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To: zonder who wrote (294077)	9/1/2004 5:53:59 AM
From: Elroy Jetson	Respond to of 436258

The first Tall Boy bomb used a very large quantity of very highly-enriched uranium to produce a relatively low megaton yield. This form of uranium is not available by theft or other form of acquisition. It would require a full state effort to produce at a cost of billions. On the other hand, Plutonium bombs, such as Fat Man, produce a dramatically higher yield than do highly-enriched uranium bombs - and Plutonium can be stolen from a great number of locations or produced at little expense in a breeder style reactor. Unfortunately they require timing to several millionths of a second in order to explode in a nuclear fashion. You have grandly pronounced that accurate timers did not exist in WW-II. This is false. It was the most complex and difficult design challenge of the Manhattan Project, but they did produce a timer measuring in millionths of seconds. Although the design of this timer is still secret, it is widely believed that this was the first atomic clock. Ostensibly, the first atomic clock using the interaction between ammonia and microwaves was not developed until four years later, but some form of this clock probably provided the basis of the timer used. This is why these timing devices are listed as munitions by the US Department of Defense, as well as other nations, and cannot be sold without a license. While this may throw you into a rage and rant, there is little you can do about it - even as you bellow that it's a foolish policy that you can't even believe you're discussing. My suggestion, don't discuss it. The development of timers of similar quality the size of a grain of rice with a cost of a few bucks available everywhere removes a significant barrier to the production of a nuclear weapon. Personally I expect the Department of Defense will set a limit on the accuracy permitted to be designed into these components for that reason. You no doubt disagree -- and you are certainly entitled to send them a scathing letter. Here is a link to a simple primer on the design and history of nuclear weapons so you can become as educated as you imagine yourself to be already. fas.org ww2guide.com