Euromissile

An American or Soviet missile stationed in a European country during the Cold War


isomer bomb

From isomer + bomb from being a bomb fuelled by nuclear isomer changes.

A more useable size might be 1 g with an accelerated decay of 200 kg of TNT. The isomer bomb obtained funding, but was canceled as nonsensical.

2013, David Hafemeister, Physics of Societal Issues: Calculations on National Security, Environment, and Energy, Springer, →ISBN, page 23:

But in recent years, a group of fringe scientists aided by defense industry insiders has convinced the Pentagon that America's post-9/11 survival depends on developing an isomer bomb. While proponents compare it to the Manhattan Project, opponents point out that independent researchers have not been able to duplicate the results attained by isomer enthusiasts, and that many assumptions behind the bomb contradict the laws of physics. Though Congress canceled isomer bomb development in 2004, the Department of Energy found $5 million to continue the research.

2011, Karolina Dean...Where the HELL is my monkey?, “The Pentagon's fascination with fringe science”, in rec.sport.pro-wrestling (Usenet):

Danger Room has closely followed developments related to miniature nuclear weapon, such as the “isomer bomb,” a notional weapon based on some rather controversial physics of accelerating the decay of nuclear isomers. Like Red Mercury, nuclear isomers never grows old. In January, the first ever isomer bomb was detonated in front of millions of viewers. Of course the bomb in question was fictional, a handy plot device in the new Knight Rider series. It was set to go off if the car dropped to below 100 mph; how original is that as a plot device?

2009, David Hambling, “Red Mercury Mania Returns as Saudis Buy Up “Mini-Nuke” Material”, in Wired:

The AWE's emphasis is on basic research and the potential for energy storage. But Thomson does not believe that an isomer bomb can be ruled out, saying that the controversy over Collins' claims has not been fully resolved. He adds: "A secondary role of AWE is to provide independent advice to the UK government on potential threats to the security of the UK, so an understanding of the fundamentals of isomer physics is essential."

2008, David Hambling, “Discredited pseudoscience or a newly useful technology?”, in The Guardian:

In America, the most controversial research has involved trying to "trigger" — get energy out of — a Hafnium isomer. In Russia, there has been plenty of controversy over Hafnium, as well. A 2005 paper on induced decay of the nuclear isomer 178m2Hf and the ‘isomeric bomb’ written by E. V. Tkalya, is deeply skeptical of the physics involved.

2008, David Hambling, “Russia’s Isomer Bomb, Funded by Your Taxes”, in Wired:

The hafnium isomer bomb concept is the product of a physicist's imagination. The hafnium, or isomer, bomb, is proposed by an expert who needs research funding to prove that the reaction takes place.

2008, Richard M. Swiderski, Quicksilver: A History of the Use, Lore and Effects of Mercury, McFarland, →ISBN, page 229:

For those who want all the nitty gritty details on the very weird life and death of DARPA’s isomer bomb, you can read my book, or for a shorter overview, you can read David Hambling’s New Scientist article along with my Washington Post Magazine article.

2008, Sharon Weinberger, “Is the Pentagon Funding Isomer Bombs Again?”, in Wired:

Washington bureaucracy works in strange ways. I was immediately asked what stake the arms control groups at State had in a fight over whether or not DARPA was to be allowed to waste $40 million on what my instincts said was very bad science. But we did have a reason to get involved: the proponents of isomer weapons suggested that–although the energy release derived from excited states of nuclei–because the mechanism did not involve either fission or fusion, an isomer bomb would not be a nuclear weapon. That would mean it could be tested even under the terms of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and could even be tested in the atmosphere, despite the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty

2007, Peter D. Zimmerman, “The Strange Tale of the Hafnium Bomb: A Personal Narrative”, in American Physical Society News:

Take the so-called hafnium bomb, also known as the isomer bomb. According to its proponents, this futuristic weapon would harness the immense energy in subatomic particles known as isomers to deliver kiloton yields in a tiny package.

2006, Daniel G. Dupont, “Far-Out Physics”, in Scientific American, →DOI:

• Pure isomer bomb: 0.1 to 5 MeV gamma-rays;

2005, Andre Gsponer, “Fourth Generation Nuclear Weapons: Military effectiveness and collateral effects”, in arXiv:

The problem of developing the isomeric bomb on the basis of these isomeric nuclei is considered. The experimental data analysis shows that development of the hafnium bomb at present is nonreal, because the existing plans of its creation are based on the noncorrectness of obtained experimental data

2005, E.V. Tkalya, “Induced decay of the 178m2Hf and isomeric bomb”, in Physics Uspekhi:

I think a hydrogen bomb can be made that is started by an isomer bomb not an atomic bomb.

