this post was submitted on 29 May 2024
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120
"there is little incentive not to use it" (lemmy.zip)
submitted 5 months ago by Technus to c/[email protected]
16 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

http://web.archive.org/web/20240512204543/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_design

(Archive link in case it's changed.)

This article is a surprisingly entertaining read for a few reasons:

  • one or more people who wrote it clearly have very strong opinions about how nuclear weapons should be built
  • the article contains a surprising amount of detail, including stuff that seems like it'd be classified or at least censored
  • due to both of the above, there's a ton of [citation needed] that I doubt will ever be resolved
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[–] Technus 11 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I actually wonder how much in the article is actually deliberate misinformation meant to trip up anyone trying to build their own device.

For example, this bit caught my attention:

In modern weapons, the neutron generator is a high-voltage vacuum tube containing a particle accelerator which bombards a deuterium/tritium-metal hydride target with deuterium and tritium ions. The resulting small-scale fusion produces neutrons at a protected location outside the physics package, from which they penetrate the pit.

That seems really finicky to me.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

this makes sense if you consider timescales involved

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

It is finicky. That's why only a handful of countries have actually managed to create their own thermonuclear warheads. It's more about being able to build the needed infrastructure and acquire the source material than understanding the physics.