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This very moment, 78 years ago, the first atomic bomb of any kind was detonated.
25 kilotons of canned sunshine.
Just 6dx14,848 cr ex linked 6dx9,651 burn ex rad sur.
The Gadget was also the first implosion type device, proving the concept for Fat Man.
Yay! Sunshine in a can!
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, the first was the plutonium bomb. Quite a 'proof of concept.'
They knew the uranium bomb was going to work. What they didn't know was how inefficient the gun-system was going to be. Wasteful.
On the other hand, the plutonium bomb was very efficient in comparison. Much more matter to energy conversion than in the uranium bomb.
Weird, as we think or assume that close to 100% of the fissile material would fissile, but, no, not even close.
If a large percentage of the material went fissile, fallout would be a much smaller worry.
DeleteIf you think about it a bit it makes sense why not all the material fissles. As soon as the reaction starts the forces start reversing the implosion into an explosion and the material quickly moves away from the reaction. I think the longer you can keep the material compressed the more complete the conversion is.
DeleteMe again...
Delete-swj