 |
|
At the height of the Cold War the United States tested “Mike,” the world’s first hydrogen bomb
|
WASHINGTON,
October 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - At the height of the Cold
War at 7:00 am on November 1, 1952, the United States tested “Mike,”
the world’s first hydrogen bomb, on the Enewetak atoll off of the
Marshall Islands.
It
was a bomb unlike any one had ever seen before. The 10.4 megaton bomb
was 600 times more powerful than the atomic bombs that destroyed
Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ended the Japanese front of World War II in
August of 1945, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The
test set off an atomic mushroom cloud 12.8 kilometers wide and 43
kilometers high. It vaporized 80 million tons of earth.
“Mike”
was followed by a second, more powerful test in March 1954 on the nearby
Bikini atoll.
Nearly
a decade earlier in July, 1945, the United States had tested the first
atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert.
The
culmination of what was known as the Manhattan Project, it succeeded in
harnessing power by splitting the neutrons of atoms, in a process called
fission.
Two
types of atomic bombs were developed: enriched uranium and plutonium.
Unlike
them, the hydrogen bomb, or H-bomb, does not use fission but is based on
fusion of elements. That concept, first imagined in the early 1940s by
Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, was technically much more difficult than
fission.
The
energy for that is derived from thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen
isotopes.
The same energy powers the stars, and comes from heat produced by a
classic nuclear explosion, liberating enormous amounts of energy and
shock waves.
The
story behind “Mike’s” creation is one of rivalry between world
powers ... and scientists.
As
Richard Rhodes detailed in his book Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen
Bomb, the Soviet’s first atomic test in August 1949 - aided, no doubt,
by spy Klaus Fuchs - pushed the United States to up the ante: the
H-bomb, dubbed the “Super” bomb by scientist Edward Teller.
Teller
was involved in the birth of the atomic bombs. An American of Hungarian
origins, he was the sole architect of the “Super” bomb.
Now
aged 94, Teller was immortalized in popular culture as the basis of the
character “Dr. Strangelove.”
Robert
Oppenheimer, who led the Manhattan Project, opposed the development of
the H-bomb, fearing that it might spark an arms race that could spell
the end of humanity.
Sure
enough, the Soviet Union, thanks to physicist Andrei Sakharov, tested
its first H-bomb in August 1953.
Other
world powers soon followed: Britain in 1957, China a decade later and
France in 1968.
“It
is very difficult now to imagine an active scenario where the H-bomb
would be used, but we still have thousands,” said Michael Levi, of the
Federation of American Scientists, because such a scenario would produce
a holocaust.
“The
U.S. arsenal of strategic nuclear weapons is completely composed of
H-bombs. The same is believed for Russia,” he added.
On
Tuesday, October 29, U.K. newspaper the Guardian reported that British
and American academics have warned that the U.S. is developing a new
generation of weapons that possibly violate international treaties on
biological and chemical warfare.
The
left-wing British daily, pointed out that the claims come at a time when
the U.S. is proposing military action against Iraq on the grounds that
President Saddam Hussein is breaking international agreements on weapons
of mass destruction.
The
Guardian said that according to specialists in bio-warfare and chemical
weapons, the Pentagon, with the help of the British military, is also
working on “non-lethal” weapons similar to the gas used by Russian
forces to end last week's theater siege in Moscow.
|
|
Russia Arrests 30 Citizens for
Helping Chechen Fighters
Russia Demands Extradition of Chechen Envoy Held in Denmark
Bombs Damage Mosque, Railway Lines in South Africa, 1 Killed
Amnesty Slams Russia Over
Executions, Torture, Rape in Chechnya
Chechens Seek End to Russian
Genocide at Congress Moscow Wanted Banned
Chechen Fighters Down Russian
Chopper, Anti-Chechen Harassment Continues
Palestine:
Protesting Settlers’
Violence, Israeli Intellectuals Pick Olives With Palestinians
Israeli Coalition Crumbles
After Labor Ministers Quit
Three Israelis Killed in Attack on Settlement
Arrest Call For Israeli Ex-Army
Chief
Arafat Announces New Cabinet,
Names Four New Ministers
Iraq:
U.S. Agrees To U.N. Debate on
Iraq Before Strike
Blix Calls for Council Unity,
Says Iraq Must Be Aware of Consequences
Troop Call-Up For Iraqi War Could Equal That of Gulf War
Muslim-Christian Clerics Urge Definition of
Terrorism
Hodaibi Muslim Brotherhood Acting Guide-General
Canada Issues Travel Warning for Citizens Going
to U.S.
50 Years Ago, U.S. Tested First Hydrogen Bomb
Australia to Use Aid to Replace Islamic Schools With State Education
18 Arab States Vow To “Reactivate” Boycott of Israel
Iran’s Women Line Up to Learn Motorbiking
Egged On By U.S. & E.U., India &
Pakistan Relations Thaw
|
|
|
|
|
|
