4 Apr
2011
4 Apr
'11
8:14 a.m.
Patrick Shirkey wrote:
So just to make sure I am correct here... All nuclear
weapons require an
assisted explosion?
Yes, you need both high heat and high pressure to force the fissile
material into the required chain reaction.
It's categorically impossible for Plutonium-239 to
become critical without assistance from an explosion of some other fuel
or high energy source?
You don't have super heated Pu-239 actively being created in a semi
critical chain reaction. If it gets unstable there is not enough neutron
flux to make baby go boom.
As explained here:
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Criticality_accident
there have been a number of criticality accidents, but they always
create so much heat that the fissile material expands and the conditions
cease to be critical.
Erik
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Erik de Castro Lopo
http://www.mega-nerd.com/