tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80626514683311720342024-03-06T12:00:26.465-08:00Atomic Skies<center><i>Excursions into Atompunk History</i></center>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-17908973879829588352016-11-12T18:47:00.002-08:002016-11-12T18:49:03.205-08:00Building a Spaceship in Dungeons & Dragons, Part 2.5<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is an update to Spaceships in D&D <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2015/03/building-spaceship-in-dungeons-and.html">Parts I</a> and <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2015/03/building-spaceship-in-dungeons-and_25.html">II</a>. I had hoped to give you an update to <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/09/rock-to-hide-me.html">Rock to Hide Me</a> instead, based on a paper I found on a government server. But unfortunately, after I read it, I concluded the paper in question was so mercilessly boring that I don't think I can turn it into an article that anyone would want to read. So, on to the next item on the itinerary instead!<br /><br />I've made some significant modifications and updates to Spaceships in D&D <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2015/03/building-spaceship-in-dungeons-and.html">Part I</a> and <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2015/03/building-spaceship-in-dungeons-and_25.html">II</a>, responding to and incorporating some suggestions and criticisms by commenters on them – suggestions and criticisms more than a year old (egg on face), but better late than never. I'd particularly like to thank Brian Ballsun-Stanton, who made a number of very helpful comments. So as not to make everyone reread those articles, I will be discussing the changes separately here. Part III in the series, on mission planning, will follow, hopefully in the not too distant future. There may or may not be a Part IV, on things to do in space, depending on what I come up with.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><b>A Big Mistake</b></u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While prepping this article, I discovered a very serious error in my geometric calculations that led to me underestimating the volume of the combustion chamber by approximately a factor of four. Since the volume of the combustion chamber determines the thrust produced by a given <i>blast of flame</i> spell, this led to a significant overestimation of how much work we needed to do to get a given acceleration. This issue has been corrected.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the process, I also made the following diagram of our spaceship:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NesAsHNI64KdEFTjj1eXlAN7Os2e_iPuyHU3eUUJw77j28wnA91INBRzWrTP0O37CwYxB5GI4ak-mPWJsPD2lHDEDRRKdo2o7GwzZfQ6T3xi_oUu5QfBUF19n8jG7GxFc5sPueKsE00P/s1600/Combustion+Chamber.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NesAsHNI64KdEFTjj1eXlAN7Os2e_iPuyHU3eUUJw77j28wnA91INBRzWrTP0O37CwYxB5GI4ak-mPWJsPD2lHDEDRRKdo2o7GwzZfQ6T3xi_oUu5QfBUF19n8jG7GxFc5sPueKsE00P/s1600/Combustion+Chamber.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What can I say, I'm no artist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><b>Throttling System</b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />This is something that was supposed to be in the Part II, but which I forgot to include. To recap: our propulsion system consists of a mithril combustion chamber reinforced with a <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#lyreofBuilding"><i>lyre of building</i></a>; a collection of <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#decanterofEndlessWater"><i>decanter</i>s<i> of endless water</i></a> to provide matter; and an <i>energy transformation field</i> loaded with <i>blast of flame</i> to turn the matter into hot gas to serve as our exhaust. The <i>energy transformation field</i> is powered by a collection of spell traps loaded with first-level spells, with the traps activated by a button in the cockpit.<br /><br />However, there's a problem here: there's nothing to turn the <i>decanter</i>s off when we're not thrusting. We might actually be okay leaving them running, given that the water should eventually boil away in the vacuum of space, but that means we'll have a continuous residual thrust that we need to account for, and it means we have to worry about things clogging with water ice. In particular, our combustion chamber is only invulnerable for two thirty-minute periods a day; I'm worried about the nozzle clogging up with ice and then pressure building up inside the chamber until it ruptures. Best to have a way to turn them off when not in use. <br /><br />According to the SRD, a <i>decanter</i> is controlled by command words. There's no actual ruling that I can find about, e.g., how close the command word needs to be spoken to the item for it to work. My guess is that the writers implicitly assumed that you would be holding the item when you spoke the command word, but there's nothing explicitly saying that you can't activate the item from a world away. Fortunately, this is easily determined via Science: during the Propulsion Research phase, measure how far away you can be from the <i>decanter</i> to control it, and particularly whether the mithril sphere we used in measuring the thermodynamics of our thrusting options blocks the effect. For the purpose of the rest of this article, I'm going to assume that the command word needs to be audible to the magic item with a DC 0 Listen check - which means we can't just say the command word in the cockpit to shut the <i>decanter</i>s off. Fortunately, there are other options. Unfortunately, those options are a bit complicated, not to mention pricey.<br /><br />The simplest method I've found - and please comment if you can suggest a better one - is an <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/antimagicField.htm"><i>antimagic field</i></a>. We use an <i>energy transformation field</i> loaded with <i>antimagic field</i>, and powered by 1st-level spell traps. Subcontracting the <i>energy transformation field</i> to Bo-Wing the Aeromancer costs 5,190 gp, and the 1st-level spell trap costs 24.05 gp, for a total of 5,214.05 gp.<br /><br />Now, the geometry of this is going to be a little complicated. Our <i>antimagic field</i> is a 10' <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#area">emanation</a>. An emanation is a sphere, but it's blocked by anything that blocks line of sight. In other words: if I can draw a straight line from a point to the origin of the <i>antimagic field</i> that doesn't pass through any physical objects, and which is 10' long or less, then that point is effected by the <i>antimagic field</i>. We also have two <i>energy transformation field</i>s, one powering our <i>blast of flame</i>, and one powering our <i>antimagic field</i>. <i>Energy transformation field</i>s are 40' radius spreads: a spread is like an emanation, except it can turn corners. In other words: if I can find a path from a point to the origin of the <i>energy transformation field</i> that is 40' long or less, where that path can bend and twist, then that point is effected by the <i>field</i>.<br /><br />Neither of our <i>energy transformation field</i>s can overlap the <i>decanter</i>s<i> of endless water</i>, because otherwise they'll suck up the <i>decanter</i>s' energy and they won't work. Our <i>antimagic field</i>, on the other hand, <i>must</i> overlap the <i>decanter</i>s. However, the <i>antimagic field</i> can have its origin anywhere inside the <i>energy transformation field</i> powering it. By placing the origin of the <i>antimagic field</i>-generating <i>energy transformation field</i> inside a box connected to a 39'-long <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">coil of pipe, we can position the origin of the <i>antimagic field</i> so that it covers the <i>decanter</i>s but the <i>energy transformation field</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> does not.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Unfortunately, because <i>antimagic field</i> has a minimum 110 minute duration, this means we'll need to plan our course changes well ahead of time. To thrust, we set the lever controlling the spell traps at point B to off, and wait 110 minutes for the <i>antimagic field</i> to dissipate. At this time the <i>decanter</i>s begin to generate water, and we play the <i>lyre of building</i> and set the lever controlling the spell traps at point A to on. The <i>blast of flame field</i> charges and fires, and we begin to thrust. When we want to stop thrusting, we set the lever controlling A to off and the lever controlling B to on. The <i>blast of flame</i> field stops firing, while the <i>antimagic field field</i> charges and fires, shutting off the <i>decanter</i>s.<br /><br />(Since <i>antimagic field</i> can be shut off by its caster at will, it would be a reasonable DM call to say that we can program our <i>energy transformation field</i> to create an <i>antimagic field</i> that lasts a shorter period of time, but that's definitely not supported by the rules.)<br /><br /><b><u>Do Decanters Count as Construction?</u></b><br /><br />This is a rules interpretation issue which I neglected to raise in the original draft. Our <i>decanter</i>s are inside the combustion chamber, which, during thrust, is full of high-temperature, high-pressure gas. The <i>lyre of building</i> protects the chamber walls from damage. Does it also protect the <i>decanter</i>s? If not, they're going to be destroyed pretty quickly.<br /><br />The text in the SRD says that the <i>lyre</i> "negates any attacks made against all inanimate construction (walls, roof, floor, and so on)". My personal ruling would be that, if we build the <i>decanter</i>s into our chamber wall, then they are part of the construction. However, that's just a ruling. We need to add a step into our Propulsion Research section to determine if this is the case - fortunately, we already have all the materials ready to hand.<br /><br />If the <i>lyre</i> does not protect the <i>decanter</i>s, then we're in trouble. There are no readily-available ways to protect them that I can see, and almost all propulsion methods require <i>decanter</i>s or some analogous magic item to serve as reaction mass. I can think of a few ways that might work, like <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/makeWhole.htm"><i>make whole</i></a> spell traps to repair damage faster than it's done, but the only way to determine if they will actually work is by trying - there's no way to determine how much damage the <i>decanter</i>s are subject to per round from exposure to the combustion chamber from the rules as written.<br /><br /><b><u>Alternative Approaches to Propulsion</u></b><br /> <br />Several alternative propulsion methods to the <i>decanter</i> + <i>blast of flame</i> approach have been suggested. Some of them are definitely inferior to my current method, some of them we can't say without doing in-game research. Since we can't say for sure that any of them are actually superior I've decided to stick with my current approach, but I discuss them all below, and I've added appropriate sections to the Propulsion Research section.<br /><br /><b>Using <i>decanter</i>s<i> of endless water</i> as a water rocket:</b> The idea here is to use <i>decanter</i>s on geyser mode, exploiting the thrust of the water itself without trying to heat it. The data we have is insufficient to determine what the thrust produced by a <i>decanter</i> is. We know that, on geyser mode, it produces 30 gallons per round, or 5 gallons per second, but we don't know what speed that's produced at. But, if we know the size of the <i>decanter</i>'s mouth, we can calculate how fast it's moving. The SRD describes the <i>decanter</i> only as an “ordinary-looking flask”. If we assume the mouth of the flask is 1 inch wide, or 2.54 cm, then the mouth has an area of 5.06 square centimeters. Five gallons is the same as 18,927 cubic centimeters, so the speed of the water is 18,927 / 5.06 = 3,740 cm/sec, or 37.4 m/sec. The density of water is 1,000 kilograms per cubic meter, or 0.001 kilograms per cubic centimeter, so the <i>decanter</i> produces 18.9 kg/sec of water, for a thrust of 706.86 N per <i>decanter</i>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not counting the combusion<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> chamber - which the </span>water rocket would not need - our vehicle w<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ighs about <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">30 tons</span></span></span>,</span> so to get 1.5 G acceleration, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">we'd</span> need <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">450,000</span> N / 706.86 N = <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">637 </span><i>decanters</i> to replicate our current thrust. With our various cost reduction modifiers, it costs us 2,164.22 gp per <i>decanter</i>, for a total price of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1,378,608.14</span></span></span></span> gp</span>... Somewhat in excess of our current approach.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Steam rockets:</b> The basic idea here is to combine <i>decanter</i>s<i> of endless water</i> with a source of heat, such as <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/matterAgitation.htm"><i>matter agitation</i></a> or <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/heatMetal.htm"><i>heat metal</i></a>, to produce a steam rocket. Unfortunately, the descriptions of these spells and effects are extremely vague about what specific temperatures they produce and so on. For example: <i>matter agitation</i> effects 2 square feet of material; what is that in volume? How hot does <i>heat metal</i> make the metal it effects? And so on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let's talk lower estimates: what is the absolute minimum that a steam rocket could cost? We can figure this out by ignoring the actual turn-it-into-steam parts of the rocket, and just considering the cost of the <i>decanter</i>s. Now, take a look at part II of this series, and specifically the section labeled Engine, and specifically specifically the equations therein. Now, the specific heat ratio of steam is about 1.3, the exhaust temperature is 373.2 K, aka the boiling point of water, and the average molecular weight of water is 18 kg/kMol. Plugging those in, we determine that the exhaust velocity of a steam rocket with an ideal nozzle is 1,222.27 m/sec. Since our <i>decanter</i> produces 18.9 kg/sec of water, this amounts to a total thrust of 23,100.8 N per <i>decanter</i>. To replicate our current thrust of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2,078,574 N, we will therefore need 90 <i>decanter</i>s. At a cost of 2,164.22 gp per <i>decanter</i>, that's 194,779.8 gp in <i>decanter</i>s alone, <i>before</i> we add in the cost of the systems to actually boil the water - more than the cost of our current engine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nonetheless, such a system could still have a role to play. In particular, unlike <i>blast of flame</i>, it's plausible that our steam rocket might not need a <i>lyre of building</i> to keep the combustion chamber and nozzle from evaporating - we can make it out of the same stuff they make tea kettles out of. That means the engine could thrust continuously, instead of for two half-hour periods per day. Also, if you're willing to accept a lower acceleration, the steam rocket can have a smaller minimum cost than a <i>blast of flame</i> rocket. I think the steam rocket has a role to play as a system for getting around once you're out in space, the magical equivalent of the real world's ion drive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b>Using pocket dimensions as ideal combustion chambers:</b> This is a very cool idea, but I don't think it actually gets us anything – because we already have an ideal thrust chamber. Since our “combustion” chamber has infinite strength, thanks to the <i>lyre</i>s<i> of building</i>, we can let the chamber pressure be (effectively) infinite, and at a much lower price than using this approach. A pocket dimension could thrust all day, but I don't <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">know of any way to bu<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">y a suitable pocket dimension for les<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s than the cost of 48 <i>lyres</i>, which would <i>also</i> let us thrust all day.</span></span></span><br /><br /><b><u>Additional Cost Reductions</u></b><br /> <br />I've found some ways to eke out our budget a bit further.<br /><br />First, in the original draft, I gave the astronaut the Landlord feat... And then forgot to make use of it! At 11th level, the Landlord feat gives you an allowance of 75,000 gp to be spent on a stronghold, plus one-to-one matching funds for any money spent beyond that. Unfortunately, the big expense of the ship is the engine, which is not statted as a stronghold, but this can still be applied to the rest of the ship.<br /><br />Second, since writing the original, I found the <a href="http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1000.0">Complete Cost R</a><a href="http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1000.0">eduction Handbook</a>, which has a bunch of ways to reduce the price of the items we're using. Unfortunately, many of them are from books I don't own (Bind Elemental applied to conventional magic items, membership of Dark Spire college). But we can at least use Favored in Guild (Arcane), which reduces costs by 5%, and Apprentice (Craftsman), which reduces costs by 10%.<br /><br /><b><u>Other Minor Corrections</u></b><br /><br />I forgot to include the price of the spell trap powering the navigation system (24.05 gp).<br /><br />We can't actually cast <i>energy transformation field</i> - I thought it was 6th level, but it's actually 7th - so we'll need to subcontract that. Each casting costs 910 gp, in addition to the material component costs that were already included.<br /><br />We need to include a small closet in the cockpit to hold the <i>energy transformation field</i> powering the navigation system. Otherwise, the <i>field</i> will cover the whole cockpit, making it impossible to use other magic items or cast spells.</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-18651829632661635682016-08-23T11:52:00.002-07:002016-08-23T11:52:50.614-07:00Atomic-Powered Tanks, Part 2: Tank Harder<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Still a terrible idea.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the last installment of this series, I presented the nuclear-powered tanks of the QuestionMark III conference. Well, since then I've managed to get hold of partial scans of the QuestionMark IV conference, which also featured some innovative uses of atomic energy, though, unfortunately, fewer pictures. Let's get right to it: the R32.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">QuestionMark IV used<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a different <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nomenclature system <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">than its predecessor. R32 just <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">means "Tracked Vehicle, Design Number 32".</span></span></span></span></span> Once again, there's actually ver<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">y little detail<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">; this time there isn't even a picture of a mockup.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The R32 <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is proposed as a replacement fo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">r the M48 Patton, introduced in 195<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3</span>.</span></span></span></span> It w<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ould carry a T208 90mm gun, </span>modified to use a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">combusti<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ble cartridge case<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, with a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">round 30 inches long.