Nuclear War: Necessary Government Response

Government response to a nuclear explosion must be quick, tactful and multifaceted. Not only must government officials seek to remedy the attacked region, but also they immediately locate the perpetrators and diplomatically challenge their actions.

First and foremost, government officials should send in emergency management specialists and nuclear oriented scientists to help create a more scientifically accurate environment status and briefing system. These specialists will be able to utilize scientific data and machinery to compute which regions are safe to traverse and which regions should be avoided due to extreme radioactivity.

With this information, government officials should deploy specially protected military personnel, to sift through rubble and wreckage using cranes and other machinery to expedite the process. Personnel should be protected with the use of gas masks and hazard suits with radioactive security. If individuals are found, living, beneath or within the wreckage, steps should be taken to extricate them. However, after they are safely removed, precautions must be taken so as to limit their exposure with other unprotected individuals, considering radioactive poisoning can easily be transmitted.

After initial damage control is conducted and survivors have been found and sent for treatment, the next phase that should be employed is damage mitigation, which is primarily hinged on the use of water mists and sprays. With the understanding that dumping bulk amounts of water on the region would result in the ill desired spread of radioactive materials, water mists should be use to control fires and gaseous radioactive compounds incurred by the explosion. By stemming damage on the scene, greater order can be established, and more structures and land can be preserved for municipal rehabilitation.

In addition to these impact responses, national governments must immediately pursue diplomatic talks with global organizations like the United Nations and NATO. After discovering the identity of the perpetrators, efforts must be taken to immediately address the aggressive actions of those individuals, whether through military force or diplomatic pressures. Governments should not hastily enter a war situation, as the primary efforts should rest with ensuring the safety of their own people.

Ultimately, government response to this type of disaster is very difficult insofar as there are limited opportunities governments have to practice a response-nuclear war is very plausible but as not occurred for over 60 years. Nevertheless, governments should use their own disaster management agencies in conjunction with their military personnel to effectively minimize casualties and the proliferation of toxins associated with the explosion. The most critical aspect of this type of response is coming to the understanding that whatever response a government undertakes, people will always die as a result of a direct nuclear explosion. No government action  will ever destroy that fact of this type of war. However, care must be provided to limit additional transgressions by the perpetrators and additional, 'unnecessary' casualties.

Sources Consulted

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