Editing Nuclear weapon (section)

== Controversy ==
{{See also|Nuclear weapons debate|History of the anti-nuclear movement}}

=== Ethics ===
{{Main|Nuclear ethics}}
[[File:Anti-nuclear weapons protest, UK 1980.JPG|thumb|[[Nuclear disarmament|Anti-nuclear weapons]] protest march in Oxford, 1980]]
Even before the first nuclear weapons had been developed, scientists involved with the [[Manhattan Project]] were divided over the use of the weapon. The role of the two atomic bombings of the country in [[Surrender of Japan|Japan's surrender]] and the US's [[ethics|ethical]] justification for them has been the subject of scholarly and popular debate for decades. The question of whether nations should have nuclear weapons, or test them, has been continually and nearly universally controversial.<ref name="brown">Jerry Brown and [[Rinaldo Brutoco]] (1997). ''Profiles in Power: The Anti-nuclear Movement and the Dawn of the Solar Age'', Twayne Publishers, pp. 191–192.</ref>

=== Notable nuclear weapons accidents ===
{{Main|Nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents|List of military nuclear accidents}}
{{See also|List of nuclear close calls}}
* August 21, 1945: While conducting experiments on a plutonium-gallium core at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]], physicist [[Harry Daghlian]] received a lethal dose of radiation when an error caused it to enter [[prompt criticality]]. He died 25 days later, on September 15, 1945, from [[Acute radiation syndrome|radiation poisoning]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atomic Accidents – Nuclear Museum |url=https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/history/atomic-accidents/ |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ |language=en-US |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012072140/https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/history/atomic-accidents/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* May 21, 1946: While conducting further experiments on the same core at Los Alamos National Laboratory, physicist [[Louis Slotin]] accidentally caused the core to become briefly [[Critical mass|supercritical]]. He received a lethal dose of [[Gamma ray|gamma]] and [[neutron radiation]], and died nine days later on May 30, 1946. After the death of Daghlian and Slotin, the mass became known as the "[[demon core]]". It was ultimately used to construct a bomb for use on the Nevada Test Range.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/demon-core-that-killed-two-scientists|title=The Nuclear 'Demon Core' That Killed Two Scientists|date=April 23, 2018|access-date=April 23, 2018|archive-date=April 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424024624/https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/demon-core-that-killed-two-scientists|url-status=live}}</ref>
* February 13, 1950: a [[1950 British Columbia B-36 crash|Convair B-36B crashed]] in northern [[British Columbia]] after jettisoning a [[Mark 4 nuclear bomb|Mark IV]] atomic bomb. This was the first such [[United States military nuclear incident terminology|nuclear weapon loss]] in history. The accident was designated a "[[Broken Arrow (nuclear)|Broken Arrow]]"—an accident involving a nuclear weapon, but which does not present a risk of war. Experts believe that up to 50 nuclear weapons were lost during the Cold War.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Cold War's Missing Atom Bombs |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-nuclear-needle-in-a-haystack-the-cold-war-s-missing-atom-bombs-a-590513.html |work=Der Spiegel |date=November 14, 2008 |access-date=August 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627105727/https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-nuclear-needle-in-a-haystack-the-cold-war-s-missing-atom-bombs-a-590513.html |archive-date=June 27, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* May 22, 1957: a {{convert|42,000|lb|adj=on}} [[Mark 17 nuclear bomb|Mark-17 hydrogen bomb]] accidentally fell from a bomber near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The detonation of the device's conventional explosives destroyed it on impact and formed a crater {{convert|25|ft}} in diameter on land owned by the [[University of New Mexico]]. According to a researcher at the Natural Resources Defense Council, it was one of the most powerful bombs made to date.<ref>{{cite news|title=Accident Revealed After 29 Years: H-Bomb Fell Near Albuquerque in 1957 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-27-mn-14421-story.html|access-date=August 31, 2014|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=August 27, 1986 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910195156/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-08-27/news/mn-14421_1_hydrogen-bomb|archive-date=September 10, 2014}}</ref>
* June 7, 1960: the [[1960 Fort Dix IM-99 accident]] destroyed a [[Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc]] nuclear missile and shelter and contaminated the [[BOMARC Missile Accident Site]] in New Jersey.
* January 24, 1961: the [[1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash]] occurred near [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]]. A [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress]] carrying two [[Mark 39 nuclear bomb]]s broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in the process.<ref name="BOAS">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQsAAAAAMBAJ|page=28|magazine=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]|date=May 1975|title=Big Bangs from Little Bombs|author=Barry Schneider|access-date=July 13, 2009}}</ref>
