Use of Hydrogen Bombs

Hydrogen bombs have existed since the 1950s and at least five countries have detonated these weapons in tests. Also called thermonuclear bombs, hydrogen bombs are typically about 1,000 times more powerful than conventional atomic bombs. In theory, such bombs can have almost unlimited power if more material is added to the core. Fortunately, hydrogen bombs have had only limited use.

Hydrogen bombs produce the biggest explosions ever seen on Earth.

History

At the end of World War II, only the United States had the technology to build atomic bombs, but the Soviet Union soon followed. The Soviets detonated their first atomic weapon in 1949. This test detonation spurred the American government and some in the nuclear physics community to advocate research into the idea of a thermonuclear bomb. Edward Teller, a physicist from the original Manhattan Project, was a major advocate of the hydrogen bomb program. Work began on the new program in 1950. The first successful test of a hydrogen bomb occurred in 1952.

Function

A hydrogen bomb works under the same basic physical principles as the earlier atomic bombs, with the addition of nuclear fusion. The force of a nuclear fission explosion (in which radioactive uranium or plutonium reacts to release atomic energy) creates a high pressure and temperature environment in which hydrogen atoms can fuse into helium. Such fusion reactions release even more energy than the fission reactions. The construction of such a bomb requires many hard-to-obtain materials, including enriched uranium or plutonium and deuterium and tritium (rare isotopes of hydrogen).

Time Frame

The United States detonated thermonuclear weaponry in 1952 and 1954. The Soviet Union followed quickly with detonations in 1953 and 1955 and then repeatedly through 1961. Great Britain's hydrogen bomb project began in 1954 and detonated its first thermonuclear weapon in 1957. Due to a cooperative agreement with the United States, Britain ceased independent nuclear testing after 1958. France detonated its first hydrogen bomb in 1968. China's nuclear program began in cooperation with the Soviets in the 1950s and led to that country's first use of the hydrogen bomb in 1967. In 1998, India claimed to have detonated a thermonuclear weapon in an underground test, although subsequent investigation has questioned that claim.

Geography

No country has used the hydrogen bomb in warfare or on populated areas. The first test of a hydrogen bomb was the Mike test on the unpopulated Enewetak Atoll of the Marshall Islands. The bomb completely vaporized the small islands at ground zero and killed all life on the surrounding islands. The second test was on the nearby Bikini Atoll, unfortunately close enough to inhabited islands to cause radiation sickness there. After 1961, the United States (in conjunction with Britain) conducted bomb testing at a test site in Nevada. The Soviet Union used remote regions of central Siberia for testing, with its 1955 test occurring at Semipalatinsk. Britain and France followed the American lead and detonated their early hydrogen bombs on South Pacific islands, the British on Christmas Island and the French on Fangataufa Atoll.

Considerations

The 1963 Limited Test Ban Theory was signed by the United States, the Soviet Union and Great Britain; 113 countries have signed since then. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty of 1996 had the objective of banning all nuclear testing, including the testing of hydrogen bombs, on or under the Earth's surface. Of the 44 nations considered to have the capabilities to create nuclear weapons, 26 have ratified the treaty, 15 (including the United States and Russia) have signed but not ratified it, and 3 nations (India, Pakistan and North Korea) have not signed it. When in effect, this treaty would eliminate all use of hydrogen bombs.

References

• Hydrogen Bomb History
• Test Ban Treaty
• Hydrogen Bomb Description