Re: Say it ain't so

[leaking pen]

thomas, the point is that, in a manner similar to a standard uranium bomb, as opposed to a plutonium, that goes critical mass just by being there, an explosive is used to create a shockwave that increases density as it passes.  the reason behind critical mass is absorbtion of enough of the neutrons by other atoms, splitting them as well and sending more energetic neutrons out into the mass.  by making the metal more dense, you accomplish this.  theoretically, if you were to toss a gram size chunk of u-235 into a black hole, at some point it would become dense enough to go critical mass.

On 10/20/05, thomas malloy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Standing Bear responded;

>  > Real mico-nukes are hard to produce.  The article mentions the object
>  > the conventional sense.  They need to be imploded to extreme density, as

A small atom bomb is an oxymoron, as is a clean atom bomb. As I
recall, critical mass is in the 22 KG range, so if 15 KG could be
made to go critical, that would be relatively speaking small. Only a
small percentage of the radioneuclide is fissioned in the event
however, the rest is atomized, and would make the surrounding area
glow in the dark, to use a common metaphor.

Steven Lawrence responded;

As to radiation, it's really unclear how you'd go about eliminating
the radiation burst when the bomb goes off.  Like, really, _really_
unclear.  It's also unclear how you eliminate _all_ fallout,

Simple, you use a chemical explosive, no radioneuclides, no radioactivity.

--
"Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write"  Voltaire