Newsgroups: sci.military Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!att!cbnews!cbnews!military From: rsiatl!jgd@gatech.edu (John G. DeArmond) Subject: Re: The Neutron Bomb Organization: Radiation Systems, Inc. (a thinktank, motorcycle, car and gun works facility) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 90 05:21:09 GMT Approved: military@att.att.com Message-ID: <1990Oct30.052109.6742@cbnews.att.com> References: <43034@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> <1990Oct29.031806.9162@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Lines: 67 From: rsiatl!jgd@gatech.edu (John G. DeArmond) randy@ms.uky.edu (Randy Appleton) writes: >From: Randy Appleton >>However, I believe we have one other option at our disposal. I >>believe it is called, the Neutron Bomb. This is a bomb unlike any other, one >>that the U.S. military has previously developed, and placed on the back burner. >Er,no. Not at all. A Neutron Bomb is just an"enhanced radation nuclear warhead" >In other words, it is a nuclear bomb designed to release more prompt radiation >(netrons), and less thermal energy (blast) than normal. NO, NO, NO! Let's examine what an ER weapon really is. First, let's consider a typical conventional thermonuclear weapon. Conventional weapons are refered to as "fission-fusion-fission" weapons. That is, a fission trigger ignites a fusion intermediate stage whose primary purpose is to generate fast neutrons that then transmute the U-238 casing into fissional material and fissions it all in one fell swoop. The bulk of the energy delivered results from FISSION. The fusion intermediate stage can be thought of as a neutron multiplier. The ER weapon simply substitutes a heavy but non-fissionable casing for the U-238. Typically a tungsten alloy is used. Thus, the intense quantity of neutrons interact with the heavy casing and nearby air and the end result is a larger GAMMA radiation to blast ratio. I must correct one other point. Blast and thermal radiation damage have no relation to each other except that they both come from a common source. The thermal radiation pulse is completely over with by the time the blast (which travels at approximately the speed of sound) arrives. The destructive effects are also totally different, with thermal radiation causing primarily human burn casulties and fires while the blast causes structural damage. Obviously in an ER situation, the blast is to be minimized. There is no biological hazard with any weapon from neutrons at any range for which the gamma radiation would not overwhelm. The mean free path of neutrons of almost any conceivable energy in air is trivial compared to the radius of gamma hazard. Which, of course, is a fortunate effect. Gamma radiation delivers the desired killing effect and leaves no residual effects. Neutrons, on the other hand, activate a wide variety of materials, some such as cobalt tend to be rather pesky for a long period of time. Anyone with more than a passing interest in this subject should buy 2 books. First is "The effects of Nuclear Weapons" by Sam Glasstone, available from the US GPO for about $20. The second is "The making of the Atomic Bomb" (I forget the author.) The first book studies in great detail each of the major effects of nuclear weapons and provides one with the means to calculate them for a given yield. There is even a circular slide rule "bomb effects calculator" in a sleeve in the back of the book. John -- John De Armond, WD4OQC | "The truly ignorant in our society are those people Radiation Systems, Inc. | who would throw away the parts of the Constitution Atlanta, Ga | they find inconvenient." -me Defend the 2nd {emory,uunet}!rsiatl!jgd| with the same fervor as you do the 1st.