Plutonium and Uranium aren't the only fissile elements available for making A-bombs

I thought I'd post this article as most people aren't aware that there are other elements capable of being used in the ' pit ' of a nuclear weapon - neptunium and americium.

Costly efforts have been made to stem the possible spread of plutonium and highly enriched uranium-the two materials most often mentioned in fear-of-God stories about the danger that Russia's nukes will get loose, or that Saddam Hussein or some lookalike rogue will beg, borrow, or steal fissile material to construct his own unique and irresponsibly managed nuclear arsenal.

So it is ironic that for more than 50 years the nuclear weapons community has failed to mention to the public that those who care about nonproliferation should also be concerned about the neptunium and americium found in nuclear waste streams, because they, too, can be used to make nuclear weapons.

In November 1998, in response to a request by David Albright, head of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), and others, the U.S. Energy Department declassified the information that weapons could be made from these materials. According to Albright, a frequent contributor to the Bulletin, rumors are that both the United States and France have tested nuclear devices using neptunium 237.


Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

neptunium 237,californium 252 ... are all transuranium element. And you can do a weapon with these element.

I.e, with the use of the isotope californium-252 you can produce a nuclear bullet with a force of between one ton and 700 tons of TNT.

I wonder what will happen if we use a machinegun who's firing californium bullet.

Originally posted by ultra_phoenix
I wonder what will happen if we use a machinegun who's firing californium bullet.

I'd guess that the person who's *using* the gun should pray that it has enough *range* to keep them outside of "Ground Zero" when the bullets hit their target...

Sure MidnightDStroyer. And what about those who want to kill theirselves ? BANG IN THE HEAD !

The coroner will have a bad day !

Oh come on. We can have those "Davy Crockett" style weapons. You can just enjoy the fireworks then ;-)

californium-252 Would not work for "Nuclear Bullets". Its critical mass is too high. You need about 10 lbs of it to make a bomb. Maybe a "Nuclear Cannonball" would work.

yeah and maybe someone will make nickelback's guitar strings out of the crap!

and lincoln park too, mommy cry time should be personal.