National Interest/War Is Boring: America’s Most Powerful Nuclear Weapon Almost Killed The People Who Helped Build It
“We soon found ourselves under a large black and orange cloud that seemed to be dropping bright red balls of fire all over the ocean around us,” one sailor recounted. “I think many of us expected that we were witnessing the end of the world.”
Later, scientists calculated that Castle Bravo’s yield was actually 15 megatons.
The reason? A “tritium bonus” occurred during the thermonuclear reaction. Cascading neutrons transformed the lithium-7 isotope—that comprised most of the “dry fuel”—into tritium and helium.
Tritium causes extremely energetic fusion.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Even the smartest people in the room can make a mistake .... and they made a big one with this one.
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