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The first nuclear explosive devices provided the basic building blocks of future weapons. Pictured is the Gadget device being prepared for the Trinity nuclear test.. Nuclear weapons design are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package [1] of a nuclear weapon to detonate.
In addition to the two superpowers, France and China are known to have tested neutron or enhanced radiation bombs. France conducted an early test of the technology in 1967 [25] and tested an actual neutron bomb in 1980. [26] China conducted a successful test of neutron bomb principles in 1984 and a successful test of a neutron bomb in 1988.
A modulated neutron initiator is a neutron source capable of producing a burst of neutrons on activation. It is a crucial part of some nuclear weapons, as its role is to "kick-start" the chain reaction at the optimal moment when the configuration is prompt critical. It is also known as an internal neutron initiator.
The unbound neutron has a half-life of 10 minutes and 11 seconds. The release of neutrons from the nucleus requires exceeding the binding energy of the neutron, which is typically 7-9 MeV for most isotopes. Neutron sources generate free neutrons by a variety of nuclear reactions, including nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Whatever the source ...
Some nuclear weapons are designed for special purposes; most of these are for non-strategic (decisively war-winning) purposes and are referred to as tactical nuclear weapons. The neutron bomb purportedly conceived by Sam Cohen is a thermonuclear weapon that yields a relatively small explosion but a relatively large amount of neutron radiation ...
Pages in category "Nuclear weapon design" The following 27 pages are in this category, out of 27 total. ... Modulated neutron initiator; N. Neutron reflector; Nuclear ...
For example, sealed neutron tubes have replaced radioactive modulated neutron initiators, in supplying a pulse of neutrons to the imploding core of modern nuclear weapons. Examples of neutron tube ideas date as far back as the 1930s, pre-nuclear weapons era, by German scientists filing a 1938 German patent (March 1938, patent #261,156) and ...
Prompt-critical assemblies are created by design in nuclear weapons and some specially designed research experiments. The difference between a prompt neutron and a delayed neutron has to do with the source from which the neutron has been released into the reactor.