Nuclear flash burns: A review and consideration

Abstract

Introduction: In past nuclear attacks, many victims suffered flash burns. Although many eyewitness testimonies by hibakusha (the survivors of casualties) exist, they were still treated as anecdotal because of limited scientific records or explanations. Unfortunately, more valid information cannot be shared to citizens worldwide. Methods: I collected a few scientific records and additionally >20,000 pages of documents and drawings by hibakusha. Anecdotal stories about the victims immediately after the explosions were mainly focused on the injuries related to the flash light and compression shockwave. Results: Although flash burns may be due to a strong flash light, those observed in the atomic attacks are largely different from ordinary flash burns; therefore, they should be called as distinctively nuclear flash burns (NFBs). The symptoms of NFBs can be divided into three groups, depending on the wavelength differences of flash light, infrared ray (IRR, 750 nm<), visual light with long wavelengths (VLL, approximately 600–750 nm), and visual light with short wavelengths (VLS, approximately 400–600 nm). IRR is colorless and superficially absorbed, the skin and hair were scorched, and clothes crumbled. VLL selectively damages the pigments in the skin and the dyes of colored clothes. Melanin is a major pigment in the skin at the basal layer of the epidermis and the hair follicles in the dermis. Where no hair follicles, the wounds tend to have a prolonged healing process and form keloids. VLS penetrates deep into the skin and damages not only the pigmented tissues but also the hemoglobin in erythrocytes, resulting in rupture of the blood vessels. The people around ground zero would suffer flash burns at various rates from these three types. Keywords: Flash burns, Atomic bomb, Nuclear weapon, Wavelength