BigNemo
2019-03-11 05:01:01
I like the way our engineer thinks :-) I guess higher command would object, but they are far away...
Sodah
2019-03-11 06:45:01
Sounds like someones had a little too much "Free thought". Well, multiple someones. The ILR looks like it's coming apart at the seams!
Pakkrat
2019-03-11 11:56:56
And they are still listening to the illegal Friend despite orders to dismantle the onboard A.I.
rwstyles
2019-03-11 13:11:58
Someone somewhere is going to have a cow. Uranium from a warhead is thousands of times more expensive than depleted uranium. As well as far more radioactive. I wouldn't line my underwear with U238, but it is almost not radioactive. U235 far more active.
stevegallacci
2019-03-11 22:47:13
The Uranium in question is the extra U238 in the thermonuclear stages and in the outer jacket. The only U235 in the weapon is in the primary (or Pu239) and in the thermonuclear 'sparkplug' stages. For many big nukes, it is a sequence of fission/fusion/fission, the last fission is regular U238 driven to explode with the excess neutrons from the previous fusion event. This is an optional, and rather dirty stage, and most 'clean' nukes don't use it, but can double the overall yield. (the infamous Tzar bomb supposedly used lead instead of extra U238 to keep the yield down to only 58MT and the fall out hot material to a minimum)
stevegallacci
2019-03-12 00:04:01
Another thing to consider. While separating U235 from natural uranium is still a chore, it is very likely that much younger sources can be found with a higher ratio, so getting to weapons grade would be a tad easier.
Erma Felna EDF page 518