The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter.

A nuclear weapon is a weapon that derives its energy from the nuclear reactions of fission and/or fusion. Even the smallest nuclear weapons are significantly more powerful than even the largest conventional explosives. A ten-megaton weapon can destroy an entire city. A hundred-megaton weapon (although judged impractical) would set wooden houses and forests afire in a circle 60-100 miles (100-160 km) in diameter¹. Nuclear weapons have been delivered twice in the history of warfare – both in the ending days of World War II; the first such bombing was on the morning of 6 August 1945, when the United States dropped a uranium gun-type device code-named "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and the last nuclear bombing occurred three days later; this second bomb was a plutonium implosion-type device code- named "Fat Man", dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x1094, 131 KB)Picture taken of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x1094, 131 KB)Picture taken of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. ... The atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke, flame, or debris resulting from a very large explosion. ... Citizens of Hiroshima walk by the A-Bomb Dome, the closest building to have survived the citys atomic bombing. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The epicenter is directly above the earthquakes focus. ... The bayonet, still used in war as both knife and spearpoint. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... City lights from space. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Little Boy bomb casing Little Boy was the codename given to the nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on Monday, August 6, 1945. ... Main keep of Hiroshima Castle The city of Hiroshima (広島市; -shi) is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the largest of Japans islands. ... A post-war Fat Man model. ... Megane-bashi (Spectacles Bridge) Nagasaki   listen? (長崎市; -shi, literally long peninsula) is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture located at the south-western coast of Kyushu, Japan. ...

Testing accounts for the rest of more than two thousand nuclear detonations, chiefly by the following seven states: the United States, Soviet Union, France, United Kingdom, China, India and Pakistan. A nuclear test explosion is an experiment involving the detonation of a nuclear weapon. ...

The declared nuclear powers are the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the People's Republic of China, India, and Pakistan. In addition, Israel has modern aerial delivery systems and there is evidence of an extensive nuclear program, though such has never been publicly admitted (see: Israel and weapons of mass destruction). North Korea has stated recently that it has nuclear capabilities; Ukraine may possess an obsolete Soviet nuclear stockpile due to a post-Cold War clerical error. Iran and others may be attempting to develop indigenous nuclear capabilities. (For more details, see List of countries with nuclear weapons.) Israel is very widely believed to possess a substantial arsenal of nuclear weapons and intermediate-range ballistic missiles to deliver them. ... For the generic term for a high-tension rivalry between countries, see cold war (war). ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... There are currently five states considered to be nuclear weapons states, an internationally recognized status conferred by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). ...

Non-weaponized nuclear explosives have been proposed for various non-military uses. A nuclear explosive is an explosive device that derives its energy from nuclear reactions. ...

Types of nuclear weapons

The two basic fission weapon designs.

Main article: Nuclear weapon design

The simplest nuclear weapons derive their energy from nuclear fission. A mass of fissile material is rapidly assembled into a critical mass, in which a chain reaction begins and grows exponentially, releasing tremendous amounts of energy. This is accomplished either by shooting one piece of subcritical material into another, or compressing a subcritical mass into a state of supercriticality. A major challenge in all nuclear weapon designs is ensuring that a significant fraction of the fuel is consumed before the weapon destroys itself. These are colloquially known as atomic bombs. Schematic representation of the two methods with which to assemble a fission bomb (see nuclear weapons design for more information). ... The first nuclear weapons, though large, cumbersome and inefficient, provided the basic design building blocks of all future weapons. ... Sketch of induced nuclear fission, a neutron (n) strikes a uranium nucleus which splits into similar products (F. P.), and releases more neutrons to continue the process, and energy in the form of gamma and other radiation. ... This article or section should include material from Fissile material In nuclear engineering, a fissile material is one that is capable of sustaining a chain reaction of nuclear fission. ... San Francisco Critical Mass, 29th April, 2005. ... Several things have been named Chain Reaction, after the chain reaction process best known in connection with nuclear fission: Chain Reaction, a film Chain Reaction, a 1990s record label Chain Reaction, a 1980s game show Chain Reaction, a 1970s band A Square Dance Call on the A1 List A Series... In mathematics, a quantity that grows exponentially is one that grows at a rate proportional to its size. ... For example, one neutron would hit the nucleus, causing two neutrons to be released, which would then hit the next nucleus, causing four neutrons to be released, and so on. ...

