Cobalt bomb

Irradiation can be achieved by discontinuous processes such as the cobalt bomb, which is more convenient for thick parts, but slow or continuous processes such as the electron beam are more suitable and speedier for thinner parts. 

Discontinuous processes such as the cobalt bomb o highly penetrating radiation... 

The easiest Doomsday Machine to construct is the cobalt bomb cluster. Each cobalt bomb is an ordinary atomic bomb encased in a jacket of cobalt. When a cobalt bomb explodes, it spreads a huge amount of radiation. If enough of these bombs were exploded, life on Earth would perish. In another recipe for Doomsday, large hydrogen bombs are placed at strategic locations on Earth and exploded simultaneously. As a result, the Earth may wobble on its axis. If placed at major fault lines, the bombs could trigger a worldwide series of killer earthquakes. 

Other specific types of nuclear weapons are commonly referred to by their names such as neutron bombs (enhanced radiation weapons), cobalt bombs and salted bombs. The atomic bomb was the first nuclear weapon to be developed, tested and used. It was developed under the direction of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904—1967) and implemented toward the end of World War... 

Co-bomb cobalt bomb CONARC Continental Army Command,... 

COBALT AND ITS COMPOUNDS Cobalt, Co, at wt 58.95, steel-gray metal, d 8.71 at 20°, mp 1495°, bp 2880° readily sol in nitric acid and less sol in dil hydrochloric or sulfuric acids. It is obtained from ore concentrates by roasting, followed by thermal reduction by A1 or other methods. The principal use of the metal is in alloys, especially Co steels for permanent supermagnets, Co-Cr high-speed tool steels, cemented carbides and high temperature-resisting alloys for jet engins, For a description of its alloys see Refs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 8. Cobalt Bomb is briefly discussed under Bombs in Vol 2,... 

Jack McArthur, Private Enterprise and the Cobalt Bomb, Canadian Business, 26, no. 4 (April 1953), 101-2. 

Principally, three types of radiation are adequate for the sterilization of materials ultraviolet and gamma radiation. In the case of the radiation treatment of materials with ionizing (mostly gamma) radiation, a high exposure dose is necessary. Often a cobalt bomb (radioactive Co) is used for this purpose. The efficiency depends on the penetration depth. This procedure is adequate for the sterilization of plastics and other sensitive materials (e.g., for surgical purposes), as well as for foodstuffs (in Germany, only for spices). Metals or mineral materials only become germfree on the surface. 

Bombs, Cobalt. Atomic or hydrogen bombs encased in cobalt which, upon detonation, would be transformed into deadly radioactive dust. These bombs, at present, are of theoretical interest inasmuch as they are considered too dangerous to use since the dust would effect friend, foe and neutral alike. In the detonation process, part of the Co59 is converted to Co60, a very radioactive substance Ref Glossary of Ord(1959),41... 

Twenty grams of cobalt(II) carbonate (0.168 mol) and 150 ml. of c.p. pyridine (1.86 mols) are placed in a 500-ml. stainless-steel autoclave (synthesis 54). The autoclave is flushed three times with carbon monoxide at a pressure of 200 p.s.i. An equimolar mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen is admitted to a pressure of 3500 p.s.i. The rocking mechanism is started, and the temperature is raised to 155 to 160° and maintained in this range for 2 hours. The vessel is then allowed to cool to room temperature, and the gases are vented. The solution in the bomb contains about 2.5 g. of the pyridinium salt of the cobalt tetracarbonyl anion per 10 ml. (yield about 90%)4... 

There is no critical mass in a fusion bomb, and the force of the explosion is limited only by the quantity of reactants present. Thermonuclear bombs are described as being cleaner than atomic bombs because the only radioactive isotopes they produce are tritium, which is a weak /S-particle emitter (ti = 12.5 yr), and the products of the fission starter. Their damaging effects on the environment can be aggravated, however, by incorporating in the construction some nonfissionable material such as cobalt. Upon bombardment by neutrons, cobalt-59 is converted to cobalt-60, which is a very strong 7-ray emitter with a half-life of 5.2 yr. The presence of radioactive cobalt isotopes in the debris or fallout from a thermonuclear explosion would be fatal to those who survived the initial blast. 

A terrorist dirty bomb (dispersion bomb) would likely contain commonly acquired radioactive materials such as cobalt, iridium, and cesium. Psychological effects (ie, panic) would likely overshadow medical concerns, as significant radiation exposure by contamination would be confined to the immediate blast area. 

Saskatoon s 5 rrP 0cn x disputed The London Free Press to a first. Still, Saskatoon did not show as much interest in the cobalt-60 unit as it might have, because there had been so much publicity earlier in the year about its acquisition of the 25-MeV betatron. In any case, both the Eldorado and the Saskatoon BTUs were a vasr improvement on radium bombs or exisiing electrical-radiation equipment. Not only were they more powerful, they were smaller and more manoeuvrable. Johns later recalled that his was housed in a room next to a400,000-volt X-ray machine. The cobalt unit was about a tenth as large but delivered radiation at ten rimes the energy and ten times the rate, it also had fewer mechanical and electrical sysrems, w hich made it simpler to operate and easier to maintain. ... 

TIk October 20, 1951 The London Free Press editorial titled The Bomb That Would Fight Disease" claimed the first cobalt-60 beam therapy unit in Canada firr its city, describing is as a cement mixer that offers hope fir cancer patients. ... 

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