A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination

of fission and fusion. Both

reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission ("atomic") bomb test released the same amount of energy as
approximately !,!!! tons of T"T. The first thermonuclear ("hydrogen") bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately #!,!!!,!!! tons of
T"T.
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The aftermath of the Hiroshima Bombings
The Affects of the Atomic Bomb on the %eople of &iroshima
The morning of August ', #()* in &iroshima, +apan did not begin in any exceptional ,ay- in fact, the people had no idea that they ,ere about to be part of one
of the most significant mornings in all of history. At ./#* am, the 0nited 1tates Army Air 2orces dropped the first atomic bomb, ironically called, ,hen one
considers the enormity of the bomb3s significance, the "4ittle Boy" ("euharth, !!*). Three days later, the 0.1. dropped a second bomb, nic5named the "2at
6an" on the to,n of "agasa5i, +apan (7i5ipedia 8ncyclopedia, !!'). &istorically, the use of the atomic bombs is seen as a decision that the 0nited 1tates
made during 7799 in order to end the ,ar ,ith +apan- this decision ,ill be further discussed later in the paper (2ran5, !!*). :egardless of the motivation for
using the bombs, they left a death toll of #!,!!! in &iroshima and "agasa5i ("euharth, !!*). This paper ,ill focus on the first bombing, in &iroshima. The
bombing of &iroshima, +apan not only changed the physical and emotional health, and culture of the +apanese people, but also changed the ,orld. According to
the +apanese 6inistry of 9nternal Affairs and ;ommunications, the population in +apan in <ctober #()! ,as estimated to be =>,##),>!.- in "ovember #()* the
population ,as estimated at =#,((.,#!). +apan ,as visibly a thriving country that ,as hit very hard by the bombing .7hy did the 0nited 1tates bomb +apan in
August #()*? 7as +apan a threat? <r more disturbingly, ,as the 0.1. @ust testing out their po,er? 9n #()*, most people in the 0nited 1tates thought that it ,as
absolutely necessary to bomb +apan. The citiAens of the 0nited 1tates thought that the bombings put an end to the %acific 7ar, and saved countless lives
(2ran5, !!*). At the time of the bombing, *! million people had already died in 7799 (Bingsbury, !!*). <n the other hand, some critics state that +apan3s
situation in #()* ,as already "catastrophically hopeless," and prior to the bombing, +apanese leaders ,ere preparing to surrender in the summer of #()*(2ran5,
!!*). 9t has even been suggested that the 0nited 1tates had decoded +apan3s messages, and ,ere a,are of the impending surrender ,hen they dropped the
bomb, thus ma5ing the horrors unleashed on &iroshima completely unnecessary. 4astly, and most disturbingly, it has been proposed that the bomb may have
been dropped because of %resident Truman3s desire to intimidate the 011: (2ran5, !!*). 9t is li5ely that ,e ,ill never 5no, the complete truth of ,hy the
bomb ,as dropped, but ,hat is distressingly clear are the facts of ,hat came after the bomb. The bombings brought about very painful physical effects that
crippled the nation of +apan for many years. According to Coung and 8d,ards (!!*), after the bombings, any humans that survived the initial blast ,ere
suffering from radiation exposure.
The bombing of Nagasaki
Nagasaki suffered the same fate as Hiroshima in August 1945. The bombing of Nagasaki on August 9th was the last major act of World War Two
and within das the !a"anese had surrendered.Two senior American militar figures # $eneral $ro%es and Admiral &urnell # were con%inced that
two atomic bombs dro""ed within das of the other would ha%e such an o%erwhelming im"act on the !a"anese go%ernment that it would
surrender. 'cientists at (os Alamos were also intrigued as to which t"e of bomb was the better # a uranium or "lutonium based bomb. )(ittle
*o) showed its effecti%eness at Hiroshima but another bombing mission was needed to see what damage a uranium bomb could do.Nagasaki
was not America)s "rimar target. This was +okura. The three "otential targets for a second bomb were +okura, +oto and Niigata. Nagasaki
was onl added to a list of "otential targets when +oto was withdrawn -it had been the secondar target for a second bomb. because of its
religious associations. The third "otential target was Niigata # but this was withdrawn from the list as the distance to it was considered to be too
great. Therefore, the Americans were left with just two targets # +okura and Nagasaki. Nagasaki was a major shi"building cit and a large
militar "ort. *ut it was not a fa%oured target as it had been bombed fi%e times in the "re%ious twel%e months and an damage caused b an
atomic bomb would ha%e been difficult to assess. Also, the wa Nagasaki had grown as a "ort meant that the im"act of a "owerful bomb might
be dissi"ated as the cit had grown across hills and %alles. The cit was also broken u" with stretches of water. Howe%er, fate and the weather
was to be Nagasaki)s undoing. Whereas the )/nola $a) had had a relati%el une%entful journe to her target at Hiroshima, the same was not
true for the "lane "icked to dro" the ne0t atomic bomb # )*ockscar). *oth )*ockscar) and )/nola $a) were *19 'u"erfortress bombers. The crew
of )*ockscar) gathered for their takeoff at 23.42 hours, August 9th, at Tinian 4sland. The flight commander, 5ajor 'weene, found that one of the
fuel "um"s on the *19 was not working. 622 gallons of a%iation fuel had to sit in its fuel tank # it could not be used for the engines but the "lane
had to carr its weight and get nothing in return from the fuel. )*ockscar) carried an atomic bomb that differed from )(ittle *o) carried b )/nola
$a) for the Hiroshima bombing. )7at 5an) was not a gun#t"e bomb but used the im"losion method8 it had a circle of 94 detonators that would
dri%e "ieces of "lutonium together into a su"ercritical mass. )(ittle *o) had used :ranium 135. )7at 5an) weighed about 12,222 lbs and was 12
feet 6 inches long. 4t had the e0"losi%e ca"acit of about 12,222 tons of high e0"losi%es.