 

--------------------------------

  File courtesy of Outlaw Labs

--------------------------------





 ============================================================================

               -------------------------------------------------

               - Documentation and Diagrams of the Atomic Bomb -

               -------------------------------------------------

 ============================================================================

   ______________

  /              \

 <-} DISCLAIMER {->

  \______________/



     The  information  contained  in  this file  is strictly for  academic use

alone.   Outlaw Labs will bear  no responsibility  for any use otherwise.   It

would be  wise  to note that the  personnel  who  design  and construct  these

devices are  skilled physicists  and are  more knowledgeable  in these matters

than  any  layperson  can ever hope to be...   Should  a layperson  attempt to

build a device such as this,  chances are s/he would probably kill his/herself

not by a nuclear detonation,  but rather through radiation exposure.   We here

at Outlaw Labs do not recommend using  this file beyond the realm of casual or

academic curiosity.





 ============================================================================



                            -----------------------

                            -+ Table of Contents +-

                            -----------------------





     I.  The History of the Atomic Bomb

         ------------------------------

         A).  Development  (The Manhattan Project)

         B).  Detonation

              1). Hiroshima

              2). Nagasaki

              3). Byproducts of atomic detonations

              4). Blast Zones





    II.  Nuclear Fission/Nuclear Fusion

         ------------------------------

         A).  Fission (A-Bomb) & Fusion (H-Bomb)

         B).  U-235, U-238 and Plutonium





   III.  The Mechanism of The Bomb

         -------------------------

         A).  Altimeter

         B).  Air Pressure Detonator

         C).  Detonating Head(s)

         D).  Explosive Charge(s)

         E).  Neutron Deflector

         F).  Uranium & Plutonium

         G).  Lead Shield

         H).  Fuses





    IV.  The Diagram of The Bomb

         -----------------------

         A).  The Uranium Bomb

         B).  The Plutonium Bomb









 ============================================================================

 

--------------------------------

  File courtesy of Outlaw Labs

--------------------------------







   I.  The History of the Atomic Bomb

       ------------------------------



       On August 2nd 1939, just before the beginning of World War II, Albert

Einstein wrote to then President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Einstein and several

other scientists told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify U-235

with which might in turn be used to build an atomic bomb.  It was shortly

thereafter that the United States Government began the serious undertaking

known only then as the Manhattan Project.  Simply put, the Manhattan Project

was committed to expedient research and production that would produce a viable

atomic bomb.



     The most complicated issue to be addressed was the production of ample

amounts of `enriched' uranium to sustain a chain reaction.  At the time,

Uranium-235 was very hard to extract.  In fact, the ratio of conversion from

Uranium ore to Uranium metal is 500:1.  An additional drawback is that the 1

part of Uranium that is finally refined from the ore consists of over 99%

Uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb.  To make it even

more difficult, U-235 and U-238 are precisely similar in their chemical

makeup.  This proved to be as much of a challenge as separating a solution of

sucrose from a solution of glucose.  No ordinary chemical extraction could

separate the two isotopes.  Only mechanical methods could effectively separate

U-235 from U-238.  Several scientists at Columbia University managed to solve

this dilemma.



     A massive enrichment laboratory/plant was constructed at Oak Ridge,

Tennessee.  H.C. Urey, along with his associates and colleagues at Columbia

University, devised a system that worked on the principle of gaseous

diffusion.  Following this process, Ernest O.  Lawrence (inventor of the

Cyclotron) at the University of California in Berkeley implemented a process

involving magnetic separation of the two isotopes.



     Following the first two processes, a gas centrifuge was used to further

separate the lighter U-235 from the heavier non-fissionable U-238 by their

mass.  Once all of these procedures had been completed, all that needed to be

done was to put to the test the entire concept behind atomic fission.  [For

more information on these procedures of refining Uranium, see Section 3.]



     Over the course of six years, ranging from 1939 to 1945, more than 2

billion dollars were spent on the Manhattan Project.  The formulas for

refining Uranium and putting together a working bomb were created and seen to

their logical ends by some of the greatest minds of our time.  Among these

people who unleashed the power of the atomic bomb was J. Robert Oppenheimer.



     Oppenheimer was the major force behind the Manhattan Project.  He

literally ran the show and saw to it that all of the great minds working on

this project made their brainstorms work.  He oversaw the entire project from

its conception to its completion.



