Hiroshima-Nagasaki at 78: Nolan's Oppenheimer has put 'atomic' focus on safe use of nuclear energy

Christophar Nolan's Oppenheimer has achieved what decades of activism cautioning the world about dangers of the misuse of nuclear energy could not. It made people talk about nuclear weapons so much so that search keywords related to the same dominated the Google Trends last month.

So arguably, on the sixth and ninth day of August this year – the anniversary of nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities of Japan – more people are aware of the scale of devastation caused by nuclear weapons than at any point of time in the history.

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Eighty-five-year-old atomic bombing survivor Takeko Kudo (3rd L) and others observe a moment of silence at the time of the bombing at 11:02 AM in Nagasaki on August 9, 2023, as the city marks the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing during World War II | AFP

Experts underline that the release of the film has been extremely timely as risks of nuclear proliferation remain high, especially with strained relations between nuclear powers.

"Recalling the horrors of nuclear use and bringing them into public imagination is something I have long argued for because leaders can be expected to respond to public opinion," Dr Manpreet Sethi, Distinguished Fellow at Centre for Air Power Studies, told WION.

Actor Cillian Murphy, in a still from Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer | IMDb

At present, there are nine countries in the world that possess nuclear weapons; Russia, United States, China, France, United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.

Together, these states have 12,700 nuclear warheads, of which 9,400 are in active military stockpiles, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

Distinction betweenNuclear weapons and Nuclear energy

More than 400 reactors are operating around the world, 23 in India, none of them can cause an explosion of the kind that the nuclear weapons are designed to create, Dr Sethi points out.

Besides, the manner in which the process of nuclear fission is deployed in nuclear weapons and nuclear energy is quite different.

When the nucleus of an atom is split, it is called nuclear fission. The process releases a massive amount of energy.

"The manner in which nuclear fission is exploited in nuclear weapons and nuclear energy is very different. The former aims for an uncontrolled fission reaction while the other undertakes controlled fission through the use of various techniques that ensure safety to the operator, public and environment," added Dr Sethi.

Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, Senior Research Fellow at New Delhi-based Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, hopes that movies such as Oppenheimer will lead to more discussions on how green nuclear energy is given the scale of Climate Change crisis that has put world on the edge.

"Nuclear energy is the highest amount of energy produced per gram of raw material consumed," Iyer-Mitra said.

"It's just incredible that all these benefits of nuclear reactors simply never get through to people."

Discourse over nuclear disarmament, deterrence after Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer did not exactly show the scale of devastation caused by Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and its aftermath.

In contrast to what many cinephiles had expected, there was no vivid display of the scale of destruction and the loss of human life due to atomic weapons dropped on Japan.

Thereby it did not renew the fear of nuclear exchange in the minds of public, and discourse over nuclear disarmament remains least affected.

"The world is undergoing a geopolitical flux where scope for nuclear disarmament is only reducing further.
This movie is unlikely to change that," said Saurabh Todi, an expert on Weapons of Mass Destruction and Research Analyst at Bengaluru-based Takshashila Institution.

Experts also note that there has been ample evidence to suggest that nuclear deterrence works 'really well'.

"There has never been a weapon like the nuclear weapon which after its invention has not been used after its first and the second usage," noted Iyer-Mitra.

"It's a technology of the 1940s. It's not such a great miracle to master (its use). It's very tough to get a hold of. But once it is gotten hold of, it kind of forces a sense of responsibility on those countries," he added.

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