10 th American History Unit IV- A Champion of Democracy

1. 10th American HistoryUnit IV- A Champion of Democracy Chapter 16 Section 2- Atomic Anxiety

2. Atomic Anxiety • The Main Idea • The growing power of, and military reliance on, nuclear weapons helped create significant anxiety in the American public in the 1950s. • Reading Focus • What was the hydrogen bomb, and when was it developed? • What was the arms race, and what were its effects in the United States? • How did Americans react to the growing threat of nuclear war?

3. Atomic Bombs (03:34)

4. The Hydrogen Bomb • Gets its power from fusing together hydrogen atoms • Fusion—the process that creates the energy of the sun and stars • A fusion bomb is hundreds of times more powerful than an atomic bomb. The Hydrogen Bomb • Developed during the 1940s and early 1950s • First detonated on November 1, 1952, on Eniwetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands • 3-mile-diameter fireball, 10.4 megatons of energy • Soviets successfully tested an H-bomb in August of 1953. Making the Bomb

6. As an unpredictable Cold War settled in, several U.S. scientists argued for an all-out effort to build an even more powerful weapon: a hydrogen bomb. Edward Teller, an émigré physicist, pushed for a program to build what he called "the Super"-- a hydrogen fusion bomb. "If the Russians demonstrate a Super before we possess one," said Teller, "our situation will be hopeless.” Andrei Sakharov, a brilliant young Russian physicist, had also been given the task of designing a fusion bomb for the Soviet Union. Thanks to the Soviet spy Klaus Fuchs, Sakharov was familiar with Teller's design, but he soon decided on a different approach. By 1952 the Super was ready for its first test. The fireball of the first H-bomb grew to a diameter of three miles and vaporized an entire island in the Pacific atoll of Eniwetok. The H-bomb's yield was ten megatons, a thousand times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Nuclear Threat

7. 1 Megaton Hydrogen Bomb Surface Blast: Pressure Damage The fission bomb detonated over Hiroshima had an explosive blast equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT. A 1 megaton hydrogen fusion bomb, hypothetically detonated on the earth's surface, has about 80 times the blast power of that 1945 explosion.

8. Radius of destructive circle: 1.7 miles12 pounds per square inch 12 • At the center lies a crater 200 feet deep and 1000 feet in diameter. The rim of this crater is 1,000 feet wide and is composed of highly radioactive soil and debris. Nothing recognizable remains within about 3,200 feet (0.6 miles) from the center, except, perhaps, the remains of some buildings' foundations. At 1.7 miles, only some of the strongest buildings -- those made of reinforced, poured concrete -- are still standing. Ninety-eight percent of the population in this area are dead.

9. Radius: 2.7 miles- 5 psi 5 Virtually everything is destroyed between the 12 and 5 psi rings. The walls of typical multi-story buildings, including apartment buildings, have been completely blown out. The bare, structural skeletons of more and more buildings rise above the debris as you approach the 5 psi ring. Single-family residences within this this area have been completely blown away -- only their foundations remain. Fifty percent of the population between the 12 and 5 psi rings are dead. Forty percent are injured.

10. Radius: 4.7 miles - 2 psi 2 Any single-family residences that have not been completely destroyed are heavily damaged. The windows of office buildings have been blown away, as have some of their walls. The contents of these buildings' upper floors, including the people who were working there, are scattered on the street. A substantial amount of debris clutters the entire area. Five percent of the population between the 5 and 2 psi rings are dead. Forty-five percent are injured.

11. Radius: 7.4 miles -1 psi 1 Residences are moderately damaged. Commercial buildings have sustained minimal damage. Twenty-five percent of the population between the 2 and 1 psi rings have been injured, mainly by flying glass and debris. Many others have been injured from thermal radiation -- the heat generated by the blast. The remaining seventy-five percent are unhurt.

