wmds lesson aim to learn about nuclear weapons. what is a nuclear weapon? a nuclear weapon is a wmd...

WMDs

Lesson Aim

• To learn about nuclear weapons

What is a Nuclear Weapon?

• A Nuclear weapon is a WMD whose explosive power derives from a nuclear reaction

Japan

• In 1945 the first and only ever nuclear bomb were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• Since then, no nation has dared to use WMDs in a war

• How does a nuclear weapon work?

Nuclear – Nucleus

• Nuclear bombs involve utilising the forces that hold the nucleus of an atom together.

• There are two basic ways that nuclear energy can be released from an atom.

• Split atoms or force them together

Nuclear Fission (splitting the atom):

Split the nucleus of an atom into two smaller fragments with a neutron. This method usually involves uranium or plutonium

Atomic Bomb

Nuclear Fusion (Fusing two atoms):

You can bring two smaller atoms together to form a larger one (helium); this is how the sun produces energy

Hydrogen Bomb

By splitting the nucleus of an atom or by forcing them together, massive waves of energy are unleashed as neutrons are freed.

Hiroshima: The Enola Gay Bomb

140,000 killed

Nagasaki: The Fat Man Bomb

80,000 killed

Japan

• 140,000 people died in Hiroshima • 80,000 people died in Nagasaki

• Roughly half of those deaths occurring on the days of the bombings. Amongst these, 15–20% died from injuries or the combined effects of flash burns, trauma, and radiation burns, compounded by illness, malnutrition and radiation sickness

Since then many have died from cancers caused by the radiation

Sadako Sasaki Monument

• What was the Cold War?

The Cold War

• From the 1940s to the end of the 1980s the USA and USSR were engaged in a Cold War

The Cold War

• The term Cold War is used to describe the tense relationship between America and the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1990.

• Neither side ever fought the other - the consequences would have been too appalling - but they did ‘fight’ for their ideologies by equipping other nations

• One example of this was in the Vietnam war

The Cold War: Vietnam

• South Vietnam was anticommunist and was supplied with armaments (and also soldiers) by the USA during this war

• North Vietnam was pro-Communist and fought against the south using weapons from the USSR or communist China.

• Another example was Afghanistan from 1979 - 1988

The Cold War: Afghanistan

• The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979.

• In response, the USA supplied the Afghans with armaments to defend itself against the Communists

• Supplying Afghanistan with weapons allowed them to avoid direct fighting with the USSR

• The Cold War was at its worst in 1962 when it almost turned into a worldwide nuclear war (WW3)

• Ever heard of the Cuban Missile Crisis??

Cuban Missile Crisis

• The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba in October 1962, during the Cold War.

Cuban Missile Crisis

• The tensions were at their height on October 27th, 1962, which was known as "Black Saturday". The United States had observed USSR funded nuclear missile bases were being built in Cuba.

• They USA believed that there was an immanent threat of a nuclear attack

The USA had the following options: -

• Do nothing. • Use diplomatic pressure to get the Soviet

Union to remove the missiles. • An air attack on the missiles. • A full military invasion. • The naval blockade of Cuba

Unanimously, the USA agreed that a full-scale attack and invasion was the only solution

Cuban Missile Crisis

• “Direct aggression against Cuba would mean nuclear war. The Americans speak about such aggression as if they did not know or did not want to accept this fact. I have no doubt they would lose such a war.”

Che Guevera

• The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded.

• Thanks to leadership of two men, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, war was averted.

Nuclear Weapons in Scotland?

• Do you know much about Faslane Naval Base?

Trident Submarine: Nuclear missiles are eight times more powerful than

the Hiroshima bomb

(16 miles away – 30mins drive)

Faslane Naval Base

Today

• Iran and North Korea seem to be trying for Nuclear weapons

Benefits of Nuclear Weapons

• They can end conflicts in a flash

• If the other nation is far away – your country should be unaffected by the blast

• Your enemy will be left crippled and demoralised

• It’s not too hard to create one

• Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) keeps the peace! They act as deterrents.

Dangers of Nuclear Weapons

• The people who live close to these weapons are at risk

• Leakage of radioactive uranium can cause cancers and genetic mutations

• Nuclear by-products (nuclear waste) lasts for thousands of years

• They cost money. The cost to upgrade Trident is approx £130bn.

• Accidental launching

• Terrorism

• The site of the nuclear blast will be utterly destroyed and unsafe to visit for years to come

The Just War Theory

• Are the use of Nuclear weapons consistent with the Just War Theory???

The Just War Theory

• Must be good reason for war• War must be the last resort • War should be fought to promote good over

evil• There must be proportionality in the war• Civilian casualties should be avoided• The war can only be started by the

government

Proliferation

Proliferation

• The word proliferation literally means the process of "giving life to" something.

• In the context of nuclear weapons, the word is used to describe what has happened worldwide (with nations desperate to possess nuclear weapons)

Non-Proliferation

• There are many organisations that exist today to end the spread of nuclear weapons

• They stand for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons

Copy the Following

Fission: Splitting atoms to release nuclear power

Fusion: Combining atoms to release nuclear power

Proliferation: the spread of nuclear weapons

Non- Proliferation: A movement to stop the spread of nuclear weapons

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

• Complete p91 of the purple RMPS book

Homework

• Complete p91 from the purple book

• Write a short report about Sadako Sasaki and why a monument was built to her

or

• Write a short report on the direct effects of a nuclear explosion

Extension

• Read p256 – 260, answer the Qs on p260