</span></span></span></span> The tank would be 18' 3" long, 11<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">' wide, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and </span>10' 1" tall<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, and would weigh in at 50 tons<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. It would feature 4.8<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">" armor at the front, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">which <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">would be able to defeat a 100mm round at a distance of 1,000 yards. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[QM4]</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Figure 1: <i>R32 Side Cutaway</i> [QM4]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Fair Use)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Like <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the TV-1</span>, it looks li</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>ke <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">they envisioned it using a direct-cycle air-cooled nuclear turbine</span>. They c<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">laim a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n operational range without refueling of "4000 miles plus". Evidently something </span></span>they had learned s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ince <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the previous year had given them greater conf<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">idence in <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">their ability to make miniaturized <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">reactors, since the R32 weighs in at <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">twenty</span> tons lighter than the previous year's TV-1, and they mention <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in the introductory note that "it now appears </span></span></span></span></span></span>feasible to build an atomic<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>powered vehicle for approximately the same weight as present medium tanks". They are at least giving <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the reactor</span> more space in their cutaway - I think it's supp<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">osed to be </span>that big circular thing in the nose of the tank<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> list of advantages <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is</span> most<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ly </span>the same as the pre<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">vious <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">year</span></span></span>, with a few changes<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. To quote:</span></span></span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Extremely long range without refueling.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Increased ammunition stowage.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Increased armor protection.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Decreased power package maintenance.</span></span></span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So they've removed "increased secondary armament firepower" and "mobile power plant" from the advantages list, and added "decreased power <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">package maintenance." (Which, frankly, I'm skeptical of - nuclear engines tend to be <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">more maintenance-intensive than <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">fossil fuel engines, not l<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ess.)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The disadvantages:</span> </span></span></span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crew training required.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crew may have to be <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">replaced periodically to avoid excessive radiation dosage.</span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Presents valuable target to ene<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">my.</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This one is a complete change from the previous year, which listed <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as disadvantages "cost", "high silhouette", and "transportation." It's a bit more realistic, though <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cost should still be on there<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, as well as "too heavy to move".</span> </span>A<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nd they're</span> at least paying a <i>little</i> more attention to the radiation issue. They probably borrowed the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">idea</span> of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">periodically replacing the crew so you can skimp on shielding</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> from the ANP program</span></span>, which toyed with the idea but </span>ultimately rejected i<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Frankly, even then, I really doubt you cou<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ld make <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a reactor both powerful enough and small enough <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to move this sucker without kil<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ling the crew in the process</span>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Besides the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">R<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">32, the conference also featured the C6, an update on the atomic road train idea.</span></span> The C<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6 <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">wa</span>s apparently based on a conventional vehicle <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">under development by the </span>Army Transport Corps, though they don't say which one.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> It <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">would <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">be used to </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">haul cargo</span></span></span></span></span></span></span> across open country<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">- I would guess they<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'re thinking of supplying DEW RADARs and other arctic<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> bases. [Q<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">M4]</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACdBAFhHqSAdG5CLwG_VgX7QOAUHju2M9uDA5I2FPRW2hz96mvWdADD_LBNDVK6ApeYAvExgsKUfRkZK_T_szzbl6iKeL52_e3RRCSkx75gCABqFH5iIcQ9kJQXsk30Y9bfoT3v9kg3me/s1600/C6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACdBAFhHqSAdG5CLwG_VgX7QOAUHju2M9uDA5I2FPRW2hz96mvWdADD_LBNDVK6ApeYAvExgsKUfRkZK_T_szzbl6iKeL52_e3RRCSkx75gCABqFH5iIcQ9kJQXsk30Y9bfoT3v9kg3me/s400/C6.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Figure 2: <i>C6 Diagram</i> [QM4]</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Fair Use)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The C6 would consist of a 25<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> ton locomotive unit<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">up to four 10 ton trailers</span></span>. The locomotive would be 17<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">' <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tall, 16' <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5" wide, and 3<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5' long<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, and would use a 1500 horsepower atomic engine driving a pair of generators. It<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> would be armed with a q<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">uad .50-caliber </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>machine gun. Listed advantage<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s are <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"superior cross-country mobility", "</span></span>very great ton/mile/man ratio for cargo <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hauling", and "essential<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ly unlim<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ited cruising range". The sole disadvantage listed is "not amphibious.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"</span></span></span></span> [QM4]</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's it from QuestionMark IV. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I still haven't been able to track down the original source material on the Chrysler TV-8, which is the most famous of the napkinware atomic tanks</span> of the '50s - it's the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">one with the <i>enormous</i> turret - but I'm working on it<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">!</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Citations:</u></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[Q<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">M4]: <i>QuestionMark IV</i>. Ordnance Tank Automotive Command, Detroit Arsenal, 1955.</span></span></span></span></span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-8826461845980353702016-08-01T14:03:00.000-07:002016-08-01T14:04:58.249-07:00Atomic-Powered Tanks, Part 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An atomic-powered tank is a terrible idea. But that's <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">never kept</span> people </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">from trying.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You
may have noticed the "part 1" in the title of this post. This wasn't
the only nuclear-powered tank project - there were at least three
others. As far as I can tell from secondary sources, two of them were
about as detailed as this one - that is, basically napkin sketches - but
one was a serious research effort. I'm still working on getting hold
of the sources, so it may be a long time before part 2, but I'll do my
best.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Detroit Arsenal was the first factory to mass produce tanks in the United<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> States. In the 1950s, they started holding a series of conferences on tank design, because<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, and I quote<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">: </span>"<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">T</span>here was an expressed concern over the cost, weight, complexity, and reliability of new tank automotive material. At the same time there were doubts expressed over whether there were any new ideas in this field.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Well, if they were looking fo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">r new ideas, they certainly got them.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">TV-1 was one of 22 concept tanks at the QuestionMark III conference<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. The "TV" suffix denotes a tank (T) that would require <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a very (V) long development period, i.e., more than five years.</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The TV-1 </span>weigh<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ed</span> about 70 tons</span></span></span></span>, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">measured 11' 10" high and 24' 7" long (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">not</span></span> counting the gun barrel), and carried a 105mm gun firing T14<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">0E rounds</span>. It <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">had a 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4 inches armor on the front of the hull and the turret<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and</span> 3 inches armor on the sides, </span></span>carried 110 rounds of ammunition, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and had a 440 volt AC generator and mo</span>tor drive for its transmission. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A</span>nd it was powered by a nuclear reactor<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Here's a picture of the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">mockup:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nfm5rAl71W0t2riDBSZ8vG529eVv3jKCEj0-CBeMKqH93uWYjqEAg3MlhNpuev0Tp1otO7V0lvVAsRSCFGwHwHJOpe0P_vHy0eHt9qekf5iaiAf1gJEfJE6RmzrbavwRlJWkWMixXSzG/s1600/TV-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nfm5rAl71W0t2riDBSZ8vG529eVv3jKCEj0-CBeMKqH93uWYjqEAg3MlhNpuev0Tp1otO7V0lvVAsRSCFGwHwHJOpe0P_vHy0eHt9qekf5iaiAf1gJEfJE6RmzrbavwRlJWkWMixXSzG/s400/TV-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">F<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">igure<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 1: <i>TV-1 Mockup</i> [QM3] via [Hu]</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Fair Use)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> only description of the reactor is that it<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'s a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> "gas turbine, open air cycle" reactor<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, and <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">can</span> run for 500 hours at full load without refueling.</span></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">description and the diagram, it sounds like what they had in mind was a smaller version of the direct-cycle nuclear turbojets <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">that GE was developin<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">g at this time for the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program. Basically, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">air is pumped into your nuclear reactor to cool it, and the hot air then drives a turbine<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. The engine is <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">shown <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as being right under the crew compartment in the turret</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> in th<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is diagram</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDowHi7yAsWXzcDKeNxwkOm4g1zfDgqaPn-VyIzuNlA4Kc3IhxVE_02G-HWBKYSTrI07TQVSmgGwlQeUc62p8m4MtMGT7wxNOzRM3fQWh5AvOKbKWE1C1aRBGNjIAyt1jTGrhus705qV8S/s1600/TV-1+Cross-Section.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDowHi7yAsWXzcDKeNxwkOm4g1zfDgqaPn-VyIzuNlA4Kc3IhxVE_02G-HWBKYSTrI07TQVSmgGwlQeUc62p8m4MtMGT7wxNOzRM3fQWh5AvOKbKWE1C1aRBGNjIAyt1jTGrhus705qV8S/s320/TV-1+Cross-Section.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Figure 2: <i>TV-1 Side Cutaway</i> [QM3] via [Hu]</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Fair Use)</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's a closeup of the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">engine:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8zxWUuhJ3bsxqvdWLHivJIXaoniNy15ndZ1Rmtja-lg7uRP6JjM10cX6bMGdOqTuDO99qVtvbQqh5VAj6xr_zcB23cS8v-hSCxn-k7OQ-UIj7NJWB31ZV9RzVA4207WgwzFg_hkHzFeI/s1600/TV-1+Cross-Section+Closeup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8zxWUuhJ3bsxqvdWLHivJIXaoniNy15ndZ1Rmtja-lg7uRP6JjM10cX6bMGdOqTuDO99qVtvbQqh5VAj6xr_zcB23cS8v-hSCxn-k7OQ-UIj7NJWB31ZV9RzVA4207WgwzFg_hkHzFeI/s400/TV-1+Cross-Section+Closeup.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Figure 3: <i>TV-1 </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Cutaway</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> Close-up</i> [QM3]</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Fair Use) </span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They list the advantages of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the TV-1 as:</span></span><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ability to operate for extended periods <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">without refueling.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Increased quantity of main armament ammunition.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Increased secondary armament firepower.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Increased armor protection.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mobile power plant. (I think they mean you could use it to generate electricity when it's not rumbling around.) </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For limitations, they include:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cost.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">High silhouette.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Transportation.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, that's basically it. There's very little description of this beyond the picture of the model, the schematic, and some bullet points.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Besides the TV-1, the conference also features the following:</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishEVpKXmCiBMPAY6O9_tJrTmAjaYANE9dzcrrSN8mYjXlx16UyaMU7W2_CksHxY4t412POxx3YJPPZokmcFyWa0OLOopH35sbdwlWQ3bzzdbQxM-AEjQ8BctZW-9NxfAVZ-d9zijwFNgV/s1600/Nuclear+Road+Train.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishEVpKXmCiBMPAY6O9_tJrTmAjaYANE9dzcrrSN8mYjXlx16UyaMU7W2_CksHxY4t412POxx3YJPPZokmcFyWa0OLOopH35sbdwlWQ3bzzdbQxM-AEjQ8BctZW-9NxfAVZ-d9zijwFNgV/s400/Nuclear+Road+Train.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Figure 4: <i>Nuclear Road Train</i> [QM3]</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Fair Use)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm going to just quote the accompanying text in its entirety:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Detroit Arsenal feels that the Army must find some way to make use of the tremendous potential of Nuclear Power in combat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The picture shows one of many ways we can conceive of using this power. In this case we show a single power source for a convoy supplying power to Tractors for each serial. Quick disconnects would permit immediate release for operation as individual vehicles when a given phase line or boundary is crossed. Another use might be similar to that of current electric buses attached to overhead wires, possibly no more difficult to install than fuel pipe lines. Following the approach of the picture again, a Trackless Train for communications zone use is possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Regardless of whether any of the above ideas are useful or not, all agencies should be considering and suggesting means of using this potential. [QM3]</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is at least a marginally better idea than the TV-1, but only marginally.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I <i>suspect</i>
part of what's going on here is something that we saw with the <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2012/07/to-peoria-by-atom.html">atomic-powered train</a>, as well. That is, I suspect that this is a
nuclear-powered tank being designed by tank engineers, without the input
of nuclear engineers, who would have told them how bad an idea this
was. In particular, though I can't put numbers on this, I doubt
intensely that the thing could have even moved, given the weight of the
shielding it would need to keep from frying its crew. There's also the
issue of the reactor leaking if the Soviets start shooting at it.