2004, Kurt stocklmeir, “Re: laser cooling”, in sci.math (Usenet):

(military, weaponry) a type of theoretical radiological nuclear weapon that relies on an induced rapid change in the state of nuclear isomers to generate an intense gamma ray flash.


thermonuclear bomb

en-noun

thermonuclear bomb (plural thermonuclear bombs)

thermonuclear weapon
thermonuclear weapon#English


fissban

A ban on the production of fissile material.


layer cake

A type of layering of materials, used in some nuclear bombs.


fall of the wall

(history) The deconstruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and 1990.


Dr. Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove (plural Dr. Strangeloves)

[ˈdɑk̚tɚ ˈʃt͡ʃɹeɪ̯nd͡ʒɫʌv]

From the character Dr. Strangelove in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

When it was important in 1969 for Henry Kissinger to gain a reputation as a “secret swinger” to create a Dr. Strangelove reputation and provide cover for secret trips, he would appeal to White House wags and their friends (Richard Moore, television producer Paul Keyes, and this writer) for lines making that point.

2008, William Safire, Safire's Political Dictionary, →ISBN, page 654:

Just as the central question of the nuclear age was how to keep a Dr. Strangelove from pushing the button, the central question of the geoengineering age will be how to prevent a Dr. Strangelove from hacking the climate.

2010, Jeff Goodell, How to Cool the Planet, →ISBN:

His game theory became the foundation for modern finance. Dr Strangelove went to work on Wall Street.

2015, Katrine Marcal, Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner?, →ISBN, page 62:

In both the world of new science and that of quick-fix military technology we need, more than ever, to be on perpetual guard against the Dr Strangeloves of the future.

2012, Dr J Richardson, War, Science and Terrorism: From Laboratory to Open Conflict, →ISBN:

The Darth Vaders, Dr. Strangeloves and many people in positions of power have advocated the use of nuclear weapons to resolve conflicts.

2014, Jerry Kroth, Implosion: Delusion, denial, and the prospect of collapse, →ISBN, page 240:

But CIA observers everywhere choked when CNN announced that a psychological trauma team, mustered by the American Psychological Association, would converge in Oklahoma City to treat survivors of the explosion and the victims' families—led by none other than Dr. Louis Jolyon West of UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute, the breeding ground of some of the most necrotizing Dr. Strangeloves in the mind control business.

2014, Alex Constantine, Virtual Government: CIA Mind Control Operations in America, →ISBN, page 255:

Someone who is likely to launch a nuclear attack or otherwise destroy the world.


nuclear triad

intercontinental ballistic missile
intercontinental ballistic missile

Three traditional components of a nuclear weapons arsenal: strategic bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.


kilotonnage

The regions contaminated by local fallout depend critically on local weather conditions, particularly wind, and cannot be accurately predicted, but the total areas are roughly proportional to the size (kilotonnage) of the fission part of the bomb.

1967, Patricia Joyce Lindop, A Poor Man's Guide to Nuclear Weapons, page 8:

In addition, the intense study of the nuclear winter phenomenon now going on in both the United States and the Soviet Union may push the arms competition further into lighter, low-kilotonnage weapons.

1985 March, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, page 32:

Nuclear tests were nationally televised, and data on systems, kilotonnages, and weapons were published by major American newspapers.

2014, Robert A. Pape, Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War:

The destructive power of an explosive, measured in kilotons.


letter of last resort

letter of last resort (plural letters of last resort)

A handwritten letter from the British Prime Minister to the commanding officers of nuclear submarines, specifying the action to be taken if an enemy nuclear strike destroys the British government.


Gold Code

(US) A launch code for nuclear weapons, provided to the President of the United States.


decapitation strike

decapitation strike (plural decapitation strikes)

An initial attack (often nuclear) that aims to destroy the command and control mechanisms of the enemy, preventing retaliation.

斬首行動 /斩首行动

attack aiming to destroy the central command and control


go nuclear

en-verb

go nuclear (third-person singular simple present goes nuclear, present participle going nuclear, simple past went nuclear, past participle gone nuclear)

goes nuclear (present singular third-person)
going nuclear (participle present)
went nuclear (past)
gone nuclear (participle past)

In this context, the humiliating defeat of 1971 and the Indian nuclear test were major factors in the Pakistani decision to go nuclear.

2000, Hooman Peimani, Nuclear Proliferation in the Indian Subcontinent, →ISBN, page 28:

A decision to go nuclear has important adverse diplomatic repercussions as well. Trying to build a nuclear arsenal is not the way to win friends in the international community.

2008, Ted Galen Carpenter, Smart Power: Toward a Prudent Foreign Policy for America, →ISBN, page 111:

This agreement codified nuclear apartheid, leaving in place three types of nuclear states: the five recognized nuclear powers (the United States, Britain, China, France, and the Soviet Union), NATO and Warsaw Pact allies with access to nuclear weapons but not ownership, and a large class of non-nuclear states who renounced their right to go nuclear.

2010, Shane J. Maddock, Nuclear Apartheid, →ISBN:

(of a country) To acquire nuclear weapons.