More advanced nuclear weapons take advantage of nuclear fusion to derive more energy. In such a weapon, the X-ray thermal radiation from a nuclear fission explosion is used to heat and compress a capsule of tritium, deuterium, or lithium, in which fusion occurs, releasing even more energy. These weapons, colloquially known as hydrogen bombs, can be many hundreds of times more powerful than fission weapons. The so-called "Teller-Ulam design" is thought to be responsible for megaton range thermonuclear weapons. The deuterium-tritium fusion reaction is considered the most promising for producing fusion power. ... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Tritium (symbol T or 3H) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. ... Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is a stable isotope of hydrogen with a natural abundance of one atom in 6500 of hydrogen. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lithium, Li, 3 Chemical series alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1, 2, s Appearance silvery white/gray Atomic mass 6. ... The basics of the Teller-Ulam configuration: a fission bomb uses radiation to compress and heats a separate section of fusion fuel. ...

More exotic nuclear weapons also exist, designed for special purposes. The detonation of a nuclear weapon is accompanied by a blast of neutron radiation. Surrounding a nuclear weapon with suitable materials (such as cobalt or gold) can result in the production of exceptionally large quantities of radioactive contamination. A nuclear weapon may also be designed to permit as many neutrons as possible to escape; such a weapon is called a neutron bomb. Hypothetical antimatter weapons, which would use matter-antimatter reactions, would not technically be nuclear weapons (as they would not be using energy derived from either nuclear fission or fusion), but bear noting due to a potentially higher potential energy by weight than conventional or nuclear explosives. Neutron radiation consists of free neutrons. ... This article is on the periodic element. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... The radiation warning symbol (trefoil). ... A neutron bomb is a type of nuclear weapon specifically designed to release a relatively large portion of its energy as energetic neutron radiation. ... An antimatter weapon is a hypothetical device using antimatter as a power source, a propellant, or an explosive for a weapon. ... Antimatter is matter that is composed of the antiparticles of those that constitute normal matter. ...

Effects of a nuclear explosion

Main article: Nuclear explosion

A radioactive fireball tops the smoke column from a nuclear weapon test.

The energy released from a nuclear weapon comes in four primary categories: A 23 kiloton tower shot called BADGER, fired on April 18, 1953 at the Nevada Test Site, as part of the Operation Upshot-Knothole nuclear test. ... Download high resolution version (559x700, 396 KB) 14 kiloton atomic explosion, from a 1951 US nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site. ... Download high resolution version (559x700, 396 KB) 14 kiloton atomic explosion, from a 1951 US nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site. ...

• Blast—40-60% of total energy
• Thermal radiation—30-50% of total energy
• Ionizing radiation—5% of total energy
• Residual radiation (fallout)—5-10% of total energy

The amount of energy released in each form depends on the design of the weapon, and the environment in which it is detonated. The residual radiation of fallout is a delayed release of energy, while the other three forms of energy release are immediate. Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a nuclear explosion and is named from the fact that it falls out of the atmosphere in to which it is spread during the explosion. ...

