The Nuclear Weapon Archive - A Guide to Nuclear Weapons (original) (raw)

The Nuclear Weapon Archive: A Guide to Nuclear Weapons

A Guide to Nuclear Weapons

Disclaimer

If we fight a war and win it with H-bombs, what history will remember is not
the ideals we were fighting for but the methods we used to accomplish them.
These methods will be compared to the warfare of Genghis Khan, who ruthlessly
killed every last inhabitant of Persia.

Hans A. Bethe
The Road from Los Alamos: Collected Essays of Hans A. Bethe

...And these atomic bombs which science burst upon the world that night were strange even to the men who used them.

H. G. Wells
The World Set Free, 1914

About This Site
Archive Charter	Archive History	Notable Quotes
About the Graphics Used	Disclaimer	Credits and Thanks
A "sister site" relationship has been established with Gregory Walker'sTrinity Site. Greg and I are actively collaborating to provide the broadest variety of nuclear weapon information, in the most convenient form that we can. The two sites each have a different focus. The Nuclear Weapon Archive provides current information, technical data, and informative write-ups. The Trinity Site focuses on historical information, especially reproductions of public domain documents.

//https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/Allbombs.html

Latest Site Updates
5 April 2023
Updated the Complete List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons.Updated the Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions.
12 June 2020
Updated the Complete List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons.Updated the Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions.
25 January 2020
Updated reference links on this page. Contact email changed.
13 March 2019
Updated the Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions.
3 September 2007
Updated the Tsar Bomba page (the world's largest nuclear bomb).
31 August 2007
Updated pages on the U.S. Nuclear Weapon Enduring Stockpile.
23 August 2007
Added Britain's First Plans for Developing an Atomic Bomb, William Penney's 1947 first outline of the features of the atomic bomb, and the tasks required to develop one.
3 July 2007
Updated the Section 8 of the Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions, "The First Nuclear Weapons", now with diagrams.
13 January 2007
Added the Enola Gay page.
9 January 2007
Updated pages on the U.S. Nuclear Weapon Enduring Stockpile, U.S. Nuclear Forces and the W62 and W76 warheads..
14 December 2006
Added pages on the Aleksandr Litivenko case and on polonium poisoning.
25 October 2006
Most recent update to North Korea.
14 October 2006
Added North Korea to the list of declared nuclear states. Updated U.S. nuclear arsenal page.
17 May 2006
Updated Operation Castle test page and Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions, Section 12. Contact email changed.
17 August 2003
Site is retitled The Nuclear Weapon Archive with its own domain.

The Past is Prologue

History - World War II (and Before)
Dawn of the Atomic Age	Invention and Discovery: Atomic Bombs and Fission	The Manhattan Project
Trinity	Little Boy and Fat Man	The Enola Gay
Hiroshima and Nagasaki

History - Postwar Weapons Development
The links below take you to pages describing the nuclear weapons tests series conducted since World War II. The ever popular nuclear test images are accessed through these links.
United States	Soviet Union/Russia	United Kingdom	France
China	India	Pakistan	North Korea

The Present

Arsenals of the Declared Nuclear States
United States	Russia	United Kingdom	France
China	India	Pakistan	North Korea

Nuclear States in the Shadows
South Africa	Israel	Iraq

Archive Departments
Announcements and Reviews _Last changed 15 August 1999_Reviews of products and publications of special interest	Nuclear Wallpaper Image Collection _Last changed 30 March 2001_LARGE high quality images

Reference Library

Background
Fission Physics [1996] Fusion Physics [1996] Basic Principles of Fission Weapons [1996] Gun Assembly [1996] Implosion Assembly [1996] The Teller-Ulam Design: Staged Radiation Implosion [1997] Glossary of Nuclear Weapons Terms [1994]

Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions (NWFAQ) by Carey Sublette
Last modified: 13 March 2019	Inactive links are for section that have not been completed or released
0.0 Introduction 1.0 Types of Nuclear Weapons 2.0 Introduction to Nuclear Weapon Physics and Design 3.0 Matter, Energy, and Radiation Hydrodynamics 4.0 Engineering and Design of Nuclear Weapons 5.0 Effects of Nuclear Explosions 6.0 Nuclear Materials 7.0 Nuclear Weapon Nations and Arsenals 8.0 The First Nuclear Weapons 9.0 Hiroshima and Nagasaki10.0 Chronology For The Origin Of Atomic Weapons 11.0 Questions and Answers12.0 Useful Tables 13.0 Bibliography14.0 Nuclear Weapons FAQ Change History

Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions (NWFAQ) by Carey Sublette

Last modified: 13 March 2019

Inactive links are for section that have not been completed or released

0.0 Introduction 1.0 Types of Nuclear Weapons 2.0 Introduction to Nuclear Weapon Physics and Design 3.0 Matter, Energy, and Radiation Hydrodynamics 4.0 Engineering and Design of Nuclear Weapons 5.0 Effects of Nuclear Explosions 6.0 Nuclear Materials 7.0 Nuclear Weapon Nations and Arsenals 8.0 The First Nuclear Weapons 9.0 Hiroshima and Nagasaki10.0 Chronology For The Origin Of Atomic Weapons 11.0 Questions and Answers12.0 Useful Tables 13.0 Bibliography14.0 Nuclear Weapons FAQ Change History

