Why is a nuclear weapon more dangerous than any other weapon
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[edit] Introductory Note
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter; a modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than a thousand kilograms can produce an explosion comparable to the detonation of more than a billion kilograms of conventional high explosive. Even small nuclear devices can devastate a city by blast, fire and radiation. Nuclear weapons are considered weapons of mass destruction, and their use and control has been a major aspect of international policy since their debut.
In the history of warfare, only two nuclear weapons have been detonated offensively, both near the end of World War II. The first was detonated on the morning of 6 August 1945, when the United States dropped a uranium gun-type device code-named "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The second was detonated three days later when the United States dropped a plutonium implosion-type device code-named "Fat Man" on the city of Nagasaki, Japan. These bombings resulted in the immediate deaths of around 120,000 people (mostly civilians) from injuries sustained from the explosion and acute radiation sickness, and even more deaths from long-term effects of ionizing radiation. The use of these weapons was and remains controversial.
Since the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, nuclear weapons have been detonated on over two thousand occasions for testing purposes and demonstration purposes. A few states have possessed such weapons or are suspected of seeking them. The only countries known to have detonated nuclear weapons—and that acknowledge possessing such weapons—are (chronologically) the United States, the Soviet Union (succeeded as a nuclear power by Russia), the United Kingdom, France, the People's Republic of China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Israel is also widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though it does not acknowledge having them.
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[edit] Reason
A nuclear weapon is a weapon that uses the energy that is given off by splitting up molecules, or groups of atoms. An atom is the smallest thing in the universe, and makes up everything we know. When you split up a group of atoms, by colliding them, a huge amount of energy is created in the form of an explosion. There are two main types of nuclear weapons. Nuclear fission is when you split up groups of atoms to create an explosion (also known as "atomic bombs", "atom bombs", or "A-bombs"). Nuclear fusion is when you collide atoms, or push them together really fast, so fast that they fuse, or melt together. This creates a really huge explosion. Nuclear weapons are very powerful, and one nuclear weapon can destroy a city. They get their energy by changing some of their matter into energy. This is called a nuclear explosion.
The first nuclear weapons were created by the United States during World War II and used against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. This development was called the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project took place in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The first atomic bomb was tested at the Trinity site at White Sands in southern New Mexico.Nuclear weapons are made from the elements uranium or plutonium. Certain forms of these elements can be made to undergo nuclear fission and have a nuclear chain reaction. This produces a very large amount of energy and radiation, and will kill any people or animals within several kilometers. It will eventually kill people farther away than several kilometers depending on how many Rems the person received. The mutations in the DNA cause cancer and radiation poisoning.
A hydrogen bomb, or fusion bomb, is a nuclear weapon which utilizes hydrogen isotopes (deuterium and tritium) as another type of fuel. Hydrogen bombs can be many hundreds of times more powerful than fission bombs.
Nuclear weapons are carried by bombers (like the B-36 Peacemaker, B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit). These bombers are called strategic bombers. They are also carried by missiles (these missiles are called ICBM's if they are launched from land, and SLBM's if they are launched from a submarine). Some missiles travel to the border of space, and then launch a number of separate nuclear weapons back toward the ground, and each one can travel to a different target. This is called a MIRV Warhead, or Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicles.
Nuclear weapons cost a lot of money to make, because the materials they are made of are very rare and it takes many scientists to make them. But many countries have managed to create nuclear weapons. Many countries in the world possess nuclear weapons today. In the order that they first made nuclear weapons, they are: United States (1945), Russia (1949), United Kingdom (1952), France (1960), China (1964), India (1974), and Pakistan (1998). Israel is thought to also have nuclear weapons, but they have never admitted it. Many people said that North Korea had nuclear weapons, and they have said that they do but now they say that they won't make any more. In (2006), North Korea held their first official nuclear test. South Africa once had nuclear weapons, but now says that it has destroyed them all. Iran is believed to be making nuclear weapons, but they say they are just making nuclear energy. When countries get or try to get nuclear weapons, it is called nuclear proliferation.These bombs make a shock wave when they explode.
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- There are still some 26,000 nuclear warheads in the world, enough to destroy civilization many times over and destroy most life on earth. Nuclear weapons make humans an endangered species.
- More than 95% of all nuclear weapons are in the arsenals of the US and Russia.
- The average nuclear weapon in the US arsenal is approximately eight times more powerful than the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, immediately killing some 90,000 people.
- There are currently nine countries with nuclear weapons (US, Russia, UK, France, China, Israel, India,Pakistan and North Korea).
- The 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty, ratified by nearly every country in the world, requires the nuclearweapons states to engage in good faith negotiations for nuclear disarmament.
- The United States unilaterally withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 in order topursue missile defenses and space weaponization. US withdrawal from the treaty has caused bothRussia and China to improve their offensive nuclear capabilities.
- There are up to 2,000,000 kilograms of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) in global stockpiles, and ittakes just 15-24 kilograms for a nuclear weapon. There are 28 countries with at least one bomb’s worthof HEU and 12 countries with at least 20 bombs’ worth.
- Plutonium created in nuclear power reactors is another source of bomb material. It takes as little asthree to five kilograms of plutonium to create a nuclear weapon. There are now some 500,000 kilograms of separated plutonium in global stockpiles. Plutonium stocks continue to increase due to civilian ‘spent’ fuel reprocessing.
- The 2001 US Nuclear Posture Review provides for developing contingency plans for nuclear weapons use against seven countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, North Korea, Russia and China.
- The Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) between the US and Russia requires the twocountries to reduce their deployed strategic warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 by December 31,2012. On the following day the treaty terminates, and each side can redeploy as many nuclear warheadsas it chooses. Many of the nuclear warheads taken off deployed status are not being dismantled, butrather placed in storage, where they might be stolen by criminal or terrorist groups.
