Posted on 09/22/2015 9:03:37 AM PDT by bkopto
North Korea may be trying to obtain material for a hydrogen bomb by putting reactor at Yongbyon back into operation, a U.S. think tank speculates.
In a report on the North's nuclear facility at Yongbyon on Wednesday, David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington said, "As part of the renovation of the reactor, North Korean technicians reportedly installed (or renovated) irradiation channels in the core."
"One candidate isotope that must be considered is tritium, which could be used in making more sophisticated nuclear weapons."
He speculated that the North may want to conduct another nuclear test to obtain tritium.
"Isotope production requires a facility to separate the isotopes. North Korea built such a facility years ago, called the Isotope Production Laboratory in the northern part of Yongbyon near the old Soviet-supplied reactor," Albright said but added, "This facility dates to the 1970s and its operational status is unknown."
"Tritium would enable nuclear weapon designs that could have greater explosive yields than weapons made from only plutonium or weapons-grade uranium," he added. "Whether North Korea can make nuclear weapons using tritium is unknown although we believe that it remains a technical problem North Korea still needs to solve."
Thank you, Jimmy Carter.
I hope you are in pain.
Tritium enhances the yield of a fission bomb via injection into the core if my source is to be believed, the book: “The Fear of All Sums”.
I didn’t see where they were trying to achieve fusion.
They have to successfully make an A-bomb first.
They’ve claimed 3 detonations.
First is widely believed to have been a fizzle.
No radiation was detected from the other two, leading scientists to believe it was actually conventional explosives.
That’s nice. They should try making more food that is available to the general population.
One can boost the yield of a fission nuke by an order of magnitude by injecting tritium and deuterium into the core. The hydrogen isotopes fuse and release high energy neutrons which induces more fission.
Why make more food when you can point a gun and steal it?
Sure - maybe we can help them fund state-sponsored terrorism, too, just like Iran. I think the Little Dick-Tater is on the right path to have an audience with Jean Francois Keree.
NK just got the Iran contract to build a nuclear weapon. $150 billion buys a lot from one of the poorest countries on Earth.
North Korea’s 3 detonations had insufficient radiation output to trigger a radiation implosion of the Lithium Deuteride fusion fuel.
I suspect they are going to do the Russian ploy using Tritium boosting and then claim they built an H-Bomb.
Primary to North Korea bomb program is them using Reactor Grade Plutonium which is causing pre-detonation.
I think they won’t get very far.
I doubt that Kim Dung could figure out how to make vinegar and baking soda fizz...
If they need electricity to build a bomb, I think they might be out of luck. It’s awful dark over North Korea at night.
Well I’m sure they would prefer to be able to point a gun at another country to steal some food, but it appears the NK gov’t is all about making sure the guy at the top is well-fed and well-coiffed with occasional press releases about him being on the verge of launching this or blowing up that, as well as the military having snappy uniforms. Meanwhile, if what unofficial news gets out of there can be believed, the average NK civilian seems to be scrounging for food on a daily basis.
Boosted fission with tritium? Or Teller-Ulam with Lithium Deuteride?
First stage uses a fissionable to get started. Fission fragments are fallout on their own. No “disclosed” pure fusion devices known.
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