This was the 1950s, when everyone expected a land war in Europe to
involve lots of tactical nukes, so maybe they thought that no one would
notice a little more fallout?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Citations:</u></b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[Hu]: Hunnicutt, R. P. <i>Firepower: A History of the American Heavy Tank</i>. Presidio, 1988.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[QM3]: <i>QuestionMark III</i>. Ordnance Tank Automotive Command, Detroit Arsenal, 1954.</span></span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-8927282137589432442016-07-15T19:19:00.002-07:002016-07-15T19:20:38.161-07:00Burning Gas<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">On
August 9</span></span><sup><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">th</span></span></sup><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
1957, a team of Russian scientists brought a prototype reactor of a
radical new kind to criticality. This reactor was fueled by gaseous
uranium hexafluoride – the first gas-fueled reactor ever
built.[KDG]</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The
reactor core was a steel cylinder 2.5 meters wide. The scientists
stacked over a ton of beryllium blocks in the center of the cylinder
in a heap 1.16 meters tall and 1.08 meters wide, with the remaining
space filled with graphite.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXUCW_7q6h4U65Sw_LlrO02suM3fr46yUx1kUMfo_8XdmMxDmnFUP4mI96MnIrYz-TtyrspA0s4wUiJIhHykzO91Xta_Kp9ASTn8LuWowMkFP9XBeMLinB3Sii7RMgPL903tcwp-6hcpK/s1600/Fig4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXUCW_7q6h4U65Sw_LlrO02suM3fr46yUx1kUMfo_8XdmMxDmnFUP4mI96MnIrYz-TtyrspA0s4wUiJIhHykzO91Xta_Kp9ASTn8LuWowMkFP9XBeMLinB3Sii7RMgPL903tcwp-6hcpK/s320/Fig4.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Figure 1: <i>Reactor Core Interior</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> [KDG]</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Public D<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">omain)</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">T</span>hey ran aluminum tubes through
holes in the blocks, which they filled with 213 liters, or about 3.3
kg, of 90%-enriched uranium hexafluoride at 1.3 atmospheres pressure.
Uranium hexafluoride – abbreviated UF6 – is a solid at room
temperature, so to keep it <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">from <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">solidifying</span></span> they included an electric heater
and surrounded the tank with asbestos for insulation.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPb7WlEbl_TkF7bJA3cdbwaxevyT-mwo5tTbpT9elWUOjZKi98DfZHkPeki-uixO_pX_8eRS1ApK27JsYoKrQcZmRxhmG2RPa0tIBYEb9Xyl8PKQMCoHcgGyPZuHzdRd03Xk0yTpYfGjH/s1600/Fig3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPb7WlEbl_TkF7bJA3cdbwaxevyT-mwo5tTbpT9elWUOjZKi98DfZHkPeki-uixO_pX_8eRS1ApK27JsYoKrQcZmRxhmG2RPa0tIBYEb9Xyl8PKQMCoHcgGyPZuHzdRd03Xk0yTpYfGjH/s320/Fig3.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Figure 2: <i>Top of Reactor Prior to Cover Installation</i> [KDG]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Two steel
rods filled with boron carbide could be inserted into the tank to act
as control rods, and the pipes were connected with quick-release
valves to a second 100-liter tank held at vacuum – in an emergency the
valves would be opened, sucking enough of the fuel gas out of the
core to terminate the chain reaction.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwLmBTmg2Z_0Grdrtv8vKf2am8RjOHAcDfh2v9-uP4O2kmMsIwNSzp3_6wsY4VTKRY4JW82g1kGghmJjCH96FFUY6MAEN2vMPrSQITCuL1QfzrcA0jiugDsK1wdrWGHatMqzh3XSjZB9l/s1600/Fig2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwLmBTmg2Z_0Grdrtv8vKf2am8RjOHAcDfh2v9-uP4O2kmMsIwNSzp3_6wsY4VTKRY4JW82g1kGghmJjCH96FFUY6MAEN2vMPrSQITCuL1QfzrcA0jiugDsK1wdrWGHatMqzh3XSjZB9l/s320/Fig2.png" width="241" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Figure 3: <i>Completed Reactor</i> [KDG]</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The core produced 1.5 kWth at
maximum power – it could actually <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">generate</span> more, but running it any
hotter would produce more radiation than the shielding could <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cope with</span>.[KDG][DVT]</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUdbUHZOY5zj43TiY_ItPF6ajzcbmGsCsdCSNFRTLSx5VpktlcIAaa-DGy5__vEy-LwfIRMb1vSzYrtA9wj0vJ7GaYCmybSJM81VcmceQtd18zyFKgy7Ml8tJloCmmqMwoH_bM7f8bMzw/s1600/Fig1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUdbUHZOY5zj43TiY_ItPF6ajzcbmGsCsdCSNFRTLSx5VpktlcIAaa-DGy5__vEy-LwfIRMb1vSzYrtA9wj0vJ7GaYCmybSJM81VcmceQtd18zyFKgy7Ml8tJloCmmqMwoH_bM7f8bMzw/s320/Fig1.png" width="228" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Figure 4: <i>Reactor Schematic</i> [KDG]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The
Russians revealed their reactor to the world at a UN conference in
Geneva in 1958. They don't actually say </span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">why</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
they built the thing, but based on later work by the same authors, it
was most likely intended as a prototype for a power producing
reactor.[DVT] US scientists also investigated gaseous-fuel
reactors, and even built a few prototypes, but most of the American
work was aimed at reactors to power nuclear thermal rockets –
another project I need to write an article on someday. For a
nuclear rocket, a gas-fueled reactor makes a lot of sense <i>if</i>
you can manage to make it work<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> - which, unfortunately, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is a big if</span></span>.</span> The efficiency of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a</span> rocket is
determined primarily by the temperature of the exhaust, which in a nuclear rocket is
limited by how hot you let your fuel elements get. The gas-core
nuclear rocket, or “nuclear lightbulb”, could get </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">very</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
hot indeed, but technical problems and the scaling-back of nuclear
propulsion research in the US ultimately killed the project.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As
a power reactor, though, I'm skeptical. A gas-fueled power
reactor <i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">would</span></i> have <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">some</span> advantages. First, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the reactor <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">w</span>ould <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">r<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">un on</span></span> UF6 straight from the enrichment plant, without <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">needing to</span> fabrica<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e</span> it into fuel rods</span></span>. Second, it would be very easy to control: if the
reactor starts to run out of control, the fuel gas heats up and
expands, which causes the atoms of fuel to move farther apart, which
slows the reaction down. Third, it could incorporate online
reprocessing, continuously extracting the fission product “ash” and topping
off the fuel without shutting the core down. Fourth, for added
safety it could use a dump tank: the core could be connected to a
secondary tank held in vacuum; if the reactor ran into trouble the
valves would then be opened, sucking the fuel gas out of the core and
damping the reaction.[KDG]</span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKYXRVlllYpb10SDsRRHqJJDqWBzLVoTF0-Jtysfzb3VblqKWCiOClV_u73kEki7xXxT0MJo7pZymkodlcwLNEWE_rsQU1dmSK_vE3Gqvdbj2t5inaHmmp2Y38U2NTCGcf5Y0W89wcQzl1/s1600/Fig5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKYXRVlllYpb10SDsRRHqJJDqWBzLVoTF0-Jtysfzb3VblqKWCiOClV_u73kEki7xXxT0MJo7pZymkodlcwLNEWE_rsQU1dmSK_vE3Gqvdbj2t5inaHmmp2Y38U2NTCGcf5Y0W89wcQzl1/s320/Fig5.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Figure 5: <i>Diagram of </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Proposed Russian UF6 Fast Breeder</i> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[DVT]</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1: Radial Blanket; 2: Sodium Flow; 3: End Blanket;</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4: UF6 Manifold; 5: Outer Case; 6: Core; 7: UF6 Pipes; </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8: Sodium Coolant; 9: Supporting Structure</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span> </span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> But,
except for <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">reducing the cost of fuel preparation</span>, a liquid core - like <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a Molten Salt Reactor</span> - has <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the</span> same advantages, without the drawbacks of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">gaseous fuel<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. And the<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> drawbacks</span> are significant:</span> first, </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the gas has to be
pressurized, so if the core leaks, it's going to come squirting out. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even i</span>f a solid- or <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">liquid-fuel</span> reactor loses
containment completely, most of the radioactive material is going to stay in or around the core – only the
volatiles and gases will migrate far. In a gas core, potentially
</span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">everything</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
could be lost.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Second,
UF6 decomposes into uranium pentafluoride (UF5) and lower fluorines when it collides with high-energy
fission fragments produced by the nuclear reaction.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">UF5 </span></span>is a solid at the temperatures in question, and would precipitate onto the reactor wall, with unpre<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">dictable but probably bad consequences for the stability of the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">chain</span> reaction. </span>To prevent
this, the Russians added chlorine trifluoride (ClF3) to the fuel gas
as a fluorinating agent. ClF3 is infamous for being an oxidizer so
powerful it will <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ignite</span> </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">asbestos</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.[KDG] So you can see why I'm<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> skeptical.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A</span> gas
core <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">does have</span> one </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">really</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
big potential advantage that a liquid core doesn<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'t</span>: it <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">can use</span> a number of exotic thermal
cycles<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> to extract the energy</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Two</span> memb<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ers of the Russian team<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> later</span></span></span> published a paper <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">proposing a gas-core reactor using an MHD generator<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXKiOnokcpYL6CXl1Pos5LwqhGsF7o08kwxwq-LvrnKdfz90CxF9oS7L1wdy5yCxYqmZ0myk-ymdY0_Rfb-5iInFdS2PBxQvxUEDqVb4kFNnWk6bGeby1KMgX-H8ldL3EXakKg11WvESx/s1600/Fig7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXKiOnokcpYL6CXl1Pos5LwqhGsF7o08kwxwq-LvrnKdfz90CxF9oS7L1wdy5yCxYqmZ0myk-ymdY0_Rfb-5iInFdS2PBxQvxUEDqVb4kFNnWk6bGeby1KMgX-H8ldL3EXakKg11WvESx/s320/Fig7.png" width="190" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Figure 6:<i> </i></span></span><i>Proposed Russian UF6 Reactor with MHD Ge</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>nerator</i> [DZ]</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1: <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reactor Core; 2: </span> </span>Reflector and Moderator; 3: MHD Channel;</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4: Excitation Circuit; 5: Working Circuit; 6: Heat Exchanger</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> reactor using an MHD generator could be much more efficient then a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">reactor </span></span></span>using a steam or gas turbine<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> - existing steam turbine reactors <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">turn only about 30% of the<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ir heat output into electricity, while proposed gas turbine designs could reach 35% to 45% efficiency. The MHD reactor could, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">at least on paper,</span> reach </span></span>62</span>% efficiency - perhaps even more with a combined cycle <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">approach</span>. But <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to make it work, they would also need <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the fuel gas to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">be hotter</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">than</span> 4000 K.</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To keep the walls from melting, they planned <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a rather Rube Goldbergian arrangement where<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> a lower-temperature insulation <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">fluid</span></span></span></span></span> would flow between the fuel gas and the reactor walls, keeping them from touching. [DZ]</span> I'm not an engineer, but this all seems<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">...</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Q</span>uestiona<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ble<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In any event, one of the team memb</span>ers <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">- V. A. Dmitrievskii - thought well enough of the concept to keep doing experiments and publishing papers </span>throughout the 1960s and early '70s. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I haven't been able to find anything out about Dmitrievskii personally - not even his first name - but he <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">was evidently <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">quite taken with the idea, as he published at least five papers on the idea <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">after the initial Geneva report.</span></span></span> </span>Most of the work seems to have focused on <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the chemistry of the fuel gas<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A</span>s early as 1960, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he and a colleague, A. I. Migachev, showed experimentally that </span></span></span>the<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">y could <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">make the </span></span>UF6 refluorinate without the need for chlorine trifluoride by <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">adding </span>fluorine gas and runni<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ng</span> the reactor hotter<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span>[DM][DM2] Later, Dmitrievskii and a team built<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">reac<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tor simulator<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span>to test the use of UF6 as a working fluid in a turbine<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, using <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">an electric heater in place of the reactor</span></span>.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>[DB<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">V]</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKBgIwU0ovjlNosPJjz0RcoMgv-HoSMv3TqGbZ8G6GLRMqL1kd73BGA3Q-0s0FrpRXLto6_DeP0FCPGLa6xjmuGgoUrScmEFJka0ak4LDWqmFRc9DRnzLEg013lZpX8Wd9mO3rmP76koP/s1600/Fig8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKBgIwU0ovjlNosPJjz0RcoMgv-HoSMv3TqGbZ8G6GLRMqL1kd73BGA3Q-0s0FrpRXLto6_DeP0FCPGLa6xjmuGgoUrScmEFJka0ak4LDWqmFRc9DRnzLEg013lZpX8Wd9mO3rmP76koP/s400/Fig8.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Figure 7: <i>Schematic of UF6 Reactor Simulator</i> [DBV]</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1: Evaporato<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">r; 2: Fluid Entry, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Filling System; 3: Orifice Meter; 4: Turbine; </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5: Generator; 6: Water Overflow Drain; 7: Cold Water Feed; 8: Heater; 9: Tank<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10: Level Gauge; 11: Water Admission; 12: Pump; 13: Condenser;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">M: Pressure Gauge; T: Thermocouple</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After 1972, though, there's nothing more that I can find. Maybe Dmitrievskii died or retired? <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">M</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">aybe the Russian
government decided to redirect research funding into more conventional
directions? <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Or, maybe</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> work continued, but they stopped publishing it in journals that </span>were translated into English<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Whatever happened, they didn't talk about it in any English</span> language source that I could find<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><u><b>Citations:</b></u></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[DB<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">V]: Dmitrievskii, V. A., Balashov, K. I., Voinov, E. M., et al. "Simulator <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of Uranium Hexafluoride Steam Turbine Power Plant." </span></span><i>Atomnaya Energiya</i>, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
published in US as <i>Soviet Atomic Energy</i>, </span></span></span></span>Vol. 32 No. 5 (May 1972), pp. 446-447<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>[DM]: Dmitrievskii, V. A., and Migachev, A. I. "Dissociation of the UF6 Molec<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ule <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">U</span>nder the Action of Fragments from Fission of the Uranium Nucleus."</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> </i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Atomnaya Energiya</i>, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
published in US as <i>Soviet Atomic Energy</i>, </span></span></span></span>Vol. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6</span> No. 5 (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">December 1960</span>), pp. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">38<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5-390<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[DM2]: Dmitrievskii, V. A., and Migachev, A. I. "Radiolysis of Uranium Hexafluoride." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Atomnaya Energiya</i>, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
published in US as <i>Soviet Atomic Energy</i>, </span></span></span></span>Vol. 3<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">0</span> No. 5 (May 197<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1</span>), pp. 543-548<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[DVT]:
Dmitrievskii, V. A., Voinov, E. M., and Tetel'baum, S. D. “Use of
Uranium Hexafluoride in Nuclear Power Plants.” <i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Atomnaya Energiya</span></i></span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
published in US as <i>Soviet Atomic Energy</i>, Vol. 29 No. 4 (October 1970), pp. 976-980.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[DZ]: Dmitrievskii, V. A., and Za<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">klyaz'minskii, L. A. "Induction Magnetohydrodynamic Generator with a Hollow Nuclear Reactor." <i>Teplofizika Vysokikh Temperatur</i>, pub<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lished</span> in US as <i>High Temperature</i>, Vol. 9 No. 2 (March<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-April 1971), pp. 366-<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">372.</span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[KDG]:
Kikoin, I. K., Dmitrievsky, V. A., Glazkov, Y. Y., et al.