Some have suggested that nuclear disarmament will increase the chance that conventional wars will occur since nation states will no longer be deterred by the thought that wars can go nuclear.

1984, Douglas P. Lackey, Moral Principles and Nuclear Weapons, →ISBN, page 236:

This paper does not deal with nuclear terrorism as Thomas Schelling once defined it — namely being he 'balance of nuclear terror' between the major nuclear weapon state - but rather refers to terrorist groups going nuclear.

2012, Paul Wilkinson, Technology and Terorrism, →ISBN, page 48:

The best place to be if things went nuclear was in a bomb shelter.

2015, Dean Marquis, Roxanne of Dark Energy: A Construct of Science Fiction, →ISBN:

To involve the use of nuclear weapons, especially in war.

“We cut the show short, and the brothers went nuclear on me afterward,” said Sammy. “They crucified me for that."

2011, Kevin Dodds, Edward Van Halen: A Definitive Biography, →ISBN, page 150:

He snickered. Janelle was going nuclear. “Why didn't you tell me?” she shouted.

2015, James Patterson, NYPD Red 3, →ISBN:

There's barely a week that goes by without me going nuclear about something or other to do with middle age as portrayed in the media.

2015, Helen Walmsley-Johnson, The Invisible Woman: Taking on the Vintage Years, →ISBN:

(figurative) To throw a fit; To become enraged with an angry outburst.


bunker-busting

(military) Having the penetrative quality of a bunker buster.


countervalue

countervalue (third-person singular simple present countervalues, present participle countervaluing, simple past and past participle countervalued)

countervalues (present singular third-person)
countervaluing (participle present)
countervalued (participle past)
countervalued (past)

From counter- + value. The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., records the first use of the word in 1660 and the first use in the modern sense in 1965, where it is described as a "euphemism for attacking cities".

(military) To target an opponent's assets which are of value but not actually a military threat, such as cities and civilian populations.


countervalue

(military) Targeting an opponent's assets which are of value but not actually a military threat, such as cities and civilian populations.


Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America


Cold Warrior

Like many other ‘Cold Warriors’ of the European political center, [Raymond] Aron had only limited sympathy for the United States—‘the U.S. economy seems to me’, he wrote, ‘a model neither for humanity nor the West’.

2005, Tony Judt, “Culture Wars”, in Postwar: A history of Europe since 1945, London: Vintage Books, published 2010, →ISBN:

(history) A participant in the Cold War.


denuke

denuke (third-person singular simple present denukes, present participle denuking, simple past and past participle denuked)

denukes (present singular third-person)
denuking (participle present)
denuked (participle past)
denuked (past)

There have been suggestions by a number of American neoconservative hawks to denuke Iran with “swift, massive, devastating force that decapitates the regime.

2014, Jahangir Amuzegar, The Islamic Republic of Iran: Reflections on an Emerging Economy:

(transitive, colloquial) Short for denuclearize.


Trident

The nuclear weapon that is the nuclear deterrent of the United Kingdom


bhangmeter

From bhang + -meter, with the first element being a pun on bang, mocking the idea that the machine would work. Coined by Fred Reines in 1950.

A non-imaging radiometer used to detect nuclear detonations and determine the yield of the nuclear weapon.


fail-deadly

From fail + deadly, modelled on fail-safe.

(military) In nuclear weapons strategy: encouraging deterrence by guaranteeing an immediate, automatic, and overwhelming response to an attack, even if the command-and-control infrastructure has been damaged by the enemy's first strike.


brinkman

It compels the 'brinkmen' to realise that, if they seek to make war on the Soviet Union, they cannot count on cooperation from Britain or France, and probably not from Western Germany.

1958, The Labour Monthly, volume 40, page 18:

The brinkmen Kennan abhorred were supreme realists, and if "the assumption that state behavior is a fit subject for moral judgment" is baseless, then anything, even the realism of atomic blackmail, would be permissible.

1970, John W. Coffey, Realist social thought in America: Reinhold Niebuhr and George F. Kennan:

The Syrian force was pulled back quickly and with reportedly heavy losses, but it stayed around long enough to remind the world that the Syrians are still the biggest blusterers and brinkmen in the Middle East.


A-bomb maiden

Hiroshima maiden
Hiroshima maiden#English


Hiroshima maiden

en-noun

Hiroshima maiden (plural Hiroshima maidens)

(historical) Any of a group of Japanese women who were disfigured by the thermal flash from the fission bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, and who subsequently went on a highly publicized journey to get reconstructive surgery in the United States in 1955.


nuclear famine

nuclear famine (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear famines)

Famine resulting from the harmful effects of nuclear war on agriculture.


INF

Initialism of intermediate-range nuclear forces.

initialism

w:Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

Ellipsis of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.


horizontal proliferation

Coordinate term: vertical proliferation

weapons of mass destruction
weapon of mass destruction

The spread of weapons of mass destruction to states that did not previously have them.


vertical proliferation

Coordinate term: horizontal proliferation

The increase in the stocks of weapons of mass destruction of states that already had them.


