[Frohickey]

Good post, but I still don't see how the idea would work. A concentrated enough neutrino beam would affect more matter as it works its way through the matter it passes. Sure, the chances of it transmuting an object on the far side of the Earth increases, but so did its chances of transmuting all of the other matter between it, and the target.

The Sun is the most concentrated source of neutrinos in the solar system, and that is not enough to render nuclear weapons inoperable. How would generating a neutrino source less concentrated than what the Sun puts out transmute anything. How would anyone even be able to generate a neutrino source with more power than the Sun?

Sounds like a Debka article to me. :p

[JasonC]

The sun generates astronomically more neutrinos sure. But it is 93 million miles away, and it radiates those neutrinos in all directions. The surface of the sphere at our distance from the sun is 4 pi 93 million squared miles, or in meters around 3 times 10 to the 23rd power. This beam would be just 1 square meter. Three hundred billion trillion times less area. Going from a giant sphere to a thin pencil beam means you don't need nearly as many neutrinos overall, for the same chance of hitting a given neutron.

[rightwingcrazy]

A simple solution would be to start with a very wide beam (say, 100 kilometers on a side), and focus it down to the target, like a magnifying glass. Interaction with matter could then be minimal, except near the target. Practical details about how to generate that beam and how to aim and focus it are left to the imagination.