* [[1965 Philippine Sea A-4 crash]], where a [[Douglas A-4 Skyhawk|Skyhawk]] attack aircraft with a nuclear weapon fell into the sea.<ref name=CruiseReport>{{cite web|title=Ticonderoga Cruise Reports |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/download/cv-deploy-vietnam.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040907220034/http://www.history.navy.mil/download/cv-deploy-vietnam.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 7, 2004 |format=Navy.mil weblist of Aug 2003 compilation from cruise reports |access-date=April 20, 2012 |quote=The National Archives hold''[s]'' deck logs for aircraft carriers for the Vietnam Conflict.}}</ref> The pilot, the aircraft, and the [[B43 nuclear bomb]] were never recovered.<ref>[http://www.atomicarchive.com/Almanac/Brokenarrows_static.shtml Broken Arrows] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901064320/http://www.atomicarchive.com/Almanac/Brokenarrows_static.shtml |date=September 1, 2013}} at www.atomicarchive.com. Accessed August 24, 2007.</ref> It was not until 1989 that [[the Pentagon]] revealed the loss of the one-megaton bomb.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 9, 1989 |title=U.S. Confirms '65 Loss of H-Bomb Near Japanese Islands |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |agency=[[Reuters]] |page=A–27}}</ref>
* January 17, 1966: the [[1966 Palomares B-52 crash]] occurred when a [[B-52 Stratofortress|B-52G bomber]] of the [[United States Air Force|USAF]] collided with a [[KC-135 Stratotanker|KC-135 tanker]] during [[Aerial refueling|mid-air refuelling]] off the coast of [[Spain]]. The KC-135 was completely destroyed when its fuel load ignited, killing all four crew members. The B-52G broke apart, killing three of the seven crew members aboard.<ref name="hayes">{{cite news |last=Hayes |first=Ron |date=January 17, 2007 |title=H-bomb incident crippled pilot's career |newspaper=Palm Beach Post |url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/01/17/m1a_Hbomb_0117.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616223334/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/01/17/m1a_Hbomb_0117.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=17 |archive-date=June 16, 2011 |access-date=May 24, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Of the four [[B28 nuclear bomb|Mk28]] type [[Teller–Ulam design|hydrogen bombs]] the B-52G carried,<ref>{{Cite book|first=Randall C. |last=Maydew |title=America's Lost H-Bomb: Palomares, Spain, 1966 |publisher=Sunflower University Press |isbn=978-0-89745-214-4 |year=1997}}</ref> three were found on land near [[Almería]], Spain. The non-nuclear explosives in two of the weapons detonated upon impact with the ground, resulting in the contamination of a {{convert|2|km2|acre|sp=us|adj=on}} (0.78 square mile) area by [[Radioactive decay|radioactive]] [[plutonium]]. The fourth, which fell into the [[Mediterranean Sea]], was recovered intact after a 2{{frac|1|2}}-month-long search.<ref name=long>{{Cite news |last=Long |first=Tony |date=January 17, 2008 |url=https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0117 |title=Jan. 17, 1966: H-Bombs Rain Down on a Spanish Fishing Village |publisher=WIRED |access-date=February 16, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203112702/http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0117 |archive-date=December 3, 2008}}</ref>
* January 21, 1968: the [[1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash]] involved a [[United States Air Force]] (USAF) [[B-52 Stratofortress|B-52 bomber]]. The aircraft was carrying four [[hydrogen bomb]]s when a cabin fire forced the crew to abandon the aircraft. Six crew members ejected safely, but one who did not have an [[ejection seat]] was killed while trying to bail out. The bomber crashed onto [[sea ice]] in [[Greenland]], causing the nuclear payload to rupture and disperse, which resulted in widespread [[radioactive contamination]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The Cold War's Missing Atom Bombs |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-nuclear-needle-in-a-haystack-the-cold-war-s-missing-atom-bombs-a-590513.html |work=Der Spiegel |date=November 14, 2008 |access-date=August 20, 2019 |archive-date=June 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627105727/https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-nuclear-needle-in-a-haystack-the-cold-war-s-missing-atom-bombs-a-590513.html |url-status=live }}</ref> One of the bombs remains lost.<ref>{{cite news |title=US left nuclear weapon under ice in Greenland |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greenland/3439318/US-left-nuclear-weapon-under-ice-in-Greenland.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greenland/3439318/US-left-nuclear-weapon-under-ice-in-Greenland.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=November 11, 2008}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* September 18–19, 1980: the [[1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion|Damascus Accident]] occurred in Damascus, Arkansas, where a [[Titan Missile Museum|Titan Missile]] equipped with a nuclear warhead exploded. The accident was caused by a maintenance man who dropped a socket from a socket wrench down an {{convert|80|ft|adj=on}} shaft, puncturing a fuel tank on the rocket. Leaking fuel resulted in a [[hypergolic]] fuel explosion, jettisoning the [[W-53 warhead]] beyond the launch site.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Schlosser |first1=Eric |title=Physics Today |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-59420-227-8 |volume=67 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/commandcontrol00eric/page/48 48–50] |chapter=Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety |bibcode=2014PhT....67d..48W |doi=10.1063/PT.3.2350 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/commandcontrol00eric/page/48 |issue=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Christ |first1=Mark K. |title=Titan II Missile Explosion |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2543 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912135526/http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2543 |archive-date=September 12, 2014 |access-date=August 31, 2014 |website=The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture |publisher=Arkansas Historic Preservation Program}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Stumpf |first1=David K. |title="We Can Neither Confirm Nor Deny" Sentinels of History: Refelections on Arkansas Properties on the National Register of Historic Places |date=2000 |publisher=University of Arkansas Press |editor1-last=Christ |editor1-first=Mark K. |location=Fayetteville, Arkansas |editor2-last=Slater |editor2-first=Cathryn H.}}</ref>