Red Star

A depiction of a red star, often used as a symbol of communism and the Soviet Union.


Hanfordite

(rare, historical) Someone working at the Hanford Site, a nuclear production facility active during World War II.

(rare) Someone from or residing in Hanford, California, United States.


four-minute warning

en-noun

four-minute warning (plural four-minute warnings)

(idiomatic) A UK government public alert system in use during the Cold War to advise of an imminent nuclear attack.


FOBS

(historical) Acronym of fractional orbit bombardment system.


go code

(US, military) A launch code to commence a nuclear attack.


nucleomitophobia

Coined by psychiatrist Milton Arnold Dushkin in the early 1960s, from nucleo- (“atomic nucleus”) + mito- (“mitosis”) + -phobia (“fear of”), in reference to a supposed resemblance of atomic fission to cellular division.

Nikita Krushchev's war of nerves was plainly having an effect on the U.S. citizenry... There were the usual neurotics. In Chicago, public officials received a spate of calls from women complaining that their hair curlers were radioactive, from men suspicious of the olives in their martinis. (Chicago Psychiatrist Milton A. Dushkin named the ailment "nucleomitophobia"—fear of the atom).

1961 September 29, “The People: Ready to Act”, in Time:

A physician says the Nuclear Age has spawned a new phobia—nucleomitophobia, or fear of the atom. An article in Today's Health, a magazine published by the American Medical Assn., said public officials have received a rash of calls from persons who believe they are radioactive.

1961 November 19, Cedar Rapids Gazette, page 122:

When they are frantically expanding armament and making preparations for war, and they need to create war hysteria, they encourage man-made nucleomitophobia to spread rampantly, letting people know how radioactivity is already "threatening normal life in the United States." But when they want to sell their milk, they have to try "to find ways and means to set people's minds at ease regarding the question of radioactivity." Under the capitalist system, which is characterized by irresoluble contradictions, such jokes cannot be avoided.

1963 January, Michael Freeberne, translating an article in the 1 March 1962 Hongqi (《红旗》) in "Chinese Vignettes", Problems of Communism, Vol. XII, No. 1, p. 15

Bertie Rupp, who wanted to become a farmer in his youth, is entrapped by city life and achieves brief celebrity as the man who aestheticized continuous computer stationery. Disenchantment and nucleomitophobia (an exaggerated fear of atomic Armageddon) cause him to drop out.

1988, Brian Stableford, "American Book of the Dead", Fiction & Fantasy Book Review Annual

I SUFFER, I HASTEN TO SAY, FROM NUCLEOMITOPHOBIA, THE FEAR of atomic attack, and my quest for a cure has led me to grapple with the great debate on war and peace as it is being carried on in the United States.

1999, Arthur Herzog III, The War–Peace Establishment, page vii:

Fear of nuclear weapons is known as nucleomitophobia. The same term applies to fear of atomic energy... The fear is based on a feeling by individuals that they have no control over the fate of the world and that nuclear weapons can kill off all of human life and civilization. This fear is also related to a fear of death and a fear of apocalypse, or the end of the world.

2008, Ronald M. Doctor & al., The Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears, and Anxieties, 3rd ed., s.v. "nuclear war and nuclear weapons"

Fear of nuclear radiation, now especially atomic bombs.


ERW

(military) Initialism of enhanced-radiation weapon (“neutron bomb”).


LOW

(rail transport) The station code of Lo Wu in Hong Kong.


missile gap

Coordinate term: bomber gap

(US, military, historical) The perceived superiority during the Cold War of the number and power of the USSR's missiles in comparison with those of the United States.


bomber gap

Coordinate term: missile gap

(US, military, historical) The perceived superiority during the Cold War of the USSR's ability to deploy jet-powered strategic bombers.


glass parking lot

A wide range of explosives can convert sand into glass upon detonation, as a temperate of only 1700 Celsius is required. The most recognized generation process was through nuclear testing with the discovery of (Trinitite), but other munition are capable of the same result, without implying the use of a nuclear attack.

[…]it is common for Americans to respond with the convictions that "they wouldn't dare" and "we'll turn them into a glass parking lot" (that is, we'll attack them with nuclear weapons until there is nothing left of them).

2015, Brad Roberts, The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century:

(US, informal) Total destruction in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.


doomsday plane

(informal) An aircraft to be used as an airborne command post in the event of nuclear war or similar large-scale disaster.


highly-enriched uranium

(nuclear physics, military) Enriched uranium containing at least 20% uranium-235 (some applications, such as fission weapons and naval reactors, use uranium enriched to as high as 80-95% uranium-235), and therefore capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction without needing a moderator; used in nuclear weapons and in a few types of nuclear reactors requiring very high power density or high neutron flux.


tacnuke

Probably it would go as this: the Soviets attack with as little warning as possible in a holiday with a massive BC assault together with their mechanized wave. Maybe a tacnuke or two (or two dozens) are exchanged between WARPACT and NATO troops in Germany and Turkey (i'm thinking of the Thrace area). After 2-3 weeks either the Soviets reach the Rhine and ask for an armistice or the war stalemates and ask for an armistice.

