.