Nuclear devices

A nuclear terrorist incident can involve the detonation or threatened detonation of a nuclear bomb or an explosive device that includes nuclear materials. Terrorists could also cause a nuclear incident 

A nuclear terrorist incident can involve the detonation or threatened detonation of a nuclear bomb or the detonation or threatened detonation of an explosive device that includes nuclear materials. Terrorists could also cause a nuclear incident by detonating an explosive device near a nuclear power plant or attacking nuclear cargo during transport. Terrorists could contaminate food or other products with radioactive materials. Simple radiological devices such as an isotope, if placed in public, could spread radiation without the use of an explosive device. 

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Tritium [15086-10-9] the name given to the hydrogen isotope of mass 3, has symbol or more commonly T. Its isotopic mass is 3.0160497 (1). Moletecular tritium [10028-17-8], is analogous to the other hydrogen isotopes. The tritium nucleus is energetically unstable and decays radioactively by the emission of a low-energy P particle. The half-life is relatively short (- 12 yr), and therefore tritium occurs in nature only in equiUbrium with amounts produced by cosmic rays or man-made nuclear devices. 

The ability of some plastic systems to do this may be useful in schemes for handling the radiation output of nuclear devices, including the radiation from the fusion power machines under development. Obviously the application is not for shielding, which the heavy metals do much better, but rather for an energy level reduction system that would convert the high energy radiation to forms which would be more useful in power distribution. 

Early in the program, critical components (e.g.,the turbomolecular pump) and circuit boards were tested for their ability to survive neutron and gamma irradiation rates and doses similar to those that would be received from exposure to the detonation of a tactical nuclear device. All components were powered up at the start of the gamma irradiation tests but not during the neutron irradiation tests. Circuit boards were protected by circumvention circuits that powered down critical circuits in 10 to lOOps upon detecting radiation. All components survived the nuclear radiation tests. This unusual performance was noted with positive commendations by the staff at the White Sands Missile Range, where the tests were performed. Tests of the fully integrated CBMS II system, installed in a reconnaissance vehicle, will be conducted in the future. 

Contamination of aquatic foodstuffs by the radiocerium in fallout from weapons tests and effluents from nuclear power facilities is well documented. The concentrations of 144Ce in clam muscle and cuttlefish in Japan in 1960 exceeded those of Sr by one to two orders of magnitude and were somewhat greater than those measured in food crops (Nezu et al., 1962). Radiocerium was detected in only a few samples of aquatic foods monitored in the Central Pacific during nuclear device testing there in 1962 (Welander and Palumbo, 1963 ... 

Cerium, an element in the lanthanide series, has a number of radioactive isotopes. Several of these are produced in abundance in nuclear fission reactions associated with nuclear industry operations or detonation of nuclear devices. This report summarizes our present knowledge of the relevant physical, chemical, and biological properties of radiocerium as a basis for establishing radiation protection guidelines. 

Recognizing that nuclear materials are widely available and the terrorists interests in radiological and nuclear devices, the United States Congress appropriated 300 million to the Department of Homeland Security to install radiation detectors at U.S. borders. Through 2005, DHS had installed 470 radiation portal monitors throughout the country including mail facilities and land and sea entries into the United States. The U.S. has also supported the installation of detectors at the borders of the states of the former Soviet Union through its Departments of State,... 

Nuclear warhead Refined and predictable nuclear device that can be carried by missile, aircraft, or other means. 

Fallout or bomb-produced nuclides Isotopes of elements produced from nuclear reactors or by detonation of nuclear devices (often radioactive). 

The production of electricity fiom nuclear fission energy is accompanied by formation of radioactive waste, of which the larger hazard is the presence of long-lived transuranium isotopes. The problems associated with this waste are still debated, but if the transuranium isotopes could be removed by exhaustive reprocessing and transmuted in special nuclear devices, the hazard of the waste would be drastically reduced (Chapter 12). This may require new selective extractants and diluents as well as new process schemes. Research in this field is very active. 

Uses. To implode fissionable material in nuclear devices to achieve critical mass as a component of plastic-bonded explosives and solid fuel rocket propellants and as burster charges in military munitions. 

It is hoped that studies similar to those conducted at Cambric can be carried out for nuclear devices tested in other media such as tuff. Re-entry drillback and sampling sooner after detonation would be desirable so that the behavior of shorter-lived species such as Zr, Mo- Tc, ° Ru, Nd, and... 