2018 October 16, El_Presidente, “Reply to "WW3 in the late 80s: How long does the munition last?"”, in alternatehistory.com, archived from the original on 2021-02-21:

(military, slang) A tactical nuclear weapon.


downblend

en-verb

downblend (third-person singular simple present downblends, present participle downblending, simple past and past participle downblended)

downblends (present singular third-person)
downblending (participle present)
downblended (participle past)
downblended (past)

The facility has the capacity to downblend 5 tonnes of bomb-grade uranium per year.

highly-enriched uranium
highly-enriched uranium

slightly-enriched uranium
slightly-enriched uranium

low-enriched uranium
low-enriched uranium

(usually transitive, nuclear physics) To blend highly-enriched uranium, typically from decommissioned nuclear weapons, with uranium containing a low concentration of fissile uranium-235 (slightly-enriched uranium, natural uranium, or depleted uranium) in order to convert it to low-enriched uranium suitable for use as fuel in standard power reactors but not usable for a fission bomb.


prompt criticality

en-noun

prompt criticality (usually uncountable, plural prompt criticalities)

The system is thought to have approached prompt criticality, at which time the rate of power increase would have been determined by the neutron lifetime (on the order of milliseconds).

2000, Thomas P. McLaughlin with Shean P. Monahan, Norman L. Pruvost, Vladimir V. Frolov, Boris G. Ryazanov, and Victor I. Sviridov, “I. A. 19. Idaho Chemical Processing Plant, 17 October 1978”, in A Review of Criticality Accidents: 2000 Revision, Los Alamos National Laboratory, archived from the original on 2022-03-25, page 46:

(nuclear physics) The point at which the prompt neutrons produced by a nuclear fission chain reaction are just sufficient to sustain the chain reaction on their own (the state of being prompt critical); past this point, changes in reaction power are controlled by changes in the prompt neutron flux, and occur on a timeframe of milliseconds, too rapidly to be controlled by mechanical means.


prompt critical

The number of fissions in the two prompt critical excursions was estimated from (1) the doses received by the operator and shift supervisor and (2) the measured exposure rate from fission product gamma–rays (1.5 mR/s at 3 m from the vessel, 1 hour after the last excursion).

2000, Thomas P. McLaughlin with Shean P. Monahan, Norman L. Pruvost, Vladimir V. Frolov, Boris G. Ryazanov, and Victor I. Sviridov, “I. A. 17. Mayak Production Association, 10 December 1968”, in A Review of Criticality Accidents: 2000 Revision, Los Alamos National Laboratory, archived from the original on 2021-02-24, page 42:

(nuclear physics) Of the point where the prompt neutrons produced by a nuclear fission chain reaction are just sufficient to sustain the chain reaction on their own, past which changes in reaction power occur on a timeframe of milliseconds, too rapidly for a human operator to control.


NDB

non-directional beacon
nuclear depth bomb

(aviation) Initialism of non-directional beacon, a type of radiobeacon used in air navigation which transmits an omnidirectional radio signal containing no encoded information about the direction from an aircraft to the beacon.

non-directional beacon

(military, nautical) Initialism of nuclear depth bomb.


EXCOMM

(US, historical) The Executive Committee of the National Security Council: a body of United States government officials that convened to advise President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.


balance of terror

Probably coined by Lester Pearson in June 1955 at the 10th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter: “The balance of terror has succeeded the balance of power.”

(historical) The tenuous peace that existed during the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.


anti-ballistic missile

anti-ballistic missile (plural anti-ballistic missiles)

(military, astronautics) A missile designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in flight.


finite deterrence

(military) The strategy of making a nuclear victory so costly that it is preferable for the enemy not to fight.


supermissile

An interview with Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, Chief of Naval Operations in which he describes the Navy's role in an era of H-bombs and supermissiles.

1956, Army Library (U.S.), Special Bibliographies, United States Department of the Army, Army Library, page 91:

For example, the details of the new Soviet SS9 supermissile, which apparently was not thought to be a proper subject to include in a formal “posture statement” were abruptly declassified and trotted out as Exhibit A in the case for Soviet aggressiveness as it was presented live for all to see and hear.

1969, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. Subcommittee on International Organization and Disarmament Affairs, Strategic and Foreign Policy Implications of ABM Systems, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 316:

“It’s a bomber! It’s a supermissile! No — it’s a dove.”

1981 November 20, Herbert Lawrence Block, “‘It’s a Dove”, in coldwar.unc.edu:

(military) An extremelypowerful, self-propelled projectile whose trajectory is adjustable after it is launched.


