This led to the term ‘hydrogen bomb’ to describe the deuterium-tritium fusion bomb. This is typically done with the isotopes of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) which fuse together to form Helium atoms. Hydrogen bombs, which use nuclear fusion, have higher destructive power and greater efficiencies than atomic bombs.ĭue to the high temperatures required to initiate a nuclear fusion reaction, the process is often referred to as a thermonuclear explosion. Nuclear fusion is a reaction that releases atomic energy by the union of light nuclei at high temperatures to form heavier atoms. The Hydrogen Bomb Ivy Mike Hydrogen Bomb – Photo courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration, Nevada Site Office The fission of slightly more than one kilogram of plutonium 239 is thought to have released destructive energy equivalent to about 21,000 tons of TNT. The Nagasaki BombĬompared to the one used on Hiroshima, the Nagasaki bomb was rounder and fatter. It is believed that the fission of slightly less than one kilogram of uranium 235 released energy equivalent to approximately 15,000 tons of TNT. Devastation in Hiroshimaĭue to its long, thin shape, the Hiroshima bomb was called ‘Little Boy’. This chain reaction spreads almost instantaneously.Ītomic bombs were exploded in war in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. Energy is released when those neutrons split off from the nucleus, and the newly released neutrons strike other uranium or plutonium nuclei, splitting them in the same way, releasing more energy and more neutrons. When a single free neutron strikes the nucleus of an atom of radioactive material like uranium or plutonium, it knocks two or three more neutrons free. Nuclear fission produces the atomic bomb, a weapon of mass destruction that uses power released by the splitting of atomic nuclei.
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