“Experimental Reactor with Gaseous Fissionable Substance (UF6).”
</span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Proceedings
of the Second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful
Uses of Atomic Energy</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
Vol. 9, P/2502, pp. 528-534. United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland,
1958. </span></span></span></span></div>
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</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-90168570260972039432016-06-30T23:36:00.005-07:002016-06-30T23:36:45.422-07:00Realism in Atompunk<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sorry for how dead this has been; math has been keeping me busy. Fortunately, my thesis is finally (<i>finally)</i> done, so with a little luck I'll be able to start posting more often again. As a first installment on that promise, an essay of mine has been posted at <a href="http://alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.blogspot.com/">Alternate History Weekly Update</a> for its fifth anniversary: <a href="http://alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.blogspot.fr/2016/06/how-to-write-realistic-atompunk-timeline.html">How to Write a Realistic Atompunk Timeline</a>.</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-23205817689796661702015-08-20T15:12:00.001-07:002015-08-20T15:12:50.513-07:00Under Cover: The Schoharie Valley Townsite Project
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With Special Thanks to Anthony Casendino</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span>
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In 1959, the Cornell College of Architecture launched a study to
design a city that could survive nuclear attack. In the view of
Prof. Fredrick W. Edmondson, existing cities were ill-suited to the
demands of the Cold War, and he proposed to design from whole cloth a
new alternative, better adapted to the rigors of the nuclear age.
The Schoharie Valley Townsite project was one of the most ambitious
civil defense proposals of the Cold War: a factory-town that could
not only withstand nuclear attack, but maintain war production even
as the hydrogen bombs burst around it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><b>The Study</b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The study was staffed primarily by students, senior undergraduates
in the architecture program and first-year graduate students in the
planning department, with Professor Edmondson acting as the faculty
advisor. Edmondson had graduated from Cornell in 1937, then won a
prestigious Prix de Rome fellowship. By 1944 he was back at Cornell
as the director of the Landscape Architecture program. Besides
teaching, he also acted as an architecture and planning consultant,
and in the 1950s helped select the site for the new capitol of
Brazil. He seems to have had a personal interest in civil defense,
judging by his continued participation in civil defense conferences
after the project was over.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 1: <i>Students Working on Architectural Diagrams</i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For most of his students, though, the study was just schoolwork.
According to one, Anthony Casendino, most of the undergraduates “just
saw this as a way to interact with some of the graduate planners and
to not do the [undergraduate] subthesis.” In an interview with
journalist Tom Vanderbilt, another student, M. Perry Chapman,
recalled that “most of us took it for granted that it was just part
of trying to introduce some unconventionality – at least in the
physical context of the planning.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Besides his students, Edmondson recruited an array of public and
private organizations to assist: the New York State Civil Defense
Commission, the federal Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, the
RAND Corporation, IBM, the state Department of Commerce, the Office
of the New York State Geologist, the Buffalo Forge company, US Naval
Air Reserve Station Floyd Bennet, and ninety individuals from groups
like the Atomic Energy Commission and the Naval Radiological Defense
Laboratory. The American Machine and Foundry corporation and the
Ford Foundation provided financial support.</span></div>
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</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 2: <i>Student Working on Design</i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The students were initially divided into seven research teams, who
began by studying “basic design criteria” for two weeks. As a
baseline, they decided to design the town to withstand a 20 megaton
blast at a distance of ten miles from city center, and to then
maintain industrial production while buttoned up against fallout.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The next step was to choose a location in New York state for their
new town. Based on local geology, the availability of transport,
and being outside the blast radius of existing cities, they narrowed
the choice to either the Schoharie Valley or Slaterville. Edmondson
then divided the class again, this time into four teams, two for each
candidate site, to prepare preliminary proposals. The Schoharie
site won the competition, and the group moved on to the design phase.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Figure 3: <i>Map of Project Location</i></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 4: <i>Schoharie Valley in 1959</i></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i> </i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><b>The Design</b></u></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Schoharie Townsite was explicitly modeled after the factory
towns of the IBM corporation, and centered around the “EMF”, or
Electronics Manufacturing Facility. Based on existing IBM
factory-towns, they estimated a population of 9,000, of whom about
1,500 would work at the EMF itself.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The students rejected a completely subterranean design as both too
expensive and too depressing to live in. Instead, they decided to
build the town on the surface, with underground communal shelters for
each neighborhood linked by tunnels. Since the different shelters
were all connected, in an attack people could head for cover
immediately, without worrying about being cut off from family members
in different shelters. Every point on the surface would be within
1500 feet – about five minutes walk – from a shelter entrance.
All underground space would be buried beneath at least four and a
half feet of earth and a foot of concrete for blast protection and
radiation attenuation. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The 9,000 residents would live in 1,158 apartments, 372 rowhouse and
duplex units, and 951 detached houses, split among three main
residential areas. Each residential area would be centered around a
community center with an elementary school, shops, social center,
churches, communal recreation areas, and a park. The entrances to
the neighborhood shelter would be in the elementary schools. Each
entrance would include mass decontamination stations, able to handle
60-75 people per hour.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 5: <i>Model of the Community</i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the center of the three residential areas would be a central
business hub with a high school, municipal buildings, stadium, and
shops. The town high school would sit on top of the downtown
shelter, which would also be the hub of the subterranean network.
The municipal offices' basements would be hardened and serve as the
town's civil defense control center.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure <i>6</i>: <i>Model of Underground Shelter</i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Unlike the rest of the town, the Electronics Manufacturing Facility
would be entirely underground, in limestone one hundred feet below
the surface. The access tunnel would have a series of turns to
dilute blast, and the internal structures would be shock-mounted.
The student planners saw the subterranean character of the factory as
a bonus – “by virtue of its subterranean character, the plant
inflicts no objectionable atmosphere upon adjacent residential areas,
so that usual difficulties in industry-residence relationships should
not arise.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 7: <i>Map of EMF</i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The town would get its water from underground wells, with an
underground treatment plant and million-gallon subterranean reservoir
in the rock above the EMF, and three other million-gallon reservoirs
located elsewhere. A small light water reactor would supply the
electrical power.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All of the underground spaces would serve secondary roles in
peacetime. The rooms of the high school shelter would be used a
gymnasium, library, auditorium, cafeteria, and storage facilities.
The underground tunnels would hold a “seatway” transportation
network, a sort of minimalist subway: “trains” of eight to ten
chairs would be pulled along by a continuously moving belt, briefly
disengaging from the belt at stations to allow passengers to get on
or off.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 8: <i>Diagram of Seatway System</i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The shelters would be stocked with collapsible furniture that would
occupy little volume when not in use. Two types were designed for
the study: the “Family Tree”, a network of telescoping poles that
could be used to hang hammocks, and curtains for privacy, and the
“Versibed”, a rectangular frame that could be attached to a
variety of surfaces.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Figure 9: <i>Diagram of Collapsible "Family Tree"</i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The study concluded with a brief narrative of a family in the
Schoharie Valley Townsite the day the air raid sirens wail: Jim,
Isabel, and Jimmy Curran. Jim is working at the factory, Jimmy is
at school, and Isabel – this being 1959 – is baking a pie. When
they hear the siren, they all naturally rush into the shelters.
Isabel and Jimmy are reunited, while Jim – a civil defense officer
– reports to the CD control center. Over the next day, Isabel and
Jimmy help erect “Family Trees”, while Jim performs unspecified
civil defense work. No mention is made of an actual enemy <i>attack</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
in this episode; the story has the air of an extended rehearsal. In
retrospect, perhaps that's intentional.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><b>The Epilogue</b></u></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Edmondson's students presented the finalized plans and detailed
models at a UN auditorium in April of 1960, and Cornell printed the
study as a pamphlet. The project received some press attention,
though nothing exceptional. As far as I have been able to learn,
while many of the students participating went on to successful
careers, none maintained an interest in civil defense.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While the students may have seen the project as just a school
project, Edmondson seems to have taken it more seriously. At a
design conference a year later, he presented a proposal for a
150,000-person partially underground city called “NEUS”, which
would serve as an “executive center” for the American northeast.
He claimed that, since the city would be extremely compact and
mostly underground, it would take up “only a few hundred acres,
ousting one good size dairy farm.” He decried existing cities as
obsolete: “Born by geography but grown by the technology of Eli
Whitney, they are reacting weakly to the surgical concept of renewal.
The prognosis is poor. The old arteries are collapsed, the organs
of social and mechanical functions are diseased and intravenous
feeding of Federal, State, and private finance simply extends
disability payments for a few more years.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In some ways, the Schoharie Valley Townsite study was published at
the perfect time. Just a year and a half later, President John F.
Kennedy would call for a national civil defense effort, setting off a
brief but intense wave of interest, still visible in the rusting
black-and-yellow fallout shelter signs decorating municipal buildings
throughout America. But the civil defenders of the Kennedy era had
no interest in building new cities. Instead, they chose smaller,
simpler, cheaper solutions: encouraging private shelter construction,
finding and stocking existing rooms that could be used as shelters,
etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And, in retrospect, while there is a certain Buck Rogers-ish appeal
to the idea of a nuke-proof city, that was probably the right choice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Previously published in the <i>Journal of Civil Defense</i>, the magazine of <a href="http://www.tacda.org/">The American Civil Defense Association</a>.</b></span></div>
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</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-25232795521461516602015-03-25T12:55:00.000-07:002016-11-12T18:39:46.232-08:00Building a Spaceship in Dungeons and Dragons, Part II<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Previous installment <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2015/03/building-spaceship-in-dungeons-and.html">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now we come to the interesting part: propulsion.</span><br />
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We have a lot of options here. Unfortunately, the rules are
ambiguous about certain key facts which effect what our best choice
is going to be, so we're going to have to get hands-on to determine the best option.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Propulsion Research</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The obvious approach to propulsion is to use <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/traps.htm#damageSpellTraps">spell traps</a> of <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/burningHands.htm"><i>burning hands</i></a> or other blasty evocation spells. Unfortunately - and this does depend on your interpretation of the rules - I don't think this will actually work. <span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
problem: I've always assumed that anything created by
evocation blast spells vanishes after the damage is done
– that's why evocation blasts are SR: Yes while the conjuration
school </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">orb
of fire</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(from <i>Complete Arcane</i>) is SR: No; the conjuration spell makes something
<i>real</i>, while the evocation makes something that is only “pseudoreal”.
