3 ms·

So it accelerates the decay of Pu or U-xxx inside the bomb. But this process is heat- and radiation-emitting, so I suspect if stockpile is monitored for either

by tandr 6y ago

So it accelerates the decay of Pu or U-xxx inside the bomb. But this process is heat- and radiation-emitting, so I suspect if stockpile is monitored for either of these (probably both), something will be detected.

credit_guy 6y ago
You are correct. I thought the heat would be negligible, but it's not. A modern plutonium pit is about 3kg [1]. If you want to induce a 5% decay, that's 150g. Each gram is equivalent with about 3 tons of coal [2] , so that's about 450 tons. If you do that over a period of 1 year, that's still about 1 ton of coal per day. That won't go unnoticed. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_(nuclear_weapon) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_(nuclear_weapon) [2] https://www2.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/14/1.html https://www2.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/14/1.html
- MertsA 6y ago
  >That won't go unnoticed. Given the size of the pit that would probably literally melt the pit right out of the warhead.
  - titzer 6y ago
    Which would pretty much be mission accomplished. Cleaning up a spill of pure plutonium would be an extremely lengthy process, months or maybe even years. It would contaminate the entire room/building/ship.
    - gpm 6y ago
      Unless they noticed before it melted out, and launched the thing...
      - nordsieck 6y ago
        > Unless they noticed before it melted out, and launched the thing... 1. They'd know who to launch it at 2. You can't just launch 1 nuke - it's all or nothing. And for the most part, it's probably nothing: countries besides the US and Russia just don't have very deep nuclear stockpiles[1]. ___ 1. https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohasw...
        rbanffy 6y ago
        > 1. They'd know who to launch it at Not really. "If we detect such an attack, we'll launch against you both. Make sure nobody on your side develops such a weapon". It's called "MAD" for a reason.

by tandr 6y ago

credit_guy 6y ago

You are correct. I thought the heat would be negligible, but it's not. A modern plutonium pit is about 3kg [1]. If you want to induce a 5% decay, that's 150g. Each gram is equivalent with about 3 tons of coal [2] , so that's about 450 tons. If you do that over a period of 1 year, that's still about 1 ton of coal per day. That won't go unnoticed. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_(nuclear_weapon) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_(nuclear_weapon) [2] https://www2.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/14/1.html https://www2.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/14/1.html

MertsA 6y ago
>That won't go unnoticed. Given the size of the pit that would probably literally melt the pit right out of the warhead.
- titzer 6y ago
  Which would pretty much be mission accomplished. Cleaning up a spill of pure plutonium would be an extremely lengthy process, months or maybe even years. It would contaminate the entire room/building/ship.
  - gpm 6y ago
    Unless they noticed before it melted out, and launched the thing...
    - nordsieck 6y ago
      > Unless they noticed before it melted out, and launched the thing... 1. They'd know who to launch it at 2. You can't just launch 1 nuke - it's all or nothing. And for the most part, it's probably nothing: countries besides the US and Russia just don't have very deep nuclear stockpiles[1]. ___ 1. https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohasw...
      - rbanffy 6y ago
        > 1. They'd know who to launch it at Not really. "If we detect such an attack, we'll launch against you both. Make sure nobody on your side develops such a weapon". It's called "MAD" for a reason.