In both preceding and more modern times, the concept of Nuclear Weaponry has often been depicted as a solely destructive force. While nuclear weapons have been used to win wars, establish power, and threaten civilizations, recently there has been a more positive viewpoint rather than just destruction. Since the original fabrication of the nuclear bomb in 1945, multiple organizations have collectively worked to innovate nuclear technology. In 1938, the German Physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann sucessfully split a uranium atom in half, creating a new concept defined as nuclear fission. By splitting the atom, they were able to harness mass-energy, ultimately aiding in the development of a nuclear bomb. In recent times, nuclear power is …show more content…
For years, Samuel Cohen, a member of the U.S Nuclear Weapons Program, sought to produce a more powerful bomb, equipped with break-through technology. From that came the Enhanced Radiation Weapon [ERW], also known as the Neutron Bomb. The argument behind this bomb’s production was similar to that of the nuclear bomb, “a means to end the war and save 250,000 men from being killed on our side, and that many on the Japanese side”(Truman, S5). Due to, Cohen designed a “‘fun sized’ version of a hydrogen bomb”, concentrating more on the prompt radiation. Previous bombs had focused 50% of its energy towards the blast, 35% towards thermal radiation (heat), 10% going to residual radiation (Bomb Fallout), and the remaining 5% towards prompt radiation, in which were mainly designed to obliterate civilizations (Strauss, S6). With the technological outbreak right after World War II nuclear physicists idealized to increase that prompt radiation to 80%. If met it “would cover an area of about 0.8 square miles. [And] [a]nyone in this kill zone would die in a particularly gruesome manner, as [the] neutrons collided with protons inside living tissue” (Strauss, S6). In doing so, the concept of concluding war would be fully re-created, as it stood as an option to prevent more causualties that that of a full fledge war. Throughout this period of development, arguments were made that this bomb was “specifically designed to kill people through the release of neutrons rather than to destroy military installations through heat and blast”(Strauss, S6). Regardless of such accusations, the nuclear bomb served as the foundation of multiple futuristic bombs, including the profound neutron bomb. With the implementation of these immense bombs, the concept of war termination has been altered in a more positive way, due to fewer casualties, and a innovation of