A History of Military Nuclear Power.

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A History of Military Nuclear Power

In 1912 Albert Einstein proposed that mass and energy are equivalent. If a piece of matter could be converted to energy a predictable amount would be released. During World War II research was undertaken in the US to find a way to do this so that an atomic bomb could be made. In 1945 atomic bombs were dropped on the towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Their destructive power was equal to that of thousands of tons of high explosive. Both towns were destroyed. It is frequently argued that it was these attacks which brought about the end of the war with Japan. Against this it is claimed that they were intended as a demonstration to the world, and in particular to the USSR, of the military power of the US. One statement of the counter-claim is made by Brain Quail. Shortly after the war Britain and Russia also made atomic bombs. In the 1950s all three countries developed the more powerful H-bomb, with explosive power of millions of tons of chemical explosive.

Bombs were tested in the atmosphere with the release of radioactive particles which will continue to cause