Sniffer Plane Finds no Trace of Radioactivity over North Korea

Originally posted by Toelint
THIS no-clear explosion

OMG, that's perfect!!!!

Did you really come up with that yourself?

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
I say bomb the crap out of NK and let SK reap the spoils.

You mean things like millions of dead on both sides. Millions more refugees pouring into neighboring countries. Both Korea's economies will be in ruins after such a struggle. Their cities will be piles of rubble.

So again, tell me what "spoils" they will reap?

I'm inclined to believe that NK indeed has nuclear capabilities and the "test" was either a small-scale device or failed larger device.

I did some reading on the Taepodong-2 missile, given it's range (4,000-10,000km est.) and payload (500kg est. for max range) capabilities I have surmised that a device intended for the Taepodong-2 was tested...

Although I do not know the extent of NK's nuclear capabilities, it's safe to assume that any research they are doing would be small scale. They probly don't have the resources to develop a bomb greater than 100 kilotons. Given their Missile stores, we know they definetly don't have the means to deliver any more than a 500-1000kg device. In comparasin to existing nuclear technologies, a 500kg bomb mostlikely wouldn't produce more than 100Kt or so. It is equally safe to assume that if they have nukes, the technology supporting the weapon probably isn't all that good. So if the US can develop a 500kg device yeilding 100Kt , then NK's 500kg bomb would probably yeild around 30-50Kt. All of which suggest to me that the device tested was either a prototype for the Taepodong-2 and it failed horribly, or the device was built small to test their ability to detonate a micro-nuke and it worked, just not as well as they may have predicted. Both possibilities would make for a small explosion with minimal radiation. If a device of 30kt or so was poorly detonated, it could verywell take up to a few weeks for the radiation to seap through the ground, no? And a micro-nuke wouldn't have much fallout anyway...

Either of the two possible devices are likely candidates for the Taepodong-2. The 30-50kt device would be good for hitting a city, or possibly an aircraft-carrier. Whereas the micro-nuke would be useful in a multiple warhead, being able to drop 5-10 (maybe?) of them over a division of tanks or to soften/disable Naval support groups...

Just a thought....

NEIN is reporting that the first test which has been characterized as a 'dud' by many was actually a successful test of the first stage of a hydrogen bomb. NK is supposedly readying a second test which is believed to be a test of the complete hydrogen weapon. Here's the link.

Originally posted by grover
In short Kim suffered from a premature ejaculation...colitis interruptus...erectal disfunction...a limp willie...

I think you mean coitus interruptus. Colitis is an inflamatory disease of the colon than makes poo alot and its usually bloody.



You kids......

Here some more serious information about the sampling.
Read the full text here

nuclearweaponarchive.org...

"""
Atmospheric sampling missions flown by the Air Force's specialized WC-135 Constant Phoenix, the last Cold War era "sniffer" plane still in service, were begun by the United States shortly after the test. On 13 October it was reported that traces of radioactivity had been detected and on 16 October National Intelligence Director John Negroponte's office released a statement confirming that samples collected on 11 October showed that the test was indeed a nuclear blast, laying to rest some initial speculation that the low yield explosion might in fact be simply a very large conventional explosive blast.

Subsequent analysis of samples has shown that the fissile material used in the test was plutonium. Since different fissile materials produce different proportions of various radionuclides, measuring these ratios (such as the ratios of Xe-133, Xe-133m and Xe-135) can unambiguously determine the fissile material used. Leaks of additional isotopes which can occur would make the determination even easier.

Garwin and von Hippel report that if radioxenon leaked into the atmosphere at a rate of only 0.1 percent a day, a concentration of 10,000 atoms per cubic meter of air would be detectable downwind three days after the test, one hundred times the detectability threshold. If the isotope ratio of about 8000 radioxenon atoms could be measured, then the identity of the fissile parent could be established as being plutonium with 95 percent certaintly
"""

Fizzle.. or Low Yield ?

"""
The North Koreans have high grade plutonium (content of neutron emitting Pu-240 measured at 2.44% by the IAEA in the July 1992, compared to 6% for U.S. weapons plutonium), so problems with predetonation are almost certainly not the cause.([May 2001])

The low yield, almost certainly less than a quarter of its reported planned yield, indicates a partial failure of the device. The most likely cause is poor implosion performance (that is, poor compression), though late initiation is also a possibility.

Regarding the possibility of poor compression, it should be observed that they are likely trying to develop a relatively sophisticated light system suitable for missiles, in the range of 500-1000 kg, not the 3500 kg design of the WWII Fat Man, which proved very reliable. Failure might be due to problems perfecting the design, or simply some test-related technical fault in an otherwise sound design.

The relatively low yield announced prior to the test was possibly to conserve plutonium of which North Korea has a fairly limited supply.
"""""



[edit on 26-10-2006 by Canopus]