But I haven't been able to find that actually <i>written down</i> anywhere
in the rules. So, we're going to need to use Science.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We use a <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fabricate.htm"><i>fabricate</i></a> spell to make a disc of mithral three inches thick and two feet in diameter. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(I do not include the cost of the mithral here because we will reuse it later.) </span></span></span></span>We build a one-use spell trap of <i>burning hands</i> at the center of the disk (costing 50 gp x 0.75 x 0.75 x 0.9<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> x 0.95 </span>= 2<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4</span>.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">0<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5</span></span> gp), and strap a thermometer and barometer to the piece next to the trap, outside of the spell's area of effect. (Somehow, the authors of D&D forgot to put scientific instruments in any of the price lists, so call it 50 gp each.) Then we use a second <i>fabricate</i> spell to make a hollow, airtight mithral sphere three feet in diameter and with two inch thick walls around the disc. We fire the spell trap and use <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/clairaudienceClairvoyance.htm"><i>clairaudience/clairvoyance</i></a> to read the instruments. We then allow the chamber to cool to room temperature, and read the instruments again. Combining these two data points with the ideal gas law will determine if the <i>burning hands</i> spell produces real matter and, if it does, how much and how hot it is. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Let's assume that <i>burning hands</i> does not make matter, because, like I said, I think this is a more plausible interpretation of the rules. The logical next step is to use conjuration (creation) spells instead - these explicitly do make real stuff. BUT! According to the SRD, while <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#evocation">evocation spells</a> "make something out of nothing", <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#creation">conjuration (creation) spells</a></span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> "manipulate
matter to create an object or creature</span></span></span>". This implies that our conjuration traps will have to be "fed" matter to turn into exhaust. The logical source for this matter is a <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#decanterofEndlessWater"><i>decanter of endless water</i></a>. (<i>Decanters of endless sand</i> from <i>Sandstorm</i> have a better mass flow/cost ratio, but might clog up our exhaust nozzle.) Now, you could argue that the <i>decanter</i> is replicating the conjuration (creation) <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/createWater.htm"><i>create water</i></a> spell, but that's not explicit anywhere in the rules. Still, let's test it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Break open our mithral sphere and put a <i>decanter of endless water</i> inside, set to stream mode, which produces 1 gallon per round. Use <i>fabricate</i> again to seal the sphere back up, and watch what happens inside with <i>clairaudience/clairvoyance</i>. If the <i>decanter</i> is actually making matter, the pressure inside the sphere should build, <i>fast</i>, so be ready to pop the sphere again in a hurry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let's assume the <i>decanter</i> does make matter, because frankly I don't want to worry about the rocket equation. Now, once you bring up the <i>decanter of endless water</i>, one possibility is to make a steam rocket by combining it with <i><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/permanency.htm">permanent</a> <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wallOfFire.htm">walls of fire</a></i>, <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/matterAgitation.htm"><i>matte</i></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/matterAgitation.htm"><i>r agitation</i></a>, or <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/heatMetal.htm"><i>heat metal</i></a>. </span>Unfortunately, the temperature <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">pro<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">duced by these effects</span></span> is not specified, so we don't know how many <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of these effects</span> we need to vaporize our exhaust. The other possibility, already mentioned, is to use the matter produced by the <i>decanter</i> in a conjuration (creation) spell such as <i>blast of flame</i> (from <i>Complete Arcane</i>). We'll test both possibilities to see which offers better thrust/cost.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Re<i>fabricate</i> the mithral into a giant funnel. Cast <i>wall of fire</i> on the end of the funnel, pour water through it, and use the thermometer to measure the temperature of the water after it passes through the <i>wall</i>. If the water flashes into steam, drop iron ingots through the <i>wall</i> instead (1 pound of iron costs 0.1 gp). There are two possibilities here: the <i>wall</i> might change the temperature of anything that passes through it to the temperature of "fire", or it might generate pseudoreal "fire" that imparts heat to anything that passes through it, and that heat might be pseudoreal or actually real. We can use this experiment to evaluate all three possibilities. If the water is room temperature on the other side of the <i>wall</i>, the heat is pseudoreal and this is not a viable propulsion method. If it is hot on the other side, try varying the speed of water falling through the <i>wall</i>; if the temperature remains constant, then it's setting the temperature of the water to some number. If it doesn't, we can work out how much heat is being added to the water per second in the <i>wall</i> by dividing the temperature change by the time it takes to pass through. All fairly straight-forward. We can then repeat for <i>matter agitation</i> and <i>heat metal</i> - we'll assume that we have a Psion-1 and a Druid-3 among our <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">followers so we don't need to pay for these.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once we have these results, we also want to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">test</span> using a <i>decanter</i> to feed a <i>blast of flame</i> spell instead. Build a one-use <i>blast of flame</i> spell trap (costing 1400 x 0.75 x 0.75 x<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 0.9 x 0.95</span> = <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">673.31</span> gp) and fix it to the mithral disk with the thermometer and barometer next to it, re<i>fabricate</i> the mithral into a sphere around the disk, and set it off. From the ideal gas law we can determine how much material, and at what temperature, the spell is producing, and from that we can determine the thrust/cost ratio.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm going to assume that the <i>blast of flame</i> trap is the better option going forward, and that it fills its area of effect with "flame", which is isomorphic to air heated to the temperature of a propane torch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One further thing we need to test is whether a <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#lyreofBuilding"><i>lyre of building</i></a> can protect<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> a <i>decanter of endless water</i> and <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">magic traps built into <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a wall<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, because - as we'll discuss below - we're going to use the <i>lyre</i> to keep our combustion chamber from evaporating from the energy <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">we're putting thr</span>ough it. The <i>lyre</i> "negates any attacks made against all <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">inanimate construction (walls, roof, floor, and so on)<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">". I think that it's reasonable to interpret the <i>decanter</i> and traps as part of the construction, but there's insufficient information in the rules-as-written to determine the answer<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. So<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">: build a cheap magic trap (another 24.05 gp) and attach a <i>decanter</i> to our disk of mithril<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,</span> play the <i>lyre</i>, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cast <i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">burning hands</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">at</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the objects, and see if they're damaged.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> In what follows, I will assume th<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e <i>lyre</i> does protect them.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, we also want to test the range at which we can control the <i>decanter</i>s<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> of endless water</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> - </span></span>if they're twenty feet away and on the other side of a mithr<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a</span>l <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">wall,</span> will they still respond to the command word? In what follows, I will assume they will not.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Research Program, Phase II:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">821</span>.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">51</span></span> gp</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Ideas That Won't Work</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few notes on possibilities that won't actually work:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Using many, many spell traps of <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/telekinesis.htm"><i>telekinesis</i></a>. Given the weight limits on <i>telekinesis</i>, this would require either pumping our caster level into the thousands, or stripping our "spaceship" down to basically a chair for the astronaut to sit in. Even more problematic, though, is that <i>telekinesis</i> appears to generate pseudovelocity rather then real velocity: it shifts the target from place to place but is not described as producing lasting motion. So we would have no practical way to match velocities with any planet we wanted to visit.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Using either <i>permanent <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/gustOfWind.htm">gust of wind</a></i> or <i>gust of wind</i> spell traps. First, this requires interpreting "creates a severe blast of air" to mean it <i>creates air</i> in the form of a blast, rather then creating a <i>blast</i> by moving air that already exists. Second, this requires an <i>enormous</i> frontage to get any real thrust. If that isn't enough, it also runs into the whole real/pseudoreal issue that confronts <i>burning hands</i> spell traps.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Use <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/shrinkItem.htm"><i>shrink item</i></a> on <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#alchemistsFire">alchemist's fire</a> to reduce its size by a factor of 4,096, then store it in a <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#portableHole"><i>portable hole</i></a> so its mass doesn't count. Then, pump it into a <i>permanent <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/antimagicField.htm">antimagic field</a></i> to return it to its original size before burning it in a regular old rocket engine. Now, first of all, alchemist's fire is really freaking expensive, so it's cost-prohibitive just on the face of it. Second, you'd need to find a good way to store air for combustion, unless the <i>permanent gust of wind</i> trick works. And third, I don't want the book-keeping on keeping track of fuel.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Using a <i>decanter of endless water</i> in geyser mode as a water rocket. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If we assume the mouth of a <i>decanter</i> is 1 inch wide, then 30 gallons per round works out to a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n exhaust vel<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ocity of 37.4 m/sec, which translates to a thrust of 706.86 N per <i>decanter</i>. To <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">give our 30 ton cockpit module a 1.5 G acceleration<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> - enough to get off the ground -</span> we would need a thrust of 450,000</span></span></span></span></span> N, or 637 <i>decanter</i>s. At a price of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4500 <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">x 0.75 x 0.75 x 0.9 x 0.95 = <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2164.2<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2 gp per <i>decanter</i>, that's 1,378,608.14</span></span></span></span> gp, a bit outside our price range.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Combustion Chamber </u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Our "combustion chamber" is going to be a hollow cone we use to capture the exhaust produced by our <i>blasts of flame</i> so we can direct it through a nozzle. That means it's going to need to be able to withstand <i>extreme</i> temperature and pressure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In theory, we could just use <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/makeWhole.htm"><i>make whole</i></a> traps firing once per round, but in practice we are going to be doing so much damage to the chamber walls that it would probably melt before the trap fired. We could apply <i>permanent <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/animateObjects.htm">animate objects</a></i>, followed by <i>awaken construct</i> (from <i>Savage Species</i>), followed by <i>mantle of the fiery spirit</i> (from <i>Sandstorm</i>), which would turn our engine into a sapient creature that's immune to fire. That would be both really cool and help with steering, but while that would protect us against fire it wouldn't keep the chamber from bursting from the pressure. We could make the chamber out of <i>permanent <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wallOfForce.htm">walls of force</a></i> or riverine (from <i>Stormwrack</i>) but this is expensive and geometrically awkward, and we need a workable surface to mount our spell traps on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the end, I think our best option is to make the chamber out of mithral and use a <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#lyreofBuilding"><i>lyre of building</i></a>. Once per day, the <i>lyre</i> "</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">negates any attacks made against all inanimate construction (walls, roof, floor, and so on) within 300 feet." This requires us to interpret the heat and pressure of our exhaust gas as an <i>attack</i>, and to interpret our <i>decanter</i>s and spell traps as construction, but I think that's reasonable if we build the <i>decanter</i>s into the wall. The <i>lyre</i>'s effects last for only 30 minutes per day, but we'll have thrust to compensate, and we'll carry two <i>lyres</i> so we can fire our engine more then once a day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Blast of flame</i> produces a 60-foot-long cone of fire. Now, in D&D, a "cone" is defined as a quarter-circle on a 2-dimensional map. I'll assume that it's axially symmetric, so that its three-dimensional shape is a rotated quarter-circle, which I will regard as a section of a solid sphere of radius 60 feet = 18.29 m:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGBQkw-3qGv76c0bvPpjSQAGD2YaK0ljv10u7jbhtbnFBAJA9BWDyPbwmWNaWctCkpUkX8msnILI2iFBW93av4Z69kXFesS-ocm4Cw9LAephMI2i8wcagXT-9k9J9NYZWJYh9V94r_YL1/s1600/Quarter-Circle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGBQkw-3qGv76c0bvPpjSQAGD2YaK0ljv10u7jbhtbnFBAJA9BWDyPbwmWNaWctCkpUkX8msnILI2iFBW93av4Z69kXFesS-ocm4Cw9LAephMI2i8wcagXT-9k9J9NYZWJYh9V94r_YL1/s1600/Quarter-Circle.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That shape will have a surface area of:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjyZpa0ZNhbgiXhQgN2L4Y-l3UKok37pkylQBhG5Loy0-9hKldQXl48F-K21XLTXpsjrpv4hagWC_tbk6dN6DuUuB5zk-96y3VgR1VIriK74zkSpo38-di5UiokwgTvIWU7rHJ7n9LUaHG/s1600/Eqn1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="82" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjyZpa0ZNhbgiXhQgN2L4Y-l3UKok37pkylQBhG5Loy0-9hKldQXl48F-K21XLTXpsjrpv4hagWC_tbk6dN6DuUuB5zk-96y3VgR1VIriK74zkSpo38-di5UiokwgTvIWU7rHJ7n9LUaHG/s320/Eqn1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Where <i>r</i> is the radius, equal to 18.29 m. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">T</span>he surface area of this shape will be <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1,043.06 </span>square meters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But, we <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">need more than just the cone. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In addition to the cone, we need a flat surface to mount the cone to our cockpit, and - as I'll discuss in the next section - to mount the <i>decanter</i>s to. We<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'ll do this by attaching a </span></span>1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-meter-diameter, 1-meter-long open cylinder to the top of the cone, so that the base of t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he cylinder is 0.5 meters from the tip of the con<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e, as shown below:</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNKd8Gx99a5q0WeW_Xdz2uQnNFRWsYUdbf_EOwwY2mOUmkZKLO50TkNXeF7OaXmROu8ERAsGqwcGtLuBeelOBhI65nt_lV844xSGqF5OM-n9G0nLpoE3QNSrKbJAPKfH8FnOgLIjqL7Of/s1600/Combustion+Chamber.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNKd8Gx99a5q0WeW_Xdz2uQnNFRWsYUdbf_EOwwY2mOUmkZKLO50TkNXeF7OaXmROu8ERAsGqwcGtLuBeelOBhI65nt_lV844xSGqF5OM-n9G0nLpoE3QNSrKbJAPKfH8FnOgLIjqL7Of/s1600/Combustion+Chamber.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We'll have holes in the cone <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in the area covered by the cylinder, as shown, to allow the water from the <i>decanter</i>s to flow into the combustion chamber. The <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cylinder will have a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">surface area of 3.93 square meters, making a total of 1,046.99 square meters<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We want our walls to be as thin as we can make them without having the chamber collapse under its own weight while on the launch pad, but D&D somehow doesn't have rules for that kind of architectural calculation (a gross oversight, I know). Let's call it one centimeter thick - if anyone has suggestions for a more accurate approach, or a good way to reinforce it so we can make it thinner, let me know in the comments. We can get a very good approximation of the volume of the chamber walls by multiplying the thickness by the surface area, giving us <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10</span>.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">47</span> cubic meters. Mithral is described as weighing half as much as iron, and iron has a density of 7874 kg per cubic meter, so that works out to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">41,22<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1</span></span> kg, or about <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">90,87<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7</span> pounds</span>. Assuming we're using the "structural" mithral of Stronghold Builder's Guide, that costs <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">29,989.41</span> gp. We'll use <i>fabricate</i> to turn it into a combustion chamber, and <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#sovereignGlue"><i>sovereign glue</i></a> (2,400 gp) to attach it to our cockpit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Combustion Chamber:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">32,389.41</span> gp (charged to general <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">budget</span>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Engine</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once the combustion chamber is done, we install the engine. Instead of using <i>blast of flame</i> traps directly, we use an <i>energy transformation field</i> (from <i>Magic of Faerun</i>) loaded with <i>blast of flame</i>. That spell absorbs any magic cast in its area of effect, then, once its absorbed as many levels of spells as the level of the spell it's loaded with, it casts the spell. It costs 5,000 gp in material components, plus <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">13 x 70 gp = 910 gp in subcontracting fees, </span>but a <i>transformation field</i> powered by spell traps of first level spells is still more cost efficient then using a <i>blast of flame</i> trap by itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now, our spaceship so far masses about <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5</span></span> tons. The volume of our combustion chamber is given by:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzU7PuoWGIlaovTx5Co5P7UY5jWysrJErK0mydChF4vPD5Q8keYBk13YmUZIRungvd3gctUbwwtlt2lu9gMOC8eaO8hBe1Q0CxLjgw3NjfwvFHKQdIdNs1Fgffszgfv4jrNEmdUfm7F3WT/s1600/Eqn2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzU7PuoWGIlaovTx5Co5P7UY5jWysrJErK0mydChF4vPD5Q8keYBk13YmUZIRungvd3gctUbwwtlt2lu9gMOC8eaO8hBe1Q0CxLjgw3NjfwvFHKQdIdNs1Fgffszgfv4jrNEmdUfm7F3WT/s1600/Eqn2.