13. 1 Megaton Surface Blast: Fallout One of the effects of nuclear weapons detonated on or near the earth's surface is the resulting radioactive fallout. Immediately after the detonation, a great deal of earth and debris, made radioactive by the blast, is carried high into the atmosphere, forming a mushroom cloud. The material drifts downwind and gradually falls back to earth, contaminating thousands of square miles. This page describes the fallout pattern over a seven-day period. Assumptions Wind speed: 15 mphWind direction: due eastTime frame: 7 days

14. 1 Megaton Surface Blast:Fallout • 3,000 Rem* Distance: 30 milesMuch more than a lethal dose of radiation. Death can occur within hours of exposure. About 10 years will need to pass before levels of radioactivity in this area drop low enough to be considered safe, by U.S. peacetime standards. • 900 RemDistance: 90 milesA lethal dose of radiation. Death occurs from two to fourteen days. • 300 RemDistance: 160 milesCauses extensive internal damage, including harm to nerve cells and the cells that line the digestive tract, and results in a loss of white blood cells. Temporary hair loss is another result. • 90 RemDistance: 250 milesCauses a temporary decrease in white blood cells, although there are no immediate harmful effects. Two to three years will need to pass before radioactivity levels in this area drop low enough to be considered safe, by U.S. peacetime standards

15. The Hydrogen Bomb • What was the hydrogen bomb and when was it developed? • Recall – What reasons did the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission give for not developing a “super bomb”? • Predict – What do you think would have happened if the United States had never built a hydrogen bomb? • Evaluate – Why do you think the United States chose not to use nuclear weapons during the Korean War?

16. Science & Technology (03:09)

17. The Arms Race Armsrace—An international contest between the United States and the Soviet Union in which each side was seeking a military advantage over the other Newmilitarystrategies—Less reliance on conventional forces, such as soldiers and tanks, and more reliance on nuclear weapons, brinkmanship, and massive retaliation These new strategies made keeping the lead in the arms race very important. New bombs andtechnology—The use of nuclear weapons promoted the research and development of new bombs and other technology.

18. New Bombs Scientists worked to make bombs smaller and more easily delivered to enemy targets. Aircraft were the preferred means of delivering nuclear weapons. The U.S. fleet of bombers were spread out and constantly on the move. By the end of the 1950s, intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, were developed that could carry nuclear weapons. New Technology In 1954 the Navy launched the first nuclear-powered submarine. The submarines could travel for months without needing to refuel. The nuclear-powered submarines were equipped with nuclear weapons. Nuclear power plants in the United States produced electricity in 1957. The Arms Race

19. ICBM • An intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, is a very long-range (greater than 5,500 km or 3,500 miles) ballistic missile typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery, that is, delivering one or more nuclear warheads. Due to their great range and firepower, in an all-out nuclear war, submarine and land-based ICBMs would carry most of the destructive force, with nuclear-armed bombers the remainder. The Titan II weapon system fits into the same category as the B-36 bomber, which was never used in an armed conflict but did fulfill its mission. The Titan II has also fulfilled its mission. The mission of the Titan II weapon system was deterrence. It has never been the intent of the United States to launch a nuclear-tipped missile against another nation.

20. Nuclear Weapons Chart This chart shows the world's current firepower. The center dot represents the firepower of the World War II: 3 megatons. The other dots represent the world's present nuclear weaponry which equals 6,000 World War II's or 18,000 megatons. The USA and the USSR share this firepower with approximately equal destructive capability. The top left-hand circle enclosing 9 megatons represents the weapons on just one Poseidon submarine. This is equal to the firepower of three World War II's and enough to destroy over 200 of the Soviet's largest cities. The circle in the lower left-hand square enclosing 24 megatons represents just one Trident sub with the firepower of eight World War II's - enough to destroy every city in the northern hemisphere. Just two squares on this chart (300 megatons) represent enough firepower to destroy all the large- and medium-size cities in the entire world. Fewer than 3 squares (400 megatons) represent the warheads removed from missiles in the INF treaty. Although missiles were destroyed the warheads were preserved and are being deployed on other delivery vehicles. There was no decrease in destructive power. IT IS A LONG LONG WAY TO NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT. WE ARE SURROUNDED BY FORESTS OF NUCLEAR DESTRUCTION. WE MUST GO ON.