The energy released by nuclear weapons is generally measured in its equivalence to kilotons and megatons—thousands and millions of tons, respectively—of TNT. The first fission weapons had yields measurable in the tens of kilotons, while the largest practical hydrogen bombs had yields around 10 megatons. In practice, nuclear weapon yields can be highly variable, from the sub-kiloton power of the man-portable Davy Crockett warheads developed by the United States, to the record 54-megaton Tsar Bomba created by the Soviet Union. A megaton or megatonne is a unit of mass equal to 1,000,000 metric tons, i. ... A megaton or megatonne is a unit of mass equal to 1,000,000 metric tons, i. ... Trinitrotoluene (TNT, or Trotyl) is a pale yellow crystalline aromatic hydrocarbon compound that melts at 354 K (178 Â°F, 81 °C). ... Davy Crockett mounted to a recoilless rifle on a tripod The M-388 Davy Crockett was a tactical nuclear recoilless rifle projectile that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War. ... Tsar Bomba casing on display at Arzamas-16 Tsar Bomba (Russian: Царь-бомба, meaning literally Emperor Bomb), developed by the Soviet Union, was the largest nuclear explosive device in history. ...

The dominant effects of a nuclear weapon (the blast and thermal radiation) are the same physical damage mechanisms as conventional explosives. The primary difference is that nuclear weapons are capable of releasing much larger amounts of energy at once. Most of the damage caused by a nuclear weapon is not directly related to the nuclear process of energy release, but would be present for any explosion of the same magnitude. If a weapon is set off in the upper atmosphere, it can also generate an electromagnetic pulse which can disable radio communications as well as damage certain types of electrical instruments. This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... In telecommunications and warfare, the term electromagnetic pulse (EMP) has the following meanings: The electromagnetic radiation from an explosion (especially nuclear explosions) or an intensely fluctuating magnetic field caused by Compton-recoil electrons and photoelectrons from photons scattered in the materials of the electronic or explosive device or in a...

The damage done by each of the three initial forms of energy release differs with the size of the weapon. Thermal radiation drops off the slowest with distance, so the larger the weapon the more important this effect becomes. Ionizing radiation is strongly absorbed by air, so it is only dangerous by itself for smaller weapons. Blast damage falls off more quickly than thermal radiation but more slowly than ionizing radiation.

Weapons delivery

The term strategic nuclear weapons is generally used to denote large weapons which would be used to destroy large targets, such as cities. Tactical nuclear weapons are smaller weapons used to destroy specific military, communications, or infrastructure targets. By modern standards, the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 may perhaps be considered tactical weapons (with yields between 13 and 22 kilotons (54 to 92 TJ)), although modern tactical weapons are considerably lighter and more compact. Citizens of Hiroshima walk by the A-Bomb Dome, the closest building to have survived the citys atomic bombing. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Basic methods of delivery for nuclear weapons are:

Gravity bombs

The first nuclear weapons, such as the "Fat Man" device, were large and cumbersome gravity bombs.

No nuclear weapon qualifies as a "wooden bomb" — US military slang for a bomb that is trouble-free, maintenance-free, and danger-free under all conditions. Gravity bombs are designed to be dropped from planes, which requires that the weapon can withstand vibrations and changes in air temperature and pressure during the course of a flight. Early weapons often had a removable core for safety, installed by the air crew during flight. They had to meet safety conditions, to prevent accidental detonation or dropping. A variety of types also had to have a fuse to initiate detonation. US nuclear weapons that met these criteria are designated by the letter "B" followed, without a hyphen, by the sequential number of the "physics package" it contains. The "B61", for example, was the primary bomb in the US arsenal for decades. Image File history File links A picture of a mockup of the Fat Man nuclear device, from http://www. ... Image File history File links A picture of a mockup of the Fat Man nuclear device, from http://www. ... A post-war Fat Man model. ... B-61 gravity bomb; this nuclear munition has been identified as one that could be modified to hit hardened underground targets. ... Physics package is a euphemism for the portion of a nuclear weapon that includes the actual explosive portion of the weapon: the detonator explosives, the fissile material, and (for fusion weapons) fusion fuel. ... The B61 nuclear bomb is the primary thermonuclear weapon in the U.S. Enduring Stockpile following the end of the Cold War. ...

