“The problem of nuclear weapon proliferation will not be solved until the
\n root cause is attacked. This is the belief that nuclear weapons are desirable
\n things to have, whether for use in fighting wars, in deterring and\/or
\n intimidating adversaries, or only as symbols of technological power or
\n political equality with the mighty. Until all these motivations are shown to
\n be empty, and until nuclear weapons are outlawed by a world consensus that
\n they are too dangerous, politically and militarily counter-productive and
\n morally unacceptable, the threat of nuclear proliferation will remain.”<\/p>\n
p.83, Uranium Enrichment & Nuclear Weapon Proliferation, SIPRI, A. Krass et al.<\/p>\n
IMPLOSION ASSEMBLY<\/p>\n
The idea here is to have a hollow shell of fissionable material, and compress
\nit using carefully placed surrounding explosives. By pressuring the material
\ninto a smaller volume, you increase the density. By doing so, you increase the
\nprobability of a neutron split over neutron loss. You need a precise spherical
\nshock wave for compression.<\/p>\n
The collapsed core is then irradiated with external neutrons to start fission.
\nThe number of nuclei fissioning during later generations is proportional to
\nhow many nuclei you have fissioning initially. This depends on the initial
\nneutron flux.<\/p>\n
Fusion Boosting<\/p>\n
At the centre of the core you can have solid Li6D. Some time before detonation
\nyou could also inject the core with T gas, from some exterior device. The idea
\nis to achieve a fusion reaction in the central pit.<\/p>\n
During implosion, the core gains a high enough temperature and
\npressure for fusion reactions to occur. The synergy between fusion and fission
\nreactions greatly improves chain reaction efficiency. Neutrons released from
\nfusion have much higher energies than those released via fission processes.
\nWhen these ultra fast neutrons hit U-235 nuclei, the splitting releases more
\nneutrons than when U-235 are hit with fission neutrons. The chain reaction
\nmultiplies rapidly, leading to higher temperatures, and more fusion. The
\nultimate result is more U-235 splitting than you would have without the
\nboost.<\/p>\n
The shell may be made of U-235 or Pu-239. The first Chinese test employed
\na U-235 shell.<\/p>\n
Another technique is to introduce a tamper of some sort, which is another shell
\nsurrounding the fissionable material. This shell is usually made of
\nBeryllium or U-238. It’s purpose is to reflect escaping neutrons back into
\nthe reaction. This has the effect of reducing the amount of fissionable
\nmaterial needed for a reaction.<\/p>\n
The Fat Man bomb used a hollow core, but present day weapons might employ a
\nsolid (subcritical) core of fissile material. The density increase in a solid
\ncore reduces the amount of critical mass required for a chain reaction. This
\nis because the reaction cross section is substantially increased.<\/p>\n
Core Levitation<\/p>\n
To increase the impact of the tamper on the fissionable shell, you can
\nlevitate the shell. You leave an air gap between the two materials. This
\nhas the effect of increasing momentum transfer, and hence facilitating
\nimplosion. According to Ted Taylor, in John McPhee’s book (see Refs):<\/p>\n
“[Taylor] said there was something about the structure of implosion
\nbombs that he had not gone into, and that he could not go into, which
\ncontributed greatly to their yield… ‘All I can say is this: They
\nhad known all along that the way to get more energy into the middle was
\nto hit the core harder. When you hammer a nail, what do you do? Do you
\nput the hammer on the nail and push?'”<\/p>\n
============================================================================<\/p>\n
[1] Uranium Detonator
\n —————–<\/p>\n
Comprised of 2 parts. Larger mass is spherical and concave.
\n Smaller mass is precisely the size and shape of the `missing’
\n section of the larger mass. Upon detonation of conventional
\n explosive, the smaller mass is violently injected and welded
\n to the larger mass. Supercritical mass is reached, chain
\n reaction follows in one millionth of a second.<\/p>\n
[2] Plutonium Detonator
\n ——————-<\/p>\n
Comprised of 32 individual 45-degree pie-shaped sections of
\n Plutonium surrounding a Beryllium\/Polonium mixture. These 32
\n sections together form a sphere. All of these sections must
\n have the precisely equal mass (and shape) of the others. The
\n shape of the detonator resembles a soccerball. Upon detonation
\n of conventional explosives, all 32 sections must merge with the
\n B\/P mixture within 1 ten-millionths of a second.<\/p>\n
____________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n
– Diagram –
\n ————-
\n ____________________________________________________________________________
\n |
\n [Uranium Detonator] | [Plutonium Detonator]
\n ______________________________________|_____________________________________
\n _____ |
\n | \ud83d\ude10 | . [2] .
