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Nuclear Power & The Arms Race

Contemporary World. Nuclear Power & The Arms Race. Nuclear Arms Race. Competition for nuclear superiority between the USA , the USSR and their allies. . How Do Nuclear Weapons Work?. Supersized explosive devices that take advantage of the properties of the atom .

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Nuclear Power & The Arms Race

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  1. Contemporary World Nuclear Power & The Arms Race

  2. Nuclear Arms Race • Competition for nuclear superiority between the USA, the USSR and their allies.

  3. How Do Nuclear Weapons Work? • Supersized explosive devices that take advantage of the properties of the atom. • This generates a charge chain reaction explosion. • Nuclear power plants aim to keep this process controlled, nuclear weapons let it run wild.

  4. Effects of Nuclear Explosions • Nuclear explosions destroy in many ways: • Intense heat produced • Extreme physical trauma • Massive amounts of radiation • Magnitude of destruction

  5. The A-Bomb: Fission • Atom split into two smaller pieces • Uranium-235 • Produces 2 misc neutrons, which sets off a chain reaction • Bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki • Produced by the USA & UK in 1945. USSR got them in 1949, France in 1960 and China in 1964. • Today, at least a dozen countries have bombs of this type.

  6. The H-Bomb: Thermonuclear/Fusion • Helium-4, which has to be artificially produced by putting together two other atoms • Much more difficult to produce, much more powerful • Greater shock wave, greater heat, less radiation. • Tested by the USA in 1952, the USSR in 1953, the UK in 1957 and France/China in 1966. • No others nations possess this type of weapon today.

  7. Nuclear Arms Race • August 6th 1945: USA dropped Little Boy over Hiroshima. • August 9th 1945: USA dropped Fat Man over Nagasaki. • Stalin felt he had no choice but to get the A-Bomb ASAP.

  8. Nuclear Arms Race • 1950: Decision to develop the H-Bomb. • Most experts told Truman it wouldn’t be a weapon at all, but a psychological tool.

  9. Nuclear Arms Race: Ivy Mike • November 1952 • USA detonated an H-Bomb over a small island in the Marshalls • 450x more powerful than the bomb dropped over Nagasaki • In August 1953 the Soviets tested an H-Bomb

  10. Nuclear Arms Race: BRAVO Test • March 1954 • Largest nuclear device exploded by the USA, again in the Marshalls • 1000x more powerful than the bombs used in Japan • Radioactive fallout frightened people. Far out islands and Japanese fishermen were affected. Radioactive debris carried around the world. • Grim conclusion

  11. Nuclear Arms Race: Czar Bomba • 1961: To intimidate JFK, Khrushchev ordered the explosion of a massive bomb in the northern USSR. • Combined techniques in a fission fusion fission bomb • Largest man made explosion in history • Huge environmental fallout

  12. Czar Bomba Cont. • Consequences: • Scientists considered this purely a political show with no military or scientific value. • Infuriated the Kennedy administration The USSR would try and outdo the USA in the space race

  13. Cold War Trivia • The USSR and the USA never actually fought a “hot” war against each other. Instead, the wars were fought by proxy- in which of the following did the USA government not back a coup? • Iran • Switzerland • Guatemala • Brazil

  14. Cold War Trivia B, Switzerland!

  15. Cold War Trivia • Who said in 1956 “There are only two ways: either peaceful coexistence or the most destructive war in history. There is no third way.” • JFK • Stalin • Eisenhower • Khrushchev

  16. Cold War Trivia D, Khrushchev!

  17. Cold War Trivia • Who was the first American President to visit Moscow? • Kennedy • Nixon • Reagan • Bush

  18. Cold War Trivia • B! • Nixon visited the USSR in 1972. Brezhnev visited the USA the next year.

  19. Cold War Trivia • For the first time since WWII, the USA and Russia cooperated (at least diplomatically) against a common enemy in 1991. Who was it? • Yasser Arafat • John Major • Osama bin Laden • Saddam Hussein

  20. Cold War Trivia • D! Saddam Hussein. • Russia did this for geopolitical reasons owing to Iraq’s close proximity to Russian borders.

  21. Cold War Trivia • In March 1998 Yeltsin,known for his bizarre and erratic behavior, fired his entire Cabinet. What reason did he give for the decision? • They were alcoholics • They were all corrupt • They were unsuitable for the new Russia • He feared they were planning to kill him

  22. Cold War Trivia • C! • It was unclear what he meant by “new” Russia, but it appears that this was his attempt to introduce reform.

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