Various air-dropping techniques exist, including toss bombing, parachute-retarded delivery, and laydown modes, intended to give the dropping aircraft time to escape the ensuing blast. Toss bombing (sometimes known as loft bombing) is a method of bombing where the attacking aircraft pulls upwards and releases its bomb load, giving the bomb additional forward velocity. ... The Apollo 15 capsule landed safely despite a parachute failure. ... Laydown delivery is a mode of deploying a free-fall nuclear weapon in which the bombs fall is slowed by parachute so that it actually lands on the ground before detonating. ...

The first gravity nuclear bombs could only be carried by the B-29 Superfortress. The next generation of weapons were still so big and heavy that they could only be carried by bombers such as the B-52 Stratofortress and V bombers, but by the mid-1950s smaller weapons had been developed that could be carried and deployed by simple fighter-bombers. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Boeing Model 341/345) was a four-engine heavy bomber flown by the United States Army Air Force. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The term V bomber was used for the Royal Air Force aircraft during the 1950s and 1960s that comprised the UKs strategic nuclear strike force. ... // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... A ground attack aircraft is an aircraft that is designed to operate very close to the ground, supporting infantry and tanks directly in battle. ...

Ballistic missile warheads

A MIRVed missile (such as the LG-118A Peacekeeper) can hold multiple nuclear warheads on one missile bus.

Missiles using a ballistic trajectory usually deliver a warhead over the horizon. Some ballistic missiles may have a range of tens to hundreds of kilometers, while larger ICBMs or SLBMs may use suborbital or partial orbital trajectories for intercontinental range. Early ballistic missiles carried a single warhead, often of megaton-range yield. Due to accuracy considerations, this kind of high yield was considered necessary in order to ensure a particular target's destruction. W87 warhead on MIRV bus. ... W87 warhead on MIRV bus. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Test launch of a Peacekeeper ICBM by the 576 Flight Test Squadron, Vandenberg AFB, CA (USAF) The LG-118A Peacekeeper is a land-based ICBM deployed by the United States starting in 1986. ... A missile (British English: miss-isle; U.S. English: missl) is, in general, a projectile—that is, something thrown or otherwise propelled. ... Ballistics (gr. ... A warhead is an explosive device used in military conflicts, used to destroy enemy vehicles or buildings. ... Polish missile wz. ... A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... Submarine-launched ballistic missiles or SLBMs are ballistic missiles delivering nuclear weapons that are launched from submarines. ... A megaton or megatonne is a unit of mass equal to 1,000,000 metric tons, i. ...

Since the 1970s modern ballistic weapons have seen the development of far more accurate targeting technologies. This set the stage for the use of "Multiple Independently-targettable Re-entry Vehicles" (MIRVs) with up to a dozen independently targetable warheads, usually in the hundreds-of-kilotons-range yield, on one ballistic platform. This allows for a number of advantages over a missile with a single warhead. It allows a single missile to strike a variety of apparently unrelated targets, or it can inflict maximum damage on a single target by encircling the target with warheads, as well as providing such an onslaught of warheads in conjunction with other tactical weapons that any form of defensive technology would be rendered useless. Soviet plans in the '70s were said to entail dropping one MIRV based warhead every ninety seconds to three minutes on major US targets for up to an hour. This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A warhead is an explosive device used in military conflicts, used to destroy enemy vehicles or buildings. ... A megaton or megatonne is a unit of mass equal to 1,000,000 metric tons, i. ...

Missile warheads in the American arsenal are indicated by the letter "W"; for example, the W61 missile warhead would have the same physics package as the B61 gravity bomb described above, but it would have different environmental requirements, and different safety requirements since it would not be crew-tended after launch and remain atop a missile for a great length of time. Physics package is a euphemism for the portion of a nuclear weapon that includes the actual explosive portion of the weapon: the detonator explosives, the fissile material, and (for fusion weapons) fusion fuel. ...