Just as earlier we were able to observe mass-yield distributions of the fission products from the fissionable nuclide used in the Chinese nuclear device, it is possible to see part of the mass-yield curve from the fission of 244Pu, which was synthesized originally in a supernova. Figure 6 shows the mass-yield distribution of the excess fissiogenic xenon observed in the meteorite Pasamonte (15). 

U is produced when Z38U. the most common isotope of uranium, absorbs a neutron. The subsequent sequential decay process produces 239Pu, a fissionable material that can be used as a fuel in nuclear reactors or as the core material of a nuclear bomb. 1 mol of 2 U equates to 239 g by mass, which is approximately 1/20 of the amount needed to make a nuclear device. 

The beam-breaker switch sends a beam across the measurement zone (Figure 3.120), and if process material breaks the beam path, it reduces the strength of the signal received. Separation distance can be up to 100 ft (30 m), which is considerably greater than with ultrasonic or nuclear devices. Micro-... 

A nuclear device was accidentally dropped into a marsh region but there was no nuclear explosion, only a conventional explosion that spread bomb material. Is there any reason to look for tritium at the explosion site Explain. 

It should also be noted that since the end of the Cold War, official military stockpiles of nuclear (and other) weapons have been diminished, by international agreement. At the same time, acquisition or fabrication of nuclear devices by nongovernmental terrorist groups or individual states has become a matter of increased concern. 

If, instead, the group must assemble an improvised nuclear device, the group will need fissile materials, machining equipment, a simple weapon design, and a few technicians with the skills to work the nuclear material, fit the explosives, and assemble the device. As a result, a terrorist group will be most interested in nuclear materials. Type III technicians, and possibly weapons designers. 

Variability in the Amount of Carbon in Reservoirs. In addition to variations in the production and distribution of radiocarbon over time and within portions of various carbon reservoirs, variations may result in situations where carbon not in equilibrium with the contemporary standard values is added or removed from any reservoir. Two instances of this are well documented since they occurred within the last century as a result of human intervention. The first is known as the industrial or Suess effect and is caused by the combustion of fossil fuels beginning about 1890, resulting in a depletion of atmospheric activities by about 3% (76). A more recent occurrence has been called the atomic bomb or Libby effect. The detonation of nuclear devices in the atmosphere beginning in 1945 produced large amounts of artificial increasing the radiocarbon concentrations in the atmosphere by more than 100% in the Northern Hemisphere (77). Because of equilibration with the oceans, the levels have been diminishing steadily since the atmospheric testing was terminated by the major nuclear powers except France and the People s Repub-... 

H.K, and Pratt, M. "Prediction of the Maximum Dosage to Man from the Fallout of Nuclear Devices. IV. Handbook for Estimating the Maximum Internal Dose to Man from Radionuclides Released to the Biosphere." Lawrence Livermore Laboratory... 

Nuclear weapons are explosive devices that release nuclear energy. An individual nuclear device may have an explosive force equivalent to millions of tons (megatons) of trinitrotoluene (TNT, the chemical explosive traditionally used for such comparisons), and is more than enough to inflict devastating physical damage to a city. 

Nuclear devices have been fashioned into weapons of many shapes with many purposes. Bombs can be dropped from airplanes warheads can be delivered by missiles launched from land, air, or sea artillery shells can be fired from cannon mines can be placed on the land and in the sea. Some nuclear weapons are small enough to destroy only a portion of a battlefield others, as already mentioned, are large enough to destroy entire cities or major targets. 

The processes involved in weapon production as related to the nuclear fuel cycle are presented schematically in Fig. 8.7. It should be kept in mind that a significant quantity of the material needed for a single, relatively simple nuclear device is plutonium 5-8 kg enriched uranium 25 kg... 

These risks exist because a large amount of civilian plutonium is being produced and stockpiled a relatively small amount of such plutonium is needed for a nuclear explosive the technical information required to fabricate a nuclear device is available in the open literature and only a small number of competent people are necessary to fabricate a primitive nuclear device. 

Although a sub-national group could choose to use either plutonium or highly enriched uranium as the fissionable material for nuclear explosives, plutonium is increasingly the more likely option. A sub-national group that in the future decides to manufacture a nuclear explosive is, therefore, most likely to try to steal or to buy plutonium. According to Carson et al. (1987) the following would apply to such a crude nuclear device ... 

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