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From: gsmith@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Gene Ward Smith)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.sci
Subject: Re: Small Nuclear Bombs
Message-ID: <13832@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Fri, 16-May-86 12:31:10 EDT
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Posted: Fri May 16 12:31:10 1986
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In article <684@riccb.UUCP> jmc@riccb.UUCP (Jeff McQuinn ) writes:

>>     I was talking to an ex-LLL physicist once who told me that there 
>> is an isotope of Californium with a *very small* critical mass (a few
>> grams, I think it was). This opened the theoretical possibility of a
>> hand grenade sized nuclear weapon. [Gene Smith]
 
>Californium, isn't that one of those wonderful man-made elements whose shelf
>life can be measured in microseconds? No wonder it's "theoretically" possible.

  Consider the following table of isotopes of Californium:
  Isotope    Half Life

  Cf 248     350 days
  Cf 249     360 years
  Cf 250      10 years
  Cf 251     800 years
  Cf 252     2.5 years

   Of these, Cf 248, Cf 249 and Cf 252 are all listed as having spontaneous
fission as one decay mode. Especially if the isotope in question was Cf 249
(I don't remember) the thing seems theoretically feasible.

ucbvax!brahms!gsmith    Gene Ward Smith/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720
          "There are no differences but differences of degree 
            between degrees of difference and no difference"