The Evolution of the Atomic Bomb

The Evolution of The Evolution of the Atomic Bombthe Atomic Bomb

World War II – Present DayWorld War II – Present Day

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The Atomic Bomb

An Explanation

In order for one to understand how the atomic bomb has

impacted the world we live in, one must first understand

what it is, how it works, and most importantly, why it was

constructed.

What Is the Atomic Bomb?• The atomic bomb is a

nuclear weapon that derives its destructive force from the nuclear reaction of fission or from a combination of fission and fusion. As a result, even a nuclear weapon with a small yield is significantly more powerful than the largest conventional explosives available, with a single weapon capable of destroying an entire city.

Post WWII model of the “Little Boy” atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It the was first nuclear weapon to ever be used offensively.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Little_boy.jpg

www.atomicarchive.com

Nuclear Fission• The first clear artificial (as opposed to rare events of

naturally occurring nuclear fission) nuclear fission as we know it occurred when uranium was bombarded by neutrons, which proved to be quite interesting and puzzling. First studied by Enrico Fermi and his colleagues in 1934, the results were not properly interpreted and understood until several years later. It would not be later until at the end of World War II that the first atomic bomb, harnessing the power of nuclear fission, would be detonated offensively against the Japanese, signaling the start of a new era and a change in how the world would engage in warfare.

www.wikipedia.org

Nuclear Fission• Nuclear fission is the splitting

of an atom’s nucleus into smaller fragments, thus emitting neutrons and large quantities of energy. An atomic bomb works by causing a chain reaction – one nucleus splits, and the neutrons produced cause a split in other nuclei. If the neutrons are formed faster than they are lost in a fission, then the reaction will become self-sustaining. This is also known as reaching critical mass.


http://www.atomicarchive.com/Fission/Fission1.shtml

Nuclear Fission• Energy Released From Each Fission• 165 MeV

7 MeV 6 MeV 7 MeV 6 MeV 9 MeV

• 200 MeV~ kinetic energy of fission products~ gamma rays~ kinetic energy of the neutrons~ energy from fission products~ gamma rays from fission products~ anti-neutrinos from fission products1

• MeV (million electron volts) = 1.609 x 10 -13 joules


How Does It Work?

• The first atomic bombs, as well as many today, use either Uranium 235 or Plutonium 239. This is because these two elements has the highest probability for sustaining fission. However, Plutonium is not a naturally occurring element, and therefore had to be artificially produced. The reactors at Hanford, Washington were built to produce the Plutonium necessary in an atomic weapon.


How Does It Work?

• There are two types of methods used in constructing and detonating and atomic bomb. The first is the gun-type assembly method (top) and the second is the implosion assembly method (bottom).

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Effects

• Detonation of atomic weapons have many effects, both short and long term, including thermal effects, blast effects, and radiation.


Thermal Effects


http://www.atomicarchive.com/Effects/effects8.shtml

Thermal Effects• A primary form of energy released by an atomic bomb is thermal

radiation. The temperature of this radiation can reach 100,000,000° Celsius, equivalent to the temperature of the sun’s interior. A brilliant fireball is also produced with these extreme temperatures.

• Upon explosion, there are two pulses of radiation that occur. The first pulse, lasting about a tenth of a second, consists of ultraviolet radiation. The second pulse, however, carries up to 99% of the total thermal radiation energy. This radiation causes the skin burns and eye injuries suffered by individuals exposed to the pulse. It also causes combustible materials to burst into flames.

• The fireball, which occurs alongside the thermal radiation, is “an extremely hot and highly luminous spherical mass of air and gaseous weapon residues.” Within less than one millionth of a second of detonation, the fireball forms and begins to engulf the surrounding area. A one megaton atomic bomb would produce, at its peak, roughly a 5,700ft across fireball in about 10 seconds.