Cruise missile warheads

Cruise missiles have a shorter range than ICBMs, but would be harder for an enemy to detect or intercept.

A jet engine or rocket-propelled missile that flies at low altitude using an automated guidance system (usually inertial navigation, sometimes supplemented by either GPS or mid-course updates from friendly forces) to make them harder to detect or intercept could carry a nuclear warhead. Cruise missiles have shorter range and smaller payloads than ballistic missiles, so their warheads are smaller and less powerful. Rather than multiple warheads, which would have to be dropped separately as though the cruise missile were itself a bomber, each cruise missile carries its own warhead, although the B-1 Lancer bomber was designed to carry in its bomb-bay a rotating fixture for cruise missiles which resembles a set of MIRV warheads. Conventional cruise missiles sometimes use cluster munition payloads, though. Cruise missiles may be launched from mobile launchers on the ground, from naval ships, or from aircraft. Download high resolution version (2100x1575, 2341 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (2100x1575, 2341 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A Tomahawk cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile which uses a lifting wing and most often a jet propulsion system to allow sustained flight. ... A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... A Redstone rocket, part of the Mercury program A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust gas from within a rocket engine. ... A missile (British English: miss-isle; U.S. English: missl) is, in general, a projectile—that is, something thrown or otherwise propelled. ... An inertial navigation system measures the position and altitude of a vehicle by measuring the accelerations and rotations applied to the systems inertial frame. ... Over fifty GPS satellites such as this NAVSTAR have been launched since 1978. ... A Tomahawk cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile which uses a lifting wing and most often a jet propulsion system to allow sustained flight. ... The B-1 Lancer The Boeing IDS (formerly Rockwell) B-1B Lancer is a long-range strategic bomber in service with the USAF. Together with the B-52 Stratofortress, it is the backbone of the United States long-range bomber force. ... Cluster bomb exploding A cluster bomb is an air-dropped bomb that ejects multiple small submunitions (bomblets). ...

There is no letter change in the US arsenal to distinguish the warheads of cruise missiles from those for ballistic missiles.

Other delivery systems

The Davy Crockett artillery shell was the smallest nuclear weapon developed by the USA.

Other potential delivery methods include artillery shells, mines such as Blue Peacock, and nuclear depth charges and torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare. An atomic mortar was also tested. In the 1950s the U.S. developed small nuclear warheads for air defense use, such as the Nike Hercules. Further developments of this concept, some with much larger warheads, showed promise as anti-ballistic missiles. Most of the United States' nuclear air-defense weapons were out of service by the end of the 1960s, and nuclear depth bombs were taken out of service by 1990. However, the USSR (and later Russia) continues to maintain anti-ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. Small, two-man portable tactical weapons (erroneously referred to as suitcase bombs), such as the Special Atomic Demolition Munition, have been developed, although the difficulty of balancing yield and portability limits their military utility. Davy Crockett Bomb (U.S. Government Archive photo) File links The following pages link to this file: Nuclear weapon Nuclear artillery Davy Crockett (nuclear device) Categories: U.S. Army images ... Davy Crockett Bomb (U.S. Government Archive photo) File links The following pages link to this file: Nuclear weapon Nuclear artillery Davy Crockett (nuclear device) Categories: U.S. Army images ... Davy Crockett mounted to a recoilless rifle on a tripod The M-388 Davy Crockett was a tactical nuclear recoilless rifle projectile that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War. ... A nuclear artillery shell is a limited yield nuclear weapon fired from artillery. ... Blue Peacock was the codename of a British project in the 1950s with the goal to place a number of 10 kiloton nuclear mines in the Rhine area in Germany. ... Depth Charge used by U.S. Navy later in World War II The depth charge is the oldest anti-submarine weapon. ... Anti-submarine warfare is a term referring to warfare directed against submarines. ... // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... Launch of a Nike Zeus missile Project Nike was a US Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Labs, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. ... An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a missile designed to counter intercontinental ballistic missiles: the strategic ballistic missiles used to deliver nuclear weapons or their elements in flight trajectory. ... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Suitcase with hypothetical nuclear weapon mock-up inside A suitcase bomb is a bomb which uses a suitcase as its delivery method. ... The Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM) was a United States Navy and Marines project that was demonstrated as feasible in the mid-to-late 1960s, but was never used. ...

