Those in underground shelters who survive the initial heat flash will die as all the oxygen is sucked out of the atmosphere. People inside buildings or otherwise shielded will be indirectly killed by the blast and heat effects as buildings collapse and all inflammable materials burst into flames. Over a wide area the resulting heat flash literally vaporises all human tissue. The heart of a nuclear explosion reaches a temperature of several million degrees centigrade. If one of these bombs were ever used, the effect would be catastrophic. It had a fireball of 4.8 km in diameter and created a huge mushroom-shaped cloud. The US exploded a 15 megaton hydrogen bomb on 1st March, 1954. The Soviet Union detonated a hydrogen bomb in the megaton range in August 1953. The blast produced a light brighter than a thousand suns and a heatwave felt 50 kilometres away. Its destructive power was several megatons of TNT. The first hydrogen bomb was exploded on 1st November, 1952 at the small island of Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. This led to the term ‘hydrogen bomb’ to describe the deuterium-tritium fusion bomb. This is typically done with the isotopes of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) which fuse together to form Helium atoms. Hydrogen bombs, which use nuclear fusion, have higher destructive power and greater efficiencies than atomic bombs.ĭue to the high temperatures required to initiate a nuclear fusion reaction, the process is often referred to as a thermonuclear explosion. Nuclear fusion is a reaction that releases atomic energy by the union of light nuclei at high temperatures to form heavier atoms. The Hydrogen Bomb Ivy Mike Hydrogen Bomb – Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration, Nevada Site Office The fission of slightly more than one kilogram of plutonium 239 is thought to have released destructive energy equivalent to about 21,000 tons of TNT.
The Nagasaki BombĬompared to the one used on Hiroshima, the Nagasaki bomb was rounder and fatter. It is believed that the fission of slightly less than one kilogram of uranium 235 released energy equivalent to approximately 15,000 tons of TNT. Devastation in Hiroshimaĭue to its long, thin shape, the Hiroshima bomb was called ‘Little Boy’. This chain reaction spreads almost instantaneously.Ītomic bombs were exploded in war in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
Energy is released when those neutrons split off from the nucleus, and the newly released neutrons strike other uranium or plutonium nuclei, splitting them in the same way, releasing more energy and more neutrons.
When a single free neutron strikes the nucleus of an atom of radioactive material like uranium or plutonium, it knocks two or three more neutrons free. Nuclear fission produces the atomic bomb, a weapon of mass destruction that uses power released by the splitting of atomic nuclei. Nuclear fusion – two smaller atoms are brought together, usually hydrogen or hydrogen isotopes (deuterium, tritium), to form a larger one (helium isotopes) this is how the sun produces energy.This method usually involves isotopes of uranium (uranium-235, uranium-233) or plutonium (plutonium-239). Nuclear fission – the nucleus of an atom is split into two smaller fragments by a neutron.There are two ways that nuclear energy can be released from an atom: Join CND’s campaign against nuclear weapons.See why CND campaigns against nuclear weapons.They harness the forces that hold the nucleus of an atom together by using the energy released when the particles of the nucleus (neutrons and protons) are either split or merged. Nuclear bombs are weapons of mass destruction.