[extropy-chat] Suitcase nukes

[Dirk Bruere]

spike wrote:

>>J. Andrew Rogers:
>>
>>Even if we posit that someone stole the mini-nukes in the '90s, the
>>devices as stolen would already be relatively inert in all likelihood...
>>
>>j. andrew rogers
>>    
>>
>
>
>I would like to think that is the case J. Andrew, but the
>short half life element is the tritium (~12 yrs).  If the
>suitcase nuke consisted of only fission elements and
>high explosives, the part that is used as the fusion
>initiator in modern nukes, then that part could
>likely go without maintenance for a long time.  
>
>
>  
>
IIRC some (if not all) of those nukes were *not* tritium boosted and 
were designed to be stable over very long time periods without maintainance.
One rumour is that a number of them are missing in Western nations, 
placed in caches by KGB agents to take out critical targets in the 
opening stages of WW3.

-- 
Dirk

The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millenium
http://www.theconsensus.org



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