See list of nuclear weapons for a list of the designs of nuclear weapons fielded by the various nuclear powers. This is a list of nuclear weapons ordered by state and then type within the states. ...

History

Main article: History of nuclear weapons

The aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

The first nuclear weapons were created by the United States, with assistance from the United Kingdom, during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. While the first weapons were developed primarily out of fear that Nazi Germany would first develop them, they were eventually used against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The Soviet Union developed and tested their first nuclear weapon in 1949, based partially on espionage obtained from spies in the USA, and both the USA and USSR developed fusion weapons by the mid-1950s. With the invention of reliable rocketry during the 1960s, it became possible for nuclear weapons to be delivered anywhere in the world on a very short notice, and the two Cold War superpowers adopted a strategy of deterrence to maintain a shaky peace. A nuclear fireball lights up the night in a United States nuclear test. ... Source: http://www. ... Source: http://www. ... Citizens of Hiroshima walk by the A-Bomb Dome, the closest building to have survived the citys atomic bombing. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ... Control panels and operators for calutrons at the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Citizens of Hiroshima walk by the A-Bomb Dome, the closest building to have survived the citys atomic bombing. ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust from within a rocket engine. ... For the generic term for a high-tension rivalry between countries, see cold war (war). ... Deterrence ALOHA!! is a means of controlling a persons behavior through negative motivational influences, namely fear of punishment. ...

Nuclear weapons were symbols of military and national power, and nuclear testing was often used both to test new designs as well as to send political messages. Other nations also developed nuclear weapons during this time, including the United Kingdom, France, and China. These five members of the "nuclear club" agreed to attempt to limit the spread of nuclear proliferation to other nations, though at least three other countries (India, South Africa, Pakistan, and most likely Israel) developed nuclear arms during this time. At the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the Russian Federation inherited the weapons of the former USSR, and along with the USA pledged to reduce their stockpile for increased international safety. Nuclear proliferation has continued, though, with Pakistan testing their first weapons in 1998, and the state of North Korea claiming to have developed nuclear weapons in 2004. Nuclear weapons have been at the heart of many national and international political disputes, and have played a major part in popular culture since their dramatic public debut in the 1940s, and have usually symbolized the ultimate ability of mankind to utilize the strength of nature for destruction. A nuclear test explosion is an experiment involving the detonation of a nuclear weapon. ... Nuclear proliferation is the spread from nation to nation of nuclear technology, including nuclear power plants but especially nuclear weapons. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

There have been (at least) four major false alarms, the most recent in 1995, that almost resulted in the US or Russia launching its weapons in retaliation for a supposed attack.[1]

Media

Eniwetok nuclear detonation tests ( info) Video clips of three test nuclear explosions in Eniwetok, Marshall Islands. Problems seeing the videos? Media help.

Image File history File links Image:FilmRoll-small. ... Enewetak atomic detonations. ...

