Taylor was credited with developing multiple techniques that improved the fission bomb. Most of the energy released by a fission bomb is in the form of x-rays. The results were disappointing, yielding no more than a typical fission bomb. The Tom would be a fission bomb. The requirement of a fission bomb makes the method impractical for power generation. They tentatively confirmed that a fission bomb was theoretically possible. With British aid, the Confederacy produces a fission bomb. Tom, the primary stage, would be a fission bomb. It was a fission bomb with a nominal yield of 1.5 kt. On 29 August 1949, the Soviet Union tested its first fission bomb, the RDS-1.