Have you designed an atomic bomb?

[Shalmanese]

Well, if your going to make a dirty bomb, then even plutonium isn't the ideal material, you would wan't something with a halflife short enough to be spewing particles like crazy but long enough so that it's not a hassle to make. I believe that during the bad old days of the cold war, cobalt was thought ideal for this task having a halflife of some 24 years. How hard would it be to obtain some radioactive cobalt (or make it from non-radioactive) and surround some HE with that? I presume a lot easier than plutonium/uranium.

 

[silverpig]

There are some nasty nasty isotopes of cesium which practically burn holes in you. I saw an article about this boy who found a piece of glowing rock (something from chernobyl or a nuke test IIRC) so he put it in his pants pocket and walked home to show his mom. He took it out and noticed his leg hurt so he took off his pants. There was a burn hole in his leg almost down to the bone. He died later.

 

[jman19]

Originally posted by: silverpig
There are some nasty nasty isotopes of cesium which practically burn holes in you. I saw an article about this boy who found a piece of glowing rock (something from chernobyl or a nuke test IIRC) so he put it in his pants pocket and walked home to show his mom. He took it out and noticed his leg hurt so he took off his pants. There was a burn hole in his leg almost down to the bone. He died later.

This is completely OT, but we have the same sigs :Q

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: jman19

Originally posted by: silverpig
There are some nasty nasty isotopes of cesium which practically burn holes in you. I saw an article about this boy who found a piece of glowing rock (something from chernobyl or a nuke test IIRC) so he put it in his pants pocket and walked home to show his mom. He took it out and noticed his leg hurt so he took off his pants. There was a burn hole in his leg almost down to the bone. He died later.

This is completely OT, but we have the same sigs :Q

Naw, yours has a space in it

 

[BustaBust]

Lol, oh man. No comment.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

To get the uranium to buiild little boy, the us had to use something like 1/3 of all the power being produced in the country. Theres two basic ways. One involves really corosive gases and the other slower method involves centrifudges.

Dirty bombs just aren't as good as bio/chem weapons. Chemical weapons are easier to contain and smuggle. Bio weapons tend to be much farther spreading.

 

[wfbberzerker]

if i remember correctly, the most efficient reaction ever achieved in a nuclear bomb was was by, ironically, the largest nuclear bomb ever produced, which was by the soviets. the bomb was originally designed to be a 100 megaton bomb, but it was modified to only 50 megatons when it was tested. i believe its yield was about 96-97%. just a little info.

 

[imported_jon1003]

A little OT from nuke building but...
There is a website that lists the nuclear tests that have happened through history, the name, who did it, where, yield, type, seismic data, etc. I can't find the link, but maybe someone?

 

[CMC79]

This might be the link you're looking for?