Replies

I have to laugh. A nuclear weapon from smoke detectors. Now, I am NOT saying, that, with the proper enrichment, containment, triggering means, etc, that americium -241 COULDN't be made, to be a weapons-grade fuel,(but, probably not), BUT-- the very thought of some IDIOT thinking, that with a little gunpowder, pipes and tennis balls, you could fashion a working implosion assembly for a nuke. Obviously, this whole thing is a joke, and the feds must realize this, or it would not be on the net.

To begin with, the GENERAL design of a "nuclear trigger", or the "primary" section of a nuclear warhead, is and has been for a long time, public domain information, as shown in the diagram in an earlier post. BUT-- that diagram does NOT show the absolutely incredibly critical calculations and precise measurements, and such, that go into the design of the primary. When talking about sustaining a nuclear fission explosion, error tolerances for inaccuracies are in the NANOSECOND range, and ,if EVERYTHING, and I mean everything, is not right, for example, if one explosive "lens" detonates at a couple of microseconds too late, then, all you will get, is a small explosion, from the chemical explosives, and a serious amount of radioactive dust blown in many directions, in other words, a "dirty bomb".

To iniate an primary explosion, the chemical explosives must create a TOTALLY symmetrical wave, of compression, to crush the fissile material into a critical mass. Then too, is the NOT so small, matter of the neutron initiator. There must be some free neutrons injected into the core, to get the chain reaction started. ALSO, as shown in the diagram, there is the tritium/ deuterium gas , needed to "boost " the primary, so that it will deliver the proper nuclear yield, in heat and x-rays, needed to implode the secondary, and cause it to go to a fusion state,, BEFORE the explosive force, shatters everything into pieces. AGAIN, we are talking about a few microseconds. If the tritium boost is not correct, the primary will not deliver the proper yield, and the secondary will not function, and the result will be a small nuclear yield, with no multiplication from the fusion secondary,(which is where most of the yield in modern nuclear warheads comes from) known as a "fizzile". This, the depletion of the tritium reservoirs, is one of the problems facing our nuclear stockpile in this country, at this moment.

In short, good for a laugh, but that is all. Showing someone the diagram of a nuclear weapon, but no numerical details, or such, and then, expecting them to bulid a working device, is a lot like showing a builder a plan for a building, with no archeticual dimensions, and expecting them to build it.