Questions tagged [nuclear-weapons]
Devices designed to create extremely large explosions by exploiting nuclear processes within atoms. Fission devices use energy released by slitting large nuclei; fusion devices use the energy released by merging small nuclei. Many devices use fission to trigger fusion.
56
questions
11
votes
2
answers
4k
views
In July 2022, did China have more nuclear weapons than Domino's Pizza locations?
China, Russia, and Pakistan are the only countries in the world that have more nuclear weapons than they do Domino's Pizza locations.
8 Solid Minutes of Useless Geographical Facts!, YouTube (6m45s), ...
- 8,264
5
votes
0
answers
431
views
Did Robert Brownlee express a belief that a manhole cover was launched into space by a nuclear test?
According to Snopes:
the above-mentioned Brownlee doesn't believe the metal cap launched into space.
However Business Insider states:
Robert Brownlee, an astrophysicist who designed the nuclear ...
- 105k
6
votes
1
answer
471
views
Has China stated that their no-first-use policy for nuclear weapons doesn't apply to countries that possess territories that China claims as its own?
According to an Indian journalist:
China had asserted before that its NFU would not apply against countries that are in possession of the Chinese territory. That means that China’s NFU does not apply ...
- 59.6k
29
votes
5
answers
14k
views
Can Russia's Poseidon nuclear underwater drone create a 500 meter tidal wave?
According to TheTimes.co.uk, "Russian ‘nuclear tsunami’ will wipe out Britain, Kremlin-backed media threatens"
In his Sunday evening primetime show, the Channel One anchor Dmitry Kiselyov ...
- 29.4k
44
votes
1
answer
11k
views
Did Oppenheimer quote the Bhagavad Gita after the Trinity test?
There is an often repeated story that Robert Oppenheimer, one of the leaders of the Manhattan Project, quoted the Bhagavad Gita after witnessing the first nuclear test.
One version of the story is ...
- 56.1k
4
votes
1
answer
605
views
Did India plan to get Pakistan's nuclear facility destroyed by Israel in the mid-'80s?
A 2010 article by Shahid R. Siddiqi in Dawn (a major Pakistani English newspaper) states:
After successfully destroying the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981,
Israelis planned a similar attack on ...
- 1,292
12
votes
0
answers
614
views
Was the crew dropping the "Tsar Bomba" nuclear bomb given only a 50% chance to survive?
Background
The Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created. On 30 October 1961 the Soviet Union experimentally detonated the bomb after dropping it from a plane above Nova Zembla. A ...
6
votes
1
answer
304
views
Did Ahmadinejad say that enriching Uranium to 20% made no economic sense?
A Foreign Policy "argument" article from January 2012 contains this part
What has raised the world’s suspicions is that Iran continues to produce 20 percent enriched uranium despite the fact that ...
- 59.6k
12
votes
1
answer
578
views
Did Netanyahu's recent presentation on Iran's nuclear program contain no new information?
"Arms Control Wonk" Jeffrey Lewis claims in Foreign Policy:
There was nothing new in Netanyahu’s presentation ... Moreover, the archive contains little or no information that wasn’t already ...
- 608
8
votes
0
answers
858
views
Is the silence of BBC Radio a key test for UK (submarine) nuclear response?
A comment under a WorldBuilding.SE answer to the question What's the quickest way to tell if most of the people on Earth have disappeared? refers to the BBC Newsbeat article Trident: What are the ...
user22865
58
votes
2
answers
21k
views
Was there a nuclear explosion in Germany during WW2?
According to this article at dailymail.co.uk and this article at news.com.au a declassified document "APO 696" (purportedly in the U.S. National Archives) includes testimony that indicates a possible ...
- 835
3
votes
1
answer
699
views
Is the illegal nuclear waste at the Coldwater Creek Nuclear Landfill a risk to public health?
NOTE: This is not a copy of: Is the illegal nuclear waste at The Westlake Nuclear Landfill a risk to public health? which is a different nearby nuclear landfill that has a different issue of a ...
4
votes
0
answers
524
views
Is the illegal nuclear waste at The Westlake Nuclear Landfill a risk to public health?
This Question refers to the 1 of 3 the nuclear landfill sites in residential/commercial areas in the St. Louis, MO area. These landfills are a result of the leftovers from the Manhattan Project
...
1
vote
1
answer
612
views
Were nuclear weapons not effective in ending WWII? [closed]
The claim:
The Bomb Didn’t Beat Japan … Stalin Did
Have 70 years of nuclear policy been based on a lie?
Initially, few questioned President Truman’s decision...But in 1965, historian Gar Alperovitz ...
- 6,817
15
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Did the fallout from American nuclear tests kill hundreds of thousands of American civilians?