\n | \ud83d\ude10 | . ~ _\/ ~ .
\n | [2]:| | .. . ..
\n | \ud83d\ude10 | [2]| . |[2]
\n | .:| | . ~~~ . . . ~~~ .
\n `…::’ | . . . . .
\n _ ~~~ _ | . . ~ . .
\n . `| |’:.. | [2]. . . . [1] . . . .\/[2]
\n . | | `:::. | .\/ . ~~~ . .
\n | | `::: | . . : . .
\n . | | :::: | . . . . .
\n | [1] | ::|:: | . ___ . ___ .
\n . `. .’ ,::||: | [2]| . |[2]
\n ~~~ ::|||: | .’ _ `.
\n .. [2] .::|||:’ | . \/ .
\n ::… ..::||||:’ | ~ -[2]- ~
\n :::::::::::::||||::’ |
\n “::::||||||||:” |
\n “:::::” |
\n |
\n |
\n |
\n |
\n [1] = Collision Point | [1] = Collision Point
\n [2] – Uranium Section(s) | [2] = Plutonium Section(s)
\n |
\n |
\n ______________________________________|_____________________________________
\n============================================================================<\/p>\n
– Diagram for Plutonium Bomb –
\n ——————————–
\n [Gravity Bomb – Implosion Model]
\n ——————————–
\n -> Cutaway Sections Visible <-<\/p>\n
============================================================================<\/p>\n
\/
\n \/ | : ||: : |
\n | : ||: : |
\n | : ||: : |
\n | : ||: : |
\n | : ||: : |
\n | : ||: : |
\n | : ||: : |
\n | : ||: : |
\n | : ||: : |
\n | : ||: : |
\n | : ||: : |
\n | :______||:_____________________________: |
\n |\/_______||\/______________________________|
\n ~ | : |:| \/
\n | | : |:| \/
\n | | :__________|:| \/
\n |:_ | :__________:| \/
\n |___ |______________| \/
\n | |~ \/
\n |_______|__________________\/
\n |_____________________________|
\n \/
\n \/
\n \/
\n \/ _______________
\n \/ ___\/ ___
\n \/____ __\/ __ ____
\n [3]_______________________________ ___|
\n \/ __\/ __
\n \/ \/ \/
\n \/ \/ ___________
\n \/ \/ __\/_____________
\n .\/ \/__ ___ \/================= ___ __ .
\n [4]——-> ___||___|====|[[[[[|||||||]]]]]|====|___||___ <——[4]
\n \/ \/ |=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=| <——————-[5]
\n .' \/ _______ _______\/ `.
\n : |___ |*| ___| :
\n .' | _________________ |*| _________________\/ | `.
\n : | ___________ ___ |*| \/ ___ ___________ | :
\n : |__\/ \/ _\\*\/\/_\/ \/ __| :
\n : |______________:|:____:: **::****:|:******** ||||||’ .:::;~|~~~___~~~|~;:::. `|||||*|| ::’ .::’ |_________|\/ `::: `::. `|* `:____:::::::::::____:’ <—————–[12]
\n “`::::_____::::'''
\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n
============================================================================<\/p>\n
– Diagram Outline –
\n ———————<\/p>\n
[1] – Tail Cone
\n [2] – Stabilizing Tail Fins
\n [3] – Air Pressure Detonator
\n [4] – Air Inlet Tube(s)
\n [5] – Altimeter\/Pressure Sensors
\n [6] – Electronic Conduits & Fusing Circuits
\n [7] – Lead Shield Container
\n [8] – Neutron Deflector (U-238)
\n [9] – Conventional Explosive Charge(s)
\n [10] – Plutonium (Pu-239)
\n [11] – Receptacle for Beryllium\/Polonium mixture
\n to facilitate atomic detonation reaction.
\n [12] – Fuses (inserted to arm bomb)<\/p>\n
============================================================================<\/p>\n
1994<\/p>\n
