US developing nuclear weapon capable of killing 300,000 people: Report
What's the story
The United States (US) is developing a nuclear bomb that can reportedly kill more than 300,000 people if detonated.
According to the Department of Defense (DoD), this new bomb is a variation of the B61 gravity bomb, which was developed during the Cold War in the 1960s.
Reportedly, it is also 24 times more powerful than the nuke that America dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.
Details
All you need to know about US's B61-13 bomb
In an official release last week, the Pentagon said that the B61-13 is intended to "strengthen deterrence of adversaries and assurance of allies" by providing US President Joe Biden "additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets."
"It would replace some of the B61-7s in the current nuclear stockpile and have a yield similar to the B61-7, which is higher than that of the B61-12," it added.
What Next?
What will happen if B61-13 bomb is detonated?
While citing data from the online tool Nukemap created by historian of science and nuclear technology Alex Wellerstein, Newsweek reported that anything within roughly a 0.8-kilometer radius of the B61-13 bomb's detonation site would be vaporized by a fireball.
Furthermore, it reported that heavy damage would demolish buildings and likely eliminate everyone within 1.6 kilometers.
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Possible aftermath of B61-13 bomb's detonation
The report also added that the B61-13 bomb's maximum yield of 360 kilotons of TNT would kill more than 300,000 people and injure 868,860 others.
Moreover, nearly 15% of survivors of this weapon may die of cancer later in life.
For comparison, the nuke America dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 had a blast yield of 15 kilotons.
US
No US nuclear bomb threat over Russia
However, this does not mean that the US has threatened to drop a nuclear weapon on Russia.
Instead, the development of the new bomb, according to a statement by John Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy, "is reflective of a changing security environment and growing threats from potential adversaries."
On Thursday, Vladimir Putin signed a bill revoking Russia's ratification of the global treaty against nuclear testing, a move denounced by the US.
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Ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza
This development comes at a time when a war is ongoing between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas after the terror outfit launched a surprise attack on the Jewish nation on October 7.
While the Hamas attack claimed the lives of at least 1,400 Israelis, more than 9,400 people have reportedly died so far in Israel's ongoing military aggression in Gaza.