Nuclear weapons

explosive device that gets its destructive force from nuclear reactions

conflict or strategy in which nuclear weaponry is used to inflict damage on an opponent

There are currently nine sovereign states that are generally understood to possess nuclear weapons, though only eight formally acknowledge possessing them. In order of first successful nuclear test, the world's nine nuclear-armed states are the United States (1945), Russia (1949), the United Kingdom (1952), France (1960), China (1964), India (1974), Pakistan (1998), and North Korea (2006); Israel is believed to have acquired nuclear weapons around 1967, but has never openly tested or formally acknowledged having them. Under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China are recognized "nuclear-weapons states" (NWS). They are also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Israel, India, and Pakistan never signed the NPT, while North Korea acceded to it in 1985 before announcing withdrawal in 2003.

hypothetical climatic effect of nuclear war

experiment carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability of nuclear weapons

doctrine of military strategy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender

burst of electromagnetic energy

residual radioactive material following a nuclear blast

low yield thermonuclear weapon

mushroom-shaped cloud produced by a large (often nuclear) explosion

act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons

spread of nuclear weapons

radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives to contaminate an area with radioactive material, serving primarily as an area denial device against civilians

historical subcritical mass of plutonium

World War II weapons project

Type and severity of damage caused by nuclear weapons

terrorism involving nuclear weapons

competition between multiple parties to have superior nuclear weaponry

hypothetical salted bomb

process by which nuclear WMDs are designed and produced

hypothetical object capable of destroying all life on a planet

nuclear weapon designed to be used on targets as part of a strategic plan

espionage related to the creation of nuclear weapons

intergovernmental organization

fictional chemical substance

definitions by the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding operating conditions and defense from malicious acts, respectively

2002 nuclear disarmament treaty between the U.S. and Russia

history of the development of nuclear weapons

ballistic missile whose warhead is capable of autonomously tracking ground targets

burst of electromagnetic radiation created by a nuclear explosion

class of artillery using munitions with nuclear warheads

Wikimedia portal

thumb|Enewetak Atoll, before Mike shot. Note island of Elugelab on left. thumb|Enewetak Atoll, after Mike shot. Note crater on left. Elugelab, or Elugelap (, ), was an island, part of the Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It was destroyed in the world's first full-scale thermonuclear explosion, the Mike shot of Operation Ivy, on November 1, 1952. Prior to being destroyed, the island was described as "just another small naked island of the atoll".

core of an implosion weapon

thumb|upright|KN2 "Krytron" switch tube, made by EG&G (about 25 mm tall) The krytron is a cold-cathode gas-filled tube intended for use as a very high-speed switch, somewhat similar to the thyratron. It consists of a sealed glass tube with four electrodes. A small triggering pulse on the grid electrode switches the tube on, allowing a large current to flow between the cathode and anode electrodes. The vacuum version is called a vacuum krytron, or sprytron. The krytron was one of the earliest developments of the EG&G Corporation.

family of anti-submarine missiles and warheads

type of nuclear weapon

torpedo armed with a nuclear warhead

type of atom bomb

technology and systems used to place nuclear weaponry at the point of detonation

Wikimedia list article

nuclear weapon for use underwater

nuclear strategy in which a retaliatory strike is launched upon warning of incoming nuclear missiles

Nukemap (stylised in all caps) is web application used to visualize the effects of nuclear weapons. It was created by Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science at the Stevens Institute of Technology who studies the history of nuclear weapons. It uses declassified nuclear weapons effects data and an interactive mapping API to represent the effects of a nuclear detonation: blast, thermal radiation, ionizing radiation, and nuclear fallout, among others, and can model weapons with different explosive yields, heights of burst, and fission fractions. It can also provide estimates for the casualties o

state that does not have nuclear weapons but could rapidly acquire them

option available on many nuclear weapons

any isotope or form of one of the metals uranium, plutonium, and according to some definitions thorium; material crucial for nuclear power and nuclear weapons

alloy used in nuclear weapon pits

detonation of a nuclear device which grossly fails to produce its expected yield

theoretical illicit nuclear weapons bought, stolen, or otherwise originating from a nuclear state

access control security device for nuclear weapons

substance that is pure enough to be used to make a weapon