Two distinct types of nuclear weapons have been developed during and since World War II: the fission and fusion of bombs.
Towards the end of World War II, American, British and Canadian scientists working in great secrecy in the United States produced the fist atomic bomb. It was exploded on 16 July 1945 at Alamogordo in New Mexico. Following this test explosion two atomic bombs were dropped on Japanese cities. The first was Hiroshima on August 6 when most of the center of the city was destroyed and about 75000 people were killed. The second was on Nagasaki, on August 9, when about 39000 people were killed. The Japanese surrendered the next day.
After World War II, the United States tested more powerful atomic bombs in the South Pacific and in the state of Nevada, and by 1952 had tested the even more destructive hydrogen bomb. The article Nuclear Energy describes how an atomic bomb gets its enormous explosive force from the joining or fusion of hydrogen atoms to the atmosphere for a long time.
Radioactive dust would be carried by the wind and descend as "fall-out", causing sickness and death to a large number of people.
In 1963, the United States, the USSR and Great Britain signed a treaty to stop the testing of nuclear bombs in the atmosphere, through they continued underground tests. Since then, various proposals have been made to try to halt the spread of nuclear weapons and end the expensive and dangerous "arms race".
Debate topic:
Is nuclear warfare necessary?
The
Regional Race in Nuclear Warfare: Link
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Focus on India and Pakistan
Nuclear
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Link to Nuclear Warfare Legacy