     Finally the day came when all at Los Alamos would find out whether or not

The Gadget (code-named as such during its development) was either going to be

the colossal dud of the century or perhaps end the war.  It all came down to

a fateful morning of midsummer, 1945.



     At 5:29:45 (Mountain War Time) on July 16th, 1945, in a white blaze that

stretched from the basin of the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico to the

still-dark skies, The Gadget ushered in the Atomic Age.  The light of the

explosion then turned orange as the atomic fireball began shooting upwards at

360 feet per second, reddening and pulsing as it cooled. The characteristic

mushroom cloud of radioactive vapor materialized at 30,000 feet.  Beneath the

cloud, all that remained of the soil at the blast site were fragments of jade

green radioactive glass.  ...All of this caused by the heat of the reaction.



     The brilliant light from the detonation pierced the early morning skies

with such intensity that residents from a faraway neighboring community would

swear that the sun came up twice that day.  Even more astonishing is that a

blind girl saw the flash 120 miles away.



     Upon witnessing the explosion, reactions among the people who created

it were mixed.  Isidor Rabi felt that the equilibrium in nature had been

upset -- as if humankind had become a threat to the world it inhabited.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, though ecstatic about the success of the project,

quoted a remembered fragment from Bhagavad Gita.  "I am become Death," he

said, "the destroyer of worlds."  Ken Bainbridge, the test director, told

Oppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of bitches."



     Several participants, shortly after viewing the results, signed petitions

against loosing the monster they had created, but their protests fell on deaf

ears.  As it later turned out, the Jornada del Muerto of New Mexico was not

the last site on planet Earth to experience an atomic explosion.



     As many know, atomic bombs have been used only twice in warfare.  The

first and foremost blast site of the atomic bomb is Hiroshima.  A Uranium

bomb (which weighed in at over 4 & 1/2 tons) nicknamed "Little Boy" was

dropped on Hiroshima August 6th, 1945.  The Aioi Bridge, one of 81 bridges

connecting the seven-branched delta of the Ota River, was the aiming point of

the bomb.  Ground Zero was set at 1,980 feet.  At 0815 hours, the bomb was

dropped from the Enola Gay.  It missed by only 800 feet.  At 0816 hours, in

the flash of an instant, 66,000 people were killed and 69,000 people were

injured by a 10 kiloton atomic explosion.



     The point of total vaporization from the blast measured one half of a

mile in diameter.  Total destruction ranged at one mile in diameter.  Severe

blast damage carried as far as two miles in diameter.  At two and a half

miles, everything flammable in the area burned.  The remaining area of the

blast zone was riddled with serious blazes that stretched out to the final

edge at a little over three miles in diameter.  [See diagram below for blast

ranges from the atomic blast.]



     On August 9th 1945, Nagasaki fell to the same treatment as Hiroshima.

Only this time, a Plutonium bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" was dropped on the city.

Even though the "Fat Man" missed by over a mile and a half, it still leveled

nearly half the city.  Nagasaki's population dropped in one split-second from

422,000 to 383,000.  39,000 were killed, over 25,000 were injured.  That

blast was less than 10 kilotons as well.  Estimates from physicists who have

studied each atomic explosion state that the bombs that were used had utilized

only 1/10th of 1 percent of their respective explosive capabilities.



     While the mere explosion from an atomic bomb is deadly enough, its

destructive ability doesn't stop there.  Atomic fallout creates another hazard

as well.  The rain that follows any atomic detonation is laden with

radioactive particles.  Many survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts

succumbed to radiation poisoning due to this occurance.



     The atomic detonation also has the hidden lethal surprise of affecting

the future generations of those who live through it.  Leukemia is among the

greatest of afflictions that are passed on to the offspring of survivors.



     While the main purpose behind the atomic bomb is obvious, there are many

by-products that have been brought into consideration in the use of all

weapons atomic.  With one small atomic bomb, a massive area's communications,

travel and machinery will grind to a dead halt due to the EMP (Electro-

Magnetic Pulse) that is radiated from a high-altitude atomic detonation.

These high-level detonations are hardly lethal, yet they deliver a serious

enough EMP to scramble any and all things electronic ranging from copper wires

all the way up to a computer's CPU within a 50 mile radius.



