what do you know about nuclear weapons?

Question

I am doing a research paper on nuclear weapons. only 25% of the info can be from sources. What do i need to know and what do you think about it? anyone have any ideas on nuclear weapons?

Answer 1

What, specifically, do you WANT to know? It is a broad subject. Much of the history of the development of them has been declassified, altho certain specifics of their construction will remain so. Refine the scope of the question and re-ask, I will be happy to assist.

Answer 2

Here's the Army's take on NBC training -- for casualty exercise.
http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/simcenter/nbccts.htm

And this one is an actual basic training exercise ... news report
http://www.army.mil/-news/2007/03/15/2275-nuclear-biological-chemical-gas-chamber---my-biggest-memory-from-basic-combat-training/
(NASTY -- Been there, done that)

And of course you will need to start with the Manhattan Project.
http://www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/index.htm

By using these sites, you actually have material you can cite for your paper.

I also recommend Richard Rhodes' books The Making of the Atom Bomb and the Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb

You can also get some interesting quotes on the usage of the bombs in Japan by contacting the Truman Museum in Kansas City, Mo. They have some good "fer and agin" ones that I'm sure they'd share with you. You might be surprised at who was AGAINST the use of the bombs!

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/

Good Luck

Answer 3

Everything I'm telling you has been declassified or I would not be telling you about it. I'm not giving you any classified information.
One: You can fight and win on a nuclear battlefield. That was proved in the sixties in the Nevada desert by the military holding war games in conjunction with the nuclear test.
two: There are two basic types of nuclear weapons. One is the tactical nuclear weapons as used on the battle field, much smaller often times can be fired from artillery or short range missiles. they measure in the Kilo tons (the small stuff)
Second there is the Strategic nuclear weapons like mounted on ICBM's which are designed to take out whole cities (the big stuff) they are measured in the Mega tons.
The two bombs dropped on Japan in WW II both measured in just the Kilo tons which today is considered Tactical sized nuclear weapons.
In a nuclear explosion you have three types of radiation:
Gamma rays, Beta rays, and Alpha rays.
Gamma rays are the worst of the three but they only last for a short time period during the explosion. They are what fries everything. However only exist at ground zero or clost to ground zero.
Beta rays: last for several days after the explosion. They have the pentrating power to pentrate clothes buildings etc.
Alpha rays or Alpha radiation is the longest lasting several hundreds of years. But does not have the penetrationg power of either Beta radiation or Gamma rays. As long as you take care to wash your "C" rations off before opening them and wearing protective clothing to keep the dust contaminated with Alpha off you, you can survive and fight with no ill effects from radiation.
The lastest addition to tactical weapons is the Nuetron tactical warheads. They have the advanage of not having or having very little Alpha radiation. Nor do they destroy buildings etc like a standard nuclear explosion. They're main usage is in destroying the enemy's personal not the enemy's physical faculities.
The first nuclear weapons were the "A" bomb or Atomic bomb which was based on enriched uraninum 235. And was what we call a dirty bomb today because of the amount of resdual Alpha radiation it has.
The next generation was the Hydrogen bombs which were a lot more powerful measuring in the Mega tons and didn't have near the resdual Alpha radiation associated with the "A" bombs.
The Nuetron Bombs or warheads have hardly any long term resdual radiation after the Beta radiation dissipates so is best for battle field use.
Best defenses against radiation is light colored refective clothing such as white since it will reflect the radiation meaning it will not penetrate.
Nuclear radiation has shore wave lengths approaching the wave lengths of light and as such are considered for the most part line of sight. as being like high frequency electro magnetic waves. or microwaves.
Wave length is the distance and time a wave travels which making a full 360 degree cycle. microwaves are measured in the millionths and billionths of seconds and meters or feet as compared to the speed of light which travels 300 X 10^6 meters a second or around 984 X 10^6 feet a second.

