BACKGROUND ON
ATOMIC WEAPONRY
WHAT IS AN ATOM BOMB?
• “A general name given to any
weapon in which the explosion results
from the energy released by a
reaction involving atomic nuclei,
either by fission—of uranium or
plutonium; or, fusion—of a heavier
nucleus with two lighter hydrogen
ones. Thus, the A-for atomic bomb,
and the H, for hydrogen bomb are
both nuclear weapons. In the history
of the modern world as we know it,
the atomic bomb was only used
once to kill human beings: it was
dropped on the Japanese people in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.”
• From
http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/2007
08230002.html
ROUGH TIMELINE OF FIRST ATOMIC
BOMB
• 1934 The first nuclear fission is
achieved by Enrico Fermi of Italy.
• January 29,1939 Robert Oppenheimer
realizes the military possibilities of
nuclear fission.
• December 6, 1941 FDR authorizes the
Manhattan Engineering District for the
purpose of creating an atomic
bomb. This would later be called the
'Manhattan Project'.
• May 5, 1943 Japan becomes the
primary target for any future atomic
bomb according to the Military Policy
Committee of the Manhattan Project.
ROUGH TIMELINE
• May 8, 1945 War ends in
Europe.
• July 16, 1945 The world's first
atomic detonation takes
place in the 'Trinity Test' at
Alamogordo, New Mexico.
• August 6, 1945 Little Boy, a
uranium bomb, is
detonated over Hiroshima,
Japan. It kills between
90,000 and 100,000 people
immediately.
• August 9, 1945 The second
atomic bomb to hit Japan,
Fat Man, was scheduled to
be dropped at Kokura.
However, because of poor
weather the target was
moved to Nagasaki.
• Shortly thereafter, Japan
announces its formal
surrender.
• From:
http://americanhistory.abou
t.com/library/timelines/bltim
elinemanhat.htm
PROLIFERATION
• After the US bombed Japan
countries, including the US and
Russia decided nuclear weapons
were a bad thing and agreed to not
continue development.
• However:
• The Soviet Union launched a fullspeed secret nuclear weapons
program. Thanks in part to
espionage, the Soviet scientists were
built a version of the American fission
bomb that was used against
Nagasaki and to conduct a successful
testing of it on August 29, 1949.
• From
http://www.nobelprize.org/
educational/peace/nuclea
r_weapons/readmore.html
RACE TO
DESTRUCTION
• Because the Russians
had a bomb, the US
had to build a BETTER
way to destroy things
so they created the Hbomb which does
more damage (still
nuclear).
• And then because the
US and Russia had all
the weapons, other
countries felt the need
to jump in, too.
COUNTRIES WITH BOMBS
• “Today eight countries possess
nuclear weapons. The five nuclear
weapons states United States, Russia
(former Soviet Union), United
Kingdom, France and China, are the
only countries allowed to have
nuclear weapons according to the
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) from
1970. All members of the United
Nations except Israel, India and
Pakistan have signed the NPT.”
• From:
http://www.nobelprize.org/education
al/peace/nuclear_weapons/readmor
e.html
CURRENTLY
• Rogue countries, such
as Iran and North Korea
have nuclear weapon
programs in place.
Other countries try to
keep rogue countries
from creating atomic
weapons.
• Terrorists also try to get
their hands on nuclear
materials to either
create fusion bombs or
dirty bombs (radiation
release).
WHY DO SO MANY COUNTRIES HAVE
H-BOMBS?
• Mutually assured destruction (M.A.D.)
• Is a military theory that if one country
has enough military nuclear might to
destroy its neighbor, then that
neighbor needs to have the exact
same capability.
• Therefore, each country could destroy
each other – but they don’t because
no one wants to totally destroy each
other.
• It’s used as a deterrent for nuclear
war.
•
From
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Mut
ual_assured_destruction.html