This is usually achieved through the use of deuterium and tritium (two hydrogen isotopes) that fuse to provide energy. Hydrogen bombs, or H-bombs for short, are also a type of nuclear weapon, which detonate as a result of the enormous energy produced by nuclear fusion. When detonated, fission fragments make up the majority of nuclear fallout. Additionally, radioactive fission fragments are released by the bomb as a result of the heavier nuclei splitting into smaller ones. Atomic bombs are measured in kilotons, with each unit equal to the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT. The atomic weapon which leveled Hiroshima in 1945 had a yield of around 15 kilotons or the explosive power of 15,000 tons of TNT.Ī single atomic bomb can produce between around a ton and 500 kilotons of the explosive TNT. The fission reaction is incredibly powerful. This material usually consists of either enriched plutonium or enriched uranium. Because of this, this kind of bomb is also often referred to as a fission bomb.Ī material capable of fission (fissile material) is given supercritical mass, which is the point at which fission occurs - the nuclear breaks apart. This can be done by either firing one portion of a sub-critical mass into another or by compressing the sub-critical material with conventional explosives. To better understand this, it is probably worth giving a quick overview of each.Īn atomic bomb, or A-bomb for short, is a form of nuclear weapon that detonates as a result of the tremendous energy unleashed by nuclear fission. In other words, a hydrogen bomb is set off by an atomic bomb. 'The thousands of nuclear weapons possessed by the US and Russia could bring about a nuclear winter, destroying the essential ecosystems on which all life depends.In essence, a hydrogen bomb employs fission to fuel a fusion process, whereas an atomic bomb is solely a fission-based weapon. It is understood that he spent Saturday watching massive nuclear drills, which involved multiple practice missile launches.Īccording to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, (ICANW) 'Less than one percent of the nuclear weapons in the world could disrupt the global climate and threaten as many as two billion people with starvation in a nuclear famine. Tensions in the Ukraine have been rising and Russian President Putin has reportedly been flexing his nuclear muscles Thousands of innocent people were killed, with estimates to as many as 226,000 losing their lives. Nuclear weapons have been dropped on inhabited areas only two times - both in 1945, when the US detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The blast radius would be so big, tens of thousands of people in Liverpool and Leeds would be badly burned and disabled. The map shows that a far smaller, 50 mega-tonne Tsar Bomb - the biggest the Soviet Union ever tested - could kill 2.1million people and injure a further 2.1million.

Should the same bomb ever be dropped on London, it could kill 5.7million and injure a further 3.4million. Not only would it claim 2.4million lives, the blast would also give people as far away as Leicester, Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent third degree burns.

Tsar bomba blast radius