The Cobalt Bomb: The Doomsday Device That Never Was

[Utwig]

Hi,

A video link of the russian Tsar nuke being tested.

http://www.break.com/index/russian-tsar-hydrogen-bomb-explosion.html

Food for thought eh? wouldn't want one of those going off in a city near me.

Utwig

 

[mgb_phys]

I think that is CGI.
the Russian test grounds at Novaya Zemlya are surrounded by mountains which aren't visible on the video.
All the pictures I've seen of the test are much poorer quality and from much further away.

But as you say a big bang - and that was only a third of the design yield. It was a fission-fusion-fission weapon but they left off the outer fission shell for the test, so it was only around 50Mt instead of the 150Mt possible.

One of it's main problmes is finding a city that is far enough away from you! Supposedly if used in most of western europe the full device would have damaged soviet territory!

 

[chaoseverlasting]

Didnt they detonate that somewhere near the arctic circle? Or is Novaya Zemlya near the circle?

 

[tribdog]

or does Novaya Zemlya mean Arctic circle? This one was 50Mt? Didn't they do one in the 80-90 range once?

 

[mgb_phys]

or does Novaya Zemlya mean Arctic circle?

Novaya Zemlya means new land apparently - it's an island off the north coast of Russia in the artic ocean. Basically a long way from anywhere - although ironically probably much more accesible to US spying than somewhere in the middle of siberia.

This one was 50Mt? Didn't they do one in the 80-90 range once?

This is the biggest known test (and probably the actual biggest - they are difficult to hide!)

The weapon's publicity yield was 100Mt (nice round number)
The test was 57Mt (they removed the outer fission shell) the estimated yield for the full system is > 150Mt.

 

[tribdog]

oh, this was in 1961? it's the one I was thinking of. I knew russia had tested one that was supposed to be close to 100. Yeah, this movie is a fake I think.

 

[tribdog]

You want to see impressive? this one was smaller, but it looks pretty awesome.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I read somewhere that you get more damage with a bunch of smaller bombs than with one big one, and a better chance that at least some of them will detonate. The purpose of the big one, as I recall, was to be detonated high above the ground and have the emp take out communications nationwide. I wonder if that would even work now with current countermeasures. If not, it would explain why we never had a megatonage competition with the Soviets.

 

[tribdog]

the purpose of the big one was to be able to say mine is bigger than yours. that's the only reason the Russian's conducted this test. they certainly weren't learning something new. I was under the assumption that while fission bombs are limited in size, fusion bombs are much more scalable and instead of asking how big it can be made the question becomes how big do you want it.

 

[mgb_phys]

Large bombs aren't really worth it except for bragging rights.
For an airburst the damage radius is roughly the cube root of yield (since the energy goes into a sphere) with more accurate targetting you need much smaller devices.

Thermonuclear devices are pretty much unlimted in size if you don't have to carry them.
Making a large device that you can drop is a bit trickier.

 

[rootX]

The thread title sounds like some Asian language every time I see it

 

[Ivan Seeking]

If you think that is a big bomb, checkout what the Soviets considered doing back in the 60's. They considered building a doomsday machine... at least, so the story goes.


I have heard a number of varations on what happened. By some accounts, Kruschev wanted to proceed with the project, but his military advisors thought the idea was mad and they talked him out of it.

 

[Utwig]

Hi,

Even if its cgi, I still think the vid is pretty sweet. Must have taken a bit of time to produce, wouldn't want one of them to go off on a virtual city near me...

:)

Utwig

 

[Art]

If you think that is a big bomb, checkout what the Soviets considered doing back in the 60's. They considered building a doomsday machine... at least, so the story goes.


I have heard a number of varations on what happened. By some accounts, Kruschev wanted to proceed with the project, but his military advisors thought the idea was mad and they talked him out of it.

Wasn't the so called doomsday device, which though technically feasible was never built, a cobalt bomb postulated by Leo Szilard in 1950 whose half life was perfect for the widest possible dispersal in the atmosphere and so deadly to life planet wide?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Wasn't the so called doomsday device, which though technically feasible was never built, a cobalt bomb...

Corbomite.

From what I have heard, yes, it was to be a cobalt bomb.

 

[vanesch]

Wasn't the so called doomsday device, which though technically feasible was never built, a cobalt bomb postulated by Leo Szilard in 1950 whose half life was perfect for the widest possible dispersal in the atmosphere and so deadly to life planet wide?

Yes. It was on that basis that "Dr Strangelove" was based, no ?
Edward Teller joked about it: "method of delivery: backyard"