10th American History
Unit IV- A Champion of Democracy
Chapter 16
Section 2- Atomic Anxiety
Atomic Anxiety
The Main Idea
The growing power of, and military reliance on, nuclear
weapons helped create significant anxiety in the American
public in the 1950s.
Reading Focus
• What was the hydrogen bomb, and when was it developed?
• What was the arms race, and what were its effects in the United
States?
• How did Americans react to the growing threat of nuclear war?
Atomic Bombs (03:34)
The Hydrogen Bomb
The
Hydrogen
Bomb
Making
the
Bomb

Gets its power from fusing together hydrogen atoms

Fusion—the process that creates the energy of the sun and
stars

A fusion bomb is hundreds of times more powerful than an
atomic bomb.

Developed during the 1940s and early 1950s

First detonated on November 1, 1952, on Eniwetak Atoll in
the Marshall Islands

3-mile-diameter fireball, 10.4 megatons of energy

Soviets successfully tested an H-bomb in August of 1953.
Nuclear Threat


As an unpredictable Cold War settled
in, several U.S. scientists argued for
an all-out effort to build an even more
powerful weapon: a hydrogen bomb.
Edward Teller, an émigré physicist,
pushed for a program to build what he
called "the Super"-- a hydrogen fusion
bomb. "If the Russians demonstrate a
Super before we possess one," said
Teller, "our situation will be hopeless.”
Andrei Sakharov, a brilliant young
Russian physicist, had also been
given the task of designing a fusion
bomb for the Soviet Union. Thanks to
the Soviet spy Klaus Fuchs, Sakharov
was familiar with Teller's design, but
he soon decided on a different
approach.

By 1952 the Super was ready for
its first test. The fireball of the
first H-bomb grew to a diameter
of three miles and vaporized an
entire island in the Pacific atoll of
Eniwetok. The H-bomb's yield
was ten megatons, a thousand
times greater than the atomic
bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
1 Megaton Hydrogen Bomb
Surface Blast: Pressure
Damage
The fission bomb detonated over
Hiroshima had an explosive blast equivalent to
12,500 tons of TNT.
A 1 megaton hydrogen fusion bomb,
hypothetically detonated on the earth's surface,
has about 80 times the blast power of that 1945
explosion.
Radius of destructive circle: 1.7 miles
12 pounds per square inch
12

At the center lies a crater 200 feet
deep and 1000 feet in diameter.
The rim of this crater is 1,000 feet
wide and is composed of highly
radioactive soil and debris.
Nothing recognizable remains
within about 3,200 feet (0.6 miles)
from the center, except, perhaps,
the remains of some buildings'
foundations. At 1.7 miles, only
some of the strongest buildings -those made of reinforced, poured
concrete -- are still standing.
Ninety-eight percent of the
population in this area are dead.
Radius: 2.7 miles- 5 psi
5
Virtually everything is
destroyed between the 12 and 5
psi rings. The walls of typical
multi-story buildings, including
apartment buildings, have been
completely blown out. The bare,
structural skeletons of more and
more buildings rise above the
debris as you approach the 5 psi
ring. Single-family residences
within this this area have been
completely blown away -- only
their foundations remain. Fifty
percent of the population between
the 12 and 5 psi rings are dead.
Forty percent are injured.
Radius: 4.7 miles - 2 psi
2
Any single-family residences
that have not been completely
destroyed are heavily damaged.
The windows of office buildings
have been blown away, as have
some of their walls. The contents
of these buildings' upper floors,
including the people who were
working there, are scattered on
the street. A substantial amount of
debris clutters the entire area.
Five percent of the population
between the 5 and 2 psi rings are
dead. Forty-five percent are
injured.
Radius: 7.4 miles -1 psi
1
Residences are moderately
damaged. Commercial buildings
have sustained minimal damage.
Twenty-five percent of the
population between the 2 and 1
psi rings have been injured,
mainly by flying glass and debris.
Many others have been injured
from thermal radiation -- the heat
generated by the blast. The
remaining seventy-five percent are
unhurt.
1 Megaton Surface Blast:
Fallout
One of the effects of nuclear weapons detonated on or near the
earth's surface is the resulting radioactive fallout. Immediately after the
detonation, a great deal of earth and debris, made radioactive by the blast, is
carried high into the atmosphere, forming a mushroom cloud. The material
drifts downwind and gradually falls back to earth, contaminating thousands
of square miles. This page describes the fallout pattern over a seven-day
period.
Assumptions
Wind speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: due east
Time frame: 7 days
1 Megaton Surface
Blast:Fallout
 3,000 Rem*
Distance: 30 miles
Much more than a lethal dose of radiation. Death can occur within hours of exposure.
About 10 years will need to pass before levels of radioactivity in this area drop low
enough to be considered safe, by U.S. peacetime standards.

