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Nuclear weapons: Difference between revisions

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[[File:B61internals.png|thumb|B-61 physics package (DOE)]]
[[File:B61internals.png|thumb|B-61 physics package (DOE)]]
[[File:W-88_warhead_detail.png|thumb|Speculative W-88 schematic]]
[[File:W-88_warhead_detail.png|thumb|Speculative W-88 schematic]]
[[File:HEUraniumC.jpg|thumb|Subcritical HEU billet (Y-12). Do not stack or eat.]]
[[File:HEUraniumC.jpg|thumb|Subcritical HEU billet (Y-12). Delicious, but deadly! Do not stack.]]
[[File:Plutonium_ring.jpg|thumb|Subcritical (in ring geometry) plutonium ingot (LANL). Avoid crushing or melting.]]
[[File:Plutonium_ring.jpg|thumb|Subcritical (in ring geometry) plutonium ingot (LANL). Avoid crushing or melting.]]
<tt>(12:08:06 PM) elizabeth warren: that'll get you on a list or three</tt>
<tt>(12:08:06 PM) elizabeth warren: that'll get you on a list or three</tt>


Don't blame me, man. I didn't do it.
Don't blame me, man. I didn't do it.
==Books==
==Researching Nuclear Weapons==
Your modern criticality fetishist has a rough time of things. Since 2001-09-11, great stocks of (unclassified) information have been purged from government sites. Various other fans (see the [[Nuclear Weapons#See Also|See Also]] section) maintain partial archives. Relevant conference proceedings (compressed matter physics, etc) get snapped up on used book sites quickly. My recommendation is a thorough grounding in nuclear engineering and the relevant mathematical methods (which you'll come across in the NucE books), at which point you'll be well-equipped to daydream about your own neutron initiator ideas and radical implosion symmetries. The boys at LANL and similar places haven't been able to do criticality experiments since the CTBT's passage, so everyone's on a level (simulation-only) playing field. Today's supercomputer is tomorrow's slide rule; an HP48GX will certainly get you through spherically symmetric detonations, and a few video cards are a fine platform for running your own hydrocodes.
===Books===
The following textbooks range from introductory to advanced material, and all require some basic physics and associated mathematical sophistication. For obvious reasons, textbooks on actual weapon design, testing, engineering and maintenance are difficult to come across. There's a wide variety of excellent books on political theory of nuclear weapons, which I'm unqualified to rate (update: Kahn's ''[http://www.amazon.com/Thermonuclear-War-Herman-Kahn/dp/141280664X On Thermonuclear War]'' is absolutely required reading); see blogs like [http://www.armscontrolwonk.com Arms Control Wonk] and [http://totalwonkerr.com/1986/all-teed-up-and-nowhere-to-go Total WonKerr] for more information, or your local university's political science department.
The following textbooks range from introductory to advanced material, and all require some basic physics and associated mathematical sophistication. For obvious reasons, textbooks on actual weapon design, testing, engineering and maintenance are difficult to come across. There's a wide variety of excellent books on political theory of nuclear weapons, which I'm unqualified to rate (update: Kahn's ''[http://www.amazon.com/Thermonuclear-War-Herman-Kahn/dp/141280664X On Thermonuclear War]'' is absolutely required reading); see blogs like [http://www.armscontrolwonk.com Arms Control Wonk] and [http://totalwonkerr.com/1986/all-teed-up-and-nowhere-to-go Total WonKerr] for more information, or your local university's political science department.
* Kenneth Krane's ''[http://www.amazon.com/Introductory-Nuclear-Physics-Kenneth-Krane/dp/047180553X Introductory Nuclear Physics]'' (assumes an undergraduate background in quantum mechanics)
* Kenneth Krane's ''[http://www.amazon.com/Introductory-Nuclear-Physics-Kenneth-Krane/dp/047180553X Introductory Nuclear Physics]'' (assumes an undergraduate background in quantum mechanics)
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* High explosives, Taylor-Rayleigh instabilities - assembly geometry - neutron multiplications
* High explosives, Taylor-Rayleigh instabilities - assembly geometry - neutron multiplications
* Hydrides (see the <b>Ruth</b> section from [http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Upshotk.html Upshot-Knothole])
* Hydrides (see the <b>Ruth</b> section from [http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Upshotk.html Upshot-Knothole])
* [http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0510052 "The B61-based Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator: Clever retrofit or headway towards fourth-generation nuclear weapons?"]. Gsponer 2005-11-19.


==Fusion Weapons and Boosting==
==Fusion Weapons and Boosting==
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* The [http://progressive.org/?q=node/2252 Progressive's] November 1979 issue, "The H-Bomb Secret" (for historical purposes)
* The [http://progressive.org/?q=node/2252 Progressive's] November 1979 issue, "The H-Bomb Secret" (for historical purposes)
* [http://www.afisr.af.mil/units/aftac.asp AFTAC] flies out of Patrick AFB, Florida
* [http://www.afisr.af.mil/units/aftac.asp AFTAC] flies out of Patrick AFB, Florida
* LANL's [http://t2.lanl.gov/ T-2 Nuclear Information Service]