AOH :: DABOMB.TXT
Lots of facts on Nuclear Weapons
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Ä ALT.266 (1:340/26) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ALT.266 Ä
Msg : 169 of 175
From : Archangel 1:340/13 13 Dec 97 10:13:20
To : All 15 Dec 97 16:50:52
Subj : Re: NUCLEAR WEAPON CONSTRUCTION
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
From: archangel@almighty.com (Archangel)
"NORAD" <viratomics@techie.com> wrote:
>Require site address for any details or plans on the assembly of abomb
--------------------------------
File courtesy of Archangel Systems
--------------------------------
============================================================================
-------------------------------------------------
- Documentation and Diagrams of the Atomic Bomb -
-------------------------------------------------
============================================================================
______________
/ \
<-} DISCLAIMER {->
\______________/
The information contained in this file is strictly for
academic use
alone. Outlaw Labs will bear no responsibility for any use
otherwise. It
would be wise to note that the personnel who design and
construct these
devices are skilled physicists and are more knowledgeable in these
matters
than any layperson can ever hope to be... Should a layperson
attempt to
build a device such as this, chances are s/he would probably kill
his/herself
not by a nuclear detonation, but rather through radiation exposure.
We here
at Outlaw Labs do not recommend using this file beyond the realm of
casual or
academic curiosity.
============================================================================
-----------------------
-+ Table of Contents +-
-----------------------
I. The History of the Atomic Bomb
------------------------------
A). Development (The Manhattan Project)
B). Detonation
1). Hiroshima
2). Nagasaki
3). Byproducts of atomic detonations
4). Blast Zones
II. Nuclear Fission/Nuclear Fusion
------------------------------
A). Fission (A-Bomb) & Fusion (H-Bomb)
B). U-235, U-238 and Plutonium
III. The Mechanism of The Bomb
-------------------------
A). Altimeter
B). Air Pressure Detonator
C). Detonating Head(s)
D). Explosive Charge(s)
E). Neutron Deflector
F). Uranium & Plutonium
G). Lead Shield
H). Fuses
IV. The Diagram of The Bomb
-----------------------
A). The Uranium Bomb
B). The Plutonium Bomb
============================================================================
--------------------------------
File courtesy of Outlaw Labs
--------------------------------
I. The History of the Atomic Bomb
------------------------------
On August 2nd 1939, just before the beginning of World War II,
Albert
Einstein wrote to then President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Einstein and
several
other scientists told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify
U-235
with which might in turn be used to build an atomic bomb. It was
shortly
thereafter that the United States Government began the serious
undertaking
known only then as the Manhattan Project. Simply put, the Manhattan
Project
was committed to expedient research and production that would produce
a viable
atomic bomb.
The most complicated issue to be addressed was the production of
ample
amounts of `enriched' uranium to sustain a chain reaction. At the
time,
Uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio of
conversion from
Uranium ore to Uranium metal is 500:1. An additional drawback is that
the 1
part of Uranium that is finally refined from the ore consists of over
99%
Uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make
it even
more difficult, U-235 and U-238 are precisely similar in their
chemical
makeup. This proved to be as much of a challenge as separating a
solution of
sucrose from a solution of glucose. No ordinary chemical extraction
could
separate the two isotopes. Only mechanical methods could effectively
separate
U-235 from U-238. Several scientists at Columbia University managed
to solve
this dilemma.
A massive enrichment laboratory/plant was constructed at Oak
Ridge,
Tennessee. H.C. Urey, along with his associates and colleagues at
Columbia
University, devised a system that worked on the principle of gaseous
diffusion. Following this process, Ernest O. Lawrence (inventor of
the
Cyclotron) at the University of California in Berkeley implemented a
process
involving magnetic separation of the two isotopes.
Following the first two processes, a gas centrifuge was used to
further
separate the lighter U-235 from the heavier non-fissionable U-238 by
their
mass. Once all of these procedures had been completed, all that
needed to be
done was to put to the test the entire concept behind atomic fission.
[For
more information on these procedures of refining Uranium, see Section
3.]
Over the course of six years, ranging from 1939 to 1945, more
than 2
billion dollars were spent on the Manhattan Project. The formulas for
refining Uranium and putting together a working bomb were created and
seen to
their logical ends by some of the greatest minds of our time. Among
these
people who unleashed the power of the atomic bomb was J. Robert
Oppenheimer.
Oppenheimer was the major force behind the Manhattan Project. He
literally ran the show and saw to it that all of the great minds
working on
this project made their brainstorms work. He oversaw the entire
project from
its conception to its completion.
