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Expand description of 1953 Soviet weapon
The H-bomb, or hydrogen bomb, is far more powerful and deadly than the [[atomic bomb]] that was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II.
The H-bomb, or hydrogen bomb, is far more powerful and deadly than the [[atomic bomb]] that was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II.
Developed first by the United States and proven with a massive detonation in 1952, the H-bomb consists of the release of massive energy when hydrogen atoms are fused together at very high temperature and pressure to form helium nuclei. The scientists instrumental in its development were the Hungarian immigrant [[Edward Teller]] and Polish immigrant [[Stanislaw Ulam]]. The Soviet Union later developed a similar bomb independently, and its scientists claimed to have invented it independently of the American bomb.
Developed first by the United States and proven with a massive detonation in 1952, the H-bomb consists of the release of massive energy when hydrogen atoms are fused together at very high temperature and pressure to form helium nuclei. The scientists instrumental in its development were the Hungarian immigrant [[Edward Teller]] and Polish immigrant [[Stanislaw Ulam]].
In 1953, the Soviet Union was the first to produce an explosion which made use of nuclear fusion, greatly alarming the United States which had hoped to retain its nuclear lead indefinitely. However, this Soviet device was a huge ground-based installation rather than a deliverable weapon. It was not a "true" fusion bomb because the main use of the fusion reaction was not to produce explosive energy, but to produce a neutron flux which had the effect of boosting the fission reaction. That is, most of the explosive energy came from nuclear fission.
The Soviet Union later developed a bomb similar to the Teller-Ulam design, and its scientists claimed to have invented it independently of the American bomb.
[[Image:Hbomb.jpg]]
[[Image:Hbomb.jpg]]