Dead Hand

The system may no longer be a central element of Russian strategy—US-based Russian arms expert Pavel Podvig calls it now "just another cog in the machine"—but Dead Hand is still armed.

2009 September 21, Nicholas Thompson, “Inside the Apocalyptic Soviet Doomsday Machine”, in Wired, →ISSN:

A system capable of closing a strategic nuclear strike control loop in the absence of normal command and control channels, analogous in concept to a deadman switch, in anticipation of a decapitation strike. Implemented by the Soviet Union and by the Russian Federation as the successor state thereof.


doomsday bomb

The doomsday bomb is terrifying. It puts the mightiest nukes to shame.

Synonym for doomsday device or doomsday weapon


hyperbomb

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hyperbomb.wav

The hyperbomb of that day will have lost meaning as a weapon and gained meaning as a complex substitute for Francoise Sagan's "sports" car, as this death device is so playfully called.

1957, Clifton Fadiman, Any Number Can Play, World Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 33:

"He went back inside," Igor grunted. "After examining the artefacts we'd packed for dispatch. Probably wants to make sure the computer records don't describe them as ultra-guns or hyperbombs or whatever the hell."

1974, John Brunner, Total Eclipse, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 33:

We entered an area where a hyperbomb had been detonated during the war.

2014, J. Michael Reeves, Terry Austin, Byron Preiss, I—Alien, J. Boylston, →ISBN:

(rare, military, science fiction, video games) An exceedingly powerful, destructive bomb; superbomb.


Derg

Borrowed from Amharic ደርግ (därg, “committee; council”).

bor+

(historical) The Provisional Military Administrative Council, the communist military junta that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987.


Uranium Club

(historical) A German project during World War II to research nuclear technology, including nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors.


McNuke

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-McNuke.wav

From Mc- + nuke; a McDonaldsesque rendering of the word nuke to imply its ubiquitous and unconditional availability.

Everybody has nukes. It is so bad, reports now say that McDonald's is
developing the McNuke.

1999 October 15, no...@house.gov, “1999CRH10036B EVERYBODY HAS NUKES”, in gov.us.fed.congress.record.house (Usenet):

Well, even though I am an evil Amerikan retentionistae, I have to admit that
the thought of a McNuked McFoodstand is delightful indeed. One down, about
five thousand to go...

2000 April 19, Terry C. Shannon, “French Heros^([sic]) Strike Blow Against McDonalds^([sic])”, in alt.activism.death-penalty (Usenet):

Smooth thinking, Rich! Perhaps a few dozen Russian nuclear scientist can
go to work for Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, or Argentina if McDonalds^([sic])
stops taking applications. Just think, the McNuke! You want fries with
that?

2005 May 22, LarryG, “Sky & Telescope's News Bulletin - May 20”, in sci.astro (Usenet):

This is precisely the type of discussion we need to have. There is "gun control" and there is "gun control." A strong case - which I made repeatedly and successfully - can be made for the right of self-defense through gun ownership. Going from this to an absolute refusal to even discuss things like red flags, large capacity mags, bump stocks...not to mention automatic weapons, RPGs, McNukes...means an end of discussion for a huge number of people. This is what he means by "pragmatic."

2018 November 7, fundraisi...@lpcolorado.org, “Fwd: Angry Letter to Libertarian Party - Where the F*** are you?”, in LPCO-open-business (Usenet):

(humorous, informal) A hypothetical, commercially available nuclear bomb.


Tsar Bomba

Borrowed from Russian Царь-бо́мба (Carʹ-bómba, “emperor of bombs”).

bor

A 50-megaton thermonuclear bomb, detonated by the Soviet Union in October 1961. It was the biggest nuclear bomb ever exploded.


Manhattan Project

A program by the United States during World War II, to develop an atomic bomb


cobalt bomb

A nuclear bomb that includes cobalt, which will absorb neutrons and become radioactive cobalt-60.


implosion bomb

A nuclear bomb that uses implosion to compress the fissile material, so that it goes from subcritical to critical.


gun-type bomb

gun-type bomb . (canonical)
gun-type bombs (plural)

A nuclear bomb that slams one piece of nuclear explosive into another, forming a critical mass.


Cuban Missile Crisis

A diplomatic crisis in 1962, between the United States and the Soviet Union, over Soviet nuclear missiles placed in Cuba. It almost led to nuclear war.


bomb material

Material that is good for making nuclear bombs: e.g., certain isotopes of uranium, neptunium, and plutonium.


nuclear fratricide

en-noun

nuclear fratricide (plural nuclear fratricides)

The damage or destruction of nuclear warheads from other nuclear warheads


World Freedom Day

I made my first visit to Taiwan in 1974 in order to take part in a World Freedom Day rally in Taipei. The rally was sponsored by the World League for Freedom and Democracy, an organization with 120 national chapters worldwide.

