Third-Generation Nuclear Weapons! Maximizing Strengths and Minimizing Weaknesses! Gas Centrifuge Method! Who Says I Can't Build an Atomic Bomb!

With the end of World War II, the global situation shifted like clouds and winds, gradually forming a "bipolar" world.

After learning that the Soviet Union had successfully detonated an atomic bomb, the United States felt its position had been challenged and had to keep the other side beneath it.

So, the United States wanted to create a "bomb far more powerful than an atomic bomb."

The development of the "hydrogen bomb" was put on the agenda.

As early as the Manhattan Project, scientists had realized that the ultra-high temperatures and pressures generated by an atomic bomb explosion could trigger nuclear fusion in hydrogen nuclei.

And that was the principle behind the hydrogen bomb.

Since Oppenheimer and the others had all become embroiled in a spy crisis at the time, they were excluded from the project.

The person in charge of the hydrogen bomb project was Taylor, who had always been at odds with Oppenheimer.

Perhaps Taylor had been wounded too deeply by Hitler, leaving him with psychological scars.

He loathed anything that could possibly threaten him and wanted to fight violence with violence.

With the experience gained from developing atomic bombs, hydrogen bomb testing went very smoothly.

In January 1950, Truman formally approved the hydrogen bomb project.

In May 1951, the first hydrogen bomb was test-detonated over the Pacific Ocean. Its power far surpassed that of an atomic bomb, proving the feasibility of the hydrogen bomb.

But that hydrogen bomb had far too many problems and held no practical combat value.

For instance, it weighed an astonishing sixty-two tons—no aircraft could carry it.

So Taylor persuaded the United States government to establish a new laboratory dedicated to optimizing hydrogen bombs: the renowned [Livermore National Laboratory].

As the project leader, Taylor naturally went on to become the laboratory's director.

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