900 Rem
Distance: 90 miles
A lethal dose of radiation. Death occurs from two to fourteen days.

300 Rem
Distance: 160 miles
Causes extensive internal damage, including harm to nerve cells and the cells that
line the digestive tract, and results in a loss of white blood cells. Temporary hair loss
is another result.

90 Rem
Distance: 250 miles
Causes a temporary decrease in white blood cells, although there are no immediate
harmful effects. Two to three years will need to pass before radioactivity levels in this
The Hydrogen Bomb




What was the hydrogen bomb and when was
it developed?
Recall – What reasons did the General
Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy
Commission give for not developing a “super
bomb”?
Predict – What do you think would have
happened if the United States had never built
a hydrogen bomb?
Evaluate – Why do you think the United
States chose not to use nuclear weapons
during the Korean War?
Science & Technology (03:09)
The Arms Race
Arms race—An international contest between the United
States and the Soviet Union in which each side was
seeking a military advantage over the other
New military strategies—Less reliance on conventional
forces, such as soldiers and tanks, and more reliance on
nuclear weapons, brinkmanship, and massive retaliation
These new strategies made keeping the lead in the arms
race very important.
New bombs and technology—The use of nuclear
weapons promoted the research and development of new
bombs and other technology.
The Arms Race
New Bombs




Scientists worked to make
bombs smaller and more
easily delivered to enemy
targets.
Aircraft were the preferred
means of delivering nuclear
weapons.
The U.S. fleet of bombers
were spread out and
constantly on the move.
By the end of the 1950s,
intercontinental ballistic
missiles, or ICBMs, were
developed that could carry
nuclear weapons.
New Technology

In 1954 the Navy launched
the first nuclear-powered
submarine.

The submarines could
travel for months without
needing to refuel.

The nuclear-powered
submarines were equipped
with nuclear weapons.

Nuclear power plants in the
United States produced
electricity in 1957.
ICBM

An intercontinental
ballistic missile, or
ICBM, is a very longrange (greater than
5,500 km or 3,500
miles) ballistic missile
typically designed for
nuclear weapons
delivery, that is,
delivering one or more
nuclear warheads. Due
to their great range and
firepower, in an all-out
nuclear war, submarine
and land-based ICBMs
would carry most of the
destructive force, with
nuclear-armed bombers
the remainder.
The Titan II weapon
system fits into the same
category as the B-36
bomber, which was never
used in an armed conflict
but did fulfill its mission.
The Titan II has also
fulfilled its mission. The
mission of the Titan II
weapon system was
deterrence. It has never
been the intent of the
United States to launch a
nuclear-tipped missile
against another nation.
The top left-hand circle
enclosing 9 megatons
represents the weapons
on just one Poseidon
submarine. This is
equal to the firepower
of three World War II's
and enough to destroy
over 200 of the Soviet's
largest cities.
The circle in the
lower left-hand
square enclosing 24
megatons represents
just one Trident sub
with the firepower
of eight World War
II's - enough to
destroy every city in
the northern
hemisphere.
Nuclear
Weapons
Chart
This chart shows the
world's current firepower.
The center dot represents
the firepower of the World
War II: 3 megatons.
The other dots represent
the world's present
nuclear weaponry which
equals 6,000 World War
II's or 18,000 megatons.
The USA and the USSR
share this firepower with
approximately equal
destructive capability.
Just two squares on this chart (300 megatons) represent enough firepower to destroy all the large- and
medium-size cities in the entire world.
Fewer than 3 squares (400 megatons) represent the warheads removed from missiles in the INF treaty.
Although missiles were destroyed the warheads were preserved and are being deployed on other delivery
vehicles. There was no decrease in destructive power.
IT IS A LONG LONG WAY TO NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT. WE ARE SURROUNDED BY FORESTS OF NUCLEAR
DESTRUCTION. WE MUST GO ON.
Nuclear Stockpiles
According to the Natural
Resources Defense Council,
the U.S. currently maintains
approximately 10,000 nuclear
warheads in various states of
readiness. It's believed that
under START III, that number
will be reduced to 2,500.
Russia's plans are not known.
At the end of 1997, Russia's
nuclear stockpile numbered
23,000 weapons. This
included active, operational
forces; retired, non-deployed
warheads awaiting
dismantlement; and weapons
in reserve.
Nuclear Tests
The United States
conducted 1030 nuclear tests
from 1945 - 1992. The Soviet
Union conducted 715 tests
between 1949 and 1990. In
September, 1996 the United
Nations General Assembly
voted to adopt the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty (CTBT), which
prohibits all "nuclear weapons
test explosions and all other
nuclear explosions." As of
September 1998, 150 nations
had signed the treaty, and 21
nations had ratified it. Notable
exceptions are India and
Pakistan, both of which
conducted nuclear tests in May,
1998.
U.S.S. Nautilus