Related topics

• More technical details
  • Nuclear weapon design
  • Nuclear explosion
• History
  • History of nuclear weapons
  • Manhattan Project
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Nuclear testing
  • Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  • Soviet atomic bomb project
  • German nuclear energy project
  • Japanese atomic program
  • List of nuclear accidents (including nuclear weapons accidents)
• Related technology and science
  • Nuclear physics
  • Nuclear fission
  • Nuclear fusion
  • Nuclear reactor
  • Nuclear engineering
• Military strategy
  • Nuclear warfare
  • Nuclear strategy
  • Mutual Assured Destruction
  • Fractional Orbital Bombardment System
• Proliferation and politics
  • Nuclear proliferation
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
  • Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
  • Nuclear disarmament
  • International Court of Justice advisory opinion on legality of nuclear weapons
  • List of countries with nuclear weapons
  • List of nuclear weapons
• Popular culture
  • Nuclear weapons in popular culture

Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ... Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ... Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of any organism (bacteria, virus or other disease-causing organism) or toxin found in nature, as a weapon of war. ... Dressing the wounded during a gas attack by Austin O. Spare, 1918. ... A radiological weapon (or radiological dispersion device, RDD) is any weapon that is designed to spread radioactive contamination, either to kill, or to deny the use of an area (a modern version of salting the earth) and consists of a device (such as a nuclear or conventional explosive) which spreads... The Peoples Republic of China is said to have an arsenal of 390 nuclear weapons stockpiled as of 1999. ... The Republic of China on Taiwan denies having chemical or nuclear weapons. ... There are currently five states considered to be nuclear weapons states, an internationally recognized status conferred by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). ... Nuclear proliferation is the spread from nation to nation of nuclear technology, including nuclear power plants but especially nuclear weapons. ... Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. ... Nuclear terrorism can be used to describe any of the following terrorist assaults: Use of nuclear weapons against a civilian target Use of a radiological weapon or dirty bomb against a civilian target An attack against a nuclear power plant Some believe that no such act has ever taken place. ... Nuclear war, or atomic war, is war in which nuclear weapons are used. ... A nuclear fireball lights up the night in a United States nuclear test. ... The first nuclear weapons, though large, cumbersome and inefficient, provided the basic design building blocks of all future weapons. ... A 23 kiloton tower shot called BADGER, fired on April 18, 1953 at the Nevada Test Site, as part of the Operation Upshot-Knothole nuclear test. ... A nuclear test explosion is an experiment involving the detonation of a nuclear weapon. ... The term dirty bomb is most often used to refer to a Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD), a radiological weapon which combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. ... Radiological warfare is any form of warfare involving deliberate radiation poisoning, without relying on nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. ... The first nuclear weapons, though large, cumbersome and inefficient, provided the basic design building blocks of all future weapons. ... A 23 kiloton tower shot called BADGER, fired on April 18, 1953 at the Nevada Test Site, as part of the Operation Upshot-Knothole nuclear test. ... A nuclear fireball lights up the night in a United States nuclear test. ... Control panels and operators for calutrons at the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. ... Los Alamos National Laboratory, aerial view from 1995. ... A nuclear test explosion is an experiment involving the detonation of a nuclear weapon. ... Citizens of Hiroshima walk by the A-Bomb Dome, the closest building to have survived the citys atomic bombing. ... The Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb began during World War II in the Soviet Union. ... The German experimental nuclear pile at Haigerloch The German nuclear energy project was an endeavor by scientists during World War II in Nazi Germany to develop nuclear energy and an atomic bomb for practical use. ... Yoshio Nishina The Japanese atomic program was a program by the Empire of Japan to develop a genzai bakudan, an atomic bomb during World War II. The program started around the same time as the U.S. Manhattan Project. ... Pathways from airborne radioactive contamination to man This is a list of notable accidents involving nuclear material. ... Nuclear physics is the branch of physics concerned with the nucleus of the atom. ... Sketch of induced nuclear fission, a neutron (n) strikes a uranium nucleus which splits into similar products (F. P.), and releases more neutrons to continue the process, and energy in the form of gamma and other radiation. ... The deuterium-tritium fusion reaction is considered the most promising for producing fusion power. ... Nuclear power station at Leibstadt, Switzerland. ... Nuclear engineering is the practical application of the principles of nuclear physics and the interaction between radiation and matter. ... Military strategy in the Waterloo campaign Military strategy is a collective name for planning the conduct of warfare. ... Nuclear war, or atomic war, is war in which nuclear weapons are used. ... Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. ... Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is the doctrine of military strategy in which a full scale use of nuclear weapons by one of two opposing sides would result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender. ... Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) was a Soviet ICBM in the 1960s with a low Earth orbit that would de-orbit for an attack. ... Nuclear proliferation is the spread from nation to nation of nuclear technology, including nuclear power plants but especially nuclear weapons. ... Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Opened for signature July 1, 1968 at New York Entered into force March 5, 1970 Conditions for entry into force Ratification by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, and 40 other signatory states. ... Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Opened for signature September 10, 1996[1] at New York Entered into force Not yet in force Conditions for entry into force Ratification by all of the following 44 states: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Democratic Peoples Republic... Nuclear disarmament is the proposed undeployment and dismantling of nuclear weapons particularly those the United States and the Soviet Union (later Russia) targeted on each other. ... The Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 8 July 1996 provides one of the few authoritative judicial decisions concerning the legality under international law of the use (or the threatened use) of nuclear weapons. ... There are currently five states considered to be nuclear weapons states, an internationally recognized status conferred by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). ... This is a list of nuclear weapons ordered by state and then type within the states. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

