How It Works - UK (2020-05)

http://www.howitworksdaily.com

DID YOU KNOW? Uranium is around 500 times more abundant than gold on Earth

1945 United States

The world’s first successful

detonation of a nuclear bomb

occurred in July 1945 at the

Trinity test site, Jornada del

Muerto desert, New Mexico.

1952 United Kingdom

Tested on islands off mainland

Australia, the UK dropped its

first bomb back in October 1952

after creating a nuclear

programme in 1947.

Mid-1950s to 1960s

Israel

Although a nuclear test has

never been conducted by Israel,

it’s widely believed that the

country has nuclear capabilities.

1998 Pakistan

As a retaliation to a series of

nuclear tests conducted by India

in 1998, Pakistan conducted its

first nuclear tests, six to be

exact, in May of the same year.

1949 Soviet Union

In August 1949, the Soviet Union tested

its first nuclear bomb, RDS-1, at the

Semipalatinsk Test Site in what is now

modern-day Kazakhstan.

1964 China

Following assistance from the

Soivet Union until the late 1950s, in

October 1964 China detonated its

first nuclear bomb, code-named

Project 596, releasing 22 kilotons

of explosive power.

1960 France

Entering the nuclear race in

February 1960, France detonated

its first bomb in the Sahara Desert

of Algeria, called ‘Gerboise Bleue’,

or Blue Jerboa, with an explosive

yield of 70 kilotons.

1974 India

Beginning its nuclear

programme in 1944, it wasn’t

until May 1974 that India

showcased its military efforts

with a eight-kiloton bomb,

code-named ‘Smiling Buddha’.

2006-2017 North Korea

Despite threats from the US

against testing nuclear

weapons, North Korea

conducted six underground

nuclear tests beneath the

mountainous site called

Punggye-ri since October 2006.

TRAJECTORY

TO A

NUCLEAR

WORLD

H s

DuringtheCubanMissileCrisis,adecision

madebyasingleSovietNavyofficer

potentiallysavedtheentireworld.AfterUS

PresidentJohnF.Kennedyinitiateda

blockadeonshipmentstoCuba,aSoviet

submarinewastravellingtowardsthe

shoresoftheUS,carryinganuclear

torpedo.Asthesubmarineapproachedthe

blockade,severalexplosivechargeswere

droppedintothesurroundingwatersby

Americanshipsinanattempttowardaway

thesubmarineandforceittosurface.

However,withthethreatofnuclearwarfare

looming,it’sbelievedthatcaptainsaboard

thevesselsawthisasanindicationthatthe

warhadalreadybegun.Sovietprotocol

demandedthatthreehigh-ranking

personnelmustbeinagreementtolaunch

thenuclearweapon.Twoofthesubmarine’s

officershadtheirdetonationkeysreadyand

waiting.However,thethird,Vasili

AlexandrovichArkhipov,refused.It’s

reportedthatArkhipovrecognisedthe

chargesforwhattheywere,andnotasthe

instigationofWorldWarIII.Withoutall

threeofficersinagreement,thelaunchwas

abortedandnuclearwarwasaverted.

VasiliArkhipov’sreluctanceto

launcha nucleartorpedomay

havesavedlifeasweknowit

Source: Wiki/National Geographic

THE MAN

WHO SAVED

THE WORLD

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest humankind has

ever come to nuclear warfare

‘Fat Man’ was the second of only two nuclear weapons

ever to be used in war

© Alamy

© Alamy

The scale of nuclear test

explosions is enormous

© US government