The Science behind Nuclear Weapons

                                                                                     last updated 01/23/2008

 DISCLAIMER: The purpose of these pages is to provide a "jump-start" to new researchers and

      minimize "surfing time".  The reader must use his/her own criteria to decide what has merit.  Some

      of these essays raise more questions than they answer.  Nothing here is "for sale"; everything is

      'Free' and is provided as a public service.  Because websites often disappear, selected material has

      been archived.  Every effort has been made to note the copyright owner as well as the website URL.

      (Please e-mail any updates/corrections to me.)  The reader is encouraged to visit those sites FIRST  

                                                 and only use these archives as a "back-up".

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

- link to Web-page        -  MS-Word document          - available on CD as a MS-Word document

        ** If a <link> doesn't work, e-mail me and I will substitute an archived  document in its place **

        **        -OR-    copy-and-paste the link into the Internet Archive "Wayback Machine" =>>     **

           You also might want to do a "Google " search on any subject as well as check Wikipedia

  Carey Sublette's  

        The Nuclear Weapon Archive

                        A Guide To Nuclear Weapons

                    http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/

                                      (email: careysub@earthing.net )

                   [note: use the Internet Archives  to retrieve a "dead" <link> ]

       Overview

     [    40-KB]    0 - Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions

     [   181-KB] 15 - Dawn of the Atomic Age

     [  144 -KB] 10 - Chronology For The Origin Of Atomic Weapons

     [1370 -KB] 16 - Gallery of U.S. Nuclear Tests

     [  392 -KB] 12 - Useful Tables 

     [    72-KB]    1 - Types of Nuclear Weapons

                                          1.1 - Terminology

                                          1.2 - U.S. Nuclear Test Names

                                          1.3 - Units of Measurement

                                          1.4 - Pure Fission Weapons

                                          1.5 - Combined Fission/Fusion Weapons

                                          1.6 - Cobalt Bombs

     [    86-KB]    2 - Intro to Nuclear Weapon Physics & Design

                                          2.1 - Fission Weapon Physics

                                          2.2 - Fusion Weapon Physics

     [  436-KB]    3 - Matter, Energy, and Radiation Hydrodynamics

                                          3.1 - Thermodynamics and

                                                                              the Properties of Gases

                                          3.2 - Properties of Matter

                                          3.3 - Interaction of Radiation and Matter

                                          3.4 - Hydrodynamics

                                          3.5 - Radiation Hydrodynamics

                                          3.6 - Shock Waves in Non-Uniform Systems

                                          3.7 - Principles of Implosion

                                          3.8 - Instability

    [    32-KB]    4 - Engineering and Design of Nuclear Weapons

          [  615-KB]             4.1 - Elements of Fission Weapon Design

          [    82-KB]             4.2 - Fission Weapon Designs

          [    51-KB]             4.3 - Fission-Fusion Hybrid Weapons

          [  207-KB]             4.4 - Elements of 

                                                                 Thermonuclear Weapon Design

          [    65-KB]             4.5 - Thermonuclear Weapon Designs

                                          4.6 - Weapon System Design

                                          4.7 - Speculative Weapon Designs

                                          4.8 - Simulation and Testing

     [  156-KB]   5 - Effects of Nuclear Explosions 

                                           5.1 - Overview of Immediate Effects

                                          5.2 - Overview of Delayed Effects

                                          5.3 - Physics of Nuclear Weapon Effects

                                          5.4 - Air Bursts and Surface Bursts

                                          5.5 - Electromagnetic Effects

                                          5.6 - Mechanisms of Damage and Injury

     [  145-KB]    6 - Nuclear Materials 

                                          6.1 - Production of Isotopes

                                          6.2 - Fission-able Materials

                                          6.3 - Fusion-able Materials

                                          6.4 - Other Materials

                              7 - Nuclear Weapon Nations and Arsenals 

         [  473-KB]         7.1 - Nuclear Weapon Treaties

                                         7.2 - Declared States

         [  144-KB]         7.3 - Suspected States

                                                  7.4 - States Formerly Possessing

                                                                   or Pursuing Nuclear Weapons

                                         7.5 - Other Nuclear Capable States

     [  118-KB]   8 - The First Nuclear Weapons 

                                          8.1 - The First Atomic Bombs

                                                           (Trinity-Gadget, Little Boy, Fat Man)

                                          8.2 - The First Hydrogen Bombs

                                9 - Hiroshima and Nagasaki 

                              11 - Questions and Answers 

     [    36-KB]  17 - Principles of Nuclear Weapons' Security and Safety

     [  101-KB]  18 - The Big, Big List of Nuclear-related Links

   <= download the COMPLETE document   (including all of the

                                                     above Sections) in a huge ZIP-file

    <= Home Page /  index of all Documents & References

  note: An excellent textbook which parallels these files is "Nuclear

                Reactor Engineering" by Glasstone & Sesonske.    A

                former consultant to the old U.S. Atomic Energy

                Commission, Samuel Glasstone also authored "Sourcebook

                on the Space Sciences" which was an advanced textbook 

                for college AF-ROTC cadets.  Where complex math was

                inevitably necessary, both books solved the differential and

                integration equations enough so the results could be

                                 expressed in normal "engineering design" algebra.

        I feel fortunate that I took both courses while in college.

                                                                                         -- StealthSkater