The difference between nuclear power plants and nuclear bombs is only a matter of power plants carefully controlling the rate of fission. Bombs release energy almost instantly; power plants release it over a much longer period, and do so with graphite rods carefully placed and adjusted to control the rate of fission.
Cancer and other harm: Yes, people died of radiation poisoning after the Japanese bombings. Yes, the cities are inhabited now; the levels of radiation are no longer of any real concern. FYI, there is still detectable and in some areas dangerous radiation from the Fukushima disaster in the areas surrounding that plant.
As for chernobyl:
"The health effects of the Chernobyl accident are massive and demonstrable. They have been studied by many research groups in Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine, in the USA, Greece, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Japan. The scientific peer reviewed literature is enormous. Hundreds of papers report the effects, increases in cancer and a range of other diseases. My colleague Alexey Yablokov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, published a review of these studies in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2009). Earlier in 2006 he and I collected together reviews of the Russian literature by a group of eminent radiation scientists and published these in the book Chernobyl, 20 Years After. The result: more than a million people have died between 1986 and 2004 as a direct result of Chernobyl. [emphasis added] . . . Joseph Conrad wrote: 'after all the shouting is over, the grim silence of facts remain.' I believe that these phoney experts like Wade Allison and George Monbiot are criminally irresponsible, since their advice will lead to millions of deaths."
~ Dr. Chris Busby, Deconstructing Nuclear Experts, March 2011
Also:
British Journal of Radiology published Rationale for using multiple antioxidants in protecting humans against low doses of ionizing radiation in 2005 (with 85 references). It includes, among other things, the following information:
Vitamin A and NAC (N-acetyl-L-Cysteine) "may be effective against radiation-induced carcinogenesis"
Alpha-lipoic acid "lowered lipid peroxidation among children chronically exposed to low doses of radiation in the area contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear accident"
β-carotene (beta-carotene) "reduced cellular damage in the above population of children"
"A combination of vitamin E and α-lipoic acid (alpha lipoic acid) was more effective than the individual agents"
"β-carotene also protected against radiation-induced mucositis during radiation therapy of cancer of the head and neck"
"A combination of dietary antioxidants was more effective in protecting normal tissue during radiation therapy than the individual agents"
You said "I haven't heard how or why the chain reaction simultaneously ceases" --
It DOESN'T, which is why radioactive (and chemically poisonous as well) waste is an issue from power plants, uranium mining and processing, etc. Depleted uranium is less radioactive than new rods used in power plants but still radioactive enough to be a health hazard to soldiers and civilians alike in areas where DU is used.
As for why the chain reactions in bombs cease, it's because the materials are no longer compressed together in tight contact, which is necessary for the chain reaction to continue. Only a small amount can fission before that happens.
The difference between nuclear power plants and nuclear bombs is only a matter of power plants carefully controlling the rate of fission. Bombs release energy almost instantly; power plants release it over a much longer period, and do so with graphite rods carefully placed and adjusted to control the rate of fission.
Cancer and other harm: Yes, people died of radiation poisoning after the Japanese bombings. Yes, the cities are inhabited now; the levels of radiation are no longer of any real concern. FYI, there is still detectable and in some areas dangerous radiation from the Fukushima disaster in the areas surrounding that plant.
As for chernobyl:
"The health effects of the Chernobyl accident are massive and demonstrable. They have been studied by many research groups in Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine, in the USA, Greece, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Japan. The scientific peer reviewed literature is enormous. Hundreds of papers report the effects, increases in cancer and a range of other diseases. My colleague Alexey Yablokov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, published a review of these studies in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2009). Earlier in 2006 he and I collected together reviews of the Russian literature by a group of eminent radiation scientists and published these in the book Chernobyl, 20 Years After. The result: more than a million people have died between 1986 and 2004 as a direct result of Chernobyl. [emphasis added] . . . Joseph Conrad wrote: 'after all the shouting is over, the grim silence of facts remain.' I believe that these phoney experts like Wade Allison and George Monbiot are criminally irresponsible, since their advice will lead to millions of deaths."
~ Dr. Chris Busby, Deconstructing Nuclear Experts, March 2011
Also:
British Journal of Radiology published [Rationale for using multiple antioxidants in protecting humans against low doses of ionizing radiation](Rationale for using multiple antioxidants in protecting humans against low doses of ionizing radiation) in 2005 (with 85 references). It includes, among other things, the following information:
Vitamin A and NAC (N-acetyl-L-Cysteine) "may be effective against radiation-induced carcinogenesis"
Alpha-lipoic acid "lowered lipid peroxidation among children chronically exposed to low doses of radiation in the area contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear accident"
β-carotene (beta-carotene) "reduced cellular damage in the above population of children"
"A combination of vitamin E and α-lipoic acid (alpha lipoic acid) was more effective than the individual agents"
"β-carotene also protected against radiation-induced mucositis during radiation therapy of cancer of the head and neck"
"A combination of dietary antioxidants was more effective in protecting normal tissue during radiation therapy than the individual agents"
You said "I haven't heard how or why the chain reaction simultaneously ceases" --
It DOESN'T, which is why radioactive (and chemically poisonous as well) waste is an issue from power plants, uranium mining and processing, etc. Depleted uranium is less radioactive than new rods used in power plants but still radioactive enough to be a health hazard to soldiers and civilians alike in areas where DU is used.
As for why the chain reactions in bombs cease, it's because the materials are no longer compressed together in tight contact, which is necessary for the chain reaction to continue. Only a small amount can fission before that happens.