nuclear age
Post-fission historical period
The nuclear age is the era beginning with the development of nuclear weapons and power, typically dated from the first atomic bomb test in 1945.
The term emphasizes how nuclear technology—especially weapons capable of mass destruction—fundamentally changed warfare, international relations, and human existence: Growing up in the nuclear age meant practicing bomb drills at school.
Post-blast atmospheric particles
- contaminationIntroduction of impurities
- radioactivitySpontaneous nuclear decay
- gamma raysHighest-frequency electromagnetic radiation
- half-lifePeriod for fifty-percent reduction
Geiger counter · dosimeter · cesium · strontium · iodine · exposure · irradiation · Chernobyl
Nuclear breakup releasing energy
- fusionJoining into unity
- uraniumElement ninety-two
- plutoniumActinide, atomic number 94
- isotopeElemental variant by mass
chain reaction · reactor · neutron · enrichment · critical mass · heavy water · cyclotron · particle accelerator
Escalating weapons accumulation between nations
- Cuban Missile Crisis1962 US-Soviet nuclear standoff
- MADMutual annihilation doctrine
- Iron CurtainCold War's political divide
- Berlin WallCold War partition
Sputnik · space race · deterrence · brinkmanship · fallout shelter · duck and cover · Kennedy · Khrushchev
Utter, complete destruction
- apocalypseTotal civilizational collapse
- doomsdayProphesied world's end
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- mushroom cloudDistinctive nuclear blast formation
catastrophe · holocaust · destruction · proliferation · warhead · ICBM · missile · bomber
Controlled fission apparatus
- power plantFacility producing electrical energy
- electricityEnergy from charged particles
- energyPower to do work
- cooling towerStructure for shedding process heat
fuel rod · turbine · grid · megawatt · civilian · pressurized water · boiling water · thorium
fallout
Post-blast atmospheric particles
- contaminationIntroduction of impurities
- radioactivitySpontaneous nuclear decay
- gamma raysHighest-frequency electromagnetic radiation
half-life · Geiger counter · dosimeter · cesium · strontium · iodine · exposure · irradiation · Chernobyl · Fukushima
fission
Nuclear breakup releasing energy
isotope · chain reaction · reactor · neutron · enrichment · critical mass · heavy water · cyclotron · particle accelerator · breeder reactor
arms race
Escalating weapons accumulation between nations
- Cuban Missile Crisis1962 US-Soviet nuclear standoff
- MADMutual annihilation doctrine
- Iron CurtainCold War's political divide
Berlin Wall · Sputnik · space race · deterrence · brinkmanship · fallout shelter · duck and cover · Kennedy · Khrushchev · NATO
annihilation
Utter, complete destruction
- apocalypseTotal civilizational collapse
- doomsdayProphesied world's end
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
mushroom cloud · catastrophe · holocaust · destruction · proliferation · warhead · ICBM · missile · bomber · stockpile
reactor
Controlled fission apparatus
- power plantFacility producing electrical energy
- electricityEnergy from charged particles
- energyPower to do work
cooling tower · fuel rod · turbine · grid · megawatt · civilian · pressurized water · boiling water · thorium · decommissioning
- historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
- 20th CenturyWorld War I aftermath, Cuban Missile Crisis, atomic bomb, New Deal, Nazi Germany
- erasera, epoch, period, Victorian era, colonial era
- Energy historyoil boom, wind power, oil crisis, fossil fuels, kerosene lamps
- postwar eraMarshall Plan, prosperity, reconstruction, Cold War, iron curtain
- Truman EraTruman, Truman Doctrine, Fair Deal, buck stops here, whistle-stop tour
nuclear agebronze age
Notable but subprime period
Stone Age · industrial revolution · steam age · medieval period · ancient times
age, nuclear, nucleate, nuclide, antinuclear, nucleated, nonnuclear, nuclearize