4 ms·

I believe the original question was whether storage of multiple weapons in the same vicinity could result in accidental assembly of a critical mass, which appea

I believe the original question was whether storage of multiple weapons in the same vicinity could result in accidental assembly of a critical mass, which appears to be something the author of the original blog came up with on their own.

ttyprintk 4y ago
I think modern US designs are fusion boosted, making them immune to predetonation. Older experiments are increasingly dangerous, especially high-yield uranium guns.
- SlickNixon 4y ago
  Fission, boosted, or fusion all start with a fission bomb with a possibility to fizzle.
  - ttyprintk 4y ago
    Can an implosion bomb designed in the 100t yield range go ambient supercritical even in the presence of a neutron reflector?
    - KMag 4y ago
      You forgot to add "asking for a friend" ;)
- skorpeon87 4y ago
  A single bomb core is a sub-critical mass; needing either neutron reflectors or another source of neutrons to start a chain reaction. But if you pile a bunch of such cores up together like they were cannon balls, that inherent safety goes right out the window.
  - ttyprintk 4y ago
    In the context of this blog post, which explosive parts should we mothball and which ones are too dangerous to store intact, it’s unwise to store pre-boosted plutonium cores at all. But, as a thought experiment, what is the difference between a pile of boosted-era plutonium cores; and a weird but moderated reactor? Specifically, does an arbitrarily-sized pile of weapons-grade plutonium marbles have the same inevitability of criticality you expect than if those are designed for use in boosted triggers?
rjsw 4y ago
I thought there was a story of Richard Feynman going round Oak Ridge and realizing that they were getting close to a critical mass of stuff stored in adjacent rooms.
- SlickNixon 4y ago
  >Feynman had discovered that the Y-12 Plant was storing uranium nitrate solution enriched in U-235 in drums holding 300 to 3,000 gallons. After performing some calculations, the young physicist determined that the drums were placed in potentially unsafe arrangements in a number of buildings.[0] Looks like fluids again, not warheads. https://exploreoakridge.com/how-a-26-year-old-physicist-may-have-saved-oak-ridge-from-nuclear-disaster/ https://exploreoakridge.com/how-a-26-year-old-physicist-may-...

ttyprintk 4y ago

I think modern US designs are fusion boosted, making them immune to predetonation. Older experiments are increasingly dangerous, especially high-yield uranium guns.

SlickNixon 4y ago
Fission, boosted, or fusion all start with a fission bomb with a possibility to fizzle.
- ttyprintk 4y ago
  Can an implosion bomb designed in the 100t yield range go ambient supercritical even in the presence of a neutron reflector?
  - KMag 4y ago
    You forgot to add "asking for a friend" ;)
skorpeon87 4y ago
A single bomb core is a sub-critical mass; needing either neutron reflectors or another source of neutrons to start a chain reaction. But if you pile a bunch of such cores up together like they were cannon balls, that inherent safety goes right out the window.
- ttyprintk 4y ago
  In the context of this blog post, which explosive parts should we mothball and which ones are too dangerous to store intact, it’s unwise to store pre-boosted plutonium cores at all. But, as a thought experiment, what is the difference between a pile of boosted-era plutonium cores; and a weird but moderated reactor? Specifically, does an arbitrarily-sized pile of weapons-grade plutonium marbles have the same inevitability of criticality you expect than if those are designed for use in boosted triggers?

rjsw 4y ago

I thought there was a story of Richard Feynman going round Oak Ridge and realizing that they were getting close to a critical mass of stuff stored in adjacent rooms.

SlickNixon 4y ago
>Feynman had discovered that the Y-12 Plant was storing uranium nitrate solution enriched in U-235 in drums holding 300 to 3,000 gallons. After performing some calculations, the young physicist determined that the drums were placed in potentially unsafe arrangements in a number of buildings.[0] Looks like fluids again, not warheads. https://exploreoakridge.com/how-a-26-year-old-physicist-may-have-saved-oak-ridge-from-nuclear-disaster/ https://exploreoakridge.com/how-a-26-year-old-physicist-may-...