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A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lower mass, or a combination of these benefits.
After Truman ordered the crash program to develop the hydrogen bomb in January 1950, the Boston Daily Globe published a cutaway description of a hypothetical hydrogen bomb with the caption Artist's conception of how H-bomb might work using atomic bomb as a mere "trigger" to generate enough heat to set up the H-bomb's "thermonuclear fusion" process.
The United States was the first nation to develop the hydrogen bomb, testing an experimental prototype in 1952 ("Ivy Mike") and a deployable weapon in 1954 ("Castle Bravo"). Throughout the Cold War it continued to modernize and enlarge its nuclear arsenal, but from 1992 on has been involved primarily in a program of stockpile stewardship.
The bomb was a three-stage device with a boosted U-235 primary and U-238 pusher. The yield was 3.3 megatons. The film of the prior 1966 tests have been released, as well as an unidentified later test. [3] It was a fully functional, full-scale, three-stage hydrogen bomb, tested just 32 months after China had made its first fission device. It ...
North Korea's claim of a successful H-bomb test marks a big step in its long-stated goal of developing a nuclear missile that puts the U.S. within range. Possible two-stage hydrogen bomb seen ...
The first test of that series was Castle Bravo, a new design utilizing a dry fuel thermonuclear bomb. It was detonated at dawn on March 1, 1954. It was detonated at dawn on March 1, 1954. The explosion yielded 15 Mt of TNT, far exceeding the expected yield of 4 to 8 Mt of TNT (6 predicted), [ 6 ] and was about 1,000 times more powerful than ...
North Korea said on Sunday it has developed a more advanced nuclear weapon that has "great destructive power."
Test No. 6, First hydrogen bomb test – June 17, 1967; CHIC-16, 200 kt-1 Mt atmospheric test – June 17, 1974 [25] #21, Largest hydrogen bomb tested by China (4 megatons) - November 17, 1976 #29, Last atmospheric test – October 16, 1980. This is to date the last atmospheric nuclear test by any country. [26]