Medicine in the current nuclear age

The purpose o f th i s ar t i c l e i s to in troduce the medica l communi ty to the a l ternat ives o f g loba l nuc lear ca tas trophe and to the u l t imate benef i t s to mankind o f the peacefu l use o f nuc lear energy . The apparent end o f the co ld war d id not br ing any s ign i f i cant changes in the deve lop ­ ment and improvement o f the nuc lear arsena l e i ther in the wes tern wor ld or the Russ ian Republ ic . In addi t ion to the prev ious f ew members o f the nuc lear c lub , there has been an increas ing number o f the countr ies e i ther capable o f bu i ld ing or a lready in the posses ­ s ion o f nuc lear weapons as we l l a s arsena l o f bal l i s t i c miss i l e s capable o f de l iver ing the warheads in the scenar ios o f s tra teg ic con ­ frontat ion . The a t tempts o f present ing to the publ ic a dras t i c reduct ion o f nuc lear war ­ heads appl i e s in genera l to the reduct ion o f the obso le te and outdated arsena l , whereas the mul t ihead thermonuc lear arsena l deve lop ­ ment has cont inued an unabated speed o f product ion wi th exceed ing ly more sophis t i ca t ­ ed de l ivery sys tems , speed o f response and improved accuracy in both s tra teg ic and tac t i ­ ca l scenar ios . This paper addresses the projec ted phys i ­ ca l , env ironmenta l , soc ia l , economic , psycho ­ log ica l and medica l consequences o f nuc lear war and acc idents in nuc lear industry , as we l l as eco log ica l consequences o f the s t i l l unre ­ so lved problem of h igh l eve l nuc lear waste . I t a l so ra i ses the ques t ions about the f eas ib i l i ty of a l imi ted nuc lear war , the l eve l o f c iv i l defense preparedness in the Uni ted Sta tes and the prospect s for surv iva l and recovery in the af termath o f a nuc lear confrontat ion or large sca le nuc lear industry acc idents . The impor ­ tant aspect o f the paper addresses the i s sue of a p laus ib i l i ty o f nuc lear terror i sm, phys ica l secur i ty o f nuc lear c iv i l ian and mi l i tary fac i l ­ i t i e s and mater ia l s , uncontro l l ed bui ld ing o f nuc lear weapons and in ternat iona l coopera ­ t ion in conta in ing the threat o f the g loba l dimens ion o f nuc lear terror i sm.