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From: ethan@utastro.UUCP (Ethan Vishniac)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.sci
Subject: Re: Plutonium
Message-ID: <652@utastro.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 27-Apr-86 16:22:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: utastro.652
Posted: Sun Apr 27 16:22:12 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 2-May-86 07:09:29 EDT
References: <358@drutx.UUCP> <1063@whuxl.UUCP> <2384@jhunix.UUCP> <708@whuts.UUCP> <796@ccird2.UUCP>
Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX
Lines: 18
Xref: watmath net.politics:15378 net.sci:768
Summary: neutron bombs

> > 
> >A few pounds of plutonium *IF* properly distributed in tiny specks to
> >everyone's lungs could indeed kill everyone on Earth.
> >However it would be practically impossible
> >to distribute a mere few pounds of plutonium in such a way that it
> >*would* kill everyone on Earth.
> 
> Aren't neutron bombs intended to do something like this?
>  
No.  Neutron bombs are designed to give everyone within some large
radius a fatal dose of radiation poisoning.  What makes them special
is that this radius is larger than the radius of blast destruction.
-- 
"Ma, I've been to another      Ethan Vishniac
 planet!"                      {charm,ut-sally,ut-ngp,noao}!utastro!ethan
                               ethan@astro.UTEXAS.EDU
                               Department of Astronomy
                               University of Texas