September 30, 1954, NAUTILUS
became the first commissioned
nuclear powered ship in the United
States Navy.
NAUTILUS shattered all submerged
speed and distance records.
On July 23, 1958, NAUTILUS
departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii under
top secret orders to conduct
"Operation Sunshine," the first
crossing of the north pole by a ship.
At 11:15 pm on August 3, 1958,
NAUTILUS' second Commanding
Officer, Commander William R.
Anderson, USN, announced to his
crew "For the world, Our Country,
and the Navy - the North Pole." With
116 men aboard, NAUTILUS had
accomplished the "impossible,"
reaching the geographic North Pole-90 degrees north.
Nuclear Power (02:45)
Soviet Advances in Technology

The Soviets built new and improved weapons and
delivery systems.

In 1957 the Soviets launched the first-ever artificial
satellite, named Sputnik.

The Sputnik launches worried the United States.
– Many thought the Soviets had surpassed American scientists in
terms of technical skill and knowledge.

In 1958 the United States launched its own satellite.

In July of 1958 Congress established the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA.
The Space Race: America and the Soviet Union Compete to Send a Man Into Space (01:32)
Explorer I

The satellite was launched
from Cape Canaveral (now
Cape Kennedy) in Florida at
10:48 P.M. EST on 31 January
1958 by the Jupiter-C vehicle-a special modification of the
Redstone ballistic missile--that
was designed, built, and
launched by the Army Ballistic
Missile Agency (ABMA) under
the direction of Dr. Wernher
Von Braun. Jupiter-C, a direct
descendant of the German A-4
(V-2) rocket, was originally
developed in 1955-1956 as a
high-performance rocket for
testing purposes.
The Arms Race




What was the arms race, and what were it
effects in the United States?
Describe – How did U.S. military strategy
change during the Eisenhower
administration?
Summarize – Why was the first H-bomb
impractical?
Evaluate – What advantages did intercontinental ballistic missiles have over
nuclear-armed bombers?
The Arms Race


Recall – Identify a nondestructive use
of nuclear energy?
Summarize – Why did the United
States keep B-52 bombers in the air at
all times?
American Reactions to the Threat
of Nuclear War
Nuclear
War
Nuclear
Fallout
Marshall
Islands

After Pearl Harbor, Americans knew they could be attacked
by a foreign enemy.

After World War II, Americans knew that entire cities could
be destroyed by nuclear weapons.

Many feared the streams of radioactive particles produced
by nuclear explosions.

Exposure to these particles can cause burns, cancer, and
birth defects.

During the testing of an H-bomb, bad weather spread the
nuclear fallout over a large area.

Radiation killed one sailor and forced many to leave their
homes permanently.
American Reactions to the Threat of
Nuclear War
Civil Defense
• The FCDA helped
educate and
prepare the public
for nuclear
emergencies.
• The FCDA issued
booklets and
films—for
example, Duck
and Cover.
• Air-raid sirens
were installed.
• Operation Alert
tested the
readiness of
urban areas.
Nuclear Fears
• Many Americans
built bomb
shelters.
• Concern over
nuclear fallout led
to the Limited
Test-Ban Treaty.
• Nuclear fears
affected American
culture—movies
had plots that
centered on
radiation fears
and comics
featured battles
in a nuclear
world.
Military-Industrial
Complex
• Eisenhower used
his farewell
address to inform
Americans of this
new danger.
• Prior to the 1950s,
the United States
did not have a
permanent arms
industry.
• He warned of the
potential misuse
of power by the
arms industry.
Federal Civil Defense Administration



