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).

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

Nuclear war

President Joe Biden has refused to commit to a "no first use" nuclear policy, allowing for a nuclear first strike 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 by the Mossad and taken from London 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Avraham Burg, defying official policy, openly admitted to their existence and called Israel's policy of ambiguity "outdated and childish".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.