=== Nuclear testing and fallout ===
{{Main|Nuclear fallout}} {{See also|Downwinders}}
[[File:Rael Nuclear use locations world map.png|thumb|upright=2.25|Over 2,000 nuclear explosions have been conducted in over a dozen different sites around the world. Red Russia/Soviet Union, blue France, light blue United States, violet Britain, yellow China, orange India, brown Pakistan, green North Korea and light green (territories exposed to nuclear bombs). The black dot indicates the location of the [[Vela incident]].]]
[[File:Atomic test seen from Las Vegas.jpg|thumb|right|This view of downtown [[Las Vegas]] shows a [[mushroom cloud]] in the background. Scenes such as this were typical during the 1950s. From 1951 to 1962 the government conducted 100 atmospheric tests at the nearby [[Nevada Test Site]].]]

Over 500 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests were conducted at various sites around the world from 1945 to 1980. [[Radioactive fallout]] from nuclear weapons testing was first drawn to public attention in 1954 when the [[Castle Bravo]] hydrogen bomb test at the [[Pacific Proving Grounds]] contaminated the crew and catch of the Japanese fishing boat ''[[Daigo Fukuryū Maru|Lucky Dragon]]''.<ref name=rudig2 /> One of the fishermen died in Japan seven months later, and the fear of contaminated [[tuna]] led to a temporary boycotting of the popular staple in Japan. The incident caused widespread concern around the world, especially regarding the effects of nuclear fallout and atmospheric [[nuclear testing]], and "provided a decisive impetus for the emergence of the anti-nuclear weapons movement in many countries".<ref name=rudig2>{{cite book |last=Rudig |first=Wolfgang |date=1990 |title=Anti-nuclear Movements: A World Survey of Opposition to Nuclear Energy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXwfAQAAIAAJ |publisher=Longman |pages=54–55 |isbn=978-0582902695}}</ref>

As public awareness and concern mounted over the possible health hazards associated with exposure to the nuclear fallout, various studies were done to assess the extent of the hazard. A [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]]/ [[National Cancer Institute]] study claims that fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests would lead to perhaps 11,000 excess deaths among people alive during atmospheric testing in the United States from all forms of cancer, including leukemia, from 1951 to well into the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web|title=Report on the Health Consequences to the American Population from Nuclear Weapons Tests Conducted by the United States and Other Nations |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/fallout/|publisher=CDC|access-date=December 7, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204164348/http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/fallout/|archive-date=December 4, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10621|title=Exposure of the American Population to Radioactive Fallout from Nuclear Weapons Tests|author=Committee to Review the CDC-NCI Feasibility Study of the Health Consequences Nuclear Weapons Tests, National Research Council|access-date=October 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907210530/http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10621|archive-date=September 7, 2014 |doi=10.17226/10621|pmid=25057651|year=2003|isbn=978-0-309-08713-1}}</ref>
{{as of|2009|March}}, the US is the only nation that compensates nuclear test victims. Since the [[Radiation Exposure Compensation Act]] of 1990, more than $1.38&nbsp;billion in compensation has been approved. The money is going to people who took part in the tests, notably at the [[Nevada Test Site]], and to others exposed to the radiation.<ref name=compo>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=7159303|title=What governments offer to victims of nuclear tests|website=ABC News|access-date=October 24, 2014|archive-date=January 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118174820/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=7159303|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/omp/omi/Tre_SysClaimsToDateSum.pdf|title=Radiation Exposure Compensation System: Claims to Date Summary of Claims Received by 06/11/2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907192321/http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/omp/omi/Tre_SysClaimsToDateSum.pdf|archive-date=September 7, 2009}}</ref>

In addition, leakage of byproducts of nuclear weapon production into groundwater has been an ongoing issue, particularly at the [[Hanford site]].<ref name="Hanford Ref">{{cite web|last1=Coghlan|first1=Andy|title=US nuclear dump is leaking toxic waste |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23214-us-nuclear-dump-is-leaking-toxic-waste/|website=New Scientist|access-date=March 12, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413045211/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23214-us-nuclear-dump-is-leaking-toxic-waste/|archive-date=April 13, 2016}}</ref>