An atomic bomb is any weapon that gets its destructive power from an atom. This power comes when the matter inside of the atoms is transformed into energy. The process by which this is done is known as fission. The only two atoms suitable for fission are the uranium isotope U-235 and the plutonium isotope Pu-239. Fission occurs when a neutron, a subatomic particle with

The thermal radiation produced by an atomic bomb explosion will account for thirty-five percent of the atomic bomb's damage. Thermal radiation can come in one of three forms: ultraviolet radiation, visible radiation, or infrared radiation. The ultraviolet radiation is absorbed so rapidly by air particles that it has no substantial effect on people. However, the visible and infrared radiation creates an enormous amount of heat to be produced, approximately ten million degrees Celsius at the hypocenter. This heat has two main effects. The first is known as flash burns. The flash of thermal radiation produces these flash burns right after the explosion. Flash burns can be either first-degree burns (bad sun burns), second-degree burns (blisters, infections, and scars), or third-degree burns (destroyed skin tissue). The second type is known as flame burns. These are burns that come from one of two different types of fires, which are created when flammable materials are ignited by the thermal radiation. The first type is called firestorms. A firestorm is violent, has raging winds, and has extremely high temperatures; but fortunately it does not spread very rapidly. The second type is called a conflagration. A conflagration is when the fire spreads in a front. The thermal radiation produced by the atomic bomb's explosion will account for most of the deaths or injuries.

In Hiroshima, the initial nuclear radiation was spread over a distance of approximately fifty-three hundredths of a kilometer. In Nagasaki, the initial nuclear radiation only spread one and six thousandths of a kilometer. The reason why the nuclear radiation was not the main caused of deaths or injuries was that the atomic bomb was detonated so high in the atmosphere; approximately five hundred and seventy meters in Hiroshima, and approximately five hundred and ten meters in Nagasaki. Even without causing many deaths the nuclear radiation probably caused the most serious effects. Those with definite proof were those of increased rates of cataracts, leukemia, cancer of the thyroid, cancer of the breast, cancer of the lungs, cancer of the stomach, and mental retardation of babies. Those that had substantial but not definite proof were those of tumors of the esophagus, tumors of the colon, tumors of the salivary glands, and tumors of the urinary tract organs. Those that had no definite or substantial proof were those of increased rates of birth mortality, birth defects, infertility, and susceptibility towards illnesses.

The blast, the thermal radiation, or the nuclear radiation from an atomic bomb explosion will have severe effects on both humans and on the environment in which they live in. The only two cities that have ever experienced having an atomic bomb being exploded on them were the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. In Hiroshima, the casualties have been estimated between seventy-five and eighty th

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