21. Nuclear Stockpiles According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the U.S. currently maintains approximately 10,000 nuclear warheads in various states of readiness. It's believed that under START III, that number will be reduced to 2,500. Russia's plans are not known. At the end of 1997, Russia's nuclear stockpile numbered 23,000 weapons. This included active, operational forces; retired, non-deployed warheads awaiting dismantlement; and weapons in reserve.

22. Nuclear Tests The United States conducted 1030 nuclear tests from 1945 - 1992. The Soviet Union conducted 715 tests between 1949 and 1990. In September, 1996 the United Nations General Assembly voted to adopt the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which prohibits all "nuclear weapons test explosions and all other nuclear explosions." As of September 1998, 150 nations had signed the treaty, and 21 nations had ratified it. Notable exceptions are India and Pakistan, both of which conducted nuclear tests in May, 1998.

23. U.S.S. Nautilus • September 30, 1954, NAUTILUS became the first commissioned nuclear powered ship in the United States Navy. • NAUTILUS shattered all submerged speed and distance records. • On July 23, 1958, NAUTILUS departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii under top secret orders to conduct "Operation Sunshine," the first crossing of the north pole by a ship. • At 11:15 pm on August 3, 1958, NAUTILUS' second Commanding Officer, Commander William R. Anderson, USN, announced to his crew "For the world, Our Country, and the Navy - the North Pole." With 116 men aboard, NAUTILUS had accomplished the "impossible," reaching the geographic North Pole--90 degrees north.

24. Nuclear Power (02:45)

25. Soviet Advances in Technology • The Soviets built new and improved weapons and delivery systems. • In 1957 the Soviets launched the first-ever artificial satellite, named Sputnik. • The Sputnik launches worried the United States. • Many thought the Soviets had surpassed American scientists in terms of technical skill and knowledge. • In 1958 the United States launched its own satellite. • In July of 1958 Congress established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA.

26. The Space Race: America and the Soviet Union Compete to Send a Man Into Space (01:32)

28. Explorer I • The satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral (now Cape Kennedy) in Florida at 10:48 P.M. EST on 31 January 1958 by the Jupiter-C vehicle--a special modification of the Redstone ballistic missile--that was designed, built, and launched by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) under the direction of Dr. Wernher Von Braun. Jupiter-C, a direct descendant of the German A-4 (V-2) rocket, was originally developed in 1955-1956 as a high-performance rocket for testing purposes.

29. The Arms Race • What was the arms race, and what were it effects in the United States? • Describe – How did U.S. military strategy change during the Eisenhower administration? • Summarize – Why was the first H-bomb impractical? • Evaluate – What advantages did inter-continental ballistic missiles have over nuclear-armed bombers?

30. The Arms Race • Recall – Identify a nondestructive use of nuclear energy? • Summarize – Why did the United States keep B-52 bombers in the air at all times?

31. American Reactions to the Threat of Nuclear War • After Pearl Harbor, Americans knew they could be attacked by a foreign enemy. • After World War II, Americans knew that entire cities could be destroyed by nuclear weapons. Nuclear War • Many feared the streams of radioactive particles produced by nuclear explosions. • Exposure to these particles can cause burns, cancer, and birth defects. Nuclear Fallout • During the testing of an H-bomb, bad weather spread the nuclear fallout over a large area. • Radiation killed one sailor and forced many to leave their homes permanently. Marshall Islands

33. American Reactions to the Threat of Nuclear War • Civil Defense • The FCDA helped educate and prepare the public for nuclear emergencies. • The FCDA issued booklets and films—for example, Duck and Cover. • Air-raid sirens were installed. • Operation Alert tested the readiness of urban areas. • Nuclear Fears • Many Americans built bomb shelters. • Concern over nuclear fallout led to the Limited Test-Ban Treaty. • Nuclear fears affected American culture—movies had plots that centered on radiation fears and comics featured battles in a nuclear world. • Military-Industrial Complex • Eisenhower used his farewell address to inform Americans of this new danger. • Prior to the 1950s, the United States did not have a permanent arms industry. • He warned of the potential misuse of power by the arms industry.

