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Show affirm Huaclesur News The History of Nuclear Weapons: A Story of Pain By Cara Cahoon vere developing The discovery of fission in 1938 brought about the possibility of nuclear weapons. As a result of this initial finding, the first nuclear weapon was used in 1945 by the United States. Ttoo atomic bombs were dropped respectively on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During the Eisenhower years. 1953-196political and military tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union developed. Throughout this period, often called the "Cold War," Soviet conventional forces were , superior to those in the United States. The U.S. was still ahead in the developmental of nuclear weapons. Thousands of tactical nuclear weapons, missiles with artillery shells, short-rang- e nuclear warheads, and bombs were developed in Central Europe. The purpose of the weapon's deployment was to give the United States and NATO allies an edge against Soviet conventional forces. The next development in the arms race was the successful testing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The missile gap'1. referred to the U.S. fear that the Soviets 0, superiority. Our present triad of strategic nuclear weapons developed as a result of the strategic weapons programs initiated at the start of the John F. Kennedy administration in 1961 . These weapons included ICBMs, strategic ballistic bombers, and submarine-launche- d Japan. Wlille German scientists Otto Hahn and Frit Strassman were the first to discover fission, it was Leo Szilard In the United States who found that when fission occurs two or three neutrons are released from that atom's nucleus. This finding showed the possible release of an enormous amount of energy; neutrons from one fission could find new uranium nuclei and produce fission in them, this In tum would produce more fission, thus ' a chain reaction and a large amount of energy would result. From 1938 to 1945 there were political and moral Issues surrounding the idea of a bomb that could do more damage than any weapon In history. Research in nuclear physics was done mostly In Europe. With the threat of war on the horizon, concerned physicists feared atomic weapons would be used. So great was the concern that physicists such as Szilard persuaded Albert Einstein, who was a known pacifist, to write a letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt In 1939 advising him of the possible peril of such weapons. After Pearl Harbor in 1941, a program under the authorization of Roosevelt began Immediately on the atom bomb project. In 1942, J. Robert Oppenheimer, a physics professor at University of California at Berkley was appointed head of what was code named the Manhattan Project." After several years of workon the project a uranium fission bomb was developed and tested. A relatively new type of plutonium, or Implosion, fission bomb was developed shortly after this. The uranium fission bomb was used under the authorization of President Harry Truman on Hiroshima August 6. 1945. An estimated 80,000 to 140.000 people were killed; over 100,000 were seriously injured. On August 9, 1945, a plutonium implosion bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. While this was a more powerful bomb, fewer people felt its impact because the hilly terrain provided a slight shield from the blast pressure and radiation. An estimated 40.000 to 70,000 ..zople were killed from this bombing. Between 1945 and 1949, the United States had a monopoly on atomic weapons. Some officials and scientists felt this fact should be downplayed; that society should be ensured these weapons would not be used again. Others felt the technological lead the U.S. had should be exploited. These differing views conflicted even more with the development of the hydrogen, or thermonuclear, fusion bomb; a weapon with much more power than the original atomic bomb. In this bomb, heavy Isotopes of hydrogen are fused Into helium, releasing nuclear energy. Fruman approved of its study and development during his term of office from 1945 1952. After unsuccessful efforts from the U.S. and the Soviet Union to control nuclear weapons at the start of the Korean War, the U.S. successfully tested the first hydrogen oomb in 1 952 . The U.S.S.R. followed suit one ear later. ICBM To counteract this fear, the U.S. had developed about 6200 ICBMs by 1960. At this time theSoviets had only a fraction of the numbers In the U.S. arsenal. missiles (SLBMs). Throughout the 1960s, the nuclear arms race continued with various treaties and talks between the United States and the Soviet Union. There were no new technological advances in atomic weapomy until 1968 with the development of multiple Independently-targetablreentiy vehicles These single missiles carried (MIRVs). multiple warheads that separated in outer space and struck targets hundreds of miles from each other. The U.S. countered the growing numbers of Soviet ICBMs with iflKltfUtVi llWliffi liltfj (om fUfe Vfiii mmmmm () teimrncUiii cJuvv flftiifiiBfiicfi iKMiltilftitfril vVftfli vVttflts fSlIflili Cf(ilftfU) ill ll warheads resulted. Secretaiy of Defense, Kissenger recognized that nuclear superiority" was no longer possible. With the 1972 signing of the ABM missile) Treaty, the U.S. and the Soviet Union felt that current technology could not provide an effective defense against nuclear attack. The treaty limited the development of ABMs: continuing to build them would require the acquisition of more warheads to overwhelm the defense ABMs would provide. By 1974, progress in the technology of nuclear weapons was obvious. The Soviet l!t Uiiiiif e MIRVs. By the mid 1970s, the Soviets had achieved MIRV technology: a large increase in Soviet fln u SH10) rsi jim vMOilfUWfc) ? vVnrftoli I 'Still I fsl im(i 4bfUgI0I0) (iUiHflW' Ms i? yr Union began to deploy new types of land-base- d s missiles. and which were far superior to their predecessors, the SS-9- s and SS-- 1 Is. To counteract developments at this time, Secretaiy of Defense SS-17- SS-18- s, James Schlesinger proposed greater I I em- phasis on counter force capability. This allowed for U.S. missiles to be developed, deployed, and targeted forselective strikes" against U.S.S.R. military targets. - SltilihM U tibjd? Later Schlesinger authorized further development of the experimental missile (MX). The MX would have an accuracy which had not existed before. The next developments between 1974-197- 6 were cruise missiles, pilotless aircraft capable of accuracy unlike any other missile, and ballistic missiles (ASBMs) which are launched from an airplane and, unlike any other system, are capable of reaching targets thousands of miles away. The uranium fission bomb was used under the authorization ofPresident Harry Truman on Hiroshima August 6, 1945. An estimated 80,000 to 140.000 people were killed ; over 100.000 were seriously injured. Though a ceiling on ASBMs prevented its deployment; cruise missiles were not subject to the same ceilings. In 1979 two new missiles were developed by the U.S. and deployed in Europe; the Pershing II and ground-launche- d cruise missiles were intended as a response to a Soviet buildup of SS-2missiles which were targeted mostly at Europe. The Pershing II in Europe would be capable of striking Soviet targets in six to eight minutes. While the nuclear arms race did not stop; there were no new. technological developments in nuclear weaponry until 1983. 0 President Ronald Reagans Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) proposed an intensive research and development program to make nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete." The announced purpose of the Reagan SDI is to defend against space-baseICBMs and SLBMs. This system, often called Star Wars." is the latest technological development in nuclear arms. The research and development of nuclear weaponry has continued from the beginning of this centuiy to the present. d land-base- ' X 9$ itil '4S WANTTOTAKE ADVANTAGE OF AIR FORCE ROTC? X sities offer Air Force ROTC If you want the advantages of Air Force ROTC and your school doesnt have the program, you still may be able to participate Ask about the crosstown program. You may be able to take Air Force ROTC at another college in your area have four-- and two-yeprograms that lead to an Air Force commission. You may also apply for a scholarship that pays some college expenses, plus $100 tax free per academic month. Contact: CAPT WOODY A. SHORY Wfe ar 801-581-62- 36 d i I Leadership Excellence Starts Here Issue 14 ... r't r. jtltifC' (anti-ballist- ic March 29, 1988 J . . V k v: t |