Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Nate: “How exactly does a nuclear bomb become obsolete? Don't they still go bang real big?”

Thermonuclear weapons will loose the bulk of their punch after a few years if the tritium isn’t replenished (12 yr halflife). The tritium acts as a catalyst during the fusion reaction, and the yield suffers greatly when there is not enough present.

The fission detonator on an h-bomb would still be of great interest to a terrorist, perhaps. But it is a military necessity to replenish the tritium in our warheads.

Another issue is that the casings for nukes degrade somewhat over time, even in ideal storage conditions. There is a lot of debate over the likelihood of a failure on timescales under 50 years, but from the military’s perspective, they want to be sure that the bombs detonate when launched. So they’re evaluating and reconditioning old warheads every day.

And finally, newer models are lighter, more reliable, and more versatile… at least they were up until the changes in the NPT precipitated by the India/Pakistan dick waiving contest.
thimscool | Email | Homepage | 11.20.06 - 8:42 pm |

Thankyou thimscool for stepping up here. Normally Bill or EP handle this sort of inquiry, but they seem to be laying down.....