34. Federal Civil Defense Administration • The "Federal Civil Defense Administration," (FCDA) was organized by democratic president Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)in 1952, shortly after the first thermonuclear test which reestablished the United States as the world's leading nuclear power. • The new agency flooded the country with posters, programs, and information about how to survive a nuclear attack. This included instructions for holding air raid drills in schools and detailed plans on how to build a bomb shelter. • Nevertheless, experts ridiculed the agency as almost totally ineffective. It wasn't until the late 1950s that civil defense became a true federal government priority.

35. Surviving a Nuclear Blast • Nuclear air raid drills were part of everyday life for schoolchildren in the late 1940s and early '50s. Civil Defense in schools was increased. The commonly known duck and cover drills became routine. In this drill, the students would drop to the floor and put their heads between their knees with their backs to the windows. Teachers were instructed to have their children "duck and cover" at the sight of a sudden bright flash.

36. Operation Alert • In 1954, the United States Federal Civil Defense Agency instituted an exercise called Operation Alert. It was a civil defense drill that took place on the same day in scores of major cities. Citizens in what were called the "target" areas were required to take cover for fifteen minutes. • At the same time civil defense officials tested their readiness and their communications systems, and federal officials practiced evacuating from the capital. Even President Eisenhower left the White House for a tent city outside Washington. • The following day newspapers routinely published reports of the fictitious attacks naming the number of bombs that were dropped in the mock alerts, the number of cities hit, and the number of casualties

37. The Civil Defense A-Bomb Drill: New York City (01:20)

38. Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb Shelters Bomb shelter is a place that is used for protection from nuclear fallout or radiation. Nuclear fallout is caused by the explosion of a nuclear weapon. The first real threat of a nuclear attack came around the early 1950's and lasted until the early 1960's. This threat was from communist Russia. This was the first real scare to the people of the United States. But the closest the US has ever came to an all-out nuclear war was the Cuban Missile Crisis. More than a hundred thousand people built bomb shelters. Some companies started to produce one-bedroom bomb shelters.

39. The Fallout Shelter: Protecting People from Radiation Contamination (03:35)

40. Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb Shelters • Bomb shelters could be relatively inexpensive or very expensive depending on what things you want, such as a phone, toilet, chairs, tables, TV, sofa, and other items. • A nuclear bomb warning - from six months to a few days to a few minutes. • Six month warning • enough time to built an underground apartment or condominium. • enough time to go get things like, water, can foods, board games, furniture, generators (wood preferable), books to read while in the shelter, candles for light, matches to light the candles, plates, silver ware, clothes, enough for you to survive • Few days warning • just enough time to build an L-shaped trench about fifteen feet wide and ten feet long. Then take • a piece of plywood - cover one end of the hole and then cover over the plywood with about one to two feet of dirt. • The L-shaped trench is good protection from radiation because there is a layer of mass between you and the nuclear fallout.

41. Bomb shelters costing from $100 to as much as $5,000 for an underground suite with phone and toilet were selling like hotcakes. Wall Street investors said the bomb shelter business could gross up to $20 billion in the coming years (if there would be coming years). Survival stores around the nation sold air blowers, filters, flashlights, fallout protection suits, first aid kits and water. General Foods and General Mills sold dry-packaged meals as underground rations. Families with well stocked shelters lived with the fear that after a nuclear attack they'd be invaded by an army of friends and neighbors who neglected to build bunkers of their own. Many ordered contractors to construct their shelters in the dead of night so nosey neighbors wouldn't see. One owner assured his neighbor that the bomb shelter he was building was really a wine cellar. Civil defense films assured the public that simple precautions like walled-off basement corners stocked with two weeks rations and a radio tuned to Conelrad, the new emergency network, would help them survive a nuclear attack. But the government warned that a shoddy homemade shelter could broil its occupants "to a crisp" or squeeze them "like grapefruit." Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb Shelters

42. Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb Shelters

43. Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb Shelters • Amongst expedient last-minute sheltering options at home, even just simply pushing a heavy table or pool table (one you can get under) into the corner of a below ground basement, ideally the corner with the grade (earth) highest up the wall on the other side of it, can be surprisingly effective. Or, if no heavy table readily available, you can take internal doors off their hinges and lay them atop two supports to create your 'table'. • Pile on the two exposed sides, any additional available mass-books, wood, etc. Have a small entrance. Two little 4" air spaces. Cover up any basement windows or other openings.