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So the chamber volume is <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3,753.26</span> cubic meters. Every time the <i>blast</i> fires, it will fill that volume with "flame", which we are assuming is isomorphic to air at the temperature and density of a propane blowtorch, about 1,720 degrees Kelvin. The density of air is given by the ideal gas law:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrM2WGLb3r-goxwGIVCAsJAk1_b8UAwoxFUMFJj3LsPCwUlzWdZjjWQx-jOqx4O0aDTZnkwIPhmUNbwcEeZ-hK47Efmd_IzfZV-NsMbKUSeEKOVgw9FHsposKH9kvhSNXCakafLJgpdPK5/s1600/Fig3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrM2WGLb3r-goxwGIVCAsJAk1_b8UAwoxFUMFJj3LsPCwUlzWdZjjWQx-jOqx4O0aDTZnkwIPhmUNbwcEeZ-hK47Efmd_IzfZV-NsMbKUSeEKOVgw9FHsposKH9kvhSNXCakafLJgpdPK5/s1600/Fig3.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Where <i>d</i> is the density, <i>P</i> is the air pressure, <i>R</i> is the specific gas constant for air, and <i>T</i> is the temperature. Room air pressure is about 100,000 Pascals, while <i>R</i> is about 287.1 J/(kgK), giving us a density of 0.203 kg per cubic meter. Multiplying density by volume, we get <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">761.9</span> kg of exhaust per <i>blast</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The exhaust velocity of a thermal rocket with an ideal nozzle is:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFbg222Dk_Q96e1qu1xxMpmBE370xB5UL4lT7fWLgyTKwRhsw1IxNOgMYs8hPMNJMlBxOUAmlb4IF860XT1lp_S-T21ozXIiZPeMaSSC3kxdMIrCa280GqFc7_JkHeJ2CnuB_Rd4cxt1NR/s1600/Fig4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFbg222Dk_Q96e1qu1xxMpmBE370xB5UL4lT7fWLgyTKwRhsw1IxNOgMYs8hPMNJMlBxOUAmlb4IF860XT1lp_S-T21ozXIiZPeMaSSC3kxdMIrCa280GqFc7_JkHeJ2CnuB_Rd4cxt1NR/s1600/Fig4.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Where <i>k</i> is the specific heat ratio, <i>R'</i> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">= 8,314 J/(kMol K) </span>is the universal gas constant, <i>T</i> is the exhaust temperature, and <i>M</i> is the exhaust average molecular weight. The average molecular weight of air is 29 kg/kMol. For air at these kinds of temperatures, <i>k</i> is about 1.3. Overall, that gives us an exhaust velocity of 2,067 meters per second.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If our <i>blast</i> fires once per second, we have a total thrust of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1,574,873.09</span> Newtons. Our ship masses about <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5</span></span> metric tons, so that works out to an acceleration of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2.1</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">G</span>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For each firing we need to supply </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">761.9</span></span> kg of water from <i>decanters</i> to the chamber. On its maximal setting a <i>decanter of endless water</i> produces 30 gallons per round. A D&D round is six seconds, so that's equal to 18.9 kilograms per second. That works out to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">41</span> <i>decanters</i>. Each decanter costs us 4,500<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> gp</span> x 0.75 x 0.75 x 0.9 x 0.95 = <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2,164.2<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2</span></span> g<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">p, for a total price of 88,733.02 gp.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If we want our <i>blast</i> to fire <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">once</span> per second, that's <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">six</span> times per round, meaning we'll need <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">24</span> spell traps powering our <i>energy transformation field</i>. At a cost of 500 x 0.75 x 0.75 x 0.9 x 0.95 = <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">240.4<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7</span></span> gp each, that works out to<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 5,771.2<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7 gp.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We also want to be able to turn <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">our <i>decanter</i>s </span></span>off when not in use, to avoid clogging the engine with ice. We'll do this with a second <i>energy transformation field</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,</span> this one loaded with <i>antimagic field</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. This adds another 5,910 gp <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in subcontracting fees, plus another spell trap costing 240.47 gp.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We can choose the origin point of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the </span>spell cast by <i>energy transformation field</i>, provided it lies somewhere in<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">side the field it<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">self.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Now, we want to ensure that the <i>energy transformation field</i>s do not cover the <i>decanter</i>s, because <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">if they did they would absorb the <i>decanter</i>s energy and prevent them from working. But, we want the <i>antim<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">agic field</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> to cover the <i>decanter</i>s, so it c<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">an</span> tu</span></span></span></span></span></span></span>rn them off.</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span>An <i>energy transformation field</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'</span>s</span></span></span></span></span> </span></span>area of effect is a 40'<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-radius spread<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, 40 feet being equal to 12.192 meters.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> An <i>antimagic field</i> is a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">0'-radius emanation, 10 feet being equal to 3.048 m.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In D&D<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, an emanation is a sphere<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> that is blocked by anything that blocks line of sight. In other words, if I can draw a straight line from a point to the origin of the <i>antimagic field</i> that does not pass through any physical objects, and which is 10' long or less, then that point is within the <i>antimagic field</i>. A spread is like an emanation, except it can turn corners<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. In other words, if I can draw a path that curves and bends </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">from a point to the origin of the <i>antimagic field</i> that does not pass through any physical objects, and which is <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4</span>0' long or less, then that point is within the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>energy transformation </i></span><i>field</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We can easily position the <i>bla<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">st of flame</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-generating <i>energy transformation field</i> so that it does not cover the <i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">decanter</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s. We then set the origin of the <i>antimagic field</i>-generating <i>energy transformation field</i> inside a box<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, closed except for an opening leading to a pipe</span></span></span> which cur<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ls around itsel<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">f for 3<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9'. The spread of the <i>energy transformation field</i> will follow the pipe, ultimately emerging at the end in a 1'-radius sphere. We place the spell trap powering the <i>f<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ield</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> inside the box. We set the origin of the <i>antimagic field</i> at the end of the pipe<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Since the <i>antimagic field</i> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">has a radius of 10', we can position the box and the pipe at the tip of the cone so that the <i>antimagic field</i> covers the <i>decanter</i>s <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">but the <i>energy transformation field</i> does not.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, to sum up:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">91</span>0 gp (<i>energy transformation field</i> for <i>blast of f<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lame</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,</span>771.28</span> gp (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">24x</span> spell traps powering <i>blast of flame</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">88,733.02</span> gp (<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">41</span>x <i>decanters of endless water</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6,252.1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9</span></span> gp (2x <i>lyres of building</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">91</span>0 gp (<i>energy transformation field</i> for <i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">antimagic field</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">240.47 gp (spell trap powering <i>antimagic field</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Engine:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">112,816.96</span> gp (charged to general budget)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Putting It All Together</u></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So let's add this up<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. For the Landlord <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">budget, we have:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Research Program, Phase I:</b> 1,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">442.81</span> gp</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Vehicle Assembly Building:</b> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9,289.77 gp</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Cockpit:</b> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">20,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">183.29</span> gp</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Environmental
Support and EVA:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1,803.52 gp</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Navigation and Sensing:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">240.47 gp</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For the general budget, we have:</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Environmental
Support and EVA:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4,664.22 gp</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Navigation and Sensing:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8,310</span> gp</span></span></span></span></span></span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Research Program, Phase II:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">821.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">51</span></span> gp</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Combustion Chamber:</b> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">32,389.41</span></span> gp</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Engine:</b> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">112,816.96</span></span> gp</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Total, Landlord Budget:</b> 32,959.86<b> </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Total, General Budget:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">159,002.1</span> gp</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By
the books, an 11th-level character has 66,000 gp to spend, plus <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">75,000 gp <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">from the Landlord</span></span> feat. Between our
astronaut and three financial backers, that works works out to 264,000
gp<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> in general budget. So <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">this should fit comfortably inside the budget.</span></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>To Be Continued</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next Time: Mission Planning</span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-17767040498995440972015-03-23T09:06:00.004-07:002015-03-23T09:06:42.835-07:00Two Links<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm all over the place! Specifically, my article "Alternate Nuclear Wars" can now be read at <a href="http://alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.blogspot.com/2015/03/alternate-nuclear-wars.html">Alternate History Weekly Update</a>. In addition, my previous blog post on third-generation nuclear weapons can now also be read on <a href="http://william-black.deviantart.com/journal/Third-Generation-Nuclear-Weapons-521726335">William Black's deviantart</a>.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Although most of you have probably already read that, you should check out <a href="http://william-black.deviantart.com/gallery/">his gallery</a> anyway; Mr. Black is an extremely talented digital artist, who has contributed many of the images of Orions and other atompunk spacecraft you can see in such places as Atomic Rocket.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sadly, I must warn you not to get used to this pace of updates. A bunch of projects just happened to be completed at once.</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-36000272121364645192015-03-19T07:49:00.000-07:002015-09-29T07:28:55.055-07:00Third-Generation Nuclear Weapons<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ran into this stuff while working on something else, and thought it was interesting enough to be worth sharing. I may or may not do a longer article on this at some point; getting more information on this is likely to be very difficult, given that the US government holds this stuff pretty close to its chest (as it should).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
So what, exactly, is a third-generation nuclear weapon?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's a bit subjective, to be honest. Most sources describe the first generation as the atomic bomb, and the second generation as the hydrogen bomb<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">,</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe]</sup></span></span></span> though I've also seen first generation used to refer to the bomber-delivered, bulky, high-yield H-bombs of the '50s and early '60s, and second generation for the missile-delivered, miniaturized, mid-yield weapons of the late '60s on</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Su]</sup></span></span></span> In either case, a third-generation weapon is a bomb that has a "tailored effect"; it's optimized to produce most of its energy in one particular form or direction. Some sources include "salted" nuclear weapons and neutron bombs as third generation weapons, two concepts that go back to the '50s. But, for the most part, a "third-generation" weapon is one with some degree of <i>directionality</i>: it emits most of its energy in a narrow cone rather then spread out over all directions.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
For this article, I'm going to limit myself to this later definition, since there's already enough information out there about salted bombs and neutron bombs. These directional devices are also often referred to as Nuclear Directed Energy Weapons, or NDEWs.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Casaba-Howitzer</u></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
What was Casaba-Howitzer? I don't entirely know. (You're going to be hearing that a lot in this essay.) It's not even entirely clear if it was a single project, called Casaba-Howitzer, or two separate projects, Casaba and Howitzer. On the net it's usually referred to as a single program, probably because that's how it's described in George Dyson's excellent book <i>Project Orion</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Dy]</sup></span></span></span> Dyson conducted extensive interviews with people who worked directly on these programs back in the '60s, and includes a quote from one of them referring explicitly to "Casaba-Howitzer", so I'm reluctant to contradict him. But all my other sources refer to these as two separate programs.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe][St]</sup></span></span></span> So I dunno.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Update (09/29/15):</b> Scott Lowther says he has a General Dynamics bibliography on Casaba-Howitzer that specifically refers to it by that name, so I guess that settles that issue. See <a href="http://up-ship.com/blog/?p=30024">here</a>, in the comments. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>do</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> know is that Casaba and/or Howitzer was an outgrowth of Project Orion, the attempt in the late '50s to build a spaceship that would be driven by detonating nuclear bombs. Now, an ordinary nuclear bomb produces a spherical pulse of energy, so a lot of that energy is wasted since it doesn't hit your ship's pusher plate. What Orion and Casaba-Howitzer did was use a radiation case to direct a large portion of that energy to a pancake of propellant</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Dy]</sup></span></span></span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Freeman Dyson describes it:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"If you have something that starts in the shape of a pancake and you heat it up to a very high temperature it will expand more sideways along the axis, and less at the edges. The pressure gradient is highest along the axis, so then after a while, since the velocity is highest along the axis, it becomes cigar-shaped. So you get inversion, something that begins like a pancake becomes like a cigar, and something that begins as a cigar becomes a pancake, if you just let it expand freely."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Dy]</sup></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the Orion pulse propulsion units and Casaba-Howitzer warheads would both produce a spear of plasma. The Orion spear would be somewhat wider and less focused, and used to push a spaceship. Casaba-Howitzer would be narrow, and used destructively, as an anti-ballistic missile warhead or anti-satellite weapon</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Dy]</sup></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Besides Orion, Casaba-Howitzer may have also been connected to a program called GLIPAR, or Guide Line Identification Program for Anti-missile Research, run by the Advanced Research Projects Agency. GLIPAR contracted a variety of groups to investigate any and all ideas, no matter how seemingly ridiculous - even things like antigravity or magnetic "shields". This apparently included some kind of "nuclear cannon" or "nuclear howitzer" concept, though details are completely absent</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[ARPA]</sup></span></span></span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Beyond that, we know that the idea was originally suggested by Moe Scharff at Livermore Laboratory. We know that there was at least one nuclear test related to Casaba-Howitzer, though not how many there were, what their code names were, or when they happened</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Dy]</sup></span></span></span> It apparently did not work as well as they hoped - a later report, which I <i>believe</i> is referring to Casaba-Howitzer though I'm not certain, mentions that they hoped to achieve a plasma velocity of 50 km/s, but "only a fraction of... [that] was achieved." The theoretical maximum velocity for this concept is apparently 1000 km/s, but it looks like no one ever came close to getting that</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe]</sup></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Shaped Nuclear Charges</u></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is an idea that has shown up in a number of civilian publications on nuclear strategy and technology, but which I have yet to see in an official government document. This is not the same thing as Casaba-Howitzer, which used a radiation case to channel the energy output of a spherical nuclear explosion in a particular direction. A shaped nuclear charge would modify the design of the nuclear explosive itself, to control how the fusion reaction propagates within the fusion secondary, to ensure that as much as possible of the energy from it is released in the desired direction</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Wi][Fe]</sup></span></span></span> To quote one source:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Both conventional and thermonuclear shaped charges tailor an explosive burn-wave using a detonation front that releases energy along a prescribed path. Both can produce jets of molten metal having velocities greatly in excess of the detonation velocity.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"For thermonuclear fuels such as deuterium plus tritium, the burn-wave can be directed by placing hollow bubbles or inert solids in the path of the detonation front in order to alter its velocity. Of course, ignition of a thermonuclear burn in a <i>warhead</i> requires a fission trigger to achieve the necessary compression and temperature... but even with such a (nondirected) trigger, the overall directivity of a thermonuclear shaped charge can still be significant... Using a convergent conical thermonuclear burn-wave with a suitable liner, one could theoretically create a jet traveling at 10,000 kilometers per second, or 3 percent of the speed of light."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe]</sup></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another source claims that 10% of the speed of light is the theoretical limit for the jet speed of a thermonuclear shaped-charged explosive</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Wi]</sup></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>EXCALIBUR</u></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
