Re: Nuclear decay post-detonation

From: AA Institute (abdul.ahad_at_ntlworld.com)
Date: 09/29/04 

Date: 29 Sep 2004 01:22:53 -0700

pdraper@yahoo.com (Paul Draper) wrote in message news:<74768d2d.0409281217.3371520d@posting.google.com>...
> abdul.ahad@ntlworld.com (AA Institute) wrote in message news:<adbf5bc1.0409280649.4f925b2f@posting.google.com>...
> > I'd like to know what options there are for ensuring that a nuclear
> > missile doesn't leave the site where it's detonated radioactive after
> > the blast.
> > I think with conventional ICBMs the ground where they impact will be
> > left radioactive for decades (if not longer), due to the long half
> > lives of the the nuclear materials.
>
> Think of it this way. If all the radioactive material were
> short-lived, then it would decay in the missile silo before you had a
> chance to launch it.
>

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. From what little I *think* I
know about the workings of these bombs, the pre-fission material stays
intact inside the missile until it reaches its point of detonation.
The detonation and the fission process are triggered at the point of
impact. What I am then saying is that the by-product post detonation
(post-fission) is radioactive with an extended half life, and I'd like
to have that half life shortened so that the unwanted radioactivity
doesn't linger.

With so many radioactive isotopes to pick and choose from, is it not
possible to find one that "fissions" with a residue of a desirably
shorter half life?

Thanks
AAI

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