Other aspects of the development of nuclear weapons – from the mining of uranium to the disposal of radioactive waste – have also had devastating impacts on human health and the environment.

At uranium mines – where the process of making nuclear weapons begins – radioactive and chemical pollution from waste tailings has seeped into the soil and waterways, harming workers and nearby communities. No mine anywhere in the world has been fully cleaned up after mining has finished.

Radioactive contamination has also occurred at nuclear reactors involved in the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons. At the Windscale nuclear power station in the United Kingdom, for example, a fire raged for three days in 1957, sending plumes of radiation across much of Europe. All milk from farms in the vicinity had to be destroyed.

Many communities globally also face ongoing challenges related to the safe, secure storage of vast quantities of nuclear waste amassed from the production of tens of thousands of nuclear weapons since 1945. It will remain dangerous for millennia.