Opponents of the weapon argued that the neutron bomb made the idea of using nuclear weapons in war more conceivable. Because the neutron bomb would devastate the whole of a target, military planners might not be as hesitant to use the neutron bomb as they would a standard fission bomb.
Summer While conducting researching on developing a large thermonuclear weapon, Sam Cohen introduces the idea of removing the uranium casing from a hydrogen bomb to allow neutrons to travel great distances and penetrate even heavily shielded armor and structures. The USSR announces that it too has tested neutron weapons, but has no plans of deploying them.
The neutron bomb delivers blast and heat effects that are confined to an area of only a few hundred yards in radius. But within a somewhat larger area it throws off a massive wave of neutron and gamma radiation, which can penetrate armor or several feet of earth. This radiation is extremely destructive to living tissue. Because of its short-range destructiveness and the absence of long-range effect, the neutron bomb would be highly effective against tank and infantry formations on the battlefield but would not endanger cities or other population centers only a few miles away.
The uproar over the neutron bomb is largely forgotten today but it was in the news almost constantly in and again in , a blazing international issue that drew in top leaders from the United States, Europe, and the Soviet Union. After almost a year of waffling and indecision, US President Jimmy Carter decided in April to defer production of the neutron bomb, although he did not cancel the program outright.
President Ronald Reagan reopened the question in , eventually electing to produce neutron weapons but to keep them in storage. It was intended to replace existing nuclear warheads—atomic rather than hydrogen devices—already deployed on battlefield weapons in Europe. In fact, the purpose had nothing to do with preserving property. The neutron bomb did not leave property intact; by limiting collateral damage, it just destroyed less of it. The critics were closer to the mark with their accusation that the neutron bomb lowered the nuclear threshold by reducing the reluctance to use nuclear weapons.
Limited-yield nuclear weapons that achieved their main effect from radiation instead of blast and heat were described in considerable detail by a Post article in July In November , President Gerald R.
Ford signed a request from ERDA to fund research and development. Public testimony was heard in Congress in early , although little notice was taken of it.
Technocrats regarded the neutron bomb as a straightforward update of battlefield nuclear weapons. In November , President Harry S. The firebreak between conventional and nuclear weapons came later.
The scope of danger was expanded enormously by the hydrogen bomb and its attendant radioactive fallout. Introduction of ICBMs increased the immediacy of the danger and reduced the options for defense against an attack. By the early s, technology made tactical nuclear weapons small and light enough for deployment with battlefield forces. Annie threw an pound warhead and had an effective range of about 20 miles. There were atomic warheads for delivery by rockets, artillery, and aircraft.
Incredibly, there were even atomic land mines. Atomic Annie was superseded by guns packing smaller nuclear rounds. The strategic nuclear arena was dominated by the Air Force and Strategic Air Command but battlefield atomic weapons were primarily the province of the Army.
In , the Chief of Staff, Gen. Maxwell D. Each combat division had five self-contained battle groups and low-yield tactical nuclear weapons. The most significant of these were the mobile Lance missile, which could fire a one-kiloton atomic warhead for 75 miles, and eight-inch howitzers, with one-kiloton atomic shells and a range of just over 20 miles.
By comparison, the yield of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima in was 15 kilotons; the yield of the Nagasaki bomb was 21 kilotons. NATO, unable to match the overwhelming conventional strength of Soviet and Warsaw Pact tank armies, based its defense on nuclear weapons. The Europeans were uneasy with this. The battlefield nuclear warheads were getting old and had obvious drawbacks, but deterrence depended on convincing the Soviet Union that NATO was ready to use nuclear weapons to meet an attack.
In , the United States began looking seriously for a way to make limited nuclear force in Europe more effective and credible and with less potential damage to western Europe. The search led directly to the neutron bomb. It is generally agreed that the neutron bomb was invented by Samuel T.
Cohen always claimed that he worked out the concept in 15 or 20 minutes with calculations on a slide rule.
The enhanced radiation warhead was a modification of the hydrogen or thermonuclear bomb. The neutron bomb would release more of its energy in the form of lethal radiation. Physical damage would be limited to a relatively tight area while the radiation reached further out to penetrate Warsaw Pact armor, which was shielded against nuclear blast and heat.
Since the neutron bomb produced little or no radioactive fallout or residual radiation, the target area could be reoccupied within a matter of hours. The weapons labs were unable to convince the Pentagon of the merits of replacing the battlefield atomic weapons with costly neutron devices. A neutron warhead was fielded briefly on the Sprint anti-ballistic missile, but was retired in after only a few months of service when the Sprint system was deactivated.
By the middle s, however, the credibility of the battlefield nuclear deterrent was in doubt. Yield: 21 kilotons. Fissile material used: Plutonium Amount: 6. Method of detonation: Implosion. Amount of high-explosive wrapped around plutonium core: kilograms. Method of production: Nuclear reactor at the Hanford Reservation. Location: Hiroshima, Japan. Detonation height: approximately 1, feet. Delivery mechanism: Airdropped from B bomber named Enola Gay. Yield: Fissile material used: Uranium Location: Nagasaki, Japan.
Detonation Height: approximately 1, feet. Delivery mechanism: Airdropped from B bomber named Bockscar. Yield: 22 kilotons. Method of Detonation: Implosion. Amount used: 6. Location: Elugelab Island, Enewetak Atoll.
Location: Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. Yield: kilotons. Method of production: Reactor. Location: Possibly in Siberia. Location: Off Trimouille Island, Australia. Yield: 25 kilotons. Foreign Assistance: United States.
Location: Christmas Island. Yield: 2 megatons. Location: Reggane Proving Grounds, Algeria. Location: Fangataufa Atoll. Yield: 2. Foreign assistance: Norway heavy water to make tritium. Location: Lop Nor. Method of production: Gaseous diffusion. Foreign assistance: Soviet Union. First thermonuclear test: June 17, Yield: Approximately 3 megatons.
Delivery mechanism: Airdropped from a Hong 6 bomber. Estimated date when first bomb was produced: Late Fissile material: Plutonium. Method of production: Dimona reactor imported from France and operated with heavy water supplied by Norway. Probably conducted a kiloton nuclear test on September 22, in the South Atlantic Ocean in cooperation with South Africa. First nuclear test: May 18, Location: Pokhran. Method of production: Cirus reactor supplied by Canada and operated with heavy water supplied by the United States.
Third nuclear test claimed : May 13, Yield: India claimed it tested two nuclear bombs, with a combined yield of 0. First device built: December Total bombs built: Six. Nuclear tests: None. Dismantlement of the bomb program began in November and was completed in early September , after which South Africa signed a comprehensive nuclear inspection agreement with the IAEA. Estimated production of first bomb: Late First nuclear test: May 28, Location: Chagai Hills region.
Yield: kilotons Fissile material used: Uranium Method of production: Gas centrifuge technology smuggled from Europe. Foreign assistance: China bomb design , Germany uranium processing equipment. First nuclear test: October 9, Yield: Less than 1 kiloton. Method of production: Graphite moderated reactor at Yongbyon. Second nuclear test: May 25, Yield: 2 kilotons. Fissile material used: Undetermined allegedly Plutonium Third nuclear test: February 12,
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