How nuclear weapons work

If you would like the presentation from this video for a school report, the Power Point can be found here:
https://www.ryanmcbeth.com/single-post/nuclear-weapons-101

All isotopes exist in two forms: stable and unstable. These unstable isotopes are considered "radioactive" because they have too many neutrons compared with their protons. Nature abhors this imbalance and resolves it in a number of ways. It can turn a neutron into a proton, releasing a few protons and neutrons as "alpha particles" (which are basically helium without the electrons.) Or shed a neutron.

If shed neutrons are captured by other nearby isotopes and made unstable, the result can become a "chain reaction" where more neutrons are released by nearby atoms than absorbed. Under the right conditions, this can power cities. Left uncontrolled, it can destroy them.

Note: the final segment of this video is President Truman's address to the United States after the first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

This video covers:
Types of Radiation
How a nuclear weapon works
Weapons effects,
Tactical and strategic warheads
Employment and delivery
Electromagnetic pulse.

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References:

Types of radiation.
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students/science-101/what-are-different-types-of-radiation.html

How Fuel is made:
https://www.world-nuclear.org/nuclear-essentials/how-is-uranium-made-into-nuclear-fuel.aspx

How neutrons make things radioactive
http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q12968.html

The Gun-type design.
http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2011/11/08/the-mysterious-design-of-little-boy/

Where does the plutonium come from?

https://fas.org/blogs/fas/2013/09/where-does-the-plutonium-come-from/#:~:text=The%20U%2D239%2C%20in%20turn,atom%20into%20one%20of%20plutonium.

Plutonium-240
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-240

The Devastating Effects of Nuclear Weapons
https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/devastating-effects-of-nuclear-weapons-war/

https://www.arpansa.gov.au/understanding-radiation/what-is-radiation/ionising-radiation/gamma-radiation

Irradiated food
https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/food-irradiation-what-you-need-know

Why Gamma rays are dangerous:
https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-in-context/gamma-rays-helper-or-hazard

Why are there so many different ways to measure radiation exposure?
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2011/03/sievert-gray-rem-and-rad-why-are-there-so-many-different-ways-to-measure-radiation-exposure.html#:~:text=They%20provide%20a%20measure%20of,the%20body%20in%20different%20ways.

REM Chart
https://www.atomicarchive.com/science/effects/radiation-effects-human.html

Don’t use conditioner
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/08/15/543647878/in-the-event-of-a-nuclear-blast-don-t-condition-your-hair

US Power Grid
https://www.epa.gov/green-power-markets/us-electricity-grid-markets#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20U.S.%20Energy,the%20country%20(EIA%2C%202016)

Diethylenetriamene pentaacetate (DTPA),
https://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/pdf/dtpa.pdf

Pictures and rights:
"Dad awaiting an MRI prior to radiation therapy" by SilverStack is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

The Day After ABC (1993)

"Plutonium Puck" by Savannah River Site is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

"destruction" by monkeyc.net is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

"death" by monkeyc.net is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

"160913-F-BP133-163.jpg" by AirmanMagazine is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

"Datacenter" by e53 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

"Whale and Dolphin Flying The Enola Gay" by asmith62378 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

"Miata" by gibsonsgolfer is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

PRESIDENT HARRY S TRUMAN TALKS ON ATOMIC BOMBS
Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer.
8/6/1945