Introduction
Nuclear weapons work through reactions in the nuclei (cores) of atoms. They can be divided into two groups: fission weapons and thermonuclear weapons. Fission weapons are also called atomic bombs. Thermonuclear weapons are also called hydrogen bombs or fusion weapons. Thermonuclear weapons are generally far more powerful than fission weapons.
Atomic Bomb
On August 2, 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build an atomic bomb. The United States was the first country in the world to produce this nuclear weapon.
After the bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, the explosion nearly wiped 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Many of the ones that survived had horrible burn marks or dis formed faces. Most of the children were homeless and parent less, do to the fact that many of the parents died in the explosion. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki were both destroyed, Japans emperor, Hirohito, announced his countries unconditional surrender in World War 2 in a radio address on August 15, the cause of his surrender was "a new and cruel bomb", he called it.
Many children were left orphans at that time. Some had horrible burn marks and mutations caused by the bomb. Many of these internal and external damages will pass on for many generations before disappearing.
But the events in Japan, although they brought a close to World War II, marked the beginning of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Between 1945 and the late 1980s, both sides invested huge amounts of money in nuclear weapons and increased their stockpiles significantly, mostly as a means to deter conflict. The threat of catastrophic destruction from The Bomb loomed over everyone and everything.
The most complicated issue to be addressed in making of an atomic bomb was the production of ample amounts of "enriched" uranium to sustain a chain reaction. At the time, uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio of conversion from uranium ore to uranium metal is 500:1. Compounding this, the one part of uranium that is finally refined from the ore is over 99% uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make the task even more difficult, the useful U-235 and nearly useless U-238 are isotopes, nearly identical in their chemical makeup. No ordinary chemical extraction method could separate them; only mechanical methods could work.
And this bomb...is the Atomic Bomb!
After the bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, the explosion nearly wiped 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Many of the ones that survived had horrible burn marks or dis formed faces. Most of the children were homeless and parent less, do to the fact that many of the parents died in the explosion. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki were both destroyed, Japans emperor, Hirohito, announced his countries unconditional surrender in World War 2 in a radio address on August 15, the cause of his surrender was "a new and cruel bomb", he called it.
Many children were left orphans at that time. Some had horrible burn marks and mutations caused by the bomb. Many of these internal and external damages will pass on for many generations before disappearing.
But the events in Japan, although they brought a close to World War II, marked the beginning of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Between 1945 and the late 1980s, both sides invested huge amounts of money in nuclear weapons and increased their stockpiles significantly, mostly as a means to deter conflict. The threat of catastrophic destruction from The Bomb loomed over everyone and everything.
The most complicated issue to be addressed in making of an atomic bomb was the production of ample amounts of "enriched" uranium to sustain a chain reaction. At the time, uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio of conversion from uranium ore to uranium metal is 500:1. Compounding this, the one part of uranium that is finally refined from the ore is over 99% uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make the task even more difficult, the useful U-235 and nearly useless U-238 are isotopes, nearly identical in their chemical makeup. No ordinary chemical extraction method could separate them; only mechanical methods could work.
And this bomb...is the Atomic Bomb!