Blast Effects

• Only a fraction of a second after the initial explosion, the blast wave occurs, due to the heat from the fireball. This heat cause a high-pressure wave to develop and expand outwards, creating the blast effect. The front of the blast wave, known as the shock front, is a wall of highly compressed air.


The effects of the blast wave on a typical wood framed house.


Blast Effects• Blast effects are usually

measured by the amount of overpressure, or the pressure in excess of the normal atmospheric value, in pounds per square inch (PSI).

• The blast wave also magnifies the effects of thermal radiation by tearing away severely burned skin, thus creating open wounds of raw flesh that are easily exposed to the elements and infection.




Blast Effects• The Mach Stem is the term used to describe an effect of the blast

wave. The blast wave is reflected off the ground – this reflected wave travels faster than the first, or incident, wave. The overpressure of the Mach wave is generally twice as strong as that of the direct blast wave front.

• The height of the Mach Stem wave is small but grows as it expands outward. However, as the height increases, the energy and overpressure decreases due to a continuous loss of energy and ever expanding advance front.



Radiation

• Radiation occurs in the form of initial radiation, or radiation that occurs within the first minute of the explosion, and residual radiation, which occurs due to radioactive fallout.



Long-term Effects

• In addition to physical effects, such as the razing of cities and deaths of countless numbers of people, the development of the atomic bomb would impact our society greatly. Not only would it signal a tremendous growth in our knowledge of science, but it would lay the foundations for other nuclear weapons and technology in the future. It would prove to have social, political, and economic effects, and would completely alter the world we live in.


The Atomic Bomb

In World War II

Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was created in order to establish the first nuclear bomb that would help to end World War II in the Pacific.Top scientists from around the world such as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Albert Einstein, along with many of the Army Corps of Engineers’ finest, under the leadership of General Leslie Groves, were recruited to work on the project.Although called the Manhattan Project it was no where near the location of Manhattan. Rather, it was about 2500 miles away in Los Alamos, New Mexico.Completed and tested on July 16th, 1945 both the uranium and plutonium bombs used during the war were tested and finally put to use against Japan. On August 6th, 1945 the first bomb, a gun-type assembly bomb, codenamed “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima, obliterating the city and 140,000 of its inhabitants. 3 days later, on August 9th, a implosion-type assembly bomb, codenamed “Fat Man”, was dropped on Nagasaki, wiping out their city as well as 80,000 people living there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project



Germany and Nuclear Fission

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_nuclear_energy_project

At this time also the Nazi party in Germany had started creating nuclear fission bombs for the purpose of ending the threat of the US. Although the project would have been a success, Hitler stopped development and research so that the scientists working on the nuclear fission could spend more time with more pressing war issues.



Military UseOn August 6th, 1945 the Atomic bomb was first used against a nation during war. The bomb was used against the Japanese the 6th was the bombing on Hiroshima and 9th on Nagasaki. After this first attack the Communists wanted the plans for the bomb and create their own version. Eventually, after the USSR developed their own atomic bomb, President Truman ordered the creation of a new weapon – the hydrogen bomb, which combined the power of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion (the combining of atoms) to create a deadly new weapon.The result of WWII was the split of the Allied powers. Russia became the USSR and an enemy of the US for the Cold War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bomb



Effects

• Social: By the end of the conflict with Japan the world began to realize the power that one country can have. Seeing this we learn later that it only takes one strategically positioned nuclear warhead to cause the world to end. People were effected by this psychologically in that they created bomb shelters and survival plans.

• Political: Once the war ended politics became a totally different ballpark. The United States entered the Cold War against the USSR and was pushed into an arms race lead by the political engines of both nations.

• Economic: During WWII manufacture and distribution of nuclear arms was not much of a threat due to the fact that only the US had them in its arsenal.

