Friday, March 26, 2010
le NUCLEAIRE
The novel le Nucleaire is available on Lulu.
Plot of le Nucleaire
A deluded genius wants to make plutonium too dangerous for nations to continue
stockpiling. He invents a simple device to unleash the nuclear demon locked within
plutonium. Now terrorists have an incentive to steal plutonium. The only defence is to
eliminate all stockpiles thus making plutonium unprocurable.
* * *
The following is relevant background information to le Nucleaire. But don't get me wrong, you don't need a physics textbook to read and enjoy either novel. It has some didactic elements but is primarily a thriller.
PLUTONIUM
The Nagasaki A-bomb used super weapons-grade plutonium with less than 1% of isotopes such as Pu-240. The plutonium had been rushed out of production nuclear reactors before significant amounts of other isotopes could accumulate.
Weapons grade plutonium (as opposed to super weapons-grade) contains no more than 7% Pu-240, an isotope that can cause a bomb to pre-detonate (in other words fizzle).
Reactor-grade plutonium is a mixture of isotopes. If a light water reactor is run for some time then the plutonium produced is a mixture of about 40% Pu-239, 30% Pu-240 and 30% other isotopes.
In 1962 a bomb made of reactor-grade plutonium was successfully tested. The precise isotope mix has never been revealed. Nor has the yield been revealed except a comment that it was less than 20 kilotons.
U-238
Neutrons of 1MeV and greater can result in fission.
* * *
The above comments are from the book 'Nuclear Weapons--what you need to know' by Jeremy Bernstein.
Plot of le Nucleaire
A deluded genius wants to make plutonium too dangerous for nations to continue
stockpiling. He invents a simple device to unleash the nuclear demon locked within
plutonium. Now terrorists have an incentive to steal plutonium. The only defence is to
eliminate all stockpiles thus making plutonium unprocurable.
* * *
The following is relevant background information to le Nucleaire. But don't get me wrong, you don't need a physics textbook to read and enjoy either novel. It has some didactic elements but is primarily a thriller.
PLUTONIUM
The Nagasaki A-bomb used super weapons-grade plutonium with less than 1% of isotopes such as Pu-240. The plutonium had been rushed out of production nuclear reactors before significant amounts of other isotopes could accumulate.
Weapons grade plutonium (as opposed to super weapons-grade) contains no more than 7% Pu-240, an isotope that can cause a bomb to pre-detonate (in other words fizzle).
Reactor-grade plutonium is a mixture of isotopes. If a light water reactor is run for some time then the plutonium produced is a mixture of about 40% Pu-239, 30% Pu-240 and 30% other isotopes.
In 1962 a bomb made of reactor-grade plutonium was successfully tested. The precise isotope mix has never been revealed. Nor has the yield been revealed except a comment that it was less than 20 kilotons.
U-238
Neutrons of 1MeV and greater can result in fission.
* * *
The above comments are from the book 'Nuclear Weapons--what you need to know' by Jeremy Bernstein.