44. Homebuilt Buried Tank Shelters

45. Homebuilt Buried Tank Shelters

46. The unforgettable 1962 release "Fallout Shelter" took a more direct approach in conveying the fears of teenagers everywhere over nuclear annihilation. Its melodramatic storyline of a boy who wants to share his family's shelter with his girlfriend and his father's intervention is a perfect blending of elements from the overt and the allegorical/subtle Bomb song.

47. Newspapers carried radiation readings beside daily weather reports. Popular Mechanics magazine published a fallout shelter blueprint for the do-it-yourselfer. Congress debated the merits of evacuating large cities versus massive community shelters, Homeowners improvised shelters from septic tanks, concrete tubing, steel sheds and discarded lumber. Major airlines, Detroit automakers, IBM, the phone company and Wall Street planned employee shelters. The Federal Reserve designated banks for postwar check cashing. A farmer in Iowa built a fallout shelter for 200 cows. Public buildings with deep basements lined with thick underground concrete were designated as shelters in case of an attack by the Soviet Union. Hollywood got into the mood and began producing nuclear war doomsday films, including "On The Beach," "The Last Man On Earth," "The Day the World Ended," "Atomic Kid," and "Dr. Strangelove.” Television produced its own prime time doomsday. In the premiere episode of the classic series "The Twilight Zone," a young astronaut played by actor Earl Holliman returns to Earth to discover that a nuclear war has left him, like Adam, alone. In the late 1950s, a public opinion poll showed that 40 percent of Americans were seriously considering building a shelter. Surviving a Nuclear Blast: Bomb Shelters

48. Nuclear winter is a hypothetical global climate condition that was predicted to be a possible outcome of a large-scale nuclear war. It was thought that severely cold weather would be caused by detonating large numbers of nuclear weapon, especially over flammable targets such as cities, large amounts of smoke and soot would be injected into the Earth's stratosphere. This layer of particles would significantly reduce the amount of sunlight that reached the surface, and could potentially remain in the stratosphere for weeks or even years (smoke and soot arising from the burning petroleum fuels and plastics absorbs sunlight much more effectively than smoke from burning). The smoke and soot would be shepherded by strong west-to-east winds, forming a uniform belt of particles encircling the northern hemisphere from 30° to 60° latitude. These thick black clouds could block out much Sun's light for a period as long as several weeks, causing surface temperatures to drop by as much as 20°C for several weeks. The combination of darkness and killing frosts, combined with high doses of radiation from nuclear fallout, would severely damage plant life in the region. The extreme cold, high radiation levels, and the widespread destruction of industrial, medical, and transportation infrastructures along with food supplies and crops would trigger a massive death toll from starvation, exposure, and disease. It was also thought that nitrogen oxides generated by the blasts would degrade the ozone layer; this phenomenon was observed in the first thermonuclear blasts, which had unanticipated degrading effects on the ozone. These effects have since been mitigated by ozone regeneration, but the effect of a full-scale war would undoubtedly be much greater. Secondary effects from ozone depletion and increases in ultraviolet radiation would be significant, with impacts on the viability of most human staple agricultural crops as well as disruption of ocean food chains by killing off phytoplankton. Nuclear Winter

49. Military-Industrial complex • A close and symbiotic relationship between a nation's armed forces, its private industry, and associated political and commercial interests. • In such a system, the military is dependent on industry to supply material and other support, while the defense industry depends on government for a steady revenue stream.

50. Americans React to the Threat of Nuclear War • How did Americans react to the growing threat of nuclear war? • Define – What is nuclear fallout? • Explain – Why is nuclear fallout so hazardous?