[We have episodes in German and English] How do scientists uncover phenomena and explain their connections? How do engineers design machines, methods and infrastructure? At omega tau, experts give detailed answers. Over the last ten years, we have produced 300 episodes in which we dug deeper, until we ran out of questions. Join us on our journey through the world of science and engineering: the closer you look and listen, the more interesting things get.
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episode 270: Nuclear Weapons
Guest: Alex Wellerstein Host: Markus Voelter Shownoter: Andy Joiner
In this episode we chat about the science and engineering involved in nuclear weapons. Our guest is Alex Wellerstein of the Stevens Institute of Technology. We talk about atomic bombs as well as hydrogen bombs, how to refine the necessary fuels as well as a little bit of history.
A few specific links, as mentioned on the episode:
- Alex’ Blog nuclearsecrecy.com
- Alex’ Nukemap
- David Baker’s book on nuclear weapons
- Eric Schlosser’s book, Command and Control.
And as is almost an unfortunate tradition, I forgot to mention all of those of you who helped me prepare the episode with your input: Patrick Hosford, Daniel Merrlin Rüscher, Christopher Fredette, Sebastian Knapp, Benn Britton, Bernd Hart, MalteJ, Szymon Bartus, and Karsten Schmidt. Thank you :-)
Introduction Alex 00:03:54Alex Wellerstein | Stevens Institute of Technology | Nukemap
Science Fundamentals 00:06:37Nuclear weapon | Atom | Nucleus | Proton | Neutron | Electron | Chemical Explosion | Nuclear Energy | Controlled Reaction | Exponential Effect | Fission Reactor | Fission Bomb | Race Condition | Critical Mass | Einstein’s Formula E=MC² | Newton’s Equations | Electrical Repulsion | Nuclear Force | Uranium | Nuclear Stability | Nucleon | Barbell Shape | Particles | Radiation | Thermodynamics | Binding Energy | Mass Defect | Supernova | Electronvolt | Split Atom | Natural Nuclear Fission Reactor | Earth Crust | Control Rods | Neutron Economy | Fission Product | Delayed Neutron | Research Reactor | Self Limiting
Critical Mass 00:19:44Los Alamos | Critical Assembly | Spontaneous Fission Rates | Fissile Materials | Uranium 235 | Plutonium 238 | Enriched Uranium | Fission Factor, k <ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_chain_reaction#Effective_neutron_multiplication_factor> | TNT | Kiloton and Megaton | Reflector | Beryllium | Density | Bare Sphere Critical Mass
Fusion 00:26:54Nuclear Fusion | Coulomb Repulsion | Coulomb Barrier | Kinetic Energy | 200MeV Uranium | 14MeV Deuterium/Tritium
Weapons Effects 00:34:02Pressure, Heat, Radiation, Electromagnetic | Fireball | Blast Wave/Pressure Wave | Thermal Pulse | Blast of Neutrons and Gamma Rays | Fallout | Electromagnetic | Flammability | Hiroshima | Blast Amplification | Ideal Height | Decay | Nagasaki | Detonation | Hydrogen bomb | Cold War | Missile | Yield | ICBM
Atomic Bomb 00:54:19Manhattan Project | Enriched Uranium | Moderator | Godiva Device | Implosion Method | High Explosive Lenses | Detonation Velocities | Waves Interact | Composite Bomb | Oppenheimer | Plutonium vs Uranium | Rosenbergs | Classified
Hydrogen Bomb 01:18:54Dial-a-yield | H-Bomb = Thermonuclear | Teller Ulam | Lithium Deuteride | Gamma Radiation | Radiation Pressure | Radiation Implosion | Radiation Engineering (Inertial Confinement Fusion - Lasers) | National Ignition Facility | Ablation | Sparkplug | Fission-Fusion-Fission | Activation | Dirty Bomb | Project Orion | Project Pluto | Cruise Missile | Davey Crocket
Hydrogen Bomb Development 01:50:16Yeld-to-Weight Ratio | Always/Never Problem | Irradiating | Stockpile Stewardship | B61 | B83 | Warhead | Triad | Centrifuge
North Korea 02:17:52