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Colloquially "atomic bomb" usually refers to both fission and fusion weapons. Almost no weapons currently in use by major nation-states are pure fission device

Colloquially "atomic bomb" usually refers to both fission and fusion weapons. Almost no weapons currently in use by major nation-states are pure fission devices. Two-stage thermonuclear Teller-Ulam designs are more stable, easier to control the yield, capable of scaling up to 1000x the power, and cheaper to manufacture once you have the technology. A major part of the cost of nuclear weapons is enriching uranium or producing plutonium; fusion weapons can use a much smaller amount of these expensive materials and get the bulk of their yield from deuterium, which is distilled from water. Pure fission weapons were used in some artillery shells (where there isn't enough room to get a second stage in) and by emerging nuclear powers that haven't yet developed the technology for fusion weapons. Non-colloquially, scientists would probably refer specifically to "fission" and "fusion" weapons, or to specific design used (eg. gun-type linear implosion, explosive lens, Teller-Ulam).

LatteLazy 6y ago
Thanks for your excellent comment! I didn't know most advanced powers were using fusion weapons but it makes perfect sense when you say it (cost, stability, power and controlability).
pinewurst 6y ago
There's also the intermediate case of boosted fission, where tritium gas is introduced into the fission core, generating neutrons via fusion, that in turn accelerate/enhance the fission process (e.g. allowing more fission energy to be released in the interval between detonation and when the device blows itself apart).
Koshkin 6y ago
> ”atomic bomb" usually refers to both You must be talking about “nuclear weapon.” Never in my life I heard “atomic bomb” being used in reference to a hydrogen bomb. > Almost no weapons currently in use by major nation-states are pure fission devices. All tactical nukes are pure fission devices.
- nostrademons 6y ago
  You would refer to the warheads on Minuteman 3 & PeaceKeeper ICBMs, Trident SLBMs, and B63/B81 bombs as "atomic bombs", would you not? All of the above are thermonuclear fusion weapons. The tactical nukes I believe you are referring to are the W54 Davey Crockett, W48 6.1" shell, and W79 8" shell, all pure linear implosion fission weapons. All of those have been out of service since 1992, though.
arethuza 6y ago
I suspect the main distinction in weapons designs is whether staging is used or not. Single stage designs will use some fusion through boosting and multi stage designs have multiple fission and fusion components (primary fission boosted with fusion and the secondary has a fission "spark-plug", the main fusion fuel mass and surrounding mass of fissionable material acting as a tamper and the main source of energy). Most of the energy from most "H-bomb" designs actually comes from fission.

LatteLazy 6y ago

Thanks for your excellent comment! I didn't know most advanced powers were using fusion weapons but it makes perfect sense when you say it (cost, stability, power and controlability).

pinewurst 6y ago

There's also the intermediate case of boosted fission, where tritium gas is introduced into the fission core, generating neutrons via fusion, that in turn accelerate/enhance the fission process (e.g. allowing more fission energy to be released in the interval between detonation and when the device blows itself apart).

Koshkin 6y ago

> ”atomic bomb" usually refers to both You must be talking about “nuclear weapon.” Never in my life I heard “atomic bomb” being used in reference to a hydrogen bomb. > Almost no weapons currently in use by major nation-states are pure fission devices. All tactical nukes are pure fission devices.

nostrademons 6y ago
You would refer to the warheads on Minuteman 3 & PeaceKeeper ICBMs, Trident SLBMs, and B63/B81 bombs as "atomic bombs", would you not? All of the above are thermonuclear fusion weapons. The tactical nukes I believe you are referring to are the W54 Davey Crockett, W48 6.1" shell, and W79 8" shell, all pure linear implosion fission weapons. All of those have been out of service since 1992, though.

arethuza 6y ago

I suspect the main distinction in weapons designs is whether staging is used or not. Single stage designs will use some fusion through boosting and multi stage designs have multiple fission and fusion components (primary fission boosted with fusion and the secondary has a fission "spark-plug", the main fusion fuel mass and surrounding mass of fissionable material acting as a tamper and the main source of energy). Most of the energy from most "H-bomb" designs actually comes from fission.