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I Forge Iron

pattern welding plutonium


Steve Sells

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I believe it is Thomas.

Radioactivity is probably it's least dangerous attribute, toxicity is about as high as anything I know of and it's insidious once in you. I recall reading about the Fatman bomb project where someone was moving shavings from machining the core and dropped the container spilling the oil exposing the plutonium shavings to open air. It flashed emitting a little puff of smoke and the tech was dead in a week but he got a heavy dose. How much plutonium shavings? About a fingernail paring's worth, more wasn't allowed to leave the containment around the lathes. Cuttings were removed every pass or two in separate containments.

I THINK this memory is of the Fatman core but it might have been the Little Boy core and that was a U238 gun device. I don't recall if Little Boy carried the Demon Core or it was detonated at Trinity. I'm remembering these things in bits and pieces. The Manhattan project killed a bunch of people, some in most gruesome ways, not counting the target populations that is. Interesting reading.

Frosty The Lucky.

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When shaking hands with the Dragon sometimes it's too late afterwards to count your fingers!  I remember reading that Uranium was a pain to machine; but I don't recall mention of Plutonium; probably classified.  Hmm wiki has a marvelous amount of info!  "The pyrophoric plutonium shavings also posed a risk of self-ignition"

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

 

When shaking hands with the Dragon sometimes it's too late afterwards to count your fingers!  I remember reading that Uranium was a pain to machine; but I don't recall mention of Plutonium; probably classified.  Hmm wiki has a marvelous amount of info!  "The pyrophoric plutonium shavings posed a risk of self-ignition

 

 

​I had to Google the Demon core to catch up on the details. It was intended for the 3rd. bomb but Japan surrendered and it was detonated over Bikini Atoll.

I can think of better ways to go than catching a couple thousand rads.

 

Good thinking to get the aerial shot at the end. Quadcopter?

​Probably a lead one.

Frosty The Lucky.

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