The definition of a nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its power from nuclear reactions. The nuclear reaction is a result of fission or a combination of fission and fusion. More specifically they are called fission bombs (for fission) and thermonuclear bombs (the combination of fission and fusion). The active element in most modern nuclear weapons is plutonium. When the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the bombs contained about 64kg of enriched uranium. Upon detonation, nuclear weapons release lethal radiation, shock waves, and scorching heat. The explosion were equivalent to 15 kilotons of chemical explosions. After the explosion, radioactive debris was carried by wind to cause radioactive fallout. Nuclear bombs havent been used in warfare since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during WWII. Even though nuclear weapons, such as the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, havent been used since, then there have been around 2000 nuclear bomb detonations, mainly from the U.S.A and the Soviet Union. The first nuclear weapon was made in the 1930s by the U.S.A, the United Kingdom, Canada, and free France. This collaboration was given the n
ame, the Manhattan Project. J. Robert Oppenheimer was credited as the man who created the first nuclear weapon. He was given the nickname, Father of The Atomic Bomb. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and then dropped three days later on Nagasaki, was the largest loss of life in the shortest amount of time. A Jewish scientist by the name of Leo Szilard, patented the idea of nuclear chain reaction via neutrons. This patent included the theory of critical mass, the smallest amount of radioactive material to sustain the chain reaction and to cause an explosion. Since the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945, many countries have built nuclear weapons of higher caliber than those used on Japan. The first nuclear weapons had to be air dropped above the targeted area/region, but scientific development has made it to launch nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are now warheads placed on surface to air ballistic missiles. After WWII Russia and the U.S.A began the Cold War. The Cold War was started by further development of nuclear weapons. During the Cold War, which was in between 1945-1992, the Americans developed somewhere near 32,000 nuclear weapons of 30 different types at their peak in 1966.