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Thermonuclear bombs work by using the energy of a fission bomb to compress and heat fusion fuel. In the Teller-Ulam design, which accounts for all multi-megaton yield hydrogen bombs, this is accomplished by placing a fission bomb and fusion fuel (tritium, deuterium, or lithium deuteride) in proximity within a special, radiation-reflecting ...
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs , a more compact size, a lower mass, or a combination of these benefits.
The intense pulse of high-energy neutrons generated by a neutron bomb is the principal killing mechanism, not the fallout, heat or blast. The inventor of the neutron bomb, Sam Cohen, criticized the description of the W70 as a neutron bomb since it could be configured to yield 100 kilotons: the W-70 ... is not even remotely a "neutron bomb."
The first nuclear explosive devices provided the basic building blocks of future weapons. Pictured is the Gadget device being prepared for the Trinity nuclear test.. Nuclear Weapons Design are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package [1] of a nuclear weapon to detonate.
An 'Atomic Bazooka' was also fielded, designed to be used against large formations of tanks. In the 1950s the US developed small nuclear warheads for air defense use, such as the Nike Hercules . From the 1950s to the 1980s, the United States and Canada fielded a low-yield nuclear armed air-to-air rocket , the AIR-2 Genie .
Internal nuclear components of the B61 bomb. The bomb was assembled at the Burlington AEC Plant and Pantex. A Sandia document on the dates of the development phases of the US nuclear stockpile describes the B61-3 as an "improved Mod 2 w/IHE" and the B61-4 as "same as Mod 3 ex. Hi-Y". [22] The B61 Mod 3 and 4 bombs do not contain beryllium. [30]
The first time gun-type fission weapons were discussed was as part of the British Tube Alloys nuclear bomb development program, the world's first nuclear bomb development program. [1] The British MAUD Report [ 2 ] of 1941 laid out how "an effective uranium bomb which, containing some 25 lb of active material, would be equivalent as regards ...
The mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on 9 August 1945 rose over 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) above the bomb's hypocenter. An estimated 39,000 people were killed by the atomic bomb, [23] of whom 23,145–28,113 were Japanese factory workers, 2,000 were Korean slave laborers, and 150 were Japanese combatants. [24] [25] [26]