They are considered the most destructive weapons in the world - their explosions are so powerful, just one nuclear bomb could destroy an entire city. Nukes, as nuclear weapons are known, are far more damaging than even the biggest normal, non-nuclear bombs. There's also been lots of talk about some countries, including Iran, not being allowed to have them, while others can.
There's quite a lot to get your head around when it comes to nuclear weapons - but don't worry, we've put together a guide to the key questions. You might remember the words atoms and isotopes from science lessons - they're involved in the process of triggering a nuclear blast.
The bombs get their energy from either splitting atoms or joining the tiny particles inside the atoms together. That's also why a nuclear bomb is sometimes called an atomic bomb. Nuclear weapons release huge amounts of radiation - which can cause radiation sickness - so their actual impact lasts longer than the blast. But they've only ever been used twice in history - against Japan in during World War Two where they caused huge devastation and enormous loss of life.
The radiation from the bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima lasted several months and killed an estimated 80, people. And the bomb dropped on Nagasaki killed more than 70, people.
In theory, pretty much anyone with the technology, intelligence and facilities. Despite such limitations, however, publicly available information, careful analysis of historical records, and occasional leaks make it possible to make best estimates about the size and composition of the national nuclear weapon stockpiles.
For additional guidance, see endnotes below note: as estimates are updated, they may vary from the printed materials below. Detailed overview of Russian forces as of is here. Numbers have been updated for later changes. Many retired non-strategic warheads are thought to be awaiting dismantlement. Public details are scarce, but we estimate that Russia is dismantling retired warheads per year. A major uncertainty is how many tactical weapons will be replaced by new nuclear versions versus conventional weapons.
See overview of Russian forces here. Detailed overview of U. After that, the Trump administration decided no longer to declassify the numbers. In , the Biden administration declassified the number of warheads in the stockpile and the number of dismantled warheads, noting that the stockpile consisted of 3, warheads as of September For a detailed overview of U.
Warhead loadings on some submarines missiles have been reduced to increase targeting flexibility. The United States of America detonated the first nuclear weapon against Japan. The uranium fission bomb was detonated directly over the top of the city. As you can imagine, this infuriated not only the Japanese government but everyone who lived in Japan at the time, as well as their allies.
The nuclear weapon that the United States dropped overhead caused more damage than anyone country should ever inflict on another, but that did not keep Japan from acting with better morals than the US. A mere three days after the nuclear weapon hit Hiroshima, a plutonium bomb was detonated by the United States over Nagasaki, Japan.
As if one nuclear weapon was not enough, the United States of America decided to fire another nuclear weapon in the direction of Japan. Sadly enough, over , people died due to these two nuclear bombings, which led to a lot of questions regarding the ethics behind the use of nuclear weapons. Those two occurrences of nuclear bombs being used during the war are not the only times that nuclear weapons have been detonated throughout history.
They happen to be the only two instances of nuclear weaponry as a war tactic for attacking the enemy. As scary as it is, the truth of the matter is that nuclear weapons have been tested, demonstrated, remodeled, and used as a scare tactic to threaten opposing nations approximately hundreds of thousands of times. Eight different nations around the world have successfully detonated nuclear weapons.
Five of these eight countries are designated as states that reserve the right to have nuclear weapons on their grounds, which was decided upon in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Nuclear weapons, such as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima , which was 15 kilotons of chemical explosives, produced lethal ionizing radiation in addition to a shock wave and massive amounts of heat.
Nuclear weapons also have radioactive fallout, where debris is picked up by winds into the atmosphere and then settles back to Earth days later. Nuclear weapons produce more death, destruction, injury, and sickness than any other single weapon. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States caused both countries to increase the number of their nuclear weapons. At their peak, the Soviet Union had a total of 33, operational warheads and the United States had 32,
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