[Southack]

"Bottom line: There is absolutely no doubt that a nuke can be built without a trigger. Such a weapon would need periodic electronic maintenance, but not replacement of the fissionable material."

No doubt that the fissionable material lasts long-enough to not fit into the time-frames that I have mentioned so far in this thread, however, lets not confuse "fissionable materials" with that of the radioactive materials used to build the triggers/initiators.

Even a casual perusal of the periodic table of elements will confirm that Polonium and most isotopes of Beryllium have relatively short half-lives (days). In fact, I've posted both onto this thread (or one of the copycats) already.

Likewise, the booster component tritium has a half-life that takes normal amounts of time into consideration. Its slightly longer half-life of 12 years begins to jeopardize the nuclear chain reaction after little more than 8 years of deterioration into He3.

Yes, the cores/pits of nuclear devices last much longer than all of the above, but lets not confuse cores/pits with triggers and boosters.

Lets also not try to say that building a bomb WITHOUT a trigger is simpler than using a trigger; it isn't.

One more thought: why am I the only one of the two of us posting sources? Surely you can post some reputable sources to back up your claims, right?

[EternalHope]

Lets also not try to say that building a bomb WITHOUT a trigger is simpler than using a trigger; it isn't.

This part we agree on. Making a small and reliable bomb is NOT as easy as making a larger bomb. I also said I did not think Iraq, North Korea, or Al Qaida could do it. Russia could. So could we.

Somehow this thread became focused on the idea that you CANNOT make a small nuke without including neutron emitters with very short half lives as part of the design. That is NOT true, although I will readily grant that it requires higher technology (especially if the nukes are small).

As far as posting sources, I have never looked for sources on the net. I learned my stuff from actual hands-on experience in the Air Force.

However, you might find a list of what's unclassified interesting to check out:

(what's classified and what's not)