How Boosted Fission Bombs Work | Nuclear Proliferation Explained

Boosted fission devices were a major innovation in the development of nuclear weapons. By placing a deuterium-tritium core inside of a plutonium pit, designers could use fission to cause fusion, which in turn causes greater fission. The result is a much stronger and more efficient weapon without the need for additional fissile material. It also served as a stepping stone to a true hydrogen bomb.
Photos of TVA power plant is licensed under CC 2.0: creativecommons.org/licenses/...

[@rickythegreat1]

I'm loving the new series, keep up the great work!

[@sawyerlogon7666]

Thanks for telling me how to make one i needed help with mine

[@Mr.Ambrose_Dyer_Armitage_Esq.]

Best of luck and Allahu ackbar, brother!

[@mursyidnadisan1849]

Lol...creating a super symmetrical explosion is already hard bro...best of luck 😂😂😂😂

[@sawyerlogon7666]

@@mursyidnadisan1849 Thanks

[@ccsargent]

Excellent explanation.

[@ingorichter649]

This enhanced my theoretical knowledge for better understanding of the different kind of nuclear devices a lot, many thanks for this short but highly informative and very well explaned content.

[@PunmasterSTP]

This video was tritiawesome! 👍

[@donaldbadowski6048]

Tritium is expensive to make. Keep that in mind when you get excited about the recent laser fusion news.

[@BernardTse97]

I would like to ask, for the boosted fission bomb, is it still necessary to have to Po-Be initiator to make neutrons and cause chain reaction of Pt? Thx

[@christoskokkolis5110]

Great video! I can see how metallurgist can make a metal plutonium sphere hollow, but how do you then insert deuterium and tritium (both gases, right?) and then seal the plutonium sphere so the inserted gases do not escape? !! Thank you

[@Evan_Bell]

Braze a tube though the wall of the hollow pit. When the time comes to arm the weapon, inject the boost gas into the cavity, and explosively seal the tube.

[@christoskokkolis5110]

@@Evan_Bell Thank you!

[@K0gashuk0]

Should be a larger explosion with less fallout. More of the material is consumed. The initial blast will expel more initial radiations.

[@Evan_Bell]

No, that's not how it works.
By far the most hazardous component of fallout is the fission products. The mass of fission products is directly proportional to the mass of fissile material fissioned, and thus the fission yield. Higher yield fission weapon will produce more fallout.
In fusion boasted fission weapons, no more than a few percent of the total yield results from fusion.

[@limabravo6065]

Nuclear weapons whether pure fission or fission plus fusion (boosted or thermonuclear) are terribly inefficient. Its not because the processes are flawed its because the physics package assemblies within the weapons are only in one piece for a vanishingly small amout of time.
Ex. The hiroshima gun type u235 weapon is the least efficient design ever used with the percentage of its fuel that underwent fission being in the single digits. However even with the vast majority of that highly enriched uranium being vaporized and tossed out in the explosion, the device still managed to produce over 10 kilotons of explosive force. not bad for a design they felt so confident in that they didnt test it (plus the amount of u235 on hand in 1945 was miniscule). So the boosted designs were about getting more bang for your buck (yes bad puns are the devils work). Culminating in the 500 kiloton ivy king shot

[@zaphodb777]

Good on science, nopes on engineering.