This is the most famous of the third-generation weapons, by far, and I'm only going to summarize its very complicated story here since it's recounted well elsewhere. EXCALIBUR used the output of a nuclear explosion to power an X-ray laser. It was intended for use as an anti-ballistic missile weapon, though it would also make a fine anti-satellite weapon. Since each bomb could energize many separate X-ray emitters - about fifty seems to be the usual number, though some accounts go as high as 100,000 - yes, seriously - anyway, suffice it to say that EXCALIBUR seemed like a real game-changing technology for Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Besides the basic X-ray laser, further improvements were also planned. The goal for the initial EXCALIBUR weapon was to produce X-ray beams one million times brighter then the X-rays emitted by a non-directional bomb. Once basic EXCALIBUR was developed, further upgrades would lead to EXCALIBUR Plus, which would increase the brightness by a further thousand-fold. The final evolution would be Super EXCALIBUR, which would use X-ray lenses to focus the beams, giving a further thousand-fold increase in brightness over EXCALIBUR Plus.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The original EXCALIBUR was going to be based on "pop-up" submarine-launched ballistic missiles, fired into the path of an oncoming swarm of Soviet ICBM's. However, in order to work, EXCALIBUR would need to fire before the enemy missiles discharged their warheads, since even the mighty EXCALIBUR could not cope with the thousands of decoy balloons the Soviets might include. And since the X-rays produced by EXCALIBUR could not penetrate very far through air, the Soviets could foil the system by building "fast-burn" boosters that would complete their acceleration and discharge their warheads before they'd left the protective shield of the atmosphere.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EXCALIBUR Plus was supposed to defeat these fast-burn boosters, by being powerful enough to burn its way through the atmosphere. However, to do this, it would need to be based in orbit, where it could shoot down through a relatively thin layer of air, rather then popped up on a ballistic missile, where it would have to make a slant shot through the upper atmosphere. This orbital basing would violate the Outer Space Treaty. Even worse, the devices would have to be placed in a relatively low orbit, meaning that relatively few would be in a position to fire at any given time, and they would be vulnerable to enemy attack.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Super EXCALIBUR solved this problem too. It would still be based in orbit, but it was powerful enough to destroy ICBM's from geostationary orbit, where all the bomb-sats would be in position to fire at the same time, and where they would have some protection against attack from sheer distance.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At any rate, none of this ended up happening. The full story is still known only to those inside the nuclear weapons complex, but it appears that sensor errors in early EXCALIBUR development tests led to a drastic over-estimation of how well the prototypes were working. New tests, using corrected sensors, took a lot of the wind out of the project's sails - not in the sense of "this won't work", but in the sense of "this is going to be a lot harder then we thought." Plus, Reagan wanted a purely non-nuclear SDI system if he could get it - he wanted to make nuclear weapons "impotent and obsolete", not just pit nukes against nukes. For a long time, SDIO's leadership insisted that they were only spending money on EXCALIBUR to determine if the <i>Russians</i> could use it against <i>us</i>, we definitely have no intention of building it, no sir. Then the Cold War ended, and nuclear testing stopped, and that was that</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Br2]</sup></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The known EXCALIBUR nuclear tests were:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DIABLO HAWK, September 13, 1978, LLNL. Test apparatus failed.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DAUPHIN, November 14, 1980, LLNL. First probable X-ray lasing success.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CABRA, March 26 1983, LLNL. Sensor failure.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ROMANO, December 16 1983, LLNL. First strong X-ray lasing evidence.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CORREO, August 2 1984, LANL. X-ray laser fails.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">COTTAGE, March 23 1985, LLNL. First focusing attempt.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">GOLDSTONE, December 28 1985, LLNL. First use of corrected sensors shows laser is dimmer then previously thought.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LABQUARK, September 30 1986, LLNL. More focusing tests.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DELAMAR, April 18 1987, LLNL. More focusing tests. Not successful.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">KERNVILLE, February 15 1988, LLNL. Data gathering on basic X-ray laser</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Br2]</sup></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>PROMETHEUS</u></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />PROMETHEUS was Los Alamos lab's competitor to EXCALIBUR, and probably descended from Casaba-Howitzer, and possibly classified work on shaped-charge nuclear explosives. It used a nuclear explosive to propel a number of small kinetic impactors to about 100 km/sec, often referred to as a "nuclear shotgun." It was primarily intended as an anti-ballistic missile weapon. A report from the time describes its mechanism as follows:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"One research engineer familiar with the project described the device as operating much like a rifle, using a polystyrene-filled barrel to help couple a plate to the 'gunpowder-like' blast of a directed nuclear charge. After the impulse from the explosion generates an intense shock wave, the plate 'fractionates' into millions of tiny particles. Of course, these would vaporize if in direct contact with the bomb, but as configured, the pellets reportedly achieved speeds of 100 kilometers per second without vaporization."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe]</sup></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is sourced to a report from SPARTA, Inc., which unfortunately I have been unable to obtain.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Another source reports that PROMETHEUS projectiles could "penetrate fifteen inches of aluminum if you can keep them together."</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Ul]</sup></span></span></span> Besides using it directly against warheads, SDI wanted to use it to distinguish decoys from real warheads: PROMETHEUS could be used to hit incoming objects with dust clouds, causing measurable changes in their trajectory, allowing defender's to calculate the mass of the target and therefore whether it's a heavy warhead or a light decoy. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At least one nuclear test was conducted as part of the PROMETHEUS program: CHAMITA, fired on August 17 1985, which reportedly propelled a 1 kg tungsten/molybdenum target to 70 km per second</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe]</sup></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Optical-Wavelength Lasers</u></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
This project was similar to EXCALIBUR, but produced a visual wavelength laser instead of an X-ray. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This reduced its range substantially, but made it much easier to attack targets in the atmosphere, since the atmosphere doesn't absorb visual light as well as X-rays. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It <i>may</i> have been code-named PERSEID</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe2]</sup></span></span></span> and run at Los Alamos</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Ha]</sup></span></span></span>, but the evidence is inconclusive; PERSEID may have been a separate, conventionally-powered excimer laser project.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Microwave Bombs</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's possible to use nuclear weapons to produce a high-intensity, directional blast of microwaves - an EMP, in other words. This is <i>not</i> the same thing as the EMP produce by a "conventional" high-altitude nuclear explosion - probably. Unfortunately, details about this program are still classified, so all we have to go on are unconfirmed leaks and speculation by civilians, but the best guess is that this would work on a very diffirent principle: using a small nuclear explosive to "pump" a microwave generator</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe]</sup></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Before anything else, let me say that we're getting into an area of physics I don't really understand as well as I should. Electromagnetism is not my thing. So I may make some mistakes here, and if I do, please point them out in the comments so I can fix them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Civilian speculation about how a microwave bomb would work focused on two concepts: the electron plasma oscillator and the magnetic flux compressor. The electron plasma oscillator would use the X- and gamma-rays generated by a nuclear explosion to create electrical currents. To quote the source:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"The device could be surrounded by a cylindrical waveguide structure, possibly built up from many concentric metallic cylinders to serve three purposes: they could act as reflex diodes, emitting an intense pulse of electrons by Compton scattering and the photoelectric effect; they could provide a cavity structure in which the fields could 'ring' at a resonant frequency; and they could serve as a microwave horn antenna to direct a beam. Since this diode-waveguide-antenna structure would remain intact for only a short time before it was blown apart, it would have to exploit the near speed-of-light velocities of the gammas, electrons, and microwaves, to generate a beam quickly."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe]</sup></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Fe] estimates that about 0.001% of the weapon yield could be converted into directional microwaves using this process, at a frequency in the tens of gigahertz, leading to the conclusion that such a weapon would only be effective at 300 to 1,000 km range in space, or less then 200 km against targets within the atmosphere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The magnetic flux compressor works in a similar fashion to a conventional explosive flux compressor, only using a nuclear explosive. This produces an enormous pulse of electricity, which is fed into a microwave antenna. [Fe] estimates that 5% or more of the nuclear yield might be transformed into electric current, and that "a few percent" of that energy might in turn be transformed into microwaves before the system blows itself apart, yielding about 0.1% of the nuclear yield in directional microwaves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Incidentally, besides the usual uses of EMP, there was evidently speculation at Lawrence Livermore that a microwave bomb might perhaps be designed to produce microwaves at a frequency that would interfere with the functioning of the human nervous system - a "brain bomb". I've no evidence the brain bomb ever went beyond speculation, though</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Br]</sup></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We do know the EMP project was primarily based at Sandia lab, though there was probably also involvement by either Los Alamos or Livermore to design the physics package itself - I suspect Livermore, since they were working on an unspecified nuclear weapon to "hold at risk... strategic relocatable targets" at the time</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Ty]</sup></span></span></span>, and that was apparently the primary aim of the microwave bomb project.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe]</sup></span></span></span></span> There was probably at least one nuclear test as part of the microwave bomb program, though this is not certain - we know that at least one concept besides PROMETHEUS and EXCALIBUR had a test, and the microwave bomb is the most likely candidate</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe]</sup></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Particle Beams</u></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are periodic mentions that the Department of Energy investigated using nuclear weapons to produce particle beams</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fe]</sup></span></span></span>, but no other information is available.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>The End of the Cold War</u></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These concepts were all still-born, never deployed. Research was already being scaled back by the end of the Reagan administration, and appears to have been finally terminated after the end of nuclear testing in 1992. Although nuclear weapons research continues at LANL and LLNL using subcritical tests and computer simulations, developing third-generation weapons would need live-fire nuclear tests, and probably a lot of them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That said, we'll see how relations between the US, China, Russia, and eventually India shape out over the next few decades. I would not be overly surprised to see nuclear weapons testing resume at some point - and, if it does, expect to see renewed interest in these concepts. Making something like Super EXCALIBUR work would be enormously challenging - but if you succeed, it would be an absolute game-changer in nuclear weapons technology.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Works Cited:</span></u></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[ARPA]: <i>The Advanced Research Projects Agency, 1958-1974</i>. <a href="http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA154363">http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA154363</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Br]: Broad, William J. <i>Star Warriors: A Penetrating Look into the Lives of the Young Scientists Behind Our Space Age Weaponry.</i> Simon and Schuster, 1985.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Br2]: Broad, William J. <i>Teller's War: The Top-Secret Story Behind the Star Wars Deception</i>. Simon and Schuster, 1992.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Dy]: Dyson, George. <i>Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship</i>. Henry Holt and Company, 2002.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Fe]: Fenstermacher, Dan L. "The Effects of Nuclear Test-Ban Regimes on Third-Generation-Weapons Innovation." <i>Science & Global Security</i>, Vol. 1 (1990), pp. 187-223.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Fe2]: Fenstermacher, Dan L. "Arms Race: The Next Generation." <i>Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists</i>, March 1991, pp. 29-34.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Fi]: Fitzgerald, Mary C. "The Russian Image of Future War." <i>Comparative Strategy</i>, Vol. 13 No. 2 (April-June 1994), pp. 167-180.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Ha]: Hartford, Jr., Allen. <i>Chemical and Laser Sciences Division, Annual Report 1989</i>. LA-11833-PR. <a href="http://www.osti.gov/scitech/biblio/6876779">http://www.osti.gov/scitech/biblio/6876779</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[St]: Strobel, Warren. "SDI's 'Nuclear Shotgun' on Pentagon's Fast Track." <i>Washington Times</i>, April 22 1987, pp. 1, 16A.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Su]: Subramanian, R. R. "Third Generation Nuclear Weapons." <i>Strategic Analysis</i>, Vol. 6 No. 9 (1982), pp. 567-569.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Ty]: Tyler, James V. "Nuclear Weapon Development." <i>Energy & Technology Review</i>, Sept. 1986, pp. 19-25.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Ul]: Ulsamer, Edgar. "Strategic Connections in Space." <i>Air Force Magazine</i>, Vol. 70, August 1987, pp. 78-84.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Wi]: Winterberg, Friedwardt. <i>The Physical Principles of Thermonuclear Explosive Devices</i>. Fusion Energy Foundation, 1981. </span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-45555576773530759652015-03-17T12:41:00.000-07:002016-11-12T15:33:07.756-08:00Building a Spaceship in Dungeons and Dragons<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why? Because we can, that's why.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> D&D
space travel has been done before, usually with teleportation magic
(or </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelljammer">Spelljammers</a></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">).</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
What I'm setting out to do here, though, is to build an actual
space</span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ship</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
that actually traverses the space it crosses. Specifically, I want
to design a spaceship that can be built at the lowest level possible
– most of the components are actually fairly cheap since the
designers weren't expecting you to apply physics to them. The ship
will be designed for a 1-man crew, but should be readily adaptable to
larger crews.</span></span></span></span></div>
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In case it isn't obvious, I'm well aware this is deeply silly. For
those of you here for the nuclear history, don't worry. This blog
is still about history; this is just a momentary diversion. So if you
don't like D&D just skip this and come back later.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
I'm doing my best to stay within the strict rules-as-written of the
D&D ruleset. That said, there are a couple of issues of rules
interpretation, which I will point out as I go. Obviously, this is
not intended for use in an actual game – even if a DM is willing to
allow it, you should probably homebrew your spaceships rather than
trying to force the rules through these kinds of contortions.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
Also, I'm making heavy use of <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/traps.htm#magicTraps">magic device traps</a>.
