On Sat, 17 Nov 2001, Tim May wrote: > I'd guess that the "tall pipe" version is the most buildable of the > basement nukes. (In a nutshell: a tall drainpipe, perhaps 40 feet tall. > Set up in an apartment building, warehouse, etc. At the base the pipe is > reinforced with copious amounts of concrete. The subcritical masses are > at opposite ends of the pipe. The mass on top is piled on with several > hundred pounds of ballast, to "tamp" the early critical mass action. To > explode the bomb, drop the mass from the top of the pipe. The critical > mass is briefly contained by the concrete collar around the pipe and the > inertial mass above. Is it enough to produce a real chain reaction? > Well, it's all relative. Still, not very efficient.)
I very much doubt terrorist would build an efficient bomb. Non of what we discussed is effcient. Your pipe idea is a very interesting example. But I think the point is made that harm can be done. Even if the mass does not go critical - it still means a few city blocks that will be inconvenienced from the resulting radiation. You pipe certainly would not go boom - but it would leave a mess of radioactivity in the area. regards joe -- The dot.GOD Registry, Limited http://www.dot-god.com/