Since the development of the atomic bomb, what other weapons of mass destruction have been developed?
There are three basic types of WMD: nuclear, chemical, and biological. Chemical and biological weapons, in some form, have been used in combat for centuries, although twentieth century technology made these weapons a viable means of destroying large populations. As such, the only true weapon of mass destruction that has been originally devised since World War II is the hydrogen bomb. The United States tested its first hydrogen bomb, which had a yield of 10.4 megatons (MT), in late 1952. 10.4 MT is equivalent to nearly 700 Hiroshima-type (Little Boy) bombs or 500 Nagasaki-type (Fat Man) weapons. Where are nuclear weapons developed today? Today, new types of nuclear weapons are not being developed by the United States. Rather, the challenge that modern atomic scientists face is preserving the aging nuclear weapons of the nation’s stockpile and preventing nuclear materials from falling into the hands of rogue states and terrorists. The technical portion of this work is done, primarily, at
