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| Last month we told
you how an Atom Bomb works, this month we give you the Hydrogen
Bomb. |
| A much nastier bomb. Not only does
it release much more energy, using a process called 'nuclear fusion', but
it is triggered not by TNT, but by an atomic bomb! The central core is
a mass made up of trillions of two kinds of atoms, which are both isotopes
of hydrogen, called deuterium and tritium. (These are just hydrogen atoms
with one or two extra neutrons in each nucleus). Small atomic bombs scattered
around the outside cause the deuterium and tritium to be squeezed into
a very |
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| dense mass, which
initiates a process called nuclear fusion, releasing great quantities of
energy. This process is difficult to achieve; it's been described as trying
to squeeze an unopened can of Coke into a little ball without spilling
any Coke! But there's more! As the core explodes, it causes the bomb casing,
which is made from uranium, to undergo fission, creating even more energy.
In other words, an atomic bomb sets off a fusion bomb, which also triggers
another atomic bomb! |
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Edward
Teller
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| Edward Teller left his native Hungary
to escape the rise of Nazi Germany. After arriving in America, he established
himself as a premier |
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| physicist. His work on national defence
projects such as the Manhattan Project and the Strategic Defence Initiative
helped protect our Nation and bring about the end of the Cold War. |
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The H-Bomb
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| being attached to a Atlas rocket |
| Yet Teller also
will be remembered for his role in destroying the career of his one-time
boss, Robert Oppenheimer, which alienated Teller from many of his colleagues
and for pushing the H-bomb and the Strategic Defence Initiative on grounds
that, in the opinion of critics, were sketchy or dubious. Teller's staunch
support for defence stemmed in part from two events that shaped his dark,
distrustful view of world affairs — the 1919 communist revolution in his
native Hungary and the rise of Nazism while he lived in Germany in the
early 1930s. |
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H-Bomb Transporter
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| Edward Teller managed Los Alamos
research on the "Super," as he called the hydrogen bomb. Destruction of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and the end of World War II slowed "Super"
research. Teller, a strong anti-Communist and sensitive to U.S. and Soviet
relations, pushed unsuccessfully to accelerate work on a super-bomb. He
was frustrated by the post-war direction of Los Alamos. He accepted a University
of Chicago professorship and left Los Alamos in October 1945. In April
1946, Teller returned to Los Alamos and led a secret conference on the
"Super." The conference reviewed his earlier work on fusion, which led
to his full-time return to Los Alamos in 1949 to continue research on the
hydrogen bomb. He died September 9, 2003 at age 95. |
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