Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!petrus!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!hao!nbires!boulder!cisden!lmc
From: lmc@cisden.UUCP (Lyle McElhaney)
Newsgroups: net.physics,net.sci
Subject: Re: What's All This, Then (Workshop on Exploding Particle Accelerators)
Message-ID: <498@cisden.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 9-Feb-86 00:50:44 EST
Article-I.D.: cisden.498
Posted: Sun Feb  9 00:50:44 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 12-Feb-86 20:58:00 EST
References: <572@hounx.UUCP> <1987@orca.UUCP>
Organization: ConTel Information Systems, Denver
Lines: 19
Xref: watmath net.physics:3846 net.sci:526

> When the first nuclear bomb was exploded by the Manhattan project, there was
> a pool started to predict the force of the explosion. One scientist predicted
> that most of New Mexico would be wiped off the face of the Earth.
> 
> Another scientist predicted that the reaction could not be halted, and would
> eventually consume the entire planet, perhaps continuing to destroy the
> entire Universe!!!!!!
> 
Yup, and some of them also wondered early on whether the thing would work
at all; they didn't want all that expensively processed U235 spread all
over New Mexico when the TNT starter went off and the rest fizzled, so
they had a large (40'x10'?) steel bottle built to explode the first bomb
in. That way they could scrape the U235 off the walls (well, someone
could) if it didn't work. The thing weighed hundreds of tons, was built
and shipped to the site, but never used. I think its in some museum in NM
(maybe one built around it?)

Lyle McElhaney
...!hao!cisden!lmc