#Largest fission bomb archive#
#Largest fission bomb series#

Lithium enrichment capacity lead to the deployment of bombs containing In Li-6, was the preferred fuel for maximum yield but early shortages in The secondary stage consisted of the exterior pusher/tamper, a standoff gap,Īnd a cylinder filled with fusion fuel. Some designs to reduce neutron preheating. Preheating by the thermal radiation flux. Or lead) was located between the primary and secondary to prevent fuel Maximize yield, but some test devices were equipped with lead tampers to Operational bombs probably all used uranium tampers to The secondary pusher, which made up the inner wall of the radiationĬhannel, was made of either natural uranium or lead (possibly as a lead-īismuth alloy). With lead or lead bismuth alloy to form the radiation case (probably 1-3 cm Radiation case, and the physical structure that held the entireīoth the US and UK initially used casings made of steel, which were lined the ballistic shell of the bomb was the support structure for the The thermonuclear weapon was integral to the bomb casing itself. The casing was hemispherical at one end, where the primary sphere was The earliest radiation implosion designs seem to have used a single largeĬylindrical chamber encompassing both the primary and cylindrical secondary. Is speculative, but it is consistent with all facts about weapons, weaponĭevelopment programs, and physics of which I am currently aware. The descriptions of weapon designs, and the developmental sequence described

#Largest fission bomb series#

Increasing sophistication (Subsection 4.5.1 Principle Design Types).įollowing this, I address a series of possible tradeoffs and the issues Out several basic structures for the overall weapon, in rough order of In an attempt to address this in some kind of orderly fashion I first sketch Involves complicated tradeoffs between design objectives and has many

Since the various design elements of a thermonuclear weapon combine to formĪ complex integrated system, discussing the design space of these weapons

#Largest fission bomb archive#

The only authorized host site for the NWFAQ in English is the Nuclear Weapon Archive ('>) 4.5 Thermonuclear Weapon Designs Unauthorized host sites are expressly forbidden. Only authorized host sites may make this document publicly available on the Internet through the World Wide Web, anonymous FTP, or This material may be excerpted, quoted, or distributed freely provided that attribution to the author (Carey Sublette), theĭocument name (Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions) and this copyright notice is clearly preserved, and the URL of this website is included: 4.5 Thermonuclear Weapon Designs and Later Subsections