Nuclear Weapons History

Join us as we go back into the time in a bid to trace the development of nuclear weapons over the history, the dark side of nuclear power that continues to elude the layman.

The atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the World War II showed just how devastating nuclear weapons can turn out to be.

But did we learn any lessons from it? Not really, and the development of nuclear weapons post-1945 validates this! The list of nuclear powers shows that almost all the developed countries, including the United States and China, have deployed/stored nuclear weapons as a part of their arsenal.

The history of nuclear weapons can be traced back to the Manhattan Project wherein the first atomic bomb (or atom bomb) for war time was developed in a joint venture between the United States, Britain, and Canada during the World War II.

The United States administration took keen interest in the development of this nuclear weapon when some of its noted scientists, including Albert Einstein, warned them about the possible use of uranium-235 to develop atomic bomb in Nazi Germany.

In order to counter the Nazi German atomic bomb project, the then US administration―under the leadership of President Franklin D. Roosevelt―gave a nod for the Manhattan Project.

The production of the required amount of enriched uranium to sustain a chain reaction for the first atomic bomb was not an easy task, and to facilitate it, an enrichment plant was constructed in Tennessee.

A gas centrifuge was used to separate U-235 and U-238 isotopes, as U-238 isotopes were of no use in this process. The entire process was carried out under the watchful eyes of the US physicist, Robert Oppenheimer.

By midsummer of 1945, the atomic bomb was ready for testing. One of the most important milestones of nuclear weapons timeline came at 05:29:45 on July 16, 1945, when this bomb was successfully tested in the desert north of Alamogordo, New Mexico. While the test was codenamed 'Trinity', the atomic bomb that was tested was codenamed 'Gadget'.

After the successful testing of its new nuclear weapon in July 1945, the United States used it for the first time in the very next month. The US forces dropped two atomic bombs on Japan; one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki.

Though the World War II came to an end as a result of this, it had already laid a foundation for the development of nuclear armaments by various other countries. Soviet Union was quick to follow with RDS-1 (The First Lightning) on August 29, 1949.

On October 3, 1952, the United Kingdom joined the nuclear arsenal club with Operation Hurricane, wherein it tested it first nuke bomb in a lagoon between the Montebello Islands of Western Australia.

On February 13, 1960, France tested its maiden nuke venture, Gerboise Bleue, and four years later on October 16, 1964, the People's Republic of China followed with a nuclear test codenamed 596.

On March 5, 1970, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty came into effect to curb the spread of nuclear weapons. This treaty was eventually signed by 186 countries from across the world, including the five countries armed with nuclear weapons.

The period to follow was marked by nuclear weapons testing by those countries that had not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

On May 18, 1975, India successfully carried out the Pokhran-I. While this was not explicitly nuclear weapon testing, it did show the world that India had the capability of developing weapons using nuclear energy.

In May 1998, Pakistan followed the suit with Chagai-I―six underground nuclear tests. On October 9, 2006, North Korea successfully detonated its first nuclear device.

While Israel has not yet declared that it has nuclear weapons, the Vela Incident of September 22, 1979, wherein a double-flash light was detected by the Vela (satellite) did bring this country under the scanner for development and testing of nuclear weapons.

We have come a long way in terms of development of nuclear weapons, and the weapons that have been developed off late are much more powerful than the ones used in history.

For instance, the three nuclear devices successfully tested by India as a part of Pokhran-II on May 11, 1998, are six times more powerful that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

As of today the United States of America, Russia, China, United Kingdom, and France have nuclear arsenal as per the guidelines stipulated in Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which was constituted to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Similarly, Asian countries―India, Pakistan, and North Korea are also armed with nuclear weapons, but are yet to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

It is believed that even Israel has nuclear weapons in its arsenal, but there are no confirmed reports of the same. Other than these 8 countries, NATO members―Germany, Belgium, Canada, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, and Turkey―also have nuclear weapons as a part of the NATO nuclear weapons sharing program.

A critical evaluation of nuclear weapons pros and cons clearly indicates that the cons of the same easily surpass its pros. Other than the large-scale destruction attributed to them, these weapons have also come under the scanner for the probability of them being used by terrorists.

Over the past few years there have been unconfirmed reports about some terrorist organizations managing to lay their hands on these weapons in certain countries. While there is no concrete evidence to support this, if it's true, then the consequences of the same are bound to be disastrous.