Nuclear warfare

Warfare in which nuclear weapons are used or threatened to achieve military or political objectives. Its effects can extend far beyond battlefields through blast, heat, radiation, and escalation.

Nuclear weapon: A weapon that releases energy through nuclear fission, fusion, or both. The weapon’s blast, heat, and radiation determine the immediate physical effects of nuclear warfare.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The U.S. atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. These remain the only wartime uses of nuclear weapons.
Manhattan Project: The U.S.-led wartime program that developed the first nuclear weapons. Its weapons made nuclear warfare possible in 1945.
Radiation sickness: Illness caused by exposure to a sufficiently high dose of ionizing radiation. Survivors near nuclear explosions can suffer acute injury from radiation exposure.
Conventional warfare: Warfare conducted with non-nuclear weapons and military forces. Comparing it with nuclear warfare clarifies the scale and distinctive risks of nuclear use.
Nuclear deterrence: A strategy that seeks to prevent hostile action by threatening unacceptable retaliation. The threat of nuclear retaliation has often shaped conflict without weapons being used.
Cuban Missile Crisis: The 1962 confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba. The crisis brought nuclear powers close to war and exposed the hazards of miscommunication.
Nuclear fission: A nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus splits into smaller nuclei, releasing energy and neutrons. Fission supplied the energy source for the first atomic bombs.
Nuclear fallout: Radioactive material deposited after a nuclear explosion, especially after being carried through the atmosphere. Fallout can contaminate areas beyond the immediate blast zone.
Mutual assured destruction: A deterrence condition in which opposing nuclear powers can each inflict catastrophic retaliation after being attacked. This doctrine treats vulnerability to retaliation as a restraint on nuclear attack.

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