Posted on 04/28/2005 5:01:57 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Not necessarily true. Although delivery systems are based on origninal Chinese design, the North Koreans have developed their own deliverly payload (satellites? yeah right.) program. The Pakistan's have Ghauri-II and Iran's have the Shahab-3 based on NK's (and China) designs, and could have added their deadly input.
The miniaturization of nuclear weapons, both in size and weight is a huge complex task. The NKs have no way of doing this on their own. The have cruddy little missiles, and if they even have nukes they are the size of an SUV. The ChiComs don't have MIRV. Nuff said?
"North Korea able to mount warheads on missiles"
But, but the North Koreans are so short, I mean how do they reach.....?
Why would they waste the Plutonium on a fission bomb that they could use U-235 for? They will keep the Plutonium to use it to detonate a fusion bomb, which means two small Plutonium devices will be needed for each complete thermonuclear device.
In an interview on Thursday, Mrs. Clinton called Admiral Jacoby's statement "the first confirmation, publicly, by the administration that the North Koreans have the ability to arm a missile with a nuclear device that can reach the United States," adding, "Put simply, they couldn't do that when George Bush became president, and now they can." Source
You can use U235 for a fusion bomb too. The trick of the fusion bomb is to use a fission bomb (called the "primary") to initiate the compression of the deuterium or lithium fuel.
Plutonium is just easier to deal with in a bomb than U-235, since it doesn't have the nasty proclivity to detonate if you drop the unit the wrong way. U-235 will detonate spontaneously if enough of it is gathered in one place.
She's counting on the short memory of the American public to gloss over the fact that North Korea didn't even have uranium or nuclear reactors before Clinton was president, and by the end of his 8 years, they did.
Good point, MVPEL. The other advantage to Plutonium is it is the only element that will work as an implosion-detonated bomb. U-235 has to use the gun-barrel method.
Note to bitt---I think we discussed this a few days ago
"U-235 will detonate spontaneously"
Not my area, I mainly did the conventional side of explosives, but I beleive both deflagrate not detonate spontaneously. I beleive a nuclear event requires comprssion/containment.
best regards
"The S. Korean government is hopeless when it comes to dealing with the north."
It must seem different when the bulk of their population is in range of an insane amount of DPRK artillery, not to mention the nuke threat, 24-7. I don't disagree with you, but in a conflict, they may take a very big hit even if we 'win.'
As I understand it, the Little Boy bomb simply forcibly assembled multiple sub-critical masses of U235 into a supercritical mass.
"As I understand it, the Little Boy bomb simply forcibly assembled multiple sub-critical masses of U235 into a supercritical mass."
True but forcibly assembled means compressed and contained. There are lots of links on the requirements on the bright white flash, as the Sandia boys define it. That is a nuclear event not a radiological event.
An excellent reference is:
The Effects of Nuclear Weapons
Compiled and Edited by Samuel Gladsstone and Philip Dolan
Published by
United Stats Department of Defense\and the
Energy Research and Development Administration
my copy is not dated
You slam these componets together without the right stuff you get a rapid burn (deflagration) not a detonation. Granted decerning the two is hard on the receiving end.
No Mach Stem no detonation. Page 89 of cited text.
Not to say things will be not shitty. Just being correct.
Bottom line low order is not great but orders of magnitude beter than high order. Expolsive speak
regards
The North Koreans must have designed missles with anuses-they are experts at putting their head up their anus.
unhappily, yes we did...ms. clintoon and ms. albright make me puke.
When the 2008 election comes around, this will be a BIG deal if she starts trying to claim that this all happened during the Republican white house years.
Like it or not, she is going to have to answer for a lot of things Bubba (and his buddy Jimmah) did during their "leadership".
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