     At one time, during the early days of The Atomic Age, it was a popular

notion that one day atomic bombs would one day be used in mining operations

and perhaps aid in the construction of another Panama Canal.  Needless to say,

it never came about.  Instead, the military applications of atomic destruction

increased.  Atomic tests off of the Bikini Atoll and several other sites were

common up until the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was introduced.  Photos of nuclear

test sites here in the United States can be obtained through the Freedom of

Information Act.



 ============================================================================



                - Breakdown of the Atomic Bomb's Blast Zones -

                ----------------------------------------------





                                       .

                         .                           .





              .                        .                        .

                             .                   .

               [5]                    [4]                    [5]

                                       .

                      .        .               .        .



       .                  .                         .                  .



                 .          [3]        _        [3]          .

                      .           .   [2]   .           .

                                .     _._     .

                               .    .~   ~.    .

    .          . [4] .         .[2].  [1]  .[2].         . [4] .          .

                               .    .     .    .

                                .    ~-.-~    .

                      .           .   [2]   .           .

                 .          [3]        -        [3]          .



       .                  .                         .                  .



                      .        ~               ~        .

                                       ~

               [5]           .        [4]        .           [5]

                                       .

              .                                                 .





                         .                           .

                                       .





 ============================================================================



                              - Diagram Outline -

                             ---------------------





     [1]  Vaporization Point

          ------------------

          Everything is vaporized by the atomic blast.  98% fatalities.

          Overpress=25 psi.  Wind velocity=320 mph.



     [2]  Total Destruction

          -----------------

          All structures above ground are destroyed.  90% fatalities.

          Overpress=17 psi.  Wind velocity=290 mph.



     [3]  Severe Blast Damage

          -------------------

          Factories and other large-scale building collapse.  Severe damage

          to highway bridges.  Rivers sometimes flow countercurrent.

          65% fatalities, 30% injured.

          Overpress=9 psi.  Wind velocity=260 mph.



     [4]  Severe Heat Damage

          ------------------

          Everything flammable burns.  People in the area suffocate due to

          the fact that most available oxygen is consumed by the fires.

          50% fatalities, 45% injured.

          Overpress=6 psi.  Wind velocity=140 mph.



     [5]  Severe Fire & Wind Damage

          -------------------------

          Residency structures are severely damaged.  People are blown

          around.  2nd and 3rd-degree burns suffered by most survivors.

          15% dead.  50% injured.

          Overpress=3 psi.  Wind velocity=98 mph.







----------------------------------------------------------------------------



                            - Blast Zone Radii -

                           ----------------------

                          [3 different bomb types]

____________________________________________________________________________

  ______________________   ______________________   ______________________

 |                      | |                      | |                      |

 |    -[10 KILOTONS]-   | |     -[1 MEGATON]-    | |    -[20 MEGATONS]-   |

 |----------------------| |----------------------| |----------------------|

 | Airburst - 1,980 ft  | | Airburst - 8,000 ft  | | Airburst - 17,500 ft |

 |______________________| |______________________| |______________________|

 |                      | |                      | |                      |

 |  [1]  0.5 miles      | |  [1]  2.5 miles      | |  [1]  8.75 miles     |

 |  [2]  1 mile         | |  [2]  3.75 miles     | |  [2]  14 miles       |

 |  [3]  1.75 miles     | |  [3]  6.5 miles      | |  [3]  27 miles       |

 |  [4]  2.5 miles      | |  [4]  7.75 miles     | |  [4]  31 miles       |

 |  [5]  3 miles        | |  [5]  10 miles       | |  [5]  35 miles       |

 |                      | |                      | |                      |

 |______________________| |______________________| |______________________|

____________________________________________________________________________



============================================================================





-End of section 1-



 

--------------------------------

  File courtesy of Outlaw Labs

--------------------------------



     II.  Nuclear Fission/Nuclear Fusion

          ------------------------------





     There are 2 types of atomic explosions that can be facilitated by U-235;

fission and fusion.  Fission, simply put, is a nuclear reaction in which an

atomic nucleus splits into fragments, usually two fragments of comparable

mass, with the evolution of approximately 100 million to several hundred

million volts of energy.  This energy is expelled explosively and violently in

the atomic bomb.  A fusion reaction is invariably started with a fission

reaction, but unlike the fission reaction, the fusion (Hydrogen) bomb derives

its power from the fusing of nuclei of various hydrogen isotopes in the

formation of helium nuclei.  Being that the bomb in this file is strictly

atomic, the other aspects of the Hydrogen Bomb will be set aside for now.