2005, Jesse Helms, Here's Where I Stand: A Memoir, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page https://archive.org/details/hereswhereistand0000helm/page/n200/:

a memorial day celebrated on January 23 in Taiwan and South Korea


superwarhead

And he said the Russians would need a "superwarhead" on their own minuteman-type weapon in order to be successful.

1961, Associated Press Clippings File Europe Disorders 1961-09-01, Press Association Inc., page 2:

A thousand times more powerful than the A-bomb that destroyed Nagasaki, this superwarhead would be capable of imposing great blast or overpressure on a very large area.

1970, Ralph E. Lapp, Arms Beyond Doubt: The Tyranny of Weapons Technology, Cowles Book Company, →ISBN, page 59:

Approval for its development may have been facilitated by Khrushchev’s interest in large-yield "terror weapons," for whose delivery the SS-9 was ideally suited. (Khrushchev boasted publicly about the Soviet possession of such weapons and the atmospheric thermonuclear test series conducted in August-September 1961 included the explosion of a superwarhead with a yield of approximately 50 megatons.)

1977, The Military in Contemporary Soviet Politics: An Institutional Analysis, Praeger, →ISBN, page 190:

However, every smaller terrorist state has its own superwarheads, happily sold to them by the big powers' armament industries. The problem of the deterrent has merely been displaced to the irresponsible and the fanatical.

1990, Christine Brooke-Rose, Verbivore, Carcanet, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 47:

(rare, military) An extremely destructive and powerful warhead.


Rocketman

Coined by Donald Trump in September 19, 2017 for a United Nations speech, in reference to Kim's launch of military rockets.

coined

Rocketman is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime.

Little Rocketman has totally misrepresented denuke plan we offered. Deals can't get made when there is no trust! Fat kid blew it and will be sorry. Sad!
[…]
Rocketman's sister IS NOT North Korea's IVANKA. Ivanka is 6 feet tall. She's got the best body. Rocketman's sister is flat as a board!

2018 August 7, Dr Jeffrey Lewis, The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against The United States, Random House, →ISBN, →OCLC:

It wouldn't surprise me. I thought Trump was using Bolton as the "bad cop" in
North Korea, and would use him to annoy Rocketman, then fire him and be the
"good cop".

2019 October 2, Rick Sabian, “THE WHISTLE BLOWER IS”, in alt.checkmate (Usenet):

Today in North Korea we see the lasting Karma of those events where the Japanese mutilated millions for the sheer lust of it. And North Korea's Rocketman wins the fearful adoration of his peoples in consequence.

2019 October 23, RANCE DEWITT, AMAZON COVENANT 2020 TRUMP and BOLSONARO, Lulu.com, →ISBN, →OCLC:

(slang, humorous, derogatory, neologism) North Korean politician Kim Jong-un.


space bridge

In a later Donahue/Pozner space bridge the question of editing was dramatically underscored on air in the Soviet Union.

1992, Ellen Mickiewicz, Split Signals: Television and Politics in the Soviet Union, page 48:

(historical) A series of experimental international telecasts between Soviet and United States viewers, arranged by enthusiasts during the late Cold War era.


TNW

tactical nuclear weapon
w:tactical nuclear weapon


NSNW

non-strategic nuclear weapon
w:non-strategic nuclear weapon

Initialism of non-strategic nuclear weapon.


EPW

earth-penetrating weapon
w:earth-penetrating weapon


insertion time

en-noun

insertion time (countable and uncountable, plural insertion times)

(nuclear physics) The length of time which is required to rearrange a subcritical mass of fissile material into a prompt critical mass.


predetonation

predetonation (countable and uncountable, plural predetonations)

When a nuclear bomb fails to produce full yield, due to the chain reaction starting prematurely, before the system is at optimum criticality.


LLNL

w:Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

(US) Initialism of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.


hit the button

en-verb

hit the button (third-person singular simple present hits the button, present participle hitting the button, simple past and past participle hit the button)

hits the button (present singular third-person)
hitting the button (participle present)
hit the button (participle past)
hit the button (past)

The sure hit is "This Is Ska, the Skacid Mix"! Exactly what it sounds like, this tune hits the button, rocking all kind of people.

[…] neither the writing nor the plotting really hits the button.

2004, Theatre Record, volume 24, numbers 7-12, page 430:

(informal) To be very satisfying; to hit the spot.


gun-type

Of a nuclear bomb: using the gun method of assembly (see gun-type bomb)


nuclear explosion

en-noun

nuclear explosion (plural nuclear explosions)


nuclear terrorism

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-nuclear terrorism.wav


supergrade

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-supergrade.wav

Of plutonium: containing a very small portion of isotopes other than plutonium-239 (especially plutonium-240) (less than perhaps 3%), making the plutonium especially suitable for nuclear weapons


nuclear fallout

nuclear fallout (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear fallouts)

In reference to such material falling out of the sky.

