Nuclear Weapon



A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion.

Background
Nuclear weapons were first used in 1945 to destroy the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending World War II. Megaton-class thermonuclear weapons had largely been retired by the major nuclear powers in favor of much smaller-yield warheads by the time of the Great War. An average strategic warhead in 2077 had a yield of about 200-750 kilotons, but with a massive increase in radioactive fallout in place of thermal shock. However, despite the apparent reduction in raw explosive power, this arsenal was far more dangerous to the Earth's ecosystem, as it deposited far greater amounts of fallout in the atmosphere than had been assumed by pre-War models.

Characteristics
Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. A modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than a thousand kilograms can produce an explosion comparable to the detonation of more than a million tons of conventional high explosives. Nuclear weapons can include bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

Fallout
In Fallout, the Glow is a radioactive region destroyed by a direct nuclear hit. The Vault Dweller discovers an unused nuke sitting in the Master's vault, to be used as last resort against this final challenge.

Fallout 2
In Fallout 2, nuclear bomb is located on the Enclave Oil Rig. It can be used to destroy the main enemy of the game, detonated by an explosion of the on-board nuclear reactor.

Fallout 3
In Fallout 3, nuclear weapons feature prominently in the form of the C-23 Megaton - Megaton's atomic bomb, the Fat Man and its unique variant, the experimental MIRV, which are two tactical nuclear catapults, a bunker full of nuclear bombs, vertibirds with nuclear carpet bombs, Liberty Prime's arsenal of medium-sized bombs, various orbital weapons platforms such as Highwater-Trousers and Bradley-Hercules.

The Bradley-Hercules platform appears to have been designed for precise strikes based on its performance, taking out a single target in a small area of effect while leaving the surrounding area unscathed. The Highwater-Trousers platform appears to have been designed to destroy Satcom arrays NN-03d, NW-07c and NW-05a. The Kovac-Muldoon Platform was specifically designed for use in the aftermath of a nuclear war, not during one, by the Enclave. Within Fort Constantine, the Lone Wanderer can attempt to launch a ballistic missile from a concrete silo via a computer terminal to an unmarked destination.

Fallout: New Vegas
In Fallout: New Vegas, the Boomers have a stockpile of atomic weapons at Nellis Air Force Base, some of which they have detonated in the past, though Pete shares that they haven't done this since before he was born.

The Fat Man also returned in Fallout: New Vegas; it can be purchased from Knight Torres, a merchant in the Hidden Valley bunker. The Gun Runners also sell them. A unique version can also be purchased if one has the Gun Runners' Arsenal add-on.

In the add-on Lonesome Road nuclear weapons were detonated before the arrival of the Courier and many nuclear weapons remain scattered throughout the Divide, namely in an old missile silo. There are also some undetonated warheads scattered around in the divide that can be detonated using a laser detonator.

Ballistic missiles such as the Minuteman XI are launched from concrete silos. Most missiles that can still be found are either broken or still waiting for launch, as some officers based in these silos perished or refused to fire their warheads, including an entire arsenal of them in the Divide.

The C-23 Megaton returned in Fallout: New Vegas in the form of an undetonated atomic bomb called The One, which can be found northwest of the Devil's Throat with the Wild Wasteland perk.

Fallout 4
In Fallout 4, Mark 28 bombs can be used by Liberty Prime against the Institute. In addition, the Fat Man launchers make a reappearance. The Glowing Sea is a unique landscape caused by the detonation of a high-yield nuclear bomb southwest of the greater Boston area. The area is so radioactive that it contributes to a weather phenomenon known as radstorms.

In the add-on Nuka-World, a modified Nuka-nuke launcher exists, being a Nuka-Cola Corporation-modified Fat Man designed to launch weaponized miniature Nuka-Cola nuclear bombs, known as Nuka-nukes.

Fallout Tactics
In Fallout Tactics, nuclear ICBM warhead appears first (called Plutonius) in Kansas City, worshiped by a ghoul cult. It is later used to gain entrance to Cheyenne Mountain installation, Vault 0.

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
A nuclear device also rests on the Secret Vault in Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, as an emergency decontamination procedure (a self-destruct system) if the vault started to become too dangerous. A special monorail located in the first complex of the laboratories section should be used to evacuate the vault dwellers quickly to a secret exit in the mountains. The Initiate activates it to obliterate all of its research and all of the experimental deathclaws, radbugs, super mutants, robots, and the heavily mutated Attis, destroying both the Secret Vault and the city of Los.

Appearances
Nuclear weapons appear or are mentioned in all Fallout games.

Behind the scenes

 * In the Fallout Bible, a terrorist armed with a nuclear weapon is mentioned as destroying the city of Tel Aviv in 2053.
 * In the cancelled Van Buren project, the B.O.M.B.-001 space station was planned as the endgame location, which served as an orbital ballistic missile launch platform.