The Atomic Bomb

In The Cold War

Technological Advances

New missile systems were created as a result of the Cold War. The war introduced satellites and their use in Nuclear Weapons. In October 1957, the world was introduced to the fear of a missile attack when Sputnik was launched. This was to lead to ICBM’s: Inter-continental ballistic missiles. As a result, America built the DEW line around the Artic - Defense and Early Warning system.During this era new warships came out equip with these new nuclear weapons. Atomically powered submarines helped to have an unlimited lifespan as along as the crew had the food and supplies to live in it. New

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nuclear_arms_race.htm

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nuclear_arms_race.htm

Nuclear ThreatBy 1981, USA had 8,000 ICBM’s and USSR 7,000 ICBM’s; by 1981, USA had 4,000 planes capable of delivering a nuclear bomb. Russia had 5000. USA defense spending for 1981 = 178 billion dollars; by 1986, it was 367 billion dollars. By 1986, it is estimated that throughout the world there were 40,000 nuclear warheads - the equivalent of one million Hiroshima bombs.During the Cold War countries created anti-nuclear systems to fend off nuclear threats and give a forewarning on incoming missiles. As countries did this individuals in many countries also created fallout shelters as in the case that there would have been a surprise attack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_arms_race

The United States' Peacekeeper missile was a MIRVed delivery system. Each missile could contain up to ten nuclear warheads (shown in red), each of which could be aimed at a different target.These were developed to make missile defense very difficult for an enemy country.


Nuclear ThreatThe main competitors for nuclear evolution during the Cold War were the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) but three other powers came into the fray: Great Britain, The People’s Republic of China, and France.Around the middle of the war, the 1970s, there was a period of détente to subsidize the threat. Also the SALT I and II Treaties were created to limit the size of the states arsenals. The détente was caused due to actions between the US and USSR, also the alliances and spread of communism, along with the rise of nuclear power and weapons. Détente would start to fall apart about 1979 with the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, and finally with the 1980 election of Ronald Regan who was against the idea of détente.



Effects on Pop Culture– The Cold War from a pop

culture point of view is seen as the “atomic age.” During this time new images came about such as Miss Atomic Bomb and the all familiar peace symbol which actually stood as an anti-nuclear weapons icon. Also around this time nuclear attacks and post-apocalyptic films, such as Red Dawn, Sum of All Fears, and The Day After, novels, music, art and also games. The Cold War also influenced many musicians, leading them to create songs dealing with nuclear war (Black Sabbath “Electric Funeral”, for example).

Above is 1957s Miss Atomic Bomb, representing the effects that nuclear experimenting had on people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_in_popular_culture

Cold War Statistics


Effects

Social: As before the evolution of nuclear weapons along with US involvement has changed the US society greatly. Society has been transformed into a fad of atomic expansion. Also, society was thrown into turmoil because of the arms race. For example, the Cuban Missile Crisis, one of the most climatic events during the Cold War, was caused because of a nuclear threat. This event had single-handedly put our society on alert, because it could have well been the start of an all out nuclear war.

Effects

Political: During the early years of the Cold War the nation was minimally disrupted, by détente there had been no real issues with the USSR. Once the rise of the “Second Cold War,” basically the height of the Cold War(1979-1985). During these times political awareness was evident and more projects were influenced by this thrust. However, during the Cold War the threat of nuclear warfare was ever present – the arms race between the United States and the USSR had created extreme amounts of political tension.

Effects

Economic: As the threat of nuclear destruction grew, the economy was thrown into turmoil. The superpower nations of the world, primarily the United States and Russia, were spending billions of dollars stockpiling nuclear weapons. Besides the buying and selling of nuclear weapons new materials proved useful in preventing nuclear attacks and would be used in new war vehicles such as the Stryker and M1A1 Abrams.

The Atomic Bomb

In The Present Day

Effects

Nuclear weapons play a limited role in today’s modern society. The threat of nuclear war is not as great as during the peak of the Cold War. Currently, nuclear weapons have not been used by either the United States, and its allies, or by the terrorists fighting in the War in Iraq. Although these weapons have not been used recently, more countries are currently developing nuclear weaponry.

