Re: Kensington runestone in the Scandinavian press

Philip Deitiker <Nopdeitik@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:Xns967466A34434Cprd@xxxxxxxxxxxx:

> In sci.archaeology, created a message ID
> news:w6ydnVscoL8kwzDfRVnyiQ@xxxxxxxxx:
>
>> In article <QSZqe.8706$rt3.7801@xxxxxxxx>,
>> tmcdonald2672@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Tom McDonald) wrote:
>>
>>> I also read online an article that suggested the Nazis may
> have
>>> tested an extremely small atomic bomb--only a small
> fraction of
>>> the size of 'Little Boy.' This article also included
> reports of a
>>> bright light seen by many that may have been related to the
> test.
>>
>> Making a small atomic bomb is much harder than making one
> the size of
>> "Little Boy". That was a gun type device using a critical
> mass of uranium
>> not an implosion device. There is no evidence the Germans
> ever got as far
>> as a reactor. Heisenburg got the critical mass wrong to
> start with and the
>> reactor was going to be moderated with heavy water. The
> entire German
>> supply of heavy water was destroyed by allied action. You
> can not make a
>> dirty bomb from unenriched uranium and there is no evidence
> that Germany
>> ever managed to produce that. Japan was probably closer to
> making a bomb
>> than Germany.
>>
>> One possible cause of confusion is that Germany may have
> used Uranium as
>> a substitute for tungsten in AP shot. The German weapon
> programs were
>> thoroughly investigated after the end of the war.
>
> The rudimentary device is take a lb of uranium and drop it 3
> stories on a lb of plutonium.

Problem being, of course, is that in order to have plutonium, you have to
have (first) a working reactor. the Nazi's never did.

> Booom, also lots ot nasty cleanup.

But no one then knew just _how_ nasty (to give you an idea of how little
folks _did_ know about radiation dangers, the U.S. had plans to use nukes
to "clear the beaches" before landing troops on them) and neither the
Nazis nor the Soviets (who would be the most likely target) would care
all that much if they did.

It also more or less changes a nuke from a big explosive device to a
slightly more exciting poison "gas" attack...which creates reprisals in
kind.

> There is a critical difference between a device that
> generates alot of heat and destroys a few buildings and a
> device that you detonate 1000 feet above surface that destroys
> an entire city.

The biggest difference is that it makes several tens of millions of
dollars worth of radiatives the equivilant of a few thousand dollar
convential bomb.

David

--
_______________________________________________________________________
David Johnson home.earthlink.net/~trolleyfan

"You're a loony, you are!"
"They said that about Galileo, they said that about Einstein..."
"Yeah, and they said it about a good few loonies, too!"
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Atomic Airplane - True Story
    ... Chemistry and metallurgy is and was a strength in Germany; ... out that a gun-type weapon won't work. ... possibility a a bomb becomes recognized. ... centrifuges which did enrich gram quantities of Uranium and they did ...
    (rec.aviation.military)
  • Re: Atomic Airplane - True Story
    ... Chemistry and metallurgy is and was a strength in Germany; ... out that a gun-type weapon won't work. ... possibility a a bomb becomes recognized. ... centrifuges which did enrich gram quantities of Uranium and they did ...
    (rec.aviation.military)
  • Re: Atomic Airplane - True Story
    ... out that a gun-type weapon won't work. ... possibility a a bomb becomes recognized. ... centrifuges which did enrich gram quantities of Uranium and they did ... Wartime Germany could never have managed a ...
    (rec.aviation.military)
  • Re: Ju-290 Atomic Bomber Designs
    ... yellowcake I suppose - make a decent dirty bomb - but to radically ... - the Nazis did not have one official atomic bomb program, ... own concepts which included the radiologicals, the cluster rocket ... It was thought that if Germany lost Japan ...
    (rec.aviation.military)
  • Re: Kensington runestone in the Scandinavian press
    ... > dirty bomb from unenriched uranium and there is no evidence ... > than Germany. ... device that you detonate 1000 feet above surface that destroys ...
    (sci.archaeology)