[HangnJudge]

Doesn't a P-BE neutron generator require a proton beam source
in the 20 mev + range to generate a neutron flux?

Would be hard to use as a weapons initiator if
you have to bombard it with a particle accelerator

[jveritas]

I do not know. It seems that you know more about this subject than I do. What do you think about the Graphite Coated with Tantalum?

[Tarantulas]

Doesn't a P-BE neutron generator require a proton beam source in the 20 mev + range to generate a neutron flux?

No. Polonium-210 emits alpha particles during its radioactive decay, which interact with the Beryllium to produce neutrons. The neutrons can be used for several different purposes, not just in nuclear weapons.

If this was a Po-Be source and it was over ten years old, it would be virtually useless. Polonium-210 has a half-life of 140 days, and after five half-lives, any source of radioactivity is basically inert (it doesn't make sense that this would be a "P-Be" source, since "P" is the designation for Phosphorus).