AdamSmith Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Not quite, but pretty close. Fascinating if you find atomic weapon history & technology interesting... http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq0.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EXPAT Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Be careful with these kind of posts. The NSA is probably following you now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamSmith Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 I will just tell 'em you put me up to it. Come to think, with my line of business entailing phoning and emailing and asking detailed engineering questions of manufacturers including many in the Death & Destruction Complex, I am likely marked already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RA1 Posted October 21, 2013 Members Share Posted October 21, 2013 Everyone is marked. When they decide to frisk pilots to see if they are armed, the inmates are running the asylum. Pilots don't need guns to kill everyone on board, only the will and desire to do so. Best regards, RA1 AdamSmith 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamSmith Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 That IS well & truly nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamSmith Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 ...another post waving a flag at the NSA! Pretty interesting article if you grok such: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_design Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MsGuy Posted January 7, 2014 Members Share Posted January 7, 2014 From AS's wiki-link (emphasis added): Wire safety method One particularly dangerous warhead was Livermore's W47, designed for the Polaris submarine missile. The last test before the 1958 moratorium was a one-point test of the W47 primary, which had an unacceptably high nuclear yield of 400 lb (180 kg) of TNT equivalent (Hardtack II Titania). With the test moratorium in force, there was no way to refine the design and make it inherently one-point safe. Los Alamos had a suitable primary that was one-point safe, but rather than share with Los Alamos the credit for designing the first SLBM warhead, Livermore chose to use mechanical safing on its own inherently unsafe primary. The result was a safety scheme consisting of a boron-coated wire inserted into the hollow pit at manufacture. The warhead was armed by withdrawing the wire onto a spool driven by an electric motor. Once withdrawn, the wire could not be re-inserted.[52] The wire had a tendency to become brittle during storage, and break or get stuck during arming, preventing complete removal and rendering the warhead a dud.[53] It was estimated that 50-75% of warheads would fail. This required a complete rebuild of the W47 primaries.[54] The oil used for lubricating the wire also promoted corrosion of the pit.[55] ==== Hito, these are the people you trust to look after our best interests. LOL, socialise us as you will, those status seeking ape genes always win out. Pick my fleas and be quick about it, Beta Boy! AdamSmith 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamSmith Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 LOL, socialise us as you will, those status seeking ape genes always win out. In identical vein, this passage from the article: Because of Oppenheimer's initial position in the H-bomb debate, in opposition to large thermonuclear weapons, and the assumption that he still had influence over Los Alamos despite his departure, political allies of Edward Teller decided he needed his own laboratory in order to pursue H-bombs. By the time it was opened in 1952, in Livermore, California, Los Alamos had finished the job Livermore was designed to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
