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Two questions about nukes, for the nuclear informed:

1) AFAIK, implosion-style fission weapons use electronic triggers to set off a very carefully timed implosion. Can that implosion be triggered with chemical (explosive) fuses?

2) Can gun-style fission weapons be used to trigger a second stage fusion bomb? The Hiroshima bomb had more yield than modern "first stage" fission triggers.

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Mike Miller, Materials Engineer

"Woo, that was bracing! They don't like it when you shoot at them. I worked that out myself." --Mal, Firefly

"Going bonkers from EI or DNI is pushing it. I mean how many Crusaders or Super Wobbies are sane to begin with...." --RockJock01

Ummm...Cray? What are you building in your kitchen?

Cray: Ummmm, I'm not sure if I should answer this, but...

1. Implosion-tiggered fission bombs (like the Fat Man bomb) can be set off using whatever timing means you can build to cause the initial conventional detonation. The conventional detonation then crushes the nuclear material together, creating a supercritical mass and setting off the fission reaction.

2. All the thermonuclear (fission-fusion) weapons that I know of, are implosion-triggered. The conventional detonation triggers fission as above, then the fission detonation provides the needed pressure to set off the fusion reaction. Layered explosions, each bigger than the last, happening in fractions of a second. I don't know if a gun-style trigger would work or not, but I DO know that it would require an extra level of mechanical complexity. The fewer moving parts, the better.

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Be careful what you wish for. I might let you have it.

That's kind of my question: can non-electronic fuses deliver adequate accuracy and precision to trigger the conventional explosives in an implosion bomb?

I know - or think I know - how the implosion/gun part of a fission bomb works. I was just curious about just how good the really really precise timing needed to be in an implosion-style nukes, at least to the extent of, "can detcord or similar non-electronic detonators do the job"?

If not, then there's gun-style nukes:
The situation I'm looking at is for a homebrewed sci-fi setting where using jump points disrupts electronics for some period of time and leaves organic brains a bit daffy. The defenders have no such problem, of course, and can start shooting immediately. Attackers have an obvious interest in deploying high levels of firepower ASAP.

While electronics might be screwy for a dangerous length of time, mechanical and chemical systems work fine. If I can get the electronics out of a nuke, then the instant firepower problem is solved: the stunned attacker just starts hosing nukes around it (rockets or cannon shells), at least dazzling the defenders until the attacker's targeting systems are back up.

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Mike Miller, Materials Engineer

"Woo, that was bracing! They don't like it when you shoot at them. I worked that out myself." --Mal, Firefly

"Going bonkers from EI or DNI is pushing it. I mean how many Crusaders or Super Wobbies are sane to begin with...." --RockJock01

That being your question, I would have to say NO. The implosion type bomb relies on what is essentially a "spherical" detonation, going off on all sides of the reactive material at once. I think it would have to be too precise to rely on chemical or mechanical means alone.

EDIT: Removed some information that probably shouldn't have been posted...don't want to give people ideas.

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Be careful what you wish for. I might let you have it.

. . . Please don't try this at home . . .

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Rick
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* There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those who don't. *

If you haven't already, take the time to read a little of the Starfire series by David Weber. Based on Starfire the game (http://www.starfiredesign.com/starfire/index.html), which uses pretty much exactly that mechanic for movement between systems - jump points, where the transit through the warp point messes up electronics something fierce, making attacking between systems difficult.

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--neko128

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"The cookie told me to!"
"Cookies aren't always right, you know."
"But they're so sweet!"

Due to contractual agreements, I am prohibited from presenting any information upon this topic.Just kidding.

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Je vous aurais bien aide, mais je ne vous aime pas.

Dr. J. Edgarlove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Inferno Gel

"If you're not careful, you'll get us all whacked. Ha ha! Body in a woodchipper." - Phil Ken Sebben

What is inside the silo? Can it fly? A needle in a haystack... To crack the sky!

After Crusade, it all kind of read like "let's find excuses to have big naval battles," but I've read Crusade to destruction once; I'm on my second copy. Most of the gamers in my group love Crusade. Good stuff.

I always kinda thought the Starfire series kinda took ideas from Antares Dawn/Antares Passage by Mike McCollum (sp), but I'd have to check original publishing dates to be sure.

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Mike Miller, Materials Engineer

"Woo, that was bracing! They don't like it when you shoot at them. I worked that out myself." --Mal, Firefly

"Going bonkers from EI or DNI is pushing it. I mean how many Crusaders or Super Wobbies are sane to begin with...." --RockJock01

I thought the point was that Weber had a job writing Starfire at some point.

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[url=http://www.hitbox.tv/hmpgoose]Goose - The Egyptian God of Frustration[/url]

"He closes his eyes and remembers the night splattered with brightness, the sudden flare of erupting fuel, the mad chase as, supersonic, he bobbed and weaved among the hills and valleys of the Ozarks, the laws on his tail, burning for home …"

He helped write the 3rd-edition rules. My understanding (which I admit may be flawed) is that at least the earlier books were from pre-3rd-edition. The current rules set is 4th, though 3rd still has a large following.

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--neko128

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"The cookie told me to!"
"Cookies aren't always right, you know."
"But they're so sweet!"

Please DO try in Hollywood or Washington DC. (Or your local politician's house... I don't care what his/her political affiliation is)

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Did I offend you? Get over it!