140 articles
Thermonuclear weapon
A thermonuclear weapon, also called a hydrogen bomb or H-bomb, is a nuclear weapon whose fission explosion ignites fusion, yielding far greater power than fission weapons.
Thin Man (nuclear bomb)
Thin Man was a Manhattan Project gun-type atomic bomb design at Los Alamos, meant to use plutonium-239 but abandoned in July 1944 after plutonium-240 was found to cause pre-detonation.
Third Shot
Third Shot refers to the third nuclear explosion in history, the Fat Man plutonium bomb detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, on 9 August 1945, killing about 35,000.
Trident (UK nuclear programme)
Trident is the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear deterrent, carried by four Vanguard-class submarines on continuous at-sea patrol since 1969, to be replaced by the Dreadnought class in the 2030s.
Trinity (nuclear test)
Trinity, code name of the first nuclear test, detonated a plutonium implosion device in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, with a yield of about 21 kilotons.
Tsar Bomba (Царь-бомба)
Tsar Bomba (Царь-бомба) was the Soviet hydrogen bomb code named Big Ivan, detonated over Novaya Zemlya in 1961 at 50 megatons, the largest nuclear test in history.
Two-man rule
The two-man rule, in nuclear weapons practice called the two-person concept (TPC), requires at least two authorized people to be present for critical tasks so no one can act alone.
Underground nuclear testing
Underground nuclear testing is the detonation of a nuclear explosive in a shaft or tunnel below ground, retaining most radioactive debris; more than 1,850 tests have been conducted.
United States and weapons of mass destruction
The United States and weapons of mass destruction covers America's nuclear arsenal, its 1945 atomic bombings of Japan, and the elimination of its chemical and biological weapons.
VX (nerve agent)
VX, also known as VX gas, is a human-made nerve agent among the most toxic known, synthesized in Britain in the early 1950s and used to kill Kim Jong-nam in 2017.
W54
The W54 was the smallest and lightest nuclear fission warhead ever deployed by the United States, weighing about 51 pounds with yields from 10 tons to 1 kiloton.
W76
The W76 is an American thermonuclear warhead for submarine-launched ballistic missiles, designed by Los Alamos and fielded since 1978 in three versions: W76-0, W76-1, and low-yield W76-2.
W80 (nuclear warhead)
The W80, also known as the W80-1, is an American thermonuclear warhead for cruise missiles with a selectable yield of 5 to 150 kilotons, in service since 1981.
W87
The W87 is an American thermonuclear warhead with a 300-kiloton yield, designed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the Peacekeeper ICBM and later fitted to the Minuteman III.
W88
The W88, also known as the W88 nuclear warhead, is a 455-kiloton US thermonuclear warhead carried on Trident II D5 missiles aboard Ohio-class submarines, deployed since 1988.
Weapon of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a weapon that can kill or harm large numbers of people, chiefly nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, as defined by the United Nations in 1948.
Weapon yield
Weapon yield is the energy released by a nuclear weapon's detonation, expressed as the equivalent mass of TNT; most warheads yield several hundred kilotons, and the Soviet Tsar Bomba reached an estimated 50 megatons in 1961.
Y-12 National Security Complex
The Y-12 National Security Complex is a Department of Energy nuclear facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, that maintains the U.S. nuclear stockpile and supplies Nuclear Navy fuel.
Yellow rain
Yellow rain was a yellow substance reported falling in Laos, Cambodia, and Afghanistan from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, which the US alleged was a Soviet toxin weapon.
Yellow Sun (nuclear weapon)
Yellow Sun was a British free-fall nuclear bomb carried by the RAF's V-bombers from the late 1950s, its Mk 2 being the UK's first thermonuclear weapon.