Energy


Weapons of Mass Destruction

Uncontrolled Chain reaction

  • If a nuclear fission reaction releases extra neutrons and if there are not absorbed, they could increase the rate of the reaction exponentially.
  • This can release a tremendous amount energy within a short period of time in a destructive manner.
  • This is called a uncontrolled chain reaction.
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Speaker: Dr Vellusamy

Recordings6:Unontrolled Chain reaction

Weaponisation

  • In 9th October 1941 at the height of the WW2, the Manhattan project was officially approved for the creation of testing and development of nuclear weapons.
  • This team was lead by Robert.J.Oppenhiemer who successfully tested the gadget on July 16 1945, code named trinity, the first nuclear weapon ever detonated.
  • Following the droppings in hiroshima and nagasaki, the countries across the world wanted to have a nuclear peace deal, a deal russia rejected.
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2 Types of Fission Bombs

  • There were 2 types of bombs developed: gun type and implosion type.
  • In a gun-type structure, a piece of uranium-238 is propelled into another piece by a convention explosive that allows the uranium to reach criticallity, detonating the device
  • In an implosion type device, the same used in trinity, the plutonium core with a neutron initiator in the middle is compressed by an external sphere of explosives. This compression activates the neutron source and helps the core achieve criticality.
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Speaker: Dr Vellusamy

Recording5:The 2 Fission Bombs

Toll


Deaths: 110000-210000


Major cause of death:Burns

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the only places where a nuclear weapon was used against a city, or people. The total death toll was as low as 110000 and as high as 210000. Along with countless others who lost limbs and were displaced. Nuclear weapons dont just kill the people they are targetted towards but have long lasting effects years after the detonation, not just as radiation but also as traumas.

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Thermonuclear Bomb

  • A thermonuclear weapon is one that uses a fission bomb to create enough heat and pressure to kickstart a fusion reaction.
  • The bomb has 2 parts, a primary that is a fission bomb and a secondary that contains the fusion fuel.
  • The average fusion bomb is at least 100 time powerful than any fission based bomb. The tsar bomba was the largest manmade explosive ever detonated.
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Speaker: Dr Vellusamy

Recording5:Thermonuclear warhead

Nuclear Arms Race

The soviets rejected the peace proposal as they believed it was the US trying to limit the growth of their nation So the arms race kick started, with each country trying to stockpile nuclear weapons and make them more powerful

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