37 ms·

I have no way of verifying if the guy knew what he was talking about but I've seen a description that was being deliberately a big vague, using multiple explosi

I have no way of verifying if the guy knew what he was talking about but I've seen a description that was being deliberately a big vague, using multiple explosive stages to boost the power and crush a deuterium-tritium target.

Intralexical 3y ago
Wikipedia: It has been claimed that it is possible to conceive of a crude, deliverable, pure fusion weapon, using only present-day, unclassified technology. The weapon design[2] weighs approximately 3 tonnes, and might have a total yield of approximately 3 tonnes of TNT. The proposed design uses a large explosively pumped flux compression generator to produce the high power density required to ignite the fusion fuel. From the point of view of explosive damage, such a weapon would have no clear advantages over a conventional explosive, but the massive neutron flux could deliver a lethal dose of radiation to humans within a 500-meter radius (most of those fatalities would occur over a period of months, rather than immediately). [2]: https://scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs07jones.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_fusion_weapon#Progress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_fusion_weapon#Progress Weapons aside, using EPFCG's as a scrapyard substitute for large capacitor banks in fusion power experiments would also be an interesting story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_Star https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_Star https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Pulsed_Power_Facility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Pulsed_Power_Facility
- buescher 3y ago
  That clarifies some hints I’ve seen. Wow.
- LorenPechtel 3y ago
  Yeah, that's definitely what I was reading about. However, what I was reading said they could ignite a secondary with it. No idea how, though.
- pfdietz 2y ago
  Sublethal doses of radiation from these could accumulate to a lethal dose. I suspect the limit would be the cost of tritium, but if something like Helion's fusion scheme takes off (or, possible, the WHAM mirror now being developed at Realta) then tritium could become cheaper, as DD fusion produces a lot of excess tritium.

Intralexical 3y ago

Wikipedia: It has been claimed that it is possible to conceive of a crude, deliverable, pure fusion weapon, using only present-day, unclassified technology. The weapon design[2] weighs approximately 3 tonnes, and might have a total yield of approximately 3 tonnes of TNT. The proposed design uses a large explosively pumped flux compression generator to produce the high power density required to ignite the fusion fuel. From the point of view of explosive damage, such a weapon would have no clear advantages over a conventional explosive, but the massive neutron flux could deliver a lethal dose of radiation to humans within a 500-meter radius (most of those fatalities would occur over a period of months, rather than immediately). [2]: https://scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs07jones.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_fusion_weapon#Progress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_fusion_weapon#Progress Weapons aside, using EPFCG's as a scrapyard substitute for large capacitor banks in fusion power experiments would also be an interesting story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_Star https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_Star https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Pulsed_Power_Facility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Pulsed_Power_Facility

buescher 3y ago
That clarifies some hints I’ve seen. Wow.
LorenPechtel 3y ago
Yeah, that's definitely what I was reading about. However, what I was reading said they could ignite a secondary with it. No idea how, though.
pfdietz 2y ago
Sublethal doses of radiation from these could accumulate to a lethal dose. I suspect the limit would be the cost of tritium, but if something like Helion's fusion scheme takes off (or, possible, the WHAM mirror now being developed at Realta) then tritium could become cheaper, as DD fusion produces a lot of excess tritium.