Finally the day came when all at Los Alamos would find out
whether or not
The Gadget (code-named as such during its development) was either
going to be
the colossal dud of the century or perhaps end the war. It all came
down to
a fateful morning of midsummer, 1945.
At 5:29:45 (Mountain War Time) on July 16th, 1945, in a white
blaze that
stretched from the basin of the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico
to the
still-dark skies, The Gadget ushered in the Atomic Age. The light of
the
explosion then turned orange as the atomic fireball began shooting
upwards at
360 feet per second, reddening and pulsing as it cooled. The
characteristic
mushroom cloud of radioactive vapor materialized at 30,000 feet.
Beneath the
cloud, all that remained of the soil at the blast site were fragments
of jade
green radioactive glass. ...All of this caused by the heat of the
reaction.
The brilliant light from the detonation pierced the early morning
skies
with such intensity that residents from a faraway neighboring
community would
swear that the sun came up twice that day. Even more astonishing is
that a
blind girl saw the flash 120 miles away.
Upon witnessing the explosion, reactions among the people who
created
it were mixed. Isidor Rabi felt that the equilibrium in nature had
been
upset -- as if humankind had become a threat to the world it
inhabited.
J. Robert Oppenheimer, though ecstatic about the success of the
project,
quoted a remembered fragment from Bhagavad Gita. "I am become Death,"
he
said, "the destroyer of worlds." Ken Bainbridge, the test director,
told
Oppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of bitches."
Several participants, shortly after viewing the results, signed
petitions
against loosing the monster they had created, but their protests fell
on deaf
ears. As it later turned out, the Jornada del Muerto of New Mexico
was not
the last site on planet Earth to experience an atomic explosion.
As many know, atomic bombs have been used only twice in warfare.
The
first and foremost blast site of the atomic bomb is Hiroshima. A
Uranium
bomb (which weighed in at over 4 & 1/2 tons) nicknamed "Little Boy"
was
dropped on Hiroshima August 6th, 1945. The Aioi Bridge, one of 81
bridges
connecting the seven-branched delta of the Ota River, was the aiming
point of
the bomb. Ground Zero was set at 1,980 feet. At 0815 hours, the bomb
was
dropped from the Enola Gay. It missed by only 800 feet. At 0816
hours, in
the flash of an instant, 66,000 people were killed and 69,000 people
were
injured by a 10 kiloton atomic explosion.
The point of total vaporization from the blast measured one half
of a
mile in diameter. Total destruction ranged at one mile in diameter.
Severe
blast damage carried as far as two miles in diameter. At two and a
half
miles, everything flammable in the area burned. The remaining area of
the
blast zone was riddled with serious blazes that stretched out to the
final
edge at a little over three miles in diameter. [See diagram below for
blast
ranges from the atomic blast.]
On August 9th 1945, Nagasaki fell to the same treatment as
Hiroshima.
Only this time, a Plutonium bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" was dropped on
the city.
Even though the "Fat Man" missed by over a mile and a half, it still
leveled
nearly half the city. Nagasaki's population dropped in one
split-second from
422,000 to 383,000. 39,000 were killed, over 25,000 were injured.
That
blast was less than 10 kilotons as well. Estimates from physicists
who have
studied each atomic explosion state that the bombs that were used had
utilized
only 1/10th of 1 percent of their respective explosive capabilities.
While the mere explosion from an atomic bomb is deadly enough,
its
destructive ability doesn't stop there. Atomic fallout creates
another hazard
as well. The rain that follows any atomic detonation is laden with
radioactive particles. Many survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki
blasts
succumbed to radiation poisoning due to this occurance.
The atomic detonation also has the hidden lethal surprise of
affecting
the future generations of those who live through it. Leukemia is
among the
greatest of afflictions that are passed on to the offspring of
survivors.
While the main purpose behind the atomic bomb is obvious, there
are many
by-products that have been brought into consideration in the use of
all
weapons atomic. With one small atomic bomb, a massive area's
communications,
travel and machinery will grind to a dead halt due to the EMP
(Electro-
Magnetic Pulse) that is radiated from a high-altitude atomic
detonation.
These high-level detonations are hardly lethal, yet they deliver a
serious
enough EMP to scramble any and all things electronic ranging from
copper wires
all the way up to a computer's CPU within a 50 mile radius.
At one time, during the early days of The Atomic Age, it was a
popular
notion that one day atomic bombs would one day be used in mining
operations
and perhaps aid in the construction of another Panama Canal. Needless
to say,
it never came about. Instead, the military applications of atomic
destruction
increased. Atomic tests off of the Bikini Atoll and several other
sites were
common up until the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was introduced. Photos of
nuclear
test sites here in the United States can be obtained through the
Freedom of
Information Act.
