Facts about Nuclear Weapons

Contents

1. Facts about Nuclear Weapons
2. Nuclear Weapons
   • What are nuclear weapons ?
   • How do nuclear weapons differ from conventional ones ?
   • What are the different types of nuclear weapons ?
   • What is the difference between a nuclear weapon and a reactor?
3. Effects of Nuclear Weapons
   • What are blast effects?
   • What are thermal effects?
   • What are radiation effects?
   • What are electromagnetic effects?
   • What are the effects on climate?
4. Nuclear Weaponisation
   • What is nuclear weaponisation ?
   • What is a delivery system ?
   • What is C³I ?
   • What is PAL ?
   • What is one-point safety ?
   • Is is possible to have a reliable defence against a nuclear attack ?
   • Can the population be protected in a nuclear attack ?
   • What arethe relative costs of the different components of the weaponisation ?
5. Fissile Material
   • What are fissile materials ?
   • What is highly enriched uranium ?
   • What is weapons grade plutonium ?
   • Can weapons be made from reactor grade plutonium ?
6. Nuclear tests
   • Why are nuclear tests necessary ?
   • What are the different types of tests ?
   • How can underground nuclear tests be monitored ?
7. Deterrence, doctrine and strategy
   • What is deterrence ?
   • What is a nuclear doctrine ?
   • What is a second strike capability ?
8. Treaties
   • What is NPT?
   • What is CTBT?
   • What are the implications of CTBT ?
   • What is FMCT ?
9. Physics
   • What are chemical and nuclear reactions ?
   • What are fission and fusion reactions ?
   • What is a chain reaction ?
   • What is criticality ?
10. The Effect of a Nuclear Bomb on Chennai
11. Conclusions

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