Technological Advances

New weapons are still being researched in order to build upon the original models of nuclear bombs created during WWII. These bombs are being designed to penetrate deeper into the earth while decreasing the amount of nuclear fallout. The Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, otherwise known as the RNEP, began development in 2002 under the Bush Administration. The main goal of this bomb was to design a new casing that would allow the weapon to penetrate deep into the Earth before it explodes.

•http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/rnep.htm

Technological Advances• Since their development during

the Cold War, Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) have become much more dangerous. Modern ICBMs are extremely accurate compared to their predecessors because they can now strike within a few hundred feet of their designated target. This increase in accuracy enables manufacturers to use a less powerful warhead while still ensuring destruction of the target. Also, these new ICBMs can carry multiple warheads, each with their own designated targets.

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EffectsEver since the end of the Cold War, threats of attacks with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) have caused great unease in society. The War in Iraq is a prime example of how the threat of nuclear attacks has spawned conflict. In 2002, President Bush made it clear to the American people that Iraq was a major threat because it was capable of developing nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. In his message to Americans, President Bush said that "inspectors discovered that Iraq had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a workable nuclear weapon, and was pursuing several different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb." This was one of the major reasons that justified the President's invasion of Iraq and the start of the war there. He made it clear that under Saddam Hussein, Iraq was a massive threat to America and its safety.

•http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html

EffectsStarting in 2000, countries such as Libya, North Korea, and Iran began to participate in a program known as "the beast". This program gave these countries information about new methods of enriching uranium as well access to materials needed to create these nuclear weapons. This is quickly becoming a threat to our modern world because of the ease in which these countries can now access the necessities for creating weapons of mass destruction. Legitimate organizations, such as Tradefin, which sells machinery that makes enriching uranium possible, have helped countries such as Libya bring themselves into the modern age of nuclear weaponry. The machines which were supplied to Libya have made it possible for them to create several nuclear weapons per year. This threat is extremely hazardous to our world's safety because it is possible now for many nations to acquire the materials needed for creating nuclear weapons along with the knowledge of how to build them properly.

http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/articles/businessofthebombthemodernnuclearmarketplace

Economic Effects

• Since the creation of nuclear weapons, the world economy has been affected immensely. All over the world, countries are currently employing private manufacturers to assist with construction of their own nuclear arsenals. Also, some countries have gone so far as to purchase their weapons from underground, illegal arms-dealers. One such South African nation, Libya, participated in a business agreement with Tradefin, an organization which secretly supplied the country with technology that would help them enrich uranium for their atomic weapons.

•http://www.ialana.net/

Social Effects• Social - As the threat of nuclear

conflict becomes more impending in modern society, organizations against the use of nuclear weapons are sprouting up all over the world. Because of the creation of the Atomic Bomb back during World War II, organizations such as IALANA , an international anti-nuclear agency, have been created. The International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms is one such protest group that functions throughout the world to encourage countries to adopt the policy of nuclear disarmament.


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Political Effects• Political - The United States,

along with many other nations, plays its part in regulating the number of nuclear weapons around the world and their use. Under the UN, the International Atomic Energy Agency was created specifically to moderate the use of nuclear weapons and to ensure that the world is safe from the hazardous use of nuclear weapons. The IAEA plays a very important role in today's modern society by acting as the nuclear inspectorate around the world.


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A Final WordThe atomic bomb has bomb has a tremendous impact on our world in the last 50 years. Starting with its development, it was the pinnacle of destructive weaponry, as demonstrated by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.The development of this bomb would forever change the way the world looked at warfare. After World War II, the atomic bomb played an crucial role in shaping the political, social, and economic scenario for the United States as well as the USSR during the Cold War. Finally, even now in the present day, the atomic bomb’s effects still resonate – through the use of power plants which are driven by nuclear fission, through the development of nuclear weapons by more and more countries, and through the belief that although nuclear weapons may be a force to be reckoned with, their use should not be taken lightly.

The Evolution of the Atomic Bomb

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