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From: gottlieb@alliant.UUCP (Bob Gottlieb)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.sci
Subject: Re: Plutonium
Message-ID: <244@alliant.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 5-May-86 12:22:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: alliant.244
Posted: Mon May  5 12:22:39 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 8-May-86 04:27:50 EDT
References: <358@drutx.UUCP> <1063@whuxl.UUCP> <2384@jhunix.UUCP> <708@whuts.UUCP> <796@ccird2.UUCP>
Reply-To: gottlieb@alliant.UUCP (Bob Gottlieb)
Organization: Alliant Computer Systems, Acton, MA
Lines: 42
Xref: linus net.politics:14834 net.sci:489

In article <796@ccird2.UUCP> rb@ccird2.UUCP (Rex Ballard) writes:

>Does someone who KNOWS what is in the current bombs, want to clear
>this up, or is that "Classified" :-).

There was a very good article in the Economist a few months back on
exactly how nuclear weapons are constructed. They tend to consist of
a minimum critical mass (that is, a critical mass generated by implosion
techniques). I've heard that the Pu weight is either 22 lb or 22 kg -
I think the former.

I might comment that if you hit a warhead in space, killing or crippling it,
you tend to get one of two effects:

1. Warhead hit with massive KE transfer (e.g. Kinetic Intercept missile)
    The dispersal pattern will probably be radial to the axis of the
    intercept velocity, with the Pu being pulverized to micro-fine particles.
    Half of it will probably achieve escape velocity, the other half will
    probably wind up shortly thereafter at the top of the atmosphere.
    It will probably disperse more-or-less evenly over the hemisphere
    it is in.

2. Warhead damaged, left to burn up on reentry.
    This assumes that the heat shield has been badly damaged, say by an
    X-ray laser or a particle beam. In this case, it is hard to say,
    but all of the warhead will be in the atmosphere (unless it actually
    hits the ground). Dispersion will be reminiscent of the Soviet
    reactor melt-down, except that the levels will be MUCH less - there
    are tons of radioactive "hot" material in a reactor.

I would rather have the missiles mold in the tubes, given a preference.
However, I would rather have warheads fall without blowing up than the
alternative.
-- 

						-- Bob Gottlieb
UUCP: ...!linus!alliant!gottlieb
Mail: Alliant Computer Systems Corp, 42 Nagog Park, Acton, MA 01720
Phone: (617) 263-9110
Foot:  "You can't get there from here".
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