The idea for using nuclear weapons came about in the August of 1940. The potential of these weapons was discovered by several scientists in a laboratory called the "Virus House" located in Berlin, Germany (Campbell 36). Nuclear weapons were starting to be developed in 1943 by Americans and Europeans. These studies were done under the supervision of Robert Oppenheimer. By the summer of 1944 O

The immediate effects of all nuclear weapons are the blast, heat, and finally radiation. These immediate effects are determined by what kind of surface the weapons are dropped on. An explosion that happens in the air or water doesn't have nearly the same effect as one that happens on the ground (Philips).

The blast of an explosion is nearly one half of the weapon's total energy. The blast is determined by the height of the explosion. The winds created by the blast travel at several hundred miles per hour. In a one megaton air burst (one million tons of TNT), which has a blast 300 meters high, the lethal distance of the blast is 5 kilometers in diameter (Campbell 11). The blast of an explosion causes most initial damage by knocking over buildings or any other structure with ease. The height of a blast can reach 600 meters, which could greatly increase the diameter of it (Funk and Wagnalls250).

The initial explosion of a nuclear weapon causes a flash of heat. This flash of heat is visible as a "fireball", which is an extremely hot and intense mass of gas. The fireball grows and rises to the extent at which it expands to 2400 meters in diameter. If the fireball touches the ground a crater will be formed in the earth (Campbell 10,11). The blast at which the heat flash comes from can be seen to some extent from 90 miles away. The heat flash instantly kills its victims as its heat radiation sears their flesh (Philips). Retinal burns can be the result of a person who glanced at the burst at a distance of more than 90 C (Campbell„amiles from ground zero. The temperature of the blast exceeds 1,000 11).

The effects of nuclear weapons on the climate could be catastrophic even if less than one half of the weapons in the possession of the United States and Russia were dropped. The explosions of these nuclear weapons could throw millions of pounds of dust and smoke into the air causing a "Nuclear Winter". The amount could be adequate enough to block off sunlight for several months, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, destroying plant life and creating a subfreezing climate until the dust is scattered throughout the land. Because of this block of sunlight, plants would ultimately die and would mean the death to all things (Encarta 99).

H V bombs are very powerful weapons that can be used to cause many times the destruction of and atomic bomb. On average, about 50 percent of the power of an H-bomb results from thermonuclear-fusion reactions and the other 50 percent from fission that occurs in the A-bomb trigger and in the uranium jacket. A clean H-bomb is defined as one in which a significantly smaller proportion than 50 percent of the energy arises from fission (Encarta 99). A clean H-bomb is determined as one in which a considerably smaller proportion than 50 percent of the energy arises from fission. Possibly as little as 5 percent of the total explosive force might result from fission - the weapon would therefore be 95 percent c

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Approximate Word count = 1991
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)