North Koreas Hydrogen Bomb Test

North Korea has announced it had successfully carried out its first hydrogen bomb test. In
December, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un hinted that his nuclear-armed state has developed
a hydrogen bomb, a move that would signal a major step forward in its nuclear weapons
capabilities. North Korea has already tested three atom bombs.
North Korean state television said "the republic's first hydrogen bomb test" had been
"successfully performed at 10:00 am (0130 GMT)." "We have now joined the rank of advanced
nuclear states," it said, adding that the test was of a miniaturized device. North Korea announced
that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. If true, it now possesses something much more
powerful than the weapons it has tested in the past
The test was initially detected by international seismology monitors as a 5.1 magnitude tremor
next to the North's main Punggye-ri nuclear test site. The United States Geological Survey
(USGS) detected the quake that South Korea said was 49km from the Punggye-ri site. While the
USGS put the depth of the earthquake at 10km, the South Korean agency said it was near the
surface.

Response on test by World:

The UN Security Council met Wednesday for emergency talks to condemn North Korea after its
claim of a successful hydrogen bomb test

The 15-member council was considering further sanctions against Pyongyang over the surprise
nuclear test that UN chief Ban Ki-moon said was "deeply troubling" and "profoundly
destabilizing for regional security."
The test drew swift condemnation from the international community, including from China, the
North's main ally, and Washington, which said it was still studying the precise nature of the test
and vowed to "respond appropriately."
The announcement also triggered skepticism, with experts suggesting the apparent yield was far
too low for a thermonuclear device.
What is Hydrogen Bomb:
Hydrogen bomb weapon derives a large portion of its energy from the nuclear fusion
of hydrogen isotopes. In an atomic bomb, uranium or plutonium is split into lighter elements
that together weigh less than the original atoms, the remainder of the mass appearing as energy.
Unlike this fission bomb, the hydrogen bomb functions by the fusion, or joining together, of
lighter elements into heavier elements. The end product again weighs less than its components,
the difference once more appearing as energy. Because extremely high temperatures are required
in order to initiate fusion reactions, the hydrogen bomb is also known as a thermonuclear bomb.
How it works:
A hydrogen bomb is a complex bit of machinery. It's basically two bombs in one. While it gets its
bang from fusion, it takes a lot of heat to get the process started, to get the atoms to smash
together and start a nuclear chain reaction. That's why they're called thermonuclear weapons.
What better way to do that with than another much smaller nuclear weapon. An atomic bomb
works as the trigger to set off the hydrogen bomb. The two explosions are almost simultaneous.
History of Hydrogen Bomb:
The first thermonuclear bomb was exploded in 1952 at Enewetak by the United States, the
second in 1953 by Russia (then the USSR). Great Britain, France, and China have also exploded
thermonuclear bombs, and these five nations comprise the so called nuclear club nations that
have the capability to produce nuclear weapons and admit to maintaining an inventory of them.
North Korea announced Wednesday that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.
"What thermonuclear weapons do is increase the potential yield by enormous amounts. The
amounts that can be released by thermonuclear weapons are phenomenal," The most powerful
nuclear weapon ever detonated was the Tzar Bomba, a hydrogen bomb tested by the Soviet
Union in 1961, he said. It yielded a blast of 50,000 kilotons, or 50 megatons, dwarfing the force
of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs.

With the development of an H-bomb, reclusive North Korea would be that much more of a
threat.
Nuclear powers:
Since dawn of the nuclear age, at least eight nations have conducted more than 2,000 nuclear test
explosions. The United States was the first one, detonating an atomic bomb in New Mexico on
July 16, 1945. In the ensuing years, the U.S. has been joined by the USSR/Russia, United
Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea. Israel is also believed to have nuclear
weapons. There are believed to be 10,000 to 15,000 nuclear warheads in the arsenals of the
nuclear powers.
North Korea is the only nation to have conducted any nuclear tests since 1999, with tests in
2006, 2009, 2013 and this year. India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998.

Here is your 10-point fact sheet on why the hydrogen bomb is more dangerous:
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A Hydrogen bomb is a much more powerful atomic weapon.

The energy released in a Hydrogen bomb is several magnitudes higher than an Atom bomb.
Hydrogen bombs can devastate whole cities in one explosion.
A Hydrogen bomb derives its energy through the fusion of atoms. An Atom bomb derives its
energy from fission.

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viii.
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Nuclear fusion and nuclear fission are different types of reactions that release energy. In
fission, an atom is split into two or more smaller, lighter atoms.
Fusion, in contrast, occurs when two or more atoms fuse together, creating a larger, heavier
atom.
Hydrogen bombs use the fusion of hydrogen atoms, hence its name.
A fusion bomb is more sophisticated and difficult to make, since it requires a much higher
temperature - in the order of millions of degrees centigrade. So fission is carried out first to
produce more energy, which is then used to initiate fusion. In a fusion bomb, a fission device
has to be triggered first.
It is easier to make Hydrogen bombs in small size, so it is easier to place them in missiles.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki both were atomic bombs and till date Hydrogen bombs have never
been used in war.
This is the fourth atomic test by North Korea and its first fusion bomb.

Critical analysis always welcome

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