The+testing+of+nuclear+power-p.7



the explosion of the trinity bomb

The Testing of Nuclear Power

Many people look past the Cold War and World War Two without looking at the history of testing nuclear weapons. Well, good thing you are reading my paper, because that’s exactly what you’re going to get. It all started when scientists discovered the splitting of an atom and nuclear energy in early 1939. They soon would find it would be great technology for a weapon. Albert Einstein helped create potential nuclear weapons.

In 1942 the government started Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was a project to make a fission bomb. On July 16, 1945, the Manhattan scientists tested the nuclear bomb. Convinced the government to build one. The first nuclear bomb was dropped on Japan. In the late 40’s many fission weapons were developed. In 1949 the Soviet Union tested its first fission weapon. In 1952, at time of the Korean War the U.S. tested a thermonuclear device. Later in 1955 the Soviet Union too tested a thermonuclear device. In the 50’s the Soviet Union equipped submarines with nuclear missiles.

In New Mexico the U.S. had exploded a nuclear bomb called trinity. Later the U.S. exploded a bomb named mike. It was 500 times more powerful than trinity. The U.S. has exploded bombs underground, aboveground, and underwater. When the U.S. tested the hydrogen bomb on a island it literally took the island off the charts. They have also tested nuclear bombs on fleets of ships. The island and fleet didn't have a chance for the bombs.

The U.S. had 1,030 nuclear weapon tests. The last one was on September 23, 1993. The Soviet Union had 715 tests. The last one was on October 30, 1990. Russia never fired a nuclear weapon. France has done 210 nuclear weapons tests. The last test was on January 27, 1996. Last but not least Britain has done 45 tests the last one being on November 26, 1991.

Altogether the total budget for the U.S. nuclear weapon program was 35,100,000,000. The Manhattan project alone cost 20,000,000,000. There were 67,500 missiles built. Also there were 70,000 bombs built. The first test was on 1943 and the last test was on 1993. All together it was 50 years long.

To conclude, testing of nuclear weapons is a big role in our government. They helped us solve the Cold War and WWII. It all started when scientists discovered the splitting of an atom and thought it could be a potential weapon. After the Manhattan project we bombed Japan. Nuclear weapons became very successful.

Contributor: • George W. S. Kuhn, J.D., Research Fellow, Logistics Management Institute; Former United States Army Officer

Kuhn, George W. S. "Nuclear weapon." World Book Online Reference Center. 2007. [Place of access. Date of access.] <[|http://www.worldbookonline.com.ezproxy.cooklib.org:2048/wb/Article?id=ar396520>.] Contributor: • Mirela Gavrilas, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Materials and Nuclear Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park.

Gavrilas, Mirela. "Nuclear energy." World Book Online Reference Center. 2007. [Place of access. Date of access.] <[|http://www.worldbookonline.com.ezproxy.cooklib.org:2048/wb/Article?id=ar396440>.]

http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/nukes/ctbt/read9.html

Orr, tamra. the hydrogen bomb; Unleashing the nuclear age and arms race, New York, The Rusen publishing, group, 2005.