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Article: The facts; there are over 27,000 nuclear weapons in the world. Thousands are deployed on land, at sea and in the air, posing the constant threat of nuclear war and radioactive contamination.(Nuclear weapons)
- Article from:
- New Internationalist
- Article date:
- June 1, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 New Internationalist Magazine. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE WEAPONS
An atomic explosion is a chain reaction in which atoms are split. This releases colossal amounts of energy, and particles that collide with more and more atoms causing an exponentially growing chain reaction. This process is called fission. The most powerful fission explosion is achieved by using enriched uranium and plutonium atoms, which are unstable and radioactive.
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*. Atomic bombs (also known as A-bombs or fission bombs) produce their explosive energy purely through nuclear fission reaction.
*. Hydrogen bombs (also known as H-bombs, thermonuclear bombs or fusion bombs) produce energy through ...