The "Federal Civil Defense
Administration," (FCDA) was
organized by democratic president
Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)in 1952,
shortly after the first thermonuclear
test which reestablished the United
States as the world's leading nuclear
power.
The new agency flooded the country
with posters, programs, and
information about how to survive a
nuclear attack. This included
instructions for holding air raid drills in
schools and detailed plans on how to
build a bomb shelter.
Nevertheless, experts ridiculed the
agency as almost totally ineffective. It
wasn't until the late 1950s that civil
defense became a true federal
government priority.
Surviving a Nuclear Blast

Nuclear air raid drills were
part of everyday life for
schoolchildren in the late
1940s and early '50s.
Civil Defense in schools was
increased. The commonly
known duck and cover drills
became routine. In this drill,
the students would drop to
the floor and put their heads
between their knees with their
backs to the windows.
Teachers were instructed to
have their children "duck and
cover" at the sight of a
sudden bright flash.
Operation Alert



In 1954, the United States Federal
Civil Defense Agency instituted an
exercise called Operation Alert. It was
a civil defense drill that took place on
the same day in scores of major cities.
Citizens in what were called the
"target" areas were required to take
cover for fifteen minutes.
At the same time civil defense officials
tested their readiness and their
communications systems, and federal
officials practiced evacuating from the
capital. Even President Eisenhower
left the White House for a tent city
outside Washington.
The following day newspapers
routinely published reports of the
fictitious attacks naming the number of
bombs that were dropped in the mock
alerts, the number of cities hit, and the
number of casualties
The Civil Defense A-Bomb Drill: New York City (01:20)
Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb
Shelters
Bomb shelter is a place that is used for protection from
nuclear fallout or radiation. Nuclear fallout is caused by the
explosion of a nuclear weapon. The first real threat of a nuclear
attack came around the early 1950's and lasted until the early 1960's.
This threat was from communist Russia. This was the first real scare
to the people of the United States. But the closest the US has ever
came to an all-out nuclear war was the Cuban Missile Crisis. More
than a hundred thousand people built bomb shelters. Some
companies started to produce one-bedroom bomb shelters.
The Fallout Shelter: Protecting People from Radiation Contamination (03:35)
Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb Shelters



Bomb shelters could be relatively inexpensive or very expensive
depending on what things you want, such as a phone, toilet,
chairs, tables, TV, sofa, and other items.
A nuclear bomb warning - from six months to a few days to a few
minutes.
Six month warning
– enough time to built an underground apartment or condominium.
– enough time to go get things like, water, can foods, board games,
furniture, generators (wood preferable), books to read while in the
shelter, candles for light, matches to light the candles, plates, silver
ware, clothes, enough for you to survive

Few days warning
– just enough time to build an L-shaped trench about fifteen feet wide
and ten feet long. Then take
– a piece of plywood - cover one end of the hole and then cover over the
plywood with about one to two feet of dirt.
– The L-shaped trench is good protection from radiation because there
is a layer of mass between you and the nuclear fallout.
Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb
Shelters

Bomb shelters costing from $100 to
as much as $5,000 for an
underground suite with phone and
toilet were selling like hotcakes.

Wall Street investors said the bomb
shelter business could gross up to
$20 billion in the coming years (if
there would be coming years).

Survival stores around the nation
sold air blowers, filters, flashlights,
fallout protection suits, first aid kits
and water. General Foods and
General Mills sold dry-packaged
meals as underground rations.

Families with well stocked shelters lived
with the fear that after a nuclear attack
they'd be invaded by an army of friends
and neighbors who neglected to build
bunkers of their own. Many ordered
contractors to construct their shelters in
the dead of night so nosey neighbors
wouldn't see. One owner assured his
neighbor that the bomb shelter he was
building was really a wine cellar.

