Nuclear weapons explained

CBC

6 hours ago

They have only been used 2 times in war
CONTENT WARNING: This story contains information about extremely dangerous weapons. Consider reading it with a trusted adult. It's common to have an emotional reaction to the news.
⭐️HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️
The UN says nuclear weapons are the most destructive bombs ever made.
They were used twice in warfare in 1945 and never since then.
Nine countries are known or widely believed to have nuclear weapons.
Ongoing efforts aim to reduce and eliminate these powerful bombs.
Read on to find out more about how. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
With tensions rising in some parts of the globe, you might be hearing the term nuclear weapons in the news.
But what are nuclear weapons? And why are they so dangerous?
CBC Kids News spoke to some experts to help break down what nuclear arms are and what they mean for the world.
How nuclear weapons work
Nuclear weapons are devices that use nuclear reactions to power a massive explosion.
Nuclear blasts can be millions of times more powerful than other types of bombs, said Rob Hayes, an associate professor of nuclear engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.
'Nuclear weapons are the most dangerous weapons on Earth,' according to the United Nations (UN).
Luckily, they are very difficult to make, said Hayes.
That's because to make one you need a very specific type of metal.
The most common metals used are highly enriched uranium and plutonium.
The process of making that material is hard to do and the supplies needed to do it are hard to access.
'It takes some really sophisticated technology,' said Hayes.
There are many security measures in place worldwide to track the materials and technology needed to make nuclear bombs, he said.
Nuclear weapons have only been used twice
The first nuclear bomb was created during the Second World War.
The United States was the first country to successfully make one.
In 1945, the U.S. dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan, one on Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and another on Nagasaki on Aug. 9.
The results were devastating.
About 100,000 people were killed instantly by the two bombs, according to some estimates.
Thousands more later died of injuries and radiation poisoning.
No one has used one in an attack again, but since then, other countries have developed or tried to get their own nuclear weapons.
'That caused this moment where all of a sudden other countries saw how powerful that bomb could be and so they wanted one, too,' said Jessica West, a senior researcher with the peace advocacy group Project Ploughshares in Waterloo, Ontario.
Who has nuclear weapons?
Currently, nine countries are known or widely believed to have nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
Those nine countries are the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.
Israel has never publicly confirmed or denied it has nuclear weapons but it is 'widely understood' by arms control experts that they do, said West.
The countries with nuclear weapons are not all friendly with each other.
They justify the need for them based on the fact that their enemies have them, said West.
The F101B Voodoo fighter jet was designed to carry two 1.5-kiloton atomic warheads. This one is on display at the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover, Delaware, United States. The planes were used in the 1960s during the Cold War to take photos of missile sites. (Image credit: Gary Fields/The Associated Press)
This justification has been going on since the beginning of nuclear weapon capabilities.
During the Cold War (1947-1991), the United States and the Soviet Union threatened each other with their nuclear arms. Both sides said that if their enemy deployed nuclear weapons they would do it, too.
The theory is known as mutually assured destruction (MAD), basically if you hit me then I will hit you back and we will both be destroyed.
'Nuclear weapons are created with the goal of never using them,' said West.
Another term for that way of thinking is called deterrence.
What's being done about them?
Many groups, including the UN, believe that relying on deterrence isn't enough to keep the world safe.
'I think it's a false belief because nuclear weapons really haven't prevented wars,' said West.
The UN says that as long as these bombs exist they pose a danger.
They want disarmament, which means getting rid of all nuclear weapons and stopping the ability to make new ones.
Anti-nuclear weapon posters and Tshirts are displayed at a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament booth at a conference in Brighton, United Kingdom, in September 2024. (Image credit: Carlos Jasso/Reuters)
One path to disarmament is called non-proliferation.
Non-proliferation means stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.
There are several international treaties and agreements that promote non-proliferation and disarmament.
For example, 191 states have joined the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, according to the UN.
Today there are fewer nuclear weapons in the world than there were at the peak during the Cold War, according to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
But FAS says the pace of reduction has slowed down since the 1990s.
'It's hard because countries that have this weapon are afraid to let it go and other countries want them because they're afraid that those weapons will be used against them,' said West.
Despite the challenges, West said she is hopeful because many people are actively working to prevent the spread of nuclear arms.
One part of working towards these goals that kids can be involved with is education, said West.
'Talking honestly with young people about nuclear weapons isn't about spreading fear; it's about planting the seeds of responsibility, empathy and hope.'