============================================================================
- Breakdown of the Atomic Bomb's Blast Zones -
----------------------------------------------
.
. .
. . .
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.
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* Message split, to be continued *
--- ifmail v.2.10-tx8.3.lwz
* Origin: Unknown (1:340/13@fidonet)
Ä ALT.266 (1:340/26) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ALT.266 Ä
Msg : 170 of 175
From : Archangel 1:340/13 13 Dec 97 10:13:20
To : All 15 Dec 97 16:50:52
Subj : [part 2] Re: NUCLEAR WEAPON CONSTRUCTION
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
From: archangel@almighty.com (Archangel)
* Continuation 1 of a split message *
~
[5] . [4] . [5]
.
. .
. .
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============================================================================
- Diagram Outline -
---------------------
[1] Vaporization Point
------------------
Everything is vaporized by the atomic blast. 98%
fatalities.
Overpress=25 psi. Wind velocity=320 mph.
[2] Total Destruction
-----------------
All structures above ground are destroyed. 90% fatalities.
Overpress=17 psi. Wind velocity=290 mph.
[3] Severe Blast Damage
-------------------
Factories and other large-scale building collapse. Severe
damage
to highway bridges. Rivers sometimes flow countercurrent.
65% fatalities, 30% injured.
Overpress=9 psi. Wind velocity=260 mph.
[4] Severe Heat Damage
------------------
Everything flammable burns. People in the area suffocate
due to
the fact that most available oxygen is consumed by the
fires.
50% fatalities, 45% injured.
Overpress=6 psi. Wind velocity=140 mph.
[5] Severe Fire & Wind Damage
-------------------------
Residency structures are severely damaged. People are blown
around. 2nd and 3rd-degree burns suffered by most
survivors.
15% dead. 50% injured.
Overpress=3 psi. Wind velocity=98 mph.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Blast Zone Radii -
----------------------
[3 different bomb types]
____________________________________________________________________________
______________________ ______________________
______________________
| | | | |
|
| -[10 KILOTONS]- | | -[1 MEGATON]- | | -[20
MEGATONS]- |
|----------------------| |----------------------|
|----------------------|
| Airburst - 1,980 ft | | Airburst - 8,000 ft | | Airburst - 17,500
ft |
|______________________| |______________________|
|______________________|
| | | | |
|
| [1] 0.5 miles | | [1] 2.5 miles | | [1] 8.75 miles
|
| [2] 1 mile | | [2] 3.75 miles | | [2] 14 miles
|
| [3] 1.75 miles | | [3] 6.5 miles | | [3] 27 miles
|
| [4] 2.5 miles | | [4] 7.75 miles | | [4] 31 miles
|
| [5] 3 miles | | [5] 10 miles | | [5] 35 miles
|
| | | | |
|
|______________________| |______________________|
|______________________|
____________________________________________________________________________
============================================================================
-End of section 1-
--------------------------------
File courtesy of Outlaw Labs
--------------------------------
II. Nuclear Fission/Nuclear Fusion
------------------------------
There are 2 types of atomic explosions that can be facilitated by
U-235;
fission and fusion. Fission, simply put, is a nuclear reaction in
which an
atomic nucleus splits into fragments, usually two fragments of
comparable
mass, with the evolution of approximately 100 million to several
hundred
million volts of energy. This energy is expelled explosively and
violently in
the atomic bomb. A fusion reaction is invariably started with a
fission
reaction, but unlike the fission reaction, the fusion (Hydrogen) bomb
derives
its power from the fusing of nuclei of various hydrogen isotopes in
the
formation of helium nuclei. Being that the bomb in this file is
strictly
atomic, the other aspects of the Hydrogen Bomb will be set aside for
now.
The massive power behind the reaction in an atomic bomb arises
from the
forces that hold the atom together. These forces are akin to, but not
quite
the same as, magnetism.
Atoms are comprised of three sub-atomic particles. Protons and
neutrons
cluster together to form the nucleus (central mass) of the atom while
the
electrons orbit the nucleus much like planets around a sun. It is
these
particles that determine the stability of the atom.
Most natural elements have very stable atoms which are impossible
to
split except by bombardment by particle accelerators. For all
practical
purposes, the one true element whose atoms can be split comparatively
easily
is the metal Uranium. Uranium's atoms are unusually large,
henceforth, it is
hard for them to hold together firmly. This makes Uranium-235 an
exceptional
candidate for nuclear fission.
