Nuclear weapons

A nuclear weapon is a device designed to produce explosive energy through nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, or a combination of the two (such as in a hydrogen bomb). The proliferation of nuclear weapons during the Cold War raised the possibility of a global nuclear war, a fear which continues to this day.

Types

Fission (Atomic) weapons

Being the first generation of nuclear weapons, an atomic bomb (often known simply as an A-bomb) derives its combustive energy exclusively from nuclear fission.

Thermonuclear (Fusion) weapons

Being more devastating and sophisticated than fission weapons, thermonuclear weapons (or more commonly, hydrogen bombs) derive their energy from fusion reactions rather than fission. The largest nuclear bomb detonated, the Tsar Bomba, was a thermonuclear weapon.

History

World War II

United States motivation for the bombings

The question of whether elements of the United States government had reason to believe the Japanese would surrender quickly even without atomic bombings is a continued topic of controversy.

Politics

Possibility of nuclear war

Korean War

Three years after his relief from command, the American general Douglas MacArthur claimed that he had been prevented from effectively prosecuting the war in Korea:

I could have won the war in Korea in a maximum of 10 days, with considerably fewer casualties than were suffered during the so‐called truce period, and it would have altered the course of history.

The enemy's air (power) would first have been taken out. I would have dropped between 30 and 50 atomic bombs on his air bases and other depots strung across the neck of Manchuria from just across the Yalu River from Antung (northwestern tip of Korea) to the neighborhood of Hunchun (just north of the northeastern tip of Korea near the border of the U.S.S.R.).... With the destruction of the enemy's air power I would then have called upon 500,000 of Chiang Kai‐shek's troops, sweetened by two United States Marine divisions. These would have been formed Into two amphibious forces. One, totaling four‐fifths of my strength and led by one of the Marine divisions, would have landed at Antung and proceeded eastward L along the road that parallels the Yalu....

You may ask what would have prevented the enemy's reinforcements massing and crossing the Yalu in great strength. It was my plan as our amphibious forces moved south to spread behind us—from the Sea of Japan to the Yellow Sea—a belt of radioactive cobalt. It could have been spread from wagons, carts, trucks and planes. It is not an expensive material. It has an active life of between 60 and 120 years. For at least 60 years there could have been no land invasion of Korea from the north. The enemy could not have marched across that radiated belt.

The plan to use radioactive cobalt was apparently taken from a proposal made by Senator Albert Gore Sr., father of the eventual presidential candidate.

21st century

President Joe Biden has refused to commit to a "no first use" nuclear policy, allowing the United States to initiate a nuclear war in "extreme circumstances". Biden had previously promised to rein in possibility of nuclear weapons during his 2020 presidential campaign.

Suspected nuclear states

Israel

Israel's possession of nuclear weapons has sometimes been referred to as an "open secret". In 1986, Israeli Mordechai Vanunu published evidence in the London Sunday Times that Israel had been developing nuclear weapons. Days before the article was set to be published, he was kidnapped in London by the Mossad and to Israel to stand trial for treason. The Israeli court found him guilty and sentenced him to 18 years in prison. In 2013, former Knesset member Avraham Burg, defying official policy, openly admitted to their existence and called Israel's policy of ambiguity "outdated and childish".

Israel may have anywhere between 80 and 400 nuclear warheads.

1979 Vela incident

On September 22, 1979, a US "Vela" satellite designed to enforce the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty detected a signal that seemed to indicate a nuclear explosion had occurred somewhere near the South Atlantic Ocean. If such a test took place, it would have been in direct violation of the treaty, which had been in place for over a decade. International analysts came to suspect that the test was carried out jointly by the Israeli and South African governments on South African territory, likely the uninhabited Prince Edward Islands in the southern Indian Ocean. Indeed, after the events of 1967 and 1973, the two apartheid states had come to share many interests, including ideological; in 1978, an official yearbook of the South African government called the two countries "situated in a predominantly hostile world inhabited by dark peoples." However, the United States, which had a vested interest in protecting two important allies from scrutiny, claimed that the data was inconclusive and neglected to investigate further. The United States's response to the government was suspicious enough that a member of President Carter's own administration privately argued that the government's lenience would make the United States seem complicit in a possible breach of the test ban.

The signal has been dismissed by many analysts as a sensor malfunction, but there is significant evidence to suggest otherwise. Groups that have argued that the signal indicates a nuclear detonation include a 1979 CIA-sponsored panel of scientists, according to documents published in 2016. Data indicating such a test include the detection of elevated radiation levels in New Zealand sheep, who would have been downwind of the blast site. Both the Israeli and South African governments continue to deny that any such test took place.