Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

That's fascinating - and, later, a somewhat similar calculation was done erroneously. The yield of the Castle Bravo bomb - the first hydrogen bomb to use lithium as its source of tritium - was 250% greater than predicted, on account of overlooking the prompt conversion of lithium-7 to tritium when bombarded by high-energy neutrons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo#High_yield



I'm sure I read that someone had done that calculation for Castle Bravo and was watching the test and for a few moments, as the fireball got bigger and bigger and bigger, that they had actually got the calculation wrong!


weren't they on the same Island with it in a bunker or something?




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: