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thermonuclear bomb
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Thermonuclear bomb
What is the difference between nuclear fission and fusion?
Split image showing Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer at a chalkboard on the left and actor Cillian Murphy portraying Oppenheimer with a cigarette and hat on the right.
Manhattan Project interactive timeline Diagram showing the Teller-Ulam two-stage thermonuclear bomb design, with four labeled stages: a chemical explosion in the primary fission core, X-ray transfer and compression, ignition of a secondary fusion stage, and fusion fuel detonation. Key components such as the fission fuel, uranium tamper, and polystyrene foam are illustrated and labeled. Diagram of a thermonuclear warhead cut open to reveal internal components, including a primary fission trigger with deuterium-tritium gas, plutonium-239, beryllium, and chemical explosives, and a secondary fusion device with uranium-235, lithium deuteride fusion fuel, and a uranium case, all labeled for educational reference.
View footage of the first test of a hydrogen bomb carried out by the United States in the Marshall Islands
Edward Teller Hydrogen bomb
At a Glance
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hydrogen bomb summary
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thermonuclear bomb: References & Edit History

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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Invalidated site: Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation - Fact Sheet: Thermonuclear Weapons. Sep 22, 2026
Add new Web site: Academia - From classified to commonplace: The trajectory of the hydrogen bomb 'secret' (PDF). Jul 11, 2025
Add new Web site: Virginia Tech Scholarly Communication University Libraries - SPT v3n3 - Teller's Technical Nemeses: The American Hydrogen Bomb and Its Development within a Technological Infrastructure. May 04, 2025
Questions and answers added. Mar 19, 2025
Add new Web site: Science and Global Security - The Radioactive Signature of the Hydrogen Bomb (PDF). Jan 17, 2025
Add new Web site: Air and Space Forces Magazine - Making the H-Bomb. Nov 21, 2024
Add new Web site: BBC News - What is an H-bomb? Sep 14, 2024
Add new Web site: Al Jazeera - Hydrogen bomb vs atomic bomb: What’s the difference? Aug 02, 2024
Add new Web site: Defense Technical Information Center - Thermonuclear Milestones ("unedited"). Mar 07, 2024
Add new Web site: CNN - The H-bomb: What is it? Who has it? Why it matters. Dec 26, 2023
Add new Web site: Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation - Fact Sheet: Thermonuclear Weapons. Oct 12, 2023
Media added. Aug 07, 2023
Media added. Jul 18, 2023
Media added. Jul 17, 2023
Add new Web site: U.S. Department of Energy - The Manhattan Project: An Interactive History - Hydrogen Bomb. May 17, 2023
Add new Web site: Atomic Heritage Foundation - Hydrogen Bomb - 1950. Sep 08, 2022
Corrected display issue. Jun 08, 2021
Media added. Jan 28, 2020
Add new Web site: GlobalSecurity.org - Hydrogen Bomb. Dec 21, 2014
"Lithium deuteride" changed to "lithium-6 deuteride." Discussion of fission of uranium container expanded. Jun 04, 2013
Added video of first thermonuclear bomb detonation. Oct 12, 2009
Media added. May 16, 2008
Added new Web site: Atomic Archive. May 12, 2006
Article revised. Feb 24, 2005
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
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