Thermonuclear Explosions
"Mike" test (10.4 Mt), Eniwetok Atoll, 31 Oct 1952; "Castle Bravo" test (15 Mt), BIkini Atoll, 01 March 1954
Thermonuclear weapons ("H-bombs") use a
fission reaction (an "A-bomb")
to trigger a fusion reaction of heavy hydrogen (Deuterium
(2H) or Tritium (3H)). The result is a quantitatively greater
yield of radiation and energy, measured in millions of tons (megatons or Mt) of TNT. The 1954 Castle
Bravo test "ran away" to 15 Mt, the largest US
explosion ever. The largest thermonuclear device ever exploded
was the 55 Mt Soviet "Tsar Bomba"
test in 1961.