A recent paper has been making the social media rounds, that estimates the number of American deaths due to radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing to be between 340,000 and 690,000 between ...
- 1,197
16
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Could a single nuclear EMP kill 90% of Americans within one year?
From the latest doomsday scenario:
At a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on October 12th, experts warned that the greatest existential threat to the country may come from the detonation of a ...
- 59.6k
53
votes
3
answers
14k
views
Does plutonium exist in the world, apart from being manufactured?
In reference to the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, a mathematician, Peter Lax, described his time working there as "living science fiction". He said:
we were told essentially the basic thing: ...
6
votes
0
answers
708
views
Is this an image of Kim Jong-un with a nuclear warhead?
In April 2016, the BBC News web-site published North Korea nuclear tests: what did they achieve?, which evaluated a March 2016 announcement that had made a nuclear warhead that would fit in a missile.
...
- 181
98
votes
2
answers
34k
views
Did eight Jesuit priests survive the nuking of Hiroshima without serious injury?
It is being frequently claimed by Catholic sources (e.g. Catholic News Agency, Catholic Herald) and even Wikipedia that eight Jesuit priests survived the nuking of Hiroshima with very minor physical ...
- 2,635
6
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Was the tsar bomb ten times more powerful than all of the explosives used in WWII combined?
This segment from the Discovery Channel makes this bold claim:
[The tsar bomb] contained the equivalent of 58 million tons of TNT, or all the explosives used in World War II, multiplied by 10.
...
- 441
89
votes
4
answers
23k
views
Did Hillary Clinton give Russia 20% of the United States' uranium?
Donald Trump made this claim in his February 16, 2017, press conference. Did Hillary Clinton give Russia 20% of the US's uranium? What is the source for this claim?
Transcript
Now tomorrow, you’ll ...
- 743
7
votes
0
answers
548
views
Were the nuclear capabilities of the F-35 decisive in the decision to have it replace the Dutch F-16s?
The Dutch F-16s have been due for replacement for some time. The discussion about which plane should replace it took its course for over a decade and several different Dutch administrations, from the ...
- 3,339
14
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Is the RS-28 Sarmat missile capable of destroying an area the size of France?
The Daily Mail claims
Russia has unveiled chilling pictures of its largest ever nuclear missile, capable of destroying an area the size of France.
Who estimated this level of destructive power? ...
- 78.6k
52
votes
2
answers
27k
views
Is the four minute nuclear weapon response time classified information?
In the the final Trump-Clinton presidential debate, Hillary Clinton said:
But here's the deal. The bottom line on nuclear weapons is that when the president gives the order, it must be followed. ...
- 947
22
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Do only 49% of Americans know which country bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
From Alternet: Ignorant America: Just How Stupid Are We?, July 1, 2008 (referring to polls conducted over the past three decades):
Which country dropped the nuclear bomb? Only 49% [of Americans ...
- 38.9k
11
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Was the ancient Indian city of Mohenjo-daro destroyed by a nuclear weapon?
This Youtube video of the History Channel documentary Ancient Aliens, Season 3 Episode 9 makes the claim that the ancient Indian city of Mohenjo-Daro was destroyed by a nuclear weapon, and that the ...
- 18.7k
198
votes
2
answers
38k
views
Does the President of the United States have the ability to deploy nuclear weapons at will?
I heard this claim back during the Bush years, and recently I've been hearing it again. For example:
Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All - The New Yorker
I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and ...
- 2,170
9
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Were the Dene people unaware they had mined ore for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki until the 1990s?
From a web project called The Forbidden Rock Prophecy (elsewhere it claims the atomic bombs were prophesied):
Nor did they know what the materials they carried would be used for.
So in addition ...
- 38.9k
8
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Are nuclear warheads sold on the black market?
VICE news has published a video where they claim to be following up on a story of a French journalist who set up an arms deal: supposedly he bought (or at least set everything in place so that he ...
- 439
30
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Do ~25% of Japanese people believe that USSR dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
I have heard this claim a few times from some random people, and recently came across it in pravda.ru as well:
from "Japan will never forgive USA"
There is such a statistics: 25 per cent of young ...
- 3,762
2
votes
0
answers
442
views
Is it plausible that one of the explosions at TianJin was of nuclear origin? [closed]
Geopolitics.co claims that one of the explosions at TianJin was of nuclear origin.
So there you have it, the ‘smoking gun’ evidence of a nuke is to be
found among the smoking wreckage of those ...
- 2,087
13
votes
1
answer
19k
views
Is measuring the size of a nuclear cloud with your thumb an approximate indication of whether you're in the radiation zone?
Due to the upcoming release of Fallout 4, I've stumbled upon several claims about the stance of the iconic Vault Boy:
Basically, those stated that the Vault Boy was doing the following:
If you see ...