(uncountable) Residual radioactive material in the upper atmosphere which settles down to Earth over a protracted period; typically ash which has been propelled upwards by a nuclear explosion or disaster, sometimes mixed with rain or snow.

تَهَاطُل نَوَوِيّ

radioactive material in the atmosphere which settles down to Earth


SADM

Special Atomic Demolition Munition
w:Special Atomic Demolition Munition

Initialism of Special Atomic Demolition Munition.


suitcase nuke

Tactical nuclear weapons, known as “suitcase nukes”, are smaller than strategic ones and can be deployed at short range for battlefield use, though Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus's strongman leader, said this week that the warheads were three times more powerful than the bombs the US dropped on Japan during the second world war.

[2023 June 17, Max Seddon, “Nuclear arms sent to Belarus, says Putin”, in FT Weekend, page 2:


backpack nuke

The Pentagon may have the solution—the Backpack Nuke. Yes, campers, the largest hiking club in the western world—the U.S. Army—is now equipped with small, portable, lightweight nuclear devices that are guaranteed to clear any campground in microseconds.

1985 May, Eric Pearlman, “Things to Come”, in Backpacker, volume 13, number 68, →ISSN, page 104:


captive nation

Almost from the moment the Soviet empire swallowed the captive nations, the fight against it began.

1989 November 21, A[braham] M[ichael] Rosenthal, “ON MY MIND; Helping the Revolution”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-12-19:

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump claimed that "socialism is dying" and described Cuba as a "captive nation." But Cuban officials framed voting yes to the constitution as a matter of patriotism.

2019 February 25, Euan McKirdy, “Cubans overwhelmingly vote in favor of new constitution”, in CNN, archived from the original on 2022-10-12:

When the moment struck in the late 1980s as the Soviet Union started to collapse, nonviolent resistance to Communist rule forced the Soviets out, freeing the captive nations without a shot fired.

2021 June 24, Henry Olsen, “Opinion: The U.S. can’t save Hong Kong. But it must keep the spirit of freedom alive.”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-07-18:

(US, politics, chiefly historical) A country under the control of a Communist regime (especially the Soviet Union).


Barbenheimer

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Barbenheimer.wav

Though unions with workers in digital media or with companies that offer online shopping have invoked the idea of a digital picket line, the actors’ and writers’ unions have not called on consumers to stop watching television and movies on streaming services or to cancel their “Barbenheimer” tickets.

2023 July 19, Claire Moses, “Can I Watch ‘Barbenheimer’ Despite the Hollywood Strikes?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-07-24:

(humorous, neologism) The simultaneous theatrical release on July 21, 2023 of two blockbuster films of contrasting genres: Barbie, a fantasy comedy about the eponymous fashion doll, and Oppenheimer, a biographical thriller about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project.


dirty war

(historical) A conflict (particularly one in South America) between a dictatorship against leftist revolutionaries or activists, typically characterized by extrajudicial repression like kidnapping, torture and enforced disappearance.

guerre sale

conflict characterized by extrajudicial repression


Doomsday Clock

A symbol in the form of a clock, representing the likelihood of a human-made global catastrophe, in the opinion of the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Its hands are moved backward or forward in response to world events, with midnight representing the onset of catastrophe.


nuclear deterrence

(geopolitics) The discouraging of nuclear attack through the threat of nuclear retaliation.


Western Bloc

Coordinate term: Eastern Bloc

(geopolitics, historical) The noncommunist nations of Europe and America.


thermonuclear war

thermonuclear war (countable and uncountable, plural thermonuclear wars)

A nuclear war, assuming at least some of the bombs are thermonuclear.


Dirty War

(historical) The period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 as a part of Operation Condor.


nuclear umbrella

nuclear umbrella (countable and uncountable, plural nuclear umbrellas)

A guarantee by a nuclear weapons state to defend a non-nuclear allied state.


nuclear button

Imagine, now, this irrepressible figure [Boris Johnson] transposed to the Group of 8 summit chamber, or with his finger on the nuclear button, or in the Downing Street equivalent of the White House Situation Room, deciding whether or not to send British troops to war.

2014 September 1, Matthew d’Ancona, “Boris Johnson’s Blond Ambition”, in New York Times:

Reportedly, as Yeltsin accepted the need for bypass surgery he at first considered delegating responsibility for security to Premier Chernomyrdin, but retaining the nuclear button.

2019, Dietrich Schroeer, Alessandro Pascolini, The Weapons Legacy of the Cold War, page 77:

So, we decided to write this book, a history of the nuclear button, based on the insights of the people most experienced with this dangerous remnant from the Cold War.

2020, William J. Perry, Tom Z. Collina, The Button:

The means (not likely an actual button) of quickly and easily launching nuclear warheads.


plutonium pit

The core (pit) of a nuclear bomb, made of plutonium.