References

• Note 1: p. 54. Bethe, Hans Albrecht. The Road from Los Alamos. Simon and Schuster, New York. (1991 ISBN 0-671-74012-1)
• Glasstone, Samuel and Dolan, Philip J., The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (third edition), U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977. PDF Version
• NATO Handbook on the Medical Aspects of NBC Defensive Operations (Part I - Nuclear), Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, Washington, D.C., 1996.
• Hansen, Chuck. U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History, Arlington, TX: Aerofax, 1988.
• Hansen, Chuck. The Swords of Armageddon: U.S. nuclear weapons development since 1945, Sunnyvale, CA: Chukelea Publications, 1995 [2].
• Smyth, Henry DeWolf. Atomic Energy for Military Purposes, Princeton University Press, 1945. (The first declassified report by the US government on nuclear weapons) (Smyth Report)
• The Effects of Nuclear War, Office of Technology Assessment (May 1979).
• Rhodes, Richard. Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. Simon and Schuster, New York, (1995 ISBN 0684824140)
• Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Simon and Schuster, New York, (1986 ISBN 0684813785)
• Weart, Spencer R. Nuclear Fear: A History of Images. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1988.

Hans Bethe Hans Albrecht Bethe (pronounced Bay-tuh; July 2, 1906 – March 6, 2005), was a German-American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1967 for his discovery of stellar nucleosynthesis. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Henry DeWolf Smyth (May 1, 1898 – September 11, 1986) was an American physicist, diplomat, and a bureaucrat who played a number of key roles in the early development of nuclear energy. ... The Smyth Report was the common name given to an administrative history written by physicist Henry DeWolf Smyth about the Allied World War II effort to develop the atomic bomb, the Manhattan Project. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• The Race to Build the Atomic Bomb
• Nuclear Weapon Archive from Carey Sublette is a reliable source of information and has links to other sources and an informative FAQ.
• Nuclear weapon simulator for several major cities
• Fallout Calculator for various regions
• Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons: Making the Connections
• The Federation of American Scientists provide solid information on weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons and their effects
• The Nuclear War Survival Skills is a public domain text and is an excellent source on how to survive a nuclear attack.
• Step by step scenario of a 150 kiloton bomb exploding in Manhattan - click on the Next >> button at the bottom of each slide.
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
• Hiroshima A-bomb Photo Museum
• The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
• NHK Peace Archives reports the program which makes the picture of the importance of the terrible disaster of atomic bomb and peace.
• IPPNW: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization with information about the medical consequences of nuclear weapons, war and militarization.
• Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - Magazine founded in 1945 by Manhattan Project scientists. Covers nuclear weapons proliferation and many other global security issues. See this page for comprehensive data on nuclear weapons worldwide.