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Yes, at one point Edward Teller ("father of the H-Bomb") thought that thermonuclear weapons might set off a self-sustaining fusion reaction in the atmospheric n
by edmccard 12y ago
Yes, at one point Edward Teller ("father of the H-Bomb") thought that thermonuclear weapons might set off a self-sustaining fusion reaction in the atmospheric nitrogen.
I only know about this because as a kid I read a lot of pre-space-age sci-fi, and there was a story either by Heinlein or Asimov where the solution to this "danger" was to put nuclear fusion plants in orbit.
- Someone 12y agoThe magic search term for this is "Konopinski report". That gives you, a.o. https://fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/docs1/00329010.pdf https://fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/docs1/00329010.pdf Safety factor to get some nitrogen ignition is a worrying 1.5 when using fusion bombs of a thousand cubic meters, but even then, the reaction will fizzle out (at least, that's what I get from the abstract)