Nuclear Power & The Arms Race

Contemporary World

Nuclear Arms Race

Competition for nuclear superiority between the USA, the USSR and their allies.

How Do Nuclear Weapons Work? Supersized explosive

devices that take advantage of the properties of the atom.

This generates a charge chain reaction explosion.

Nuclear power plants aim to keep this process controlled, nuclear weapons let it run wild.

Effects of Nuclear Explosions

Nuclear explosions destroy in many ways:

1. Intense heat produced

2. Extreme physical trauma

3. Massive amounts of radiation

4. Magnitude of destruction

The A-Bomb: Fission Atom split into two smaller

pieces Uranium-235 Produces 2 misc neutrons,

which sets off a chain reaction

Bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Produced by the USA & UK in 1945. USSR got them in 1949, France in 1960 and China in 1964.

Today, at least a dozen countries have bombs of this type.

The H-Bomb: Thermonuclear/Fusion

Helium-4, which has to be artificially produced by putting together two other atoms

Much more difficult to produce, much more powerful

Greater shock wave, greater heat, less radiation.

Tested by the USA in 1952, the USSR in 1953, the UK in 1957 and France/China in 1966.

No others nations possess this type of weapon today.

Nuclear Arms Race

August 6th 1945: USA dropped Little Boy over Hiroshima.

August 9th 1945: USA dropped Fat Man over Nagasaki.

Stalin felt he had no choice but to get the A-Bomb ASAP.

Nuclear Arms Race

1950: Decision to develop the H-Bomb.

Most experts told Truman it wouldn’t be a weapon at all, but a psychological tool.

Nuclear Arms Race: Ivy Mike November 1952 USA detonated an H-

Bomb over a small island in the Marshalls

450x more powerful than the bomb dropped over Nagasaki

In August 1953 the Soviets tested an H-Bomb

Nuclear Arms Race: BRAVO Test March 1954 Largest nuclear device

exploded by the USA, again in the Marshalls

1000x more powerful than the bombs used in Japan

Radioactive fallout frightened people. Far out islands and Japanese fishermen were affected. Radioactive debris carried around the world.

Grim conclusion

Nuclear Arms Race: Czar Bomba 1961: To intimidate JFK,

Khrushchev ordered the explosion of a massive bomb in the northern USSR.

Combined techniques in a fission fusion fission bomb

Largest man made explosion in history

Huge environmental fallout

Czar Bomba Cont. Consequences:

1. Scientists considered this purely a political show with no military or scientific value.

2. Infuriated the Kennedy administration

The USSR would try and outdo the USA in the space race

Cold War Trivia The USSR and the USA

never actually fought a “hot” war against each other. Instead, the wars were fought by proxy- in which of the following did the USA government not back a coup?

A) IranB) Switzerland C) Guatemala D) Brazil

Cold War Trivia

B, Switzerland!

Cold War Trivia Who said in 1956

“There are only two ways: either peaceful coexistence or the most destructive war in history. There is no third way.”

A) JFKB) StalinC) EisenhowerD) Khrushchev

Cold War Trivia

D, Khrushchev!

Cold War Trivia

Who was the first American President to visit Moscow?

A) KennedyB) NixonC) ReaganD) Bush

Cold War Trivia

B! Nixon visited the

USSR in 1972. Brezhnev visited the USA the next year.

Cold War Trivia For the first time since

WWII, the USA and Russia cooperated (at least diplomatically) against a common enemy in 1991. Who was it?

A) Yasser ArafatB) John MajorC) Osama bin LadenD) Saddam Hussein

Cold War Trivia

D! Saddam Hussein. Russia did this for

geopolitical reasons owing to Iraq’s close proximity to Russian borders.

Cold War Trivia In March 1998 Yeltsin,

known for his bizarre and erratic behavior, fired his entire Cabinet. What reason did he give for the decision?

A) They were alcoholics B) They were all corruptC) They were unsuitable for

the new RussiaD) He feared they were

planning to kill him

Cold War Trivia

C! It was unclear what

he meant by “new” Russia, but it appears that this was his attempt to introduce reform.