This May 21, 1956 photo shows the explosion of a hydrogen bomb dropped from a U.S. aircraft.(Photo: AP)
TOKYO —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>How powerful are hydrogen bombs? Think of it this way: They use atomic bombs just as a trigger.
Atomic weapons like those previously tested by North Korea rely on nuclear fission to release energy —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>basically splitting atoms.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II used this technology to release explosive power equivalent to about 15 and 20 kilotons (1,000 metric tons)<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of TNT, respectively.
Hydrogen bombs use<span style="color: Red;">*</span>nuclear fusion, in which atoms fuse together, to release even greater amounts of energy. The two-stage process is often referred to as a thermonuclear reaction. The first hydrogen bomb tested by the United States in November 1952 released the equivalent energy of 10,000 kilotons (or 10 megatons) of TNT.
If North Korea really
has tested a hydrogen bomb, as it claims<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and that remains a big “if” – it has
joined a select group.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China have nuclear arsenals composed of hydrogen weapons; Israel, India, and Pakistan are generally believed to have nuclear weapons that use only nuclear fission.
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