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It's actually really hard to keep discoveries like this secret or restricted. The real value worth protecting often is how to manufacture and mass produce. The
by parl_match 3y ago
It's actually really hard to keep discoveries like this secret or restricted. The real value worth protecting often is how to manufacture and mass produce.
The nuclear bomb is a perfect example: It's actually a very simple mechanism, and the steps needed to refine the materials and make the mechanism are extremely well documented. However, the capability to actually reliably and safely make it is quite difficult.
- dgrin91 3y agoThats not really true about nukes. Some of the simple first ones (namely the 'gun model') were simple enough that you can just do it if you had the uranium (because the gun model is literally just slap a bunch of uranium into itself), but the efficiently & yield is low. If you want a real nuke today - the thermonuclear fusion bombs - you're going to be missing a lot of parts that aren't in the public documents.
- parl_match 3y ago> you can just do it if you had the uranium This is actually proving my point. For the simple bomb you mentioned, you need U-235, in high quality. That's actually very difficult and dangerous to refine and manufacture. It's time consuming, expensive, and requires bespoke process across multiple disciplines. Even today, some nation-states struggle with the process.