Civil defense films assured the public
that simple precautions like walled-off
basement corners stocked with two
weeks rations and a radio tuned to
Conelrad, the new emergency network,
would help them survive a nuclear attack.
But the government warned that a
shoddy homemade shelter could broil its
occupants "to a crisp" or squeeze them
"like grapefruit."
Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb
Shelters
Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb
Shelters

Amongst expedient last-minute
sheltering options at home, even
just simply pushing a heavy table
or pool table (one you can get
under) into the corner of a below
ground basement, ideally the
corner with the grade (earth)
highest up the wall on the other
side of it, can be surprisingly
effective. Or, if no heavy table
readily available, you can take
internal doors off their hinges
and lay them atop two supports
to create your 'table'.

Pile on the two exposed sides,
any additional available massbooks, wood, etc. Have a small
entrance. Two little 4" air spaces.
Cover up any basement windows
or other openings.
Homebuilt Buried Tank Shelters
Homebuilt Buried Tank Shelters
The unforgettable 1962 release "Fallout Shelter" took a more direct approach in
conveying the fears of teenagers everywhere over nuclear annihilation. Its
melodramatic storyline of a boy who wants to share his family's shelter with his
girlfriend and his father's intervention is a perfect blending of elements from
the overt and the allegorical/subtle Bomb song.
Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb Shelters




Newspapers carried radiation
readings beside daily weather
reports.
Popular Mechanics magazine
published a fallout shelter
blueprint for the do-it-yourselfer.
Congress debated the merits of
evacuating large cities versus
massive community shelters,
Homeowners improvised shelters
from septic tanks, concrete
tubing, steel sheds and discarded



lumber.



Major airlines, Detroit automakers,
IBM, the phone company and Wall
Street planned employee shelters.
The Federal Reserve designated
banks for postwar check cashing.
A farmer in Iowa built a fallout
shelter for 200 cows.

Public buildings with deep basements
lined with thick underground concrete
were designated as shelters in case of
an attack by the Soviet Union.
Hollywood got into the mood and
began producing nuclear war
doomsday films, including "On The
Beach," "The Last Man On Earth,"
"The Day the World Ended," "Atomic
Kid," and "Dr. Strangelove.”
Television produced its own prime
time doomsday. In the premiere
episode of the classic series "The
Twilight Zone," a young astronaut
played by actor Earl Holliman returns
to Earth to discover that a nuclear war
has left him, like Adam, alone.
In the late 1950s, a public opinion poll
showed that 40 percent of Americans
were seriously considering building a
shelter.
Nuclear Winter

Nuclear winter is a hypothetical global climate
condition that was predicted to be a possible
outcome of a large-scale nuclear war. It was
thought that severely cold weather would be
caused by detonating large numbers of nuclear
weapon, especially over flammable targets such
as cities, large amounts of smoke and soot would
be injected into the Earth's stratosphere.

This layer of particles would significantly reduce
the amount of sunlight that reached the surface,
and could potentially remain in the stratosphere
for weeks or even years (smoke and soot arising
from the burning petroleum fuels and plastics
absorbs sunlight much more effectively than
smoke from burning). The smoke and soot
would be shepherded by strong west-to-east
winds, forming a uniform belt of particles
encircling the northern hemisphere from 30° to
60° latitude. These thick black clouds could
block out much Sun's light for a period as long
as several weeks, causing surface temperatures
to drop by as much as 20°C for several weeks.

The combination of darkness and killing
frosts, combined with high doses of radiation
from nuclear fallout, would severely damage
plant life in the region. The extreme cold,
high radiation levels, and the widespread
destruction of industrial, medical, and
transportation infrastructures along with food
supplies and crops would trigger a massive
death toll from starvation, exposure, and
disease. It was also thought that nitrogen
oxides generated by the blasts would degrade
the ozone layer; this phenomenon was
observed in the first thermonuclear blasts,
which had unanticipated degrading effects on
the ozone. These effects have since been
mitigated by ozone regeneration, but the
effect of a full-scale war would undoubtedly
be much greater. Secondary effects from
ozone depletion and increases in ultraviolet
radiation would be significant, with impacts
on the viability of most human staple
agricultural crops as well as disruption of
ocean food chains by killing off
phytoplankton.
Military-Industrial complex


A close and symbiotic
relationship between a
nation's armed forces,
its private industry, and
associated political and
commercial interests.
In such a system, the
military is dependent on
industry to supply
material and other
support, while the
defense industry
depends on
government for a
steady revenue stream.
Americans React to the Threat of
Nuclear War



How did Americans react to the growing
threat of nuclear war?
Define – What is nuclear fallout?
Explain – Why is nuclear fallout so
hazardous?