3 ms·
Yes, but there are two risks to that: 1) the conventional explosive detonates and it's similar enough to "normal" operating procedures to create critical mass a
by retSava 9y ago
Yes, but there are two risks to that:
1) the conventional explosive detonates and it's similar enough to "normal" operating procedures to create critical mass and the nuke detonates
2) the radioactive material is spread out over a large area, contaminating
neither are as benign as an ordinary explosive of any yield, and I'd rather not risk any of that, at all.
- gozur88 9y agoIt's hard to imagine your #1 could happen. The compression wave in a nuke has to be just right to achieve critical mass. It's not an easy thing to pull off deliberately under the best of circumstances #2 is sort of half true. You wouldn't get nuclear material over a large area because it's so heavy. You could get a big plume from Chernobyl, but that was because there was a nuclear reaction going on, and it wasn't uranium that got boosted into the sky by the fire. Still an expensive mess, but a pretty localized mess.