WAS IT A DUD? (NK nuclear test)
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WAS IT A DUD? (NK nuclear test)
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/061009/ap/d8kl919g0.html
North Korea sets off an earthshaking explosion _ and claims it was nuclear. Was it? For scientists, that was not a quick and easy question to answer.
Like earthquakes, large explosions send out shockwaves that can be detected on seismographs. Big nuclear bombs make big waves, with clear signatures that make them fairly easy to detect, analyze and confirm that they were caused by splitting atoms. But smaller blasts _ as North Korea's appears to have been _ are trickier to break down.
The natural sound of the Earth, with its constant seismic activity of tectonic plates grinding together, complicates the task of trying to determine whether a smaller blast was caused by conventional explosives or a nuclear device, said Xavier Clement of France's Atomic Energy Commission.
He likened the problem to trying to "detect the violins or a flute in a symphony orchestra when you are playing the cymbals."
His agency estimated the North Korean blast at around 1 kiloton or less _ equivalent to the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT. For a nuclear device, that would be so weak that the French defense minister suggested that "there could have been a failure" with the North Korean reported test.
I think it is time they aired "the day after" oh wait, SCIFI channel already did........
North Korea sets off an earthshaking explosion _ and claims it was nuclear. Was it? For scientists, that was not a quick and easy question to answer.
Like earthquakes, large explosions send out shockwaves that can be detected on seismographs. Big nuclear bombs make big waves, with clear signatures that make them fairly easy to detect, analyze and confirm that they were caused by splitting atoms. But smaller blasts _ as North Korea's appears to have been _ are trickier to break down.
The natural sound of the Earth, with its constant seismic activity of tectonic plates grinding together, complicates the task of trying to determine whether a smaller blast was caused by conventional explosives or a nuclear device, said Xavier Clement of France's Atomic Energy Commission.
He likened the problem to trying to "detect the violins or a flute in a symphony orchestra when you are playing the cymbals."
His agency estimated the North Korean blast at around 1 kiloton or less _ equivalent to the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT. For a nuclear device, that would be so weak that the French defense minister suggested that "there could have been a failure" with the North Korean reported test.
I think it is time they aired "the day after" oh wait, SCIFI channel already did........
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RE: WAS IT A DUD? (NK nuclear test)
Good thing it was their only one
hehe
For now....
imho I think we should take a little more action then we are right now...if N. Korea is allowed to produce them then Iran will likely follow and all then can come are bad things. Plus, we don't want terrorists paying a pretty penny for a nuclear warhead or two
heheFor now....
imho I think we should take a little more action then we are right now...if N. Korea is allowed to produce them then Iran will likely follow and all then can come are bad things. Plus, we don't want terrorists paying a pretty penny for a nuclear warhead or two
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Joined: Feb 2006
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From: Montana
RE: WAS IT A DUD? (NK nuclear test)
what I don't understand is what's so difficult about making a nuke? I mean lets be honest here you can pretty much get the plans for it from science publications and places online? How on earth did they create a 1 kiloton dud? Who can't figure out how to make a nuke? If you get the uranium and plutonium that you need then you should be able to do it, if you don't impact them correctly then almost nothing is going to happen... We were able to get a team of nuclear scientists to evaluate it why couldn't NK get one who could build it? Dud my hiney... I'll bet that thing was just suitcase sized, big enough to carry around and level a building but small enough to not take out a city....
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