(Baonghean.vn) - North Korea today (September 3) confirmed that it successfully tested a thermonuclear bomb that can be mounted on a missile, with an estimated power 5 times that of last year's bomb. Let's learn about the most terrifying weapon with the most destructive power in human history.
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Started by the US in the early 1950s, the thermonuclear bomb (also known as the H-bomb, hydrogen bomb, or air bomb) is believed to be thousands of times more powerful than an atomic bomb. The basic difference between the two is that a thermonuclear bomb releases energy from the process of combining two light nuclei (hydrogen) into a heavier nucleus (helium). This is also the reaction that is taking place on the Sun. |
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According to military experts, an atomic bomb has a destructive power measured in kilotons (1 kiloton is equal to 1,000 tons of TNT). Meanwhile, the explosive power of a conventional thermonuclear bomb is measured in megatons - equivalent to millions of tons of TNT. |
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This type of bomb is considered “cleaner” than an atomic bomb because it produces less radioactive dust, but has greater destructive power. However, to detonate a thermonuclear bomb, it is necessary to detonate an atomic bomb. Therefore, a thermonuclear bomb is essentially a double bomb. The energy released from a thermonuclear explosion can instantly destroy everything within a radius of several kilometers. The enormous heat can cause firestorms; the intense white light from the explosion can cause blindness. Radioactive dust and reaction byproducts such as cesium-137 and strontium-90 can poison living organisms, polluting the air, soil, and water for hundreds of years. |
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Historically, the first hydrogen bomb "Ivy Mike" tested by the US in 1952 had a destructive power of 10.4 megatons, creating a heat impact within a radius of 56km. Meanwhile, the Fat Man bomb - which killed 40,000 people in Nagasaki - only had an explosive power of about... 21 kilotons. |
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Exactly 51 years ago, the Soviet Union detonated the Tsar Bomba on an island north of the Arctic Circle. With a destructive power equivalent to 57 million tons of TNT, this was the most powerful thermonuclear weapon ever created by man, helping the Soviet Union level the gap in thermonuclear bombs with the United States, preventing a potential nuclear war. In the photo: A replica of the Tsar Bomba on display in Moscow, Russia. Photo: Sputnik |
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Edward Teller is considered the father of the thermonuclear bomb. Edward Teller (January 15, 1908 - September 10, 2003) was born into a wealthy Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary. Because the Germans mistreated the Jews, Edward Teller and his wife Augusta Harkanyi moved to England, then became a lecturer at George Washington University, USA. During his time teaching in the US, Edward Teller researched thermonuclear reactions. Then, together with physicist George Gamow, Edward Teller established the premises for later research on the hydrogen bomb. |
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Currently, there are 9 countries claiming to possess nuclear weapons including the US, UK, France, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea, but only 5 of them have thermonuclear bombs: the US, UK, France, Russia and China. In the photo: A giant mushroom cloud appeared during the first thermonuclear bomb test by the US. Photo: New York Times |
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