Uranium is a heavy metal, heavier than gold, and not only does it
have
the largest atoms of any natural element, the atoms that comprise
Uranium have
far more neutrons than protons. This does not enhance their capacity
to
split, but it does have an important bearing on their capacity to
facilitate
an explosion.
There are two isotopes of Uranium. Natural Uranium consists
mostly of
isotope U-238, which has 92 protons and 146 neutrons (92+146=238).
Mixed with
this isotope, one will find a 0.6% accumulation of U-235, which has
only 143
neutrons. This isotope, unlike U-238, has atoms that can be split,
thus it is
termed "fissionable" and useful in making atomic bombs. Being that
U-238 is
neutron-heavy, it reflects neutrons, rather than absorbing them like
its
brother isotope, U-235. (U-238 serves no function in an atomic
reaction, but
its properties provide an excellent shield for the U-235 in a
constructed bomb
as a neutron reflector. This helps prevent an accidental chain
reaction
between the larger U-235 mass and its `bullet' counterpart within the
bomb.
Also note that while U-238 cannot facilitate a chain-reaction, it can
be
neutron-saturated to produce Plutonium (Pu-239). Plutonium is
fissionable and
can be used in place of Uranium-235 {albeit, with a different model of
detonator} in an atomic bomb. [See Sections 3 & 4 of this file.])
Both isotopes of Uranium are naturally radioactive. Their bulky
atoms
disintegrate over a period of time. Given enough time, (over 100,000
years or
more) Uranium will eventually lose so many particles that it will turn
into
the metal lead. However, this process can be accelerated. This
process is
known as the chain reaction. Instead of disintegrating slowly, the
atoms are
forcibly split by neutrons forcing their way into the nucleus. A
U-235 atom
is so unstable that a blow from a single neutron is enough to split it
and
henceforth bring on a chain reaction. This can happen even when a
critical
mass is present. When this chain reaction occurs, the Uranium atom
splits
into two smaller atoms of different elements, such as Barium and
Krypton.
When a U-235 atom splits, it gives off energy in the form of heat
and
Gamma radiation, which is the most powerful form of radioactivity and
the most
lethal. When this reaction occurs, the split atom will also give off
two or
three of its `spare' neutrons, which are not needed to make either
Barium or
Krypton. These spare neutrons fly out with sufficient force to split
other
atoms they come in contact with. [See chart below] In theory, it is
necessary to split only one U-235 atom, and the neutrons from this
will split
other atoms, which will split more...so on and so forth. This
progression
does not take place arithmetically, but geometrically. All of this
will
happen within a millionth of a second.
The minimum amount to start a chain reaction as described above
is known
as SuperCritical Mass. The actual mass needed to facilitate this
chain
reaction depends upon the purity of the material, but for pure U-235,
it is
110 pounds (50 kilograms), but no Uranium is never quite pure, so in
reality
more will be needed.
Uranium is not the only material used for making atomic bombs.
Another
material is the element Plutonium, in its isotope Pu-239. Plutonium
is not
found naturally (except in minute traces) and is always made from
Uranium.
The only way to produce Plutonium from Uranium is to process U-238
through a
nuclear reactor. After a period of time, the intense radioactivity
causes the
metal to pick up extra particles, so that more and more of its atoms
turn into
Plutonium.
Plutonium will not start a fast chain reaction by itself, but
this
difficulty is overcome by having a neutron source, a highly
radioactive
material that gives off neutrons faster than the Plutonium itself. In
certain
types of bombs, a mixture of the elements Beryllium and Polonium is
used to
bring about this reaction. Only a small piece is needed. The
material is not
fissionable in and of itself, but merely acts as a catalyst to the
greater
reaction.
============================================================================
- Diagram of a Chain Reaction -
-------------------------------
|
|
|
|
[1]------------------------------> o
. o o .
. o_0_o .
<-----------------------[2]
. o 0 o .
. o o .
|
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. o o. .o o .
[3]-----------------------> . o_0_o"o_0_o .
. o 0 o~o 0 o .
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|
/ | \
|/_ | _\|
~~ | ~~
|
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<---------------[5]
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/ \
/ \
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. o 0 o . <-[2]-> . o 0 o . <-[2]-> . o 0 o .
. o o . . o o . . o o .
/ | \
|/_ \|/ _\|
~~ ~ ~~
. o o. .o o . . o o. .o o . . o o. .o
o .
. o_0_o"o_0_o . . o_0_o"o_0_o . .
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o .
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o .
. | . . | . . |
--- ifmail v.2.10-tx8.3.lwz
* Origin: Unknown (1:340/13@fidonet)
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