Major Reference Articles and Links
Repository of Nuclear Effects Computer Simulations and Models Illustrated Effects of Nuclear Weapons Plutonium Manufacture and Fabrication (illustrated) The Smyth Report: Atomic Energy for Military Purposes; the first public description of atomic technology, released in 1945 and still an excellent introduction Nuclear Tests Comprehensive List of All Nuclear Explosions by Jim Lawson [8/1996] Official List of Underground Nuclear Explosions in Nevada [1995] Bibliographic Material Some References [1995] The Big List of Nuclear Weapons Publications [1995] Links to Important Information Sites.Maintaining links to web resources is a challenge. The links listed here all work as of the beginning of 2020. The Department of Energy home page is an excellent place to start. Several pages of excellent links to other DOE information sites are accessible from here.U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information. Excellent link for accessing millions of pages of on-line information. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has shut down its library search portal and LLNL reports can be found here.Government Accounting Office Report Page. A valuable resource. Go to GAO Access Search Page, use keyword search (like "nuclear"). Many FY 95 and later reports are available onlineComplete Archive Site for the late lamented U.S. Office of Technolgy Assessment (OTA). Hosted by Princeton Univ.Federation of American Scientists: Nuclear resources Lots of stuff here, browse around. Stephen Schwartz's list of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Facilities Brookings Institute Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Home Page Gregory Walker's Trinity Site The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, this site now hosts the text of many valuable articles, with on-line search capability. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). Excellent repository of on-line materialsBritish American Security Information Council (BASIC). An independent research organization that analyzes government policies.Project On Government Oversight (POGO): Center for Defense Information (CDI) An independent military policy research and analysis organization, has many on-line resources.Medical Management of Radiological Casualties Good resource on biological and chemical weapons.FM 8-9: Nato Handbook on the Medical Aspects of NBC Defensive Operations Plutonium: The First Fifty Years from the US DOE Drawing Back the Curtain of Secrecy: Restricted Data Declassification Decisions, 1946 to the Present (January 1, 2001). Version RDD-7. Lots of interesting bits of information about nuclear weapons.T-2 Nuclear Information Service. Located at Los Alamos, this is the site to go to first for nuclear physics data. Nuclear Data Center of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). This is an excellent source of nuclear physics data also. Archived Greenpeace Report on dual capable technology (check out Figs 4, 5, 6 and 7) Sandia Lab News Nevada National Security Site United States Nuclear Tests: July 1945 through September 1992 (Rev 16, September 2015)CIA Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room hosts downloadable declassified documents. Places to visit National Atomic Testing Museum National Museum of Nuclear Science & History Bradbury Science Museum: "Your Window into Los Alamos National Laboratory"

Major Reference Articles and Links

Repository of Nuclear Effects Computer Simulations and Models Illustrated Effects of Nuclear Weapons Plutonium Manufacture and Fabrication (illustrated) The Smyth Report: Atomic Energy for Military Purposes; the first public description of atomic technology, released in 1945 and still an excellent introduction Nuclear Tests Comprehensive List of All Nuclear Explosions by Jim Lawson [8/1996] Official List of Underground Nuclear Explosions in Nevada [1995] Bibliographic Material Some References [1995] The Big List of Nuclear Weapons Publications [1995] Links to Important Information Sites.Maintaining links to web resources is a challenge. The links listed here all work as of the beginning of 2020. The Department of Energy home page is an excellent place to start. Several pages of excellent links to other DOE information sites are accessible from here.U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information. Excellent link for accessing millions of pages of on-line information. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has shut down its library search portal and LLNL reports can be found here.Government Accounting Office Report Page. A valuable resource. Go to GAO Access Search Page, use keyword search (like "nuclear"). Many FY 95 and later reports are available onlineComplete Archive Site for the late lamented U.S. Office of Technolgy Assessment (OTA). Hosted by Princeton Univ.Federation of American Scientists: Nuclear resources Lots of stuff here, browse around. Stephen Schwartz's list of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Facilities Brookings Institute Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Home Page Gregory Walker's Trinity Site The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, this site now hosts the text of many valuable articles, with on-line search capability. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). Excellent repository of on-line materialsBritish American Security Information Council (BASIC). An independent research organization that analyzes government policies.Project On Government Oversight (POGO): Center for Defense Information (CDI) An independent military policy research and analysis organization, has many on-line resources.Medical Management of Radiological Casualties Good resource on biological and chemical weapons.FM 8-9: Nato Handbook on the Medical Aspects of NBC Defensive Operations Plutonium: The First Fifty Years from the US DOE Drawing Back the Curtain of Secrecy: Restricted Data Declassification Decisions, 1946 to the Present (January 1, 2001). Version RDD-7. Lots of interesting bits of information about nuclear weapons.T-2 Nuclear Information Service. Located at Los Alamos, this is the site to go to first for nuclear physics data. Nuclear Data Center of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). This is an excellent source of nuclear physics data also. Archived Greenpeace Report on dual capable technology (check out Figs 4, 5, 6 and 7) Sandia Lab News Nevada National Security Site United States Nuclear Tests: July 1945 through September 1992 (Rev 16, September 2015)CIA Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room hosts downloadable declassified documents. Places to visit National Atomic Testing Museum National Museum of Nuclear Science & History Bradbury Science Museum: "Your Window into Los Alamos National Laboratory"

The Nuclear Weapon Archive - A Guide to Nuclear Weapons (original) (raw)

A Guide to Nuclear Weapons

The Past is Prologue

The Present

Reference Library

Other Archive Materials

Other Pages of Links

Historical Links and Articles

Eyewitness accounts of Hiroshima/Nagasaki survivors

Rummage Through Past Archives
The 1997 ArchivesCheck here for 1997 stuff no longer on the list above.
The 1996 Archives
The 1994-1995 Archives