Ukraine invasion

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oddly enough, all you have to do is spend a lot of time researching, and putting the info you do find together. Tom Clancy actually intentionally fudged some details in his book Sum of All fears.

University of Chicago physics majors Justin Kasper and Fred Niell,

Note that creating a breeder reactor and a bomb are not the same thing. The reactor is significantly easier to make than the weapon.
 

Note that creating a breeder reactor and a bomb are not the same thing. The reactor is significantly easier to make than the weapon.
Except, of course, for the university undergrad who designed one in the 1970s, before the advent of the internet made research so much easier. As I recall from the interviews back then, the only thing that he was missing was Critical Mass. When asked about that he said that he just guessed it. When nuclear physicists were asked about it they said, "Yes, we pretty much did the same thing."
 

Except, of course, for the university undergrad who designed one in the 1970s, before the advent of the internet made research so much easier.

No "except". Honestly, I can sketch the basic designs of either. We covered them in my classes in undergrad and again in grad school. but even detailed design is not the same as building an actual working example.

This especially because a breeder reactor is a largely passive thing. You have fuel, you have moderators, you have target material. You run coolant around them to keep them from melting, and stuff just happens. The cooling gets a little hairy if you are trying to do this at scale, because then you're doing plumbing for molten sodium.

A bomb, with bits that require microsecond timing, is a different beast to build.
 

Hasn't that always been the scare of "dirty bombs"? I'll admit my technical expertise is totally lacking, but, as I understand it, you don't build a proper nuclear weapon, but, rather something that will just irradiate a fairly large area. Much more of a terrorist weapon than something a military would deploy.
 

Hasn't that always been the scare of "dirty bombs"? I'll admit my technical expertise is totally lacking, but, as I understand it, you don't build a proper nuclear weapon, but, rather something that will just irradiate a fairly large area. Much more of a terrorist weapon than something a military would deploy.

Dirty bombs are a conventional explosion with nuclear material. There's no fission reaction.
 


Yes. That’s what I meant.

You need more than just raw uranium to make a dirty bomb but it’s a lot easier than making a nuclear bomb.

Nuclear bombs aren't exactly high tech. Getting the material is the hard part.

Due to sabre rattling apparently the Finn's have sent elite units to the border. Tractors advance!!!

 

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