[ RadSafe ] Curiosity query

Tue Aug 6 11:26:57 CDT 2013

I have talked with emergency response people about uranium in a dirty bomb, and the reviews are mixed.  Clearly the U would not add much to the destructive potential of the weapon (unless you started with metallic uranium and got it burning, but there are a lot of much better incendiary materials).  It would, however, have the public relations advantage of turning a regular bomb in to a dirty bomb, with the extra publicity an panic that would cause.  And, of course, it is pretty easy to get a hold of.  

The down side is that other than K-40, I can't think of a worse radioactive material one might use, in terms of specific activity.  It could reach the point that in order to get enough activity to make cleanup even annoying, let alone actually difficult, you would have so much uranium that it would absorb the explosion, and decrease the actual damage.  

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Franz Schönhofer
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2013 1:04 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Curiosity query

Maury et al.,

More than enough and detailed information about nuclear weapons including "Little Boy" can be found on google. For information on the latter just type in the words and there is at least one information which would answer all your questions! There are also films frequently shown in documentaries, how the bomb was loaded into the Enola Gay and I would be surprised if these scenes were not available on the internet. There exists a number of excellent books on the Manhattan Project with a lot of details - I bought a few during my visits to Los Alamos, Albuquerque, the Trinity site etc. Don't forget the museum in Albuquerque with replicas.

U-235 has a shorter half-life than U-238, therefore it is more radioactive than natural uranium, but not so much that handling would involve a radiation risk.

One conclusion one can draw, is that this uranium would not be effective for a dirty weapon! Plutonium would be a different story if one would be able to disperse it extremely finely.

Best regards,

Franz

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
From: McClung, Danny
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2013 6:31 PM
To: 'The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Curiosity query

Maury,

The components are only mildly radioactive prior to nuclear detonation.  Not a lot of shielding required.

It would likely be something small.  10 KT seems a plausible yield.

Dan

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Maury
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2013 12:17 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Curiosity query

Can anyone tell me or suggest a link to description of the size and weight of the radioactive components of the Hiroshima bomb?  Also would like to know weight and size of the shielding required to handle this material.  How did they load this material onto the USS Indianapolis without lethal irradiation of handlers?  Am wondering if these answers would shed any light on what would be required to attempt a practicable so-called dirty bomb if not a practicable nuclear weapon.

Seems to me that terrorist groups would be hard pressed to handle a nuclear weapon even if any of our opponents saw fit to give them one ...?  The implication to me is that a dirty bomb of any serious yield would not be feasible?

Thanks for comments.
Maury&Dog
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