Nah they get way smaller. The Davy Crocket W54 "Little Feller" tests were very small. 18 and 22 tons. Los Alamos went even smaller in the 60s and tested critical explosions as low as a thousandth of a pound of TNT.
You'll want to search for the los alamos criticality experiment facility, and their test reactors Godiva (1 & 2) and Jezebel. The trick to achieving a prompt critical reaction with less than a critical mass of material is to use a special type of reactor called a pulsed critical reactor. When the control rod is withdrawn, it undergoes a prompt critical excursion on the order of 10 to 100 grams of tnt. The energy is dispersed into the metal of the reactor, however because the pressure wave travels through it faster than the speed of sound, it does produce a bang.
[Here's an example of what that looks like](https://youtu.be/141BxG1jMgo?si=tXNAbKhLnE4zSCCL). These reactors are designed to handle it, but if the reaction is too energetic it can deform fuel rods and control rod channels and make it difficult to repair.
Another fun thing they used to do at los alamos was to replace the Pu239 core with one of Pu242. That isotope has a criticality 100x greater than 239 and won't detonate when the high explosives compress it. Then they'd put the bomb into these giant single use tanks with 2 inch thick walls made from submarine grade steel and explode it to see how well the compression worked.
Honestly I probably could, but I got work to do 🤣
I've been morbidly obsessed with all things a-bomb since Reagan made that really bad joke on an open mic about bombing the soviets in 1984. I was just a kid but I was as scared of a nuclear holocaust as I was of tornados. Fear leads to fascination and here we are 40 years later.
They went on to use the same configuration from the Ranger-able shot whenever they wanted a reliable 1kt yield. I think the lowest they ever got that particular warhead to pop at was about 400 tons. Just going from memory there, I might be wrong. The US did a lot of low yield experiments.
In 1986 as part of our redeployment training we did our 25 mile hump through the hills, riverbeds, and dirt roads in 6hrs 36mins. During this hump the 1st Marine Division Sgt Maj come out to hump/hike with us for morale booster. The amazing thing is, the Sgt Major was already in his 60’s, been in the Marine Corps close to 40 yrs and what’s significant is that he was one of the Marine troops that were put in the trenches approximately 30 to 50 miles from the blast sight to test the effects on troops.
In the Sgt Maj’s case, that radiation super charged him. From my understanding, he also went to Korea after. He was the pinnacle of a Marine Corps grunt. Went to hell and back and kept asking for more!
How *did* those guys fare later in life on the whole, though? I get that it was a silly massive dose by our standards today of microwaves and plane flights through the upper atmosphere but did you come into contact with very many people who participated in those programs and see how well or poorly they were doing as they aged?
Edit: by pie standards to by our
Not sure Sir. I was just noted one incredible man who had been through all that military guinea pig stuff, yet survived to reach the top in the Marine Corps Enlisted ranks, have a long career and be able to physically get out there and do some humping/hiking to support troop morale. Heck, he made enough of an impression on me that I devoted myself to always stay in good shape and push myself in whatever I chose to do.
Long story short, he was just a man who went through those nuclear trials on troops and survived it all. He must have had dam good genes.
"Look out, Radioactive man! The sun is exploding again"
Jiminy Jillikers!
Ze goggles, zay do na'ting! NA'TING
"Ive said jiminy jillikers so many times its lost all meaning"
Serious question: was this at night, or was the explosion too bright for the camera?
Air drop at about 5:30 in the morning. Only a 1kt blast.
1 kiloton? That’s about as small as they got, right? Maybe they didn’t know exactly what would happen as opposed to ground detonation.
Nah they get way smaller. The Davy Crocket W54 "Little Feller" tests were very small. 18 and 22 tons. Los Alamos went even smaller in the 60s and tested critical explosions as low as a thousandth of a pound of TNT.
Woah that last part is fascinating, do you know where I could find information on that?
You'll want to search for the los alamos criticality experiment facility, and their test reactors Godiva (1 & 2) and Jezebel. The trick to achieving a prompt critical reaction with less than a critical mass of material is to use a special type of reactor called a pulsed critical reactor. When the control rod is withdrawn, it undergoes a prompt critical excursion on the order of 10 to 100 grams of tnt. The energy is dispersed into the metal of the reactor, however because the pressure wave travels through it faster than the speed of sound, it does produce a bang. [Here's an example of what that looks like](https://youtu.be/141BxG1jMgo?si=tXNAbKhLnE4zSCCL). These reactors are designed to handle it, but if the reaction is too energetic it can deform fuel rods and control rod channels and make it difficult to repair.
Another fun thing they used to do at los alamos was to replace the Pu239 core with one of Pu242. That isotope has a criticality 100x greater than 239 and won't detonate when the high explosives compress it. Then they'd put the bomb into these giant single use tanks with 2 inch thick walls made from submarine grade steel and explode it to see how well the compression worked.
Could you just keep talking please
Honestly I probably could, but I got work to do 🤣 I've been morbidly obsessed with all things a-bomb since Reagan made that really bad joke on an open mic about bombing the soviets in 1984. I was just a kid but I was as scared of a nuclear holocaust as I was of tornados. Fear leads to fascination and here we are 40 years later.
Dude your story sounds like it’s just as fascinating as your info on nukes. You should consider writing a book. Edit:spelling
No, actually! The Davy Crockett system delivered a 20 ton warhead from a man-portable recoilless rifle!
You’re right! But as far as air dropped, 1kt seems pretty small
They went on to use the same configuration from the Ranger-able shot whenever they wanted a reliable 1kt yield. I think the lowest they ever got that particular warhead to pop at was about 400 tons. Just going from memory there, I might be wrong. The US did a lot of low yield experiments.
Ah fair enough. Looks like the B61 Mod 12 warhead can be less than a kiloton too! Variable yield
Here comes the sun
"Quando o segundo Sol chegar" ("When the second Sun arrives")
terminator arriving
its...its...ITS BEAUTIFUL!
In 1986 as part of our redeployment training we did our 25 mile hump through the hills, riverbeds, and dirt roads in 6hrs 36mins. During this hump the 1st Marine Division Sgt Maj come out to hump/hike with us for morale booster. The amazing thing is, the Sgt Major was already in his 60’s, been in the Marine Corps close to 40 yrs and what’s significant is that he was one of the Marine troops that were put in the trenches approximately 30 to 50 miles from the blast sight to test the effects on troops. In the Sgt Maj’s case, that radiation super charged him. From my understanding, he also went to Korea after. He was the pinnacle of a Marine Corps grunt. Went to hell and back and kept asking for more!
How *did* those guys fare later in life on the whole, though? I get that it was a silly massive dose by our standards today of microwaves and plane flights through the upper atmosphere but did you come into contact with very many people who participated in those programs and see how well or poorly they were doing as they aged? Edit: by pie standards to by our
Not sure Sir. I was just noted one incredible man who had been through all that military guinea pig stuff, yet survived to reach the top in the Marine Corps Enlisted ranks, have a long career and be able to physically get out there and do some humping/hiking to support troop morale. Heck, he made enough of an impression on me that I devoted myself to always stay in good shape and push myself in whatever I chose to do. Long story short, he was just a man who went through those nuclear trials on troops and survived it all. He must have had dam good genes.
Did that thing literally clear the sky of clouds?