Newsgroups: sci.military
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!att!cbnews!cbnews!military
From: rsiatl!jgd@gatech.edu (John G. DeArmond)
Subject: Re: The Neutron Bomb
Organization: Radiation Systems, Inc. (a thinktank, motorcycle, car and gun works facility)
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 90 05:21:09 GMT
Approved: military@att.att.com
Message-ID: <1990Oct30.052109.6742@cbnews.att.com>
References: <43034@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> <1990Oct29.031806.9162@cbnews.att.com>
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From: rsiatl!jgd@gatech.edu (John G. DeArmond)

randy@ms.uky.edu (Randy Appleton) writes:

>From: Randy Appleton <randy@ms.uky.edu>

>>However, I believe we have one other option at our disposal.  I
>>believe it is called, the Neutron Bomb.  This is a bomb unlike any other, one
>>that the U.S. military has previously developed, and placed on the back burner. 
>Er,no. Not at all. A Neutron Bomb is just an"enhanced radation nuclear warhead"
>In other words, it is a nuclear bomb designed to release more prompt radiation 
>(netrons), and less thermal energy (blast) than normal. 

NO, NO, NO!  Let's examine what an ER weapon really is.  First, let's consider
a typical conventional thermonuclear weapon.  Conventional weapons are
refered to as "fission-fusion-fission" weapons.  That is, a fission trigger
ignites a fusion intermediate stage whose primary purpose is to generate
fast neutrons that then transmute the U-238 casing into fissional material
and fissions it all in one fell swoop.  The bulk of the energy delivered
results from FISSION.  The fusion intermediate stage can be thought of
as a neutron multiplier.

The ER weapon simply substitutes a heavy but non-fissionable casing for
the U-238.  Typically a tungsten alloy is used.  Thus, the intense 
quantity of neutrons interact with the heavy casing and nearby air and
the end result is  a larger GAMMA radiation to blast ratio.

I must correct one other point.  Blast and thermal radiation damage
have no relation to each other except that they both come from a
common source.  The thermal radiation pulse is completely over with
by the time the blast (which travels at approximately the speed of 
sound) arrives.

The destructive effects are also totally different, with thermal radiation
causing primarily human burn casulties and fires while the blast causes
structural damage.  Obviously in an ER situation, the blast is to be
minimized.

There is no biological hazard with any weapon from neutrons at any range for 
which the gamma radiation would not overwhelm.  The mean free path
of neutrons of almost any conceivable energy in air is trivial compared
to the radius of gamma hazard.  Which, of course, is a fortunate effect.
Gamma radiation delivers the desired killing effect and leaves no 
residual effects.  Neutrons, on the other hand, activate a wide variety
of materials, some such as cobalt tend to be rather pesky for a long
period of time.  

Anyone with more than a passing interest in this subject should buy
2 books.  First is "The effects of Nuclear Weapons" by Sam Glasstone,
available from the US GPO for about $20.  The second is "The making
of the Atomic Bomb" (I forget the author.)  The first book studies in
great detail each of the major effects of nuclear weapons and provides
one with the means to calculate them for a given yield.  There is
even a circular slide rule "bomb effects calculator" in a sleeve in
the back of the book.

John


-- 
John De Armond, WD4OQC  | "The truly ignorant in our society are those people 
Radiation Systems, Inc. | who would throw away the parts of the Constitution 
Atlanta, Ga             | they find inconvenient."  -me   Defend the 2nd
{emory,uunet}!rsiatl!jgd| with the same fervor as you do the 1st.