- 746
21
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Did Turkey and Greece attempt to gain control of NATO nuclear weapons to use on each other during the Cyprus crisis of 1963-1964?
The following quote from an article on arstechnica.com, talking about PAL codes required for arming US nuclear missles, states that Turkey and Greece were attempting to gain control of nuclear weapons ...
- 313
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is this a video from the Tsar bomb?
You can find several videos showing the detonation of the Tsar bomb, a Soviet nuclear weapon (strongest ever tested). Most of them are bad quality and look very old. But also you can find this video:
...
- 257
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is this tweet about classes one month after the Hiroshima bombing, and the 2011 tsunami accurate?
https://twitter.com/TheKnowledge/status/593936133358276609
Japan. Top: One Month After Hiroshima, 1945. Bottom: One Month After
The Earthquake and Tsunami, 2011. Incredible.
Are the images ...
- 38.9k
12
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Did Hiroshima change the layout of its streets subsequent to the war?
The following anecdote has gone viral, seen as a gaffe by someone ignorant of the atomic bombing of the city.
From The morning catch-up: a Battlebus poll, a surprising secrecy advocate and a majestic ...
- 38.9k
3
votes
0
answers
514
views
Does nuclear deterrence work? [closed]
A commonly held theory and an often-used argument in favour of the possession of nuclear weapons is that it deters foreign states from military threats against vital interests. For example, see ...
- 17.7k
9
votes
2
answers
4k
views
What do we know about red mercury?
My friend, known as a liar, came to me two days ago and told stories about red mercury, something I never heard about. Could do magic, the pharaohs used it. 1 kg worth 30 million dollars, used in ...
1
vote
0
answers
147
views
Is nuclear winter a doomsday scenario like the media depicts it? [duplicate]
While a nuclear war will obviously cause significant environmental harm to the earth, after doing some research on the subject I'm starting to find facts that make me question whether it would ...
12
votes
1
answer
684
views
Did Khamenei issue a fatwa banning development of nuclear weapons?
According to Obama:
Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons.
However, according to a Middle East Media Research Institute report entitled Renewed Iran-...
- 4,960
2
votes
2
answers
603
views
Was American intelligence caught by surprise by every nuclear test since 1949?
I read this over here.
American intelligence has been caught by surprise by every successful test of a nuclear device since the Soviet Union in 1949.
Is this correct?
- 4,960
22
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Was the US nuclear missile launch code set to 00000000 for 15 years of the Cold War?
Drudge Report had a headline on 12-1-2013 that claimed that the PAL security protocol was illegally bypassed from 1962 through 1977 by setting the launch code to 00000000 on all Minuteman missiles.
...
- 9,109
15
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Was Truman told that the first atom bomb was going to be used on a military target?
In his diary entry for July 25, 1945, US President Harry S. Truman wrote:
This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so ...
- 4,960
28
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Is plutonium the most toxic substance known to man?
According to "The Myth of Plutonium Toxicity" by Bernard L. Cohen:
Plutonium is constantly referred to by the news media as ``the most
toxic substance known to man.'' Ralph Nader has said that a ...
- 4,673
12
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is a clean, well painted house more likely to survive a nuclear attack than a dirty, unkempt one?
This article links to a film that claims:
a clean, nicely painted house is more likely to survive a nuclear attack than its dirty, run-down neighbors.
Is there any truth to this claim, or were the ...
- 223
20
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Does Israel have nuclear weapons?
According to Wikipedia's page on Israel and weapons of mass destructioni:
Israel is widely believed to possess weapons of mass destruction, and to be one of four nuclear-armed countries not ...
- 1,066
3
votes
1
answer
975
views
Was the 2003 Bam earthquake caused by nuclear testing?
From New earthquake hits Iran as Khatami denies Bam disaster caused by nuclear test
Meanwhile, the Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami on Tuesady brushed
aside rumors that a nuclear test in Bam ...
- 38.9k
2
votes
1
answer
556
views
Is it possible to stop a hurricane by nuking it?
To reduce tragedy, loss-of-life and, of course, disaster-relief costs, the idea of somehow stopping a hurricane has been around for some time now.
One of many theories is that a nuke in the coldest ...
- 303
9
votes
0
answers
525
views
Could Iran produce a nuclear weapon in under a year if they wanted to?
For over 30 years, politicians from Israel and the US have said that "Iran will
have a nuclear weapon in less than a year". [Christian Science Monitor timeline of these warnings]
Some more examples:
...
- 441
38
votes
1
answer
13k
views
Did a nuclear blast devastate Port Chicago on July 17, 1944?
On July 17, 1944 at the Port Chicago naval base, near the San Francisco Bay area, an explosion of epic proportions occurred on a dock handling munitions.
The Evening Independent, Jul 18, 1944, via ...
- 5,400