MICHIO KAKU DOUBTS KIM JONG UN HAS A TRUE H-BOMB: WHAT IS A HYDROGEN BOMB VS. AN ATOMIC BOMB? [OPINION]
Does North Korea’s Kim Jong Un have a genuine H-Bomb? Michio Kaku has his doubts. A hydrogen bomb is a very powerful thermonuclear device. It is different from an atomic bomb like the two delivered on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII.
Kim Jong Un is alleging that North Korea has the technology to deploy an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) equipped with a true hydrogen bomb. Kim Jong Un has reportedly threatened the U.S. and Japan with the hydrogen bomb.
Michio Kaku doubts Kim Jong Un’s statement and questions the likelihood of a true hydrogen bomb coming from North Korea in the video below.
“First of all, I don’t think the North Koreans have a true H-Bomb. An H-Bomb is a two-stage device or a three-stage device depending on uranium and hydrogen.”
Kim Jong Un deploying a hydrogen bomb would be unprecedented. Never in history has a hydrogen bomb been deployed in battle. Kim Jong Un’s hydrogen bomb would be far more devastating than the atomic bombs of WWII, Time Magazine explained.
“A hydrogen bomb has never been used in battle by any country, but experts say it has the power to wipe out entire cities and kill significantly more people than the already powerful atomic bomb.”
Michio Kaku says an atomic device only uses fission, but the hydrogen bomb includes fission and fusion. Atomic bombs work by splitting the atom, according to LiveScience. The atomic bombs of WWII yielded the equivalent explosive power of 15 and 20 kilotons of TNT. The 1952 test of a hydrogen bomb in the United States yielded the equivalent of 10,000 kilotons of TNT.
A hydrogen bomb, like the one North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is alleged to have, starts with a fission reaction, just like the atomic bomb, but an additional step makes more uranium available, through fusion, as LiveScience explains.
“First, an igniting explosion compresses a sphere of plutonium-239, the material that will then undergo fission. Inside this pit of plutonium-239 is a chamber of hydrogen gas. The high temperatures and pressures created by the plutonium-239 fission cause the hydrogen atoms to fuse. This fusion process releases neutrons, which feed back into the plutonium-239, splitting more atoms and boosting the fission chain reaction.”
Is Michio Kaku correct in assuming that Kim Jong Un doesn’t have a hydrogen bomb? Could North Korea develop the technology with Kim Jong Un’s current resources?
Whatever Kim Jong Un has detonated underground in North Korea was more powerful than bombs used during WWII. While there is no way to know for sure what sort of atomic or hydrogen bomb Kim Jong Un has, it does have a powerful payload.
Michio Kaku points out the power of the device set off by Kim Jong Un.
“The last detonation [North Korea] had was about five times or so, more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.”
Kim Jong Un’s underground test being five times more powerful does not mean the North Korean device was a hydrogen bomb. H-Bombs have the potential to be 1,000 times more powerful than an atomic bomb of comparable size.
Michio Kaku feels it isn’t a hydrogen bomb, though it was obviously a powerful detonation.
“It was probably a boosted weapon. In other words a one and one-half stage device. They are fudging it basically.”
Fudging or not, Kim Jong Un’s recent subterranean test resulted in measurable earthquakes. Michio Kaku, though he doesn’t believe North Korea’s Kim Jong Un has the hydrogen bomb yet, says it is only a matter of time.
“Even though I don’t think they have [an H-bomb.] It is only a matter of time before they do. And we have to act as if they will get it.”
A hydrogen bomb in the hands of someone like Kim Jong Un, who is willing to use it, could be devastating to the earth and its inhabitants. Everyone in a five- or 10-mile radius of the impact would die, according to Edward Morse, Berkeley’s professor of nuclear engineering. Morse told Time Magazine a hydrogen bomb would kill more people.
While Michio Kaku remains unconvinced that Kim Jong Un has a hydrogen bomb, it is clear such a device in the hands of North Korea could be a “city killer,” Dr. Hall of the University of Tennessee told Time.
“It will basically wipe out any of modern cities. A regular atomic bomb would still be devastating, but it would not do nearly as much damage as an H-bomb.”
Whether anyone takes N. Korea and Kim Jong Un seriously or not, a hydrogen bomb is certainly nothing to take lightly, nor is any nuclear bomb threat. Even Kim Jong Un’s proposed testing could have a far-reaching international impact and lead to justification for war.
Michio Kaku points out that a single ship in Kim Jong Un’s targeted hydrogen bomb test area could be deadly.
“Anything could go wrong to set off an international incident.”
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