Nuclear fission animation. Nuclear fission is the source of the energy released in a nuclear bomb or nuclear reactor. It occurs when an atom of uranium-235 (red and yellow) absorbs a neutron (yellow), causing it to split into two smaller nuclei (krypton-92 and barium-141), gamma rays (flashes) and three free neutrons. This releases a large amount of energy, and the neutrons can then split other uranium nuclei. In a reactor, materials that absorb free neutrons are used to control the rate of the reaction. In a nuclear bomb, there is a runaway chain reaction that releases an immense amount of energy.
Atomic bomb explosion as seen from distances during Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll in Marshall islands.
The damage caused due to an atomic bomb test during Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll in Marshall islands. The Bikini Atoll at zero hour. The atom bomb burst seen from twelve mile distance. A U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress in flight in between the atomic cloud carrying a bomb. Several views of the atomic cloud. Atomic bomb explosion views. Another shot of the atomic bomb burst from the distance of seven miles distance. Location: Marshall Islands. Date: 1948.
First Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1, 1949, high-speed footage. RDS-1 was used in the Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon test. It was exploded on 29 August 1949 at Semipalatinsk, in Soviet Kazakhstan. The RDS-1 explosion yielded the equivalent energy of 22 kilotons of TNT, similar to the American Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945. The USSR had received extensive intelligence on the design of the Fat Man bomb during World War II
Aerial view explosion atom bomb detonation in Nevada.
Atomic explosion during nuclear weapons test in Nevada testing ground during the Cold War. Aerial view as a bright explosion takes place after an atomic bomb detonates in the middle of a desert. A thick mushroom cloud forms over the site where the atomic bomb detonated. Location: Nevada United States USA . Date: 1958.
Operation Crossroads atom bomb test. This is the Baker atomic explosion carried out at Bikini Atoll, in the Pacific, at 21:34 UTC on 24 July 1946 as part of Operation Crossroads. Baker was the first underwater nuclear detonation. The yield was thousands of tons of TNT, with the column of water vapour reaching thousands of metres into the air. The explosion and wave of water overwhelmed and sank unmanned test ships which are seen in this footage.