War World War II Nuclear

War

World War II Nuclear Technology

Nuclear technology is technology that entails the reactions of atomic nuclei. It has been used in things like smoke detectors, nuclear reactors, gun sights and nuclear weapons. In 1896, Henri Becquerel was examining phosphorescence in uranium salts when he discovered a new phenomenon which came to be called radioactivity. He, Pierre Curie and Marie Curie began looking at this phenomenon. In the development they isolated the element radium, which is highly radioactive. They revealed that radioactive materials produce intense, penetrating rays of several distinct sorts, which they called alpha rays, beta rays and gamma rays (Nuclear technology -- Definition, n.d.).

During World War II, nuclear reactions were adequately well understood that all the factions began to see the possibility of constructing a nuclear weapon. Nuclear reactions discharge far more energy per reaction than chemical reactions, so if large numbers of reactions could be induced to occur at once, great amounts of energy could be released. The British and the Americans arranged the Manhattan Project under the direction of Robert Oppenheimer in order to build such a device with this technology (Nuclear technology -- Definition, n.d.).

Still, the tremendous energy release in the detonation of a nuclear weapon also suggested the possibility of a new energy source. There have been many things that have come from this realization. Nuclear power plants have been built in order to generate household electric power. Nuclear submarines have been built, and are able to travel at speed while submerged for months at a time. Nuclear ships have been created, primarily in the form of aircraft carriers, although a few icebreakers have been built. Research projects have begun looking into the possibility of nuclear-powered aircraft and nuclear thermal rockets (Nuclear technology -- Definition, n.d.).

The first generations of nuclear reactors were constructed to produce power and safety was a secondary consideration. But, as more nuclear reactors were built, it became apparent that they were complex devices in which failures were extremely hazardous. Early safety features were mainly concerned with the exposure of operators to intense radiation. However, it was steadily realized that the release of radioactive material into the environment, called radioactive contamination, was also potentially serious. Radioactive isotopes of common elements are chemically very alike to non-radioactive isotopes, so the human body may take up the radioactive materials and deposit them in the bones, thyroid, lungs, or elsewhere. The radioactive materials then decompose in place, often leading to cancer (Nuclear technology -- Definition, n.d.).

When looking a nuclear technology in regards to war, a deterrent power must be capable to inflict unacceptable damage, or more precisely the threatening nation has to be capable to exact payments at a cost acceptable to itself either by denying the opponent to achieve the objectives, by charging the opponent an excessive price for achieving it, or by a combination of the two. A nation has also to guarantee the safety of its nuclear arsenal. There must be no way for the opponent to eliminate the deterrent capability of the threatening nation. Strategists refer to this second strike ability, that is the retaliatory force should be protected from destruction through a first strike. A second strike capability can be established not only by technical means but also through policy means. The threatening nation must have the devices and the readiness necessary to demonstrate that it can deliver on its message. Conveying willingness to use retaliatory nuclear forces creates a quandary. The threatening nation must show willingness to engage in a war it tries to deter or prevent. The threatening nation must successfully converse to the opponent the price it will have to pay for attempting to achieve an unacceptable objective. For the United States transference of the deterrent message had two aspects. Deterrence had to address opponent as well as friend. The opponent had to believe in deterrence, and deterrence had to reassure U.S. allies in Europe. Reassurance and deterrence were two part of the nuclear issue. For much of the Cold War, deterrence and reassurance balance each other. Fourth, and most important, the deterrent message must have some degree of credibility. Both nations must believe that there is a real probability that the threatening nation will indeed perform the promised action, if required.

The components of nuclear prevention have a physical and a psychological character. On the physical level, deterrence necessitates a series of military instruments, sufficient to threaten the opponent in a way that it would not even think of attacking. Successful deterrence is certain, however, only if the will is there to use these weapons. Deterrence is plausible only if a nation is able to successfully convey the first two points to its opponent, that it is capable and willing. Successful deterrence depends on the psychological components of communication and perception (Gaddis, 2010).

The bomb's impact on substantive historical developments has turned out to be minimal. Nuclear weapons are routinely given credit for preventing or deterring a major war during the Cold War era. It is increasingly clear that the Soviet Union never had the smallest amount of interest in engaging in any kind of conflict that would remotely resemble World War II, whether nuclear or not. Its agenda emphasized revolution, class rebellion, and civil war, conflict areas in which nuclear weapons are irrelevant. Therefore, there was no threat of direct military aggression to deter. Moreover, the possessors of nuclear weapons have never been able to find much military reason to use them, even in principle, in actual armed conflicts (Mueller, 2010).

Electricity that is generated from nuclear energy does not produce greenhouse gases, but it has one major problem that is associated with it. Used fuel remains radioactive for a very long time after it has been used in power plants. The depleted fuel is a possible hazard to humans and the environment and is susceptible to terrorist banning. Conventional hydroelectric is an additional form of electrical generation that does not produce greenhouse gases. As of the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration's 2008 accounting, traditional hydroelectric generation accounts for just over 7% of the United States' generating capacity. Nuclear energy accounts for 9.6% of the United States' electrical producing capacity but supplies about 20% of the electricity in the United States. As well the long-term storage or redevelopment of used nuclear fuel, another practical disadvantage of nuclear energy is that nuclear power plants must maintain high levels of safety regarding the ability to control the necessary nuclear reaction (Childress, 2010).