---
category: Nuclear Concept
start: 1975
summary: A neutron bomb is a type of thermonuclear weapon that utilizes enhanced radiation
  and minimal blast to kill living organisms within a limited range, with limited
  damage to property.
tags:
- Concept
- Nuclear Weapon
---

A neutron bomb is a type of thermonuclear weapon that utilizes enhanced radiation and minimal blast to kill living organisms within a limited range, with limited damage to property. It is a two-stage thermonuclear device that uses tritium and deuterium to maximize the release of neutrons. These weapons first came into the American stockpile in the mid-1970s.[^1]

[Mordecai Vanunu](/people/mordecai-vanunu/)'s photographs provided evidence that [Israel](/places/israel/) was capable of manufacturing one of the most sophisticated weapons in the nuclear arsenal - a low-yield neutron bomb. The opening of Unit 93 at [Dimona](/places/dimona/) in 1984, a new facility for large-scale production of tritium, suggested that full-scale production of neutron weapons began then, as up to twenty grams of tritium are used in each neutron warhead.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 15.