Kilo tons refers to thousands or tons of TNT when talking about nuclear weapons . Like a 500 KILO ton weapon is the equilvent of 500,000 tons of TNT.
Mega tons refers to millions of tons of TNT when talking about nuclear warheads. Like a 50 mega ton nuclear warhead will be the equilvent of 50,000,000 tons of TNT.
Hope that helps a little. A little rusty on NBC warfare and tactics.
I'll say this I would a whole lot rather fight on a Nuclear battle field than on a Chemical battle field. Chemical meaing mustard gas and nerve gas being used on the battle field.

Answer 4

Iran keeps insisting it desires to get rid of Israel and could no longer step decrease back from that fact. Iran is in the back of the insurgency in Iraq, Afganistan, so it does no longer make for a great resume. i do no longer understand with the worry human beings have with the U. S. having nukes. the U. S. has the accountability to guard that is allies, on the grounds that there are interestingly no different countries keen to fill the roll, which I honestly have a concern with. Japan became a fanatical society which might have fought all the way down to the final lady and infant, so the two way those lives could have been misplaced. could you extremely see Russia with the capabiltiy of the U. S. armed forces. Russia and China killed greater human beings than the U. S. ever will and that they did no longer use nukes.

Answer 5

There are two main categories of nuclear weapons, classified by their mechanism of operation: fission bombs, which break apart heavy atomic nuclei to release energy, and fusion bombs, which fuse light nuclei. Fusion bombs tend to be much more powerful. Within these nuclear weapon categories, there are slight variants: for example, cobalt bombs are surrounded by a layer of cobalt that causes much more intense radioactive fallout, and fission-boosted weapons are nuclear weapons that, despite being based on fission, exploit fusion reactions to boost their yield. Neutron bombs, or enhanced radiation weapons, are fusion weapons designed to emit intense neutron radiation, killing all life within a certain area but leaving buildings unharmed.

Most nuclear weapon variants are designed for the purpose of having a spectrum of available yields and sizes for different applications. The most fearsome nuclear weapon of all time was the Tsar Bomba, a Soviet fusion bomb with the explosive force of 50 megatons of TNT. At first it was designed to have a yield of 100 megatons, but this was scaled down due to fallout concerns. In contrast, the smallest nuclear weapons, like some tested for Operation Plumbbob at the Nevada Test Site, may have a yield as low as a mere ton of TNT, or less. The smallest nuclear weapon mass-produced for deployment was the Davy Crockett warhead, designed for infantry launch from small redeployable mortars. It was deployed in Germany to guard against a Soviet invasion of Europe.

The earliest nuclear weapon designs were modeled after small guns, which shoot a hemisphere of highly-enriched uranium into another hemisphere of the same, kickstarting a nuclear reaction and the ensuing release of heat and light in large quantities. More modern designs use implosion assemblies, where spheres of segmented uranium are surrounded by chemical explosives that all detonate simultaneously, concentrating the uranium in the center and starting a chain reaction.

It is possible to make nuclear weapons that are quite small, on the order of size of a toaster. Because extremely large nuclear weapons cause collateral damage in the form of fallout, and have reduced yields because more of the uranium is blown apart without fissioning, the military favors nuclear weapons in the small-to-medium range. More focus in put on the method of delivery. Until they were decommissioned in 2005, the most fearsome delivery method for nuclear weapons worldwide was the American LGM-118A Peacekeeper missile. It contained 10 reentry vehicles, each with a nuclear warhead 25 times more powerful than the bomb that incinerated Hiroshima. One of these could dole out destruction across a very wide swath of land.

Answer 6

What about Yucca Mountain and all the issues that go along with disposing nuclear waste? What about the moral/ethical dillema of everyone having their finger on the button?

Answer 7

You can't hug a child with nuclear arms

listen to the song ""if the Russians love their children too" by Sting

Answer 8

the radiation from these weapons can kill long after the initial blast.some test areas from years ago are still off limits.also radioactive dust can be picked up by the prevailing winds and contaminate large areas many miles away.

Answer 9

nuclear weapons are used by terrorist for mass destruction to get a widespread of body counts

Answer 10

your paper should be comprised of one sentence: nuclear weapons are expensive and can kill a lot of people at one time.