     The massive power behind the reaction in an atomic bomb arises from the

forces that hold the atom together.  These forces are akin to, but not quite

the same as, magnetism.



     Atoms are comprised of three sub-atomic particles.  Protons and neutrons

cluster together to form the nucleus (central mass) of the atom while the

electrons orbit the nucleus much like planets around a sun.  It is these

particles that determine the stability of the atom.



     Most natural elements have very stable atoms which are impossible to

split except by bombardment by particle accelerators.  For all practical

purposes, the one true element whose atoms can be split comparatively easily

is the metal Uranium.  Uranium's atoms are unusually large, henceforth, it is

hard for them to hold together firmly.  This makes Uranium-235 an exceptional

candidate for nuclear fission.



     Uranium is a heavy metal, heavier than gold, and not only does it have

the largest atoms of any natural element, the atoms that comprise Uranium have

far more neutrons than protons.  This does not enhance their capacity to

split, but it does have an important bearing on their capacity to facilitate

an explosion.



     There are two isotopes of Uranium.  Natural Uranium consists mostly of

isotope U-238, which has 92 protons and 146 neutrons (92+146=238).  Mixed with

this isotope, one will find a 0.6% accumulation of U-235, which has only 143

neutrons.  This isotope, unlike U-238, has atoms that can be split, thus it is

termed "fissionable" and useful in making atomic bombs.  Being that U-238 is

neutron-heavy, it reflects neutrons, rather than absorbing them like its

brother isotope, U-235.  (U-238 serves no function in an atomic reaction, but

its properties provide an excellent shield for the U-235 in a constructed bomb

as a neutron reflector.  This helps prevent an accidental chain reaction

between the larger U-235 mass and its `bullet' counterpart within the bomb.

Also note that while U-238 cannot facilitate a chain-reaction, it can be

neutron-saturated to produce Plutonium (Pu-239).  Plutonium is fissionable and

can be used in place of Uranium-235 {albeit, with a different model of

detonator} in an atomic bomb. [See Sections 3 & 4 of this file.])



     Both isotopes of Uranium are naturally radioactive.  Their bulky atoms

disintegrate over a period of time.  Given enough time, (over 100,000 years or

more) Uranium will eventually lose so many particles that it will turn into

the metal lead.  However, this process can be accelerated.  This process is

known as the chain reaction.  Instead of disintegrating slowly, the atoms are

forcibly split by neutrons forcing their way into the nucleus.  A U-235 atom

is so unstable that a blow from a single neutron is enough to split it and

henceforth bring on a chain reaction.  This can happen even when a critical

mass is present.  When this chain reaction occurs, the Uranium atom splits

into two smaller atoms of different elements, such as Barium and Krypton.



     When a U-235 atom splits, it gives off energy in the form of heat and

Gamma radiation, which is the most powerful form of radioactivity and the most

lethal.  When this reaction occurs, the split atom will also give off two or

three of its `spare' neutrons, which are not needed to make either Barium or

Krypton.  These spare neutrons fly out with sufficient force to split other

atoms they come in contact with.  [See chart below]  In theory, it is

necessary to split only one U-235 atom, and the neutrons from this will split

other atoms, which will split more...so on and so forth.  This progression

does not take place arithmetically, but geometrically.  All of this will

happen within a millionth of a second.



     The minimum amount to start a chain reaction as described above is known

as SuperCritical Mass.  The actual mass needed to facilitate this chain

reaction depends upon the purity of the material, but for pure U-235, it is

110 pounds (50 kilograms), but no Uranium is never quite pure, so in reality

more will be needed.



     Uranium is not the only material used for making atomic bombs.  Another

material is the element Plutonium, in its isotope Pu-239.  Plutonium is not

found naturally (except in minute traces) and is always made from Uranium.

The only way to produce Plutonium from Uranium is to process U-238 through a

nuclear reactor.  After a period of time, the intense radioactivity causes the

metal to pick up extra particles, so that more and more of its atoms turn into

Plutonium.



     Plutonium will not start a fast chain reaction by itself, but this

difficulty is overcome by having a neutron source, a highly radioactive

material that gives off neutrons fast<h1>Error</h1>
Unable to load requested item for reason: -201
