tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3470097808236648178.post6107008071734240915..comments2023-12-24T15:26:45.358-08:00Comments on pygalgia: Can We Have An Adult Conversation About Iran?pygalgiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14423302866723206260noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3470097808236648178.post-18062216113891643682012-03-09T07:49:42.892-08:002012-03-09T07:49:42.892-08:00So glad you have visitors here who have far more k...So glad you have visitors here who have far more knowledge than myself on the subject.<br />My only understanding on the matter is that scientists a while back figured out that it would take only two or three dozen detonations of these ultimate bombs to eliminate life as we know it on the entire planet. So here we sit at the ultimate Mexican standoff.Demeurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01935263659097273535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3470097808236648178.post-64708044300117390372012-03-06T15:20:19.586-08:002012-03-06T15:20:19.586-08:00Low enriched uranium is under 20% U235. However wh...Low enriched uranium is under 20% U235. However what Iran would need for civilian commercial light water reactors is enriched to 3-5 % U235.<br /><br />Anything above 20% is considered highly enriched and is weapon-usable in theory, but it's not really practical as the neutron count increases quickly (virtually exponentially, IIRC) and you need a much larger critical mass to get the weapon to explode cleanly. Larger critical mass means larger bomb, more difficulty in initiating and containing the reaction, and frankly, a larger problem in delivery. So, you go for higher enrichment to make those design parameters easier to engineer.<br /><br />Looking it up, I see that Little Boy used 64 kg of 80% enriched U235, which was virtually all of the uranium that the U.S. was able to produce from 1941-1945 when we were flat-out wartime mobilized to do so. I think we only went with enough for one (uranium) bomb as the implosion method won out on design and especially scalability of the explosive size, but needed Plutonium for the reaction.<br /><br />Obviously, even higher enrichment reduces the critical mass needed, but comes at a cost (85% enriched U235 crit-mass is about 50 kg).<br /><br />Regardless, UN, IAEA and US observations and inspections have found that Iran is probably barely at the ability to enrich to the 3-5% range to a LWR commercial unit.<br /><br />I, for one, am not worried that Iran could speed enrichment times up that quickly without the U.S. noticing.SweaterManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05560868794083223120noreply@blogger.com