I'm making some assumptions that are not specifically addressed by the rules, namely: that all traps can only fire once per round, that they
can be triggered by the press of a button in a separate chamber or be
set to automatic continuous fire, and that they are not vulnerable to
damage that is insufficient to disrupt the surface they are placed
on.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><b>But
Mark, Why Don't We Just </b></u></span><i><u><b>Teleport</b></u></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><b>?</b></u></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Because
spaceships are cool and I like messing around with physics. Also,
combining orbital mechanics, momentum conservation, and </span></span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/teleport.htm">teleport</a></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
opens up a whole horrible can of worms I'd rather leave firmly nailed
shut.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What Isn't Allowed</span></b></u></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
I will not be using any of the following in this paper:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/teleport.htm">Teleport</a></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and related spells and effects (see above)</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wish.htm">Wish</a></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(makes it too easy)</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
Wealth-by-level-breaking tricks (see above)</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
Real-life chemistry (it obviously doesn't work in a world made out
of the four classical elements)</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Assembling the Team</span></b></u></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></u></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="text-decoration: none;">Project Leader and Astronaut:</b> Wizard-11 with 20 Intelligence,
maxed ranks in Craft (Metalworking), Knowledge (Engineering), and Use Magic Device, the <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#leadership">Leadership</a> feat, and the Landlord feat (from
the <i style="text-decoration: none;">Stronghold Builder's Guide</i>). He will do the spacecraft
design and fly the vehicle.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="text-decoration: none;">Chief Engineer:</b> His cohort, an Artificer-9 with t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he feats </span>Apprentice (Craftsman), <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#craftWondrousItem">Craft Wondrous Item</a>, Extraordinary Artisan, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Favored in Guild (Arcane),</span> and Magical Artisan
(Wondrous Item). He'll be doing most of the actual manufacturing,
except for some pieces we'll subcontract.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="text-decoration: none;">Project Administrator:</b> A <a href="http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906b">Marshal</a>-1 with Motivate
Intelligence and an 18 Charisma. We have some skill checks to make
and Marshals need the work. Fluffwise, he's in charge of
administration, accounting, etc.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="text-decoration: none;">The Design Team:</b> Our astronaut has a <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#leadership">Leadership</a> score
of 19 (11 + 2 Charisma + 2 Great Renown + 1 Fairness and Generosity +
1 Special Power + 2 Base of Operations), giving him 40 level-1 expert
followers, all with 13 Intelligence and 4 ranks and <u style="text-decoration: none;">Skill Focus</u>
in Craft (Metalworking) and Knowledge (Engineering).</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Financial Backers:</b> The three other members of the program
leader's adventuring party, who will be contributing to the project
budget.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Mother of All Skill Checks</span></b></u></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
We want to go to space. First we need to figure out how to do that
– or, to be more precise, our <i>characters</i> need to figure out
how to do that. The DC is obviously set by the DM, so we need to
just buff our rolls until we can pass any plausible DC. We will
use:</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
14 ranks in Knowledge (Engineering): +14</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
20 Intelligence: +5</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#artisansToolsMasterwork">MW Blackboard</a>: +2</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906b">Motivate Intelligence Aura</a>: +4</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20010504a">Guidance of the Avatar</a></i><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Magic Trap</span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;">:
+20 (3,000 x 0.75 x 0.75 x<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> 0.9 x 0.95</span> = <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1442.81</span> gp)</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/usingSkills.htm#aidAnother"> Aid Another</a>: +62 (my artificer and all 30 members of the design team
use the Aid Another action; with the assistance of the
Marshal's aura, they all automatically pass)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
We then take 10. This gives us a cumulative roll of 117, which
should be enough to invent orbital mechanics, life support systems,
engine nozzle design, etc. from scratch. We may need to roll
separately for each individual subsystem, but a 117 should beat any
DC that isn't just the DM saying “no” in a really
passive-aggressive way.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Note that, as a trap, we can charge the cost of the <i>gui<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">dance of the avatar</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> trap to our Landlord budget.</span> </span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Research Program, Phase I:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1442.81</span> gp (charged to Landlord budget)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Vehicle Assembly Building</span></b></u></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
The Vehicle Assembly Building will be statted with the <i>Stronghold
Builder's Guidebook</i> as an extended dry dock with packed earth
internal and external walls. This has a base price of 15,020 gp.
We build our base in warm terrain 30 miles from a small city, giving
us a -7% modifier on the cost. I will also assume the bravery of
our astronaut has inspired the populace to donate their labor, giving
us a further 30% discount. Finally, our project leader has ready
access to <i><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fabricate.htm">fabricate</a></i>, giving us a final 5% discount on
the cost of the space, for a total facility price of (15,000 x 0.93 x
0.7 x 0.95) + (20 x 0.93 x 0.7) = 9,289.77 gp</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a structure, we can charge this to our <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">L</span>andlord budget.</span> </span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Vehicle Assembly Building:</b> 9,289.77 gp</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (charged to Landlord budget)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><b>Cockpit</b></u></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> I
used the </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Stronghold
Builder's Guidebook</span></span></i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
to design the cockpit. We will receive a 5% discount because our
“stronghold” is mobile, as well as the 30% free labor and 5%
<i><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fabricate.htm">fabricate</a></i> discounts on the space itself. The SBG isn't entirely
explicit about what gets these bonuses and what doesn't. The labor
and mobility discounts definitely apply to the basic walls and
components, but it's not clear if it applies to the wall
augmentations and the wondrous architecture. The <i>fabricate</i> discount
is specified to be for “furniture”, so it probably applies only
to the component, not the walls. For the other items we get a steep
discount anyway thanks to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">our a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rtificer's cost-reducing feat<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
The cockpit will be the smallest and cheapest component in the book,
a Study/Office, Basic, taking up 0.5 ss and costing 200 x 0.95 x 0.7
x 0.95 = 126.35 gp. That's a box 20 ft long, 10 ft wide, and 10 ft
tall.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
The next step is to figure out our exterior wall percentage. No
exterior wall percentage is listed for 0.5 ss (the chart starts at 1
ss), so I'll assume it's 100%. I want to make the hull out of
something reasonably sturdy to avoid giving the DM an excuse to poke
holes in it, but also light, so I'll use <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialMaterials.htm#mithral">mithral</a>.
(Apparently structural mithral is different from the stuff weapons
are made out of, because it only costs 3.3 times as much as iron
instead of 1,667 times.) This is 3 inches thick and is priced at
20,000 gp per square, so 10,000 x 0.95 x 0.70 = 6,650 gp for us.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> A
spaceship's no fun if we can't see out of it, so I'll make part of
the wall </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">transparent</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
The price is 3,000 gp to make an 800 square feet section of wall
</span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">transparent</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
but we don't need that much. A 10 ft. x 10 ft. viewport is plenty,
adding 375 x 0.5 x 0.75 x 0.75 x 0.9<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> x 0.95</span> = <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">90.1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8</span></span> gp to our cost. We could
just use a window instead, but again, that seems like giving the DM
an invitation to break it.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> We
need to make this airtight. The </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">airtight</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
augmentation costs 7,500 gp per ss, so that's 3,750 x 0.5 x 0.75 x
0.75 x 0.9 x 0.95 = <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">901.7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6</span></span> gp for us.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
We'll want an airlock as well. I'll add two iron doors at a price
of 500 gp each, or 1,000 x 0.95 x 0.7 = 665 gp. The book notes that
we get a certain amount of hallways for free, so we don't need to pay
for the space in between them. We'll include covered and sealed
pinhole openings in the inner and outer doors to allow us to equalize
the pressure in the airlock with the cockpit and the vacuum of space.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> According to the text of the <i style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/spells/nailedToTheSky.htm">Nailed to the Sky</a></i>
epic spell, the heat or cold of space deals 2d6 damage per round.
Our mithral walls have <u style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/exploration.htm#breakingAndEntering">90 hit points</a></u>, and the iron doors <u style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/exploration.htm#breakingAndEntering">only have 60</a></u>. However, they have a <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/exploration.htm#hardness">hardness</a> of 15 and 10, respectively. Furthermore, heat deals only half damage to objects, and cold deals only quarter damage. At the maximum roll of 12 damage, that's less then the iron's hardness, so they won't take any damage. (Hat tip Brian Ballsun-Stanton below.)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Finally,
I want this thing to fly so we have some more precise maneuvering
capability than is provided by our main thruster. I want a
maneuvering capability of at least 5' per round – about 1 ft per
second. Five feet per round is equal to a bit more than ½ mile per
hour, the very slow speed. That costs us 8,500 gp per space for the
speed plus another 15,000 gp per space for the flying, so that costs
us a total of 11,750 gp. We can't make this oursel<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ves</span> because it
requires the </span></span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/reverseGravity.htm">reverse gravity</a></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
spell and a 17</span></span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></span></span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
level caster (we'll be subcontracting that to the famed wizard
Bo-Wing the Aeromancer).</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
So, our cost is:</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
126.35 gp (Study/Office, Basic)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
6,650 gp (Walls)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">90.1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8</span></span></span></span></span></span> gp (Viewport)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">901.7<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6</span></span></span></span></span></span> gp (Airtight)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
665 gp (Airlock)</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11,750 gp (Flight)</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All of which we can charge to Landlord. </span><br />
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Cockpit:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">20,183.29</span> gp</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (charged to Landlord budget)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
This gets us a 20 ft x 10 ft x 10 ft metal box that can hover,
very slowly.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
A quick note on mass, since we'll need it later: our box is 20 ft x
10 ft x 10 ft, giving it a surface area of 1,000 ft</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></span></span></span></sup></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. The walls are
three inches thick, giving us a total wall volume of 250 f</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span></span></span></span></sup></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> of
mithral, or 7.1 cubic meters. Iron has a mass of 7,874 kg/m</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span></span></span></span></sup></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, and
mithral is described as weighing half as much as iron, so that gives
our box a total mass of 27,952.5 kg. I'll round up to an even 30
metric tons to take account of our passenger and cargo.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><b>Environmental
Support and EVA</b></u></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
To keep our brave astronaut alive in the depths of space will
require handling the following requirements: air, water, food, waste
elimination, and thermal regulation. Also, although we could save
some money by having our brave astronaut wear his “space suit”
all the time, I want the interior of the cockpit to be a shirt-sleeve
environment – among other things, that means we don't have to worry
about damage to any possible cargo.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> A
</span></span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/rings.htm#sustenance">ring of sustenance</a></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(2,500 gp) can fill the need for food and water. We'll have to buy
it since </span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#forgeRing">Forge Ring</a></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
is a hair too high for our caster level, but it's not that expensive
anyway. (Stored rations and water would be cheaper, but I want to
minimize book-keeping, and we might run out of room if we're planning
a long flight.) This should also eliminate the need for waste; no
food or water in, so nothing comes out. Adding the wondrous
architecture </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">chamber
of comfort</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(from SBG) fixes the room's temperature at 70 F and “magically
circulates fresh air in and out”, taking care of both our air and
temperature problems, at a cost of 7,500 x 0.5 x 0.75 x 0.75 x 0.9 x 0.95 = <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1,803.5<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2</span></span> gp.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> We'll
also want to pick up a </span></span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#necklaceofAdaptation">necklace of adaptation</a></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
to allow us to venture outside once we reach our destination. This
adds 9,000 x 0.5 x 0.75 x 0.75 x 0.9 x 0.95 = <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2,164.2<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2</span></span> gp to our cost. I
considered using </span></span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#bottleofAir">bottle of air</a></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and a gas mask instead, which would be a little cheaper, but
adaptation wraps us in “a shell of fresh air” so we don't have to
worry about keeping the pressure at the right level, which could be
an issue with the </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">bottle</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
approach. We'll use the spell </span></span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/resistEnergy.htm">resist energy</a></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
to protect us against the heat and cold – we get 20 points of
resistance at level 7, so that should be plenty.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
Summing up:</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">2,500
gp (</span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ring
of Sustenance</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">)</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1,803.5<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2</span></span></span></span></span></span> gp (</span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Chamber
of Comfort</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">)</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2,164.2<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2</span></span></span></span></span></span> gp (</span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Necklace
of Adaptation</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">)</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We can c<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">harge the <i>chamber of comfort</i> to our Landlord budget, but the other two will have to come from our general funds.</span> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Environmental
Support and EVA:</b></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6,467.74</span> gp (1,803.52 gp charged to Landlord budget, 4<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,664.22 gp charged to general budget)</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Navigation and Sensing</span></b></u></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
Characters in D&D are notoriously near-sighted, due to the <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/spot.htm">-1 penalty to Spot checks</a> for every 10 feet of distance. Even with
a <a href="http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/999101">nanite swarm</a>, we won't be able to <i>physically</i> see
either our destination or any potentially hazardous objects until
we're basically right on top of them. Fortunately, divination magic
can pick up the slack.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
The best option I've found is the <i><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/findThePath.htm">find the path</a></i> spell.
We'll install an <i>energy transformation field</i> (from <i>Magic
of Faerun</i>) loaded with <i>find the path</i> in the cockpit, which
we will power using a level-1 spell trap triggered by a button. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Specifically, we'll install the <i>field</i> inside a closet: <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>energy transformation field</i>'s area of effect is a 40' radius spread, which would otherwise cover the entire cockpit, absorbing the effects of any other magic we might try to use<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Magic such as, for example, the life support system.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
When in flight, every hour we hold down the button for six rounds;
the six level-1 spells are absorbed by the <i>field</i>, which then
casts <i>find the path</i> on us. <i>Find the path</i> tells you
the “shortest, most direct physical route to the specified
location... The spell enables the subject to sense the correct
direction that will eventually lead it to its destination, indicating
at appropriate times the exact path to follow or physical actions to
take. For example, the spell enables the subject to sense trip
wires or the proper word to bypass a <i>glyph of warding</i>.”
This would appear to include rocket firings as needed to dodge
asteroids and other hazardous obstacles.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
We'll provide the <i>find the path</i> spell from a scroll cast using
<a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/useMagicDevice.htm">Use Magic Device</a>; our modifier for that is +5 (Intelligence) +
7 (ranks) + 20 (<i>Guidance of the Avatar</i> spell trap) = +32,
which is enough to pass on a roll of 1.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> A </span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/scrolls.htm">scroll of <i>find the path</i></a> costs
2,400 gp.</span> We'll have to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">subcontract the <i>energy transformation field</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, because we're <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">two levels <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">shy of casting</span></span> 7th level spells. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A 7th-level spell costs 13 <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">x 70 gp to have an NPC cast, plus the cost of its material components, which in this case costs 5,000 gp. The spell trap to charge the <i>field</i> costs 500 gp x 0.75 x 0.75 x 0.9 x 0.95 = 240.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">47</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> gp.</span> We c<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">an charge the </span>spell to the Landlord budget, but the rest comes out of general funds.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Navigation and Sensing:</b> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">0</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">47</span></span></span> gp (240.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">47</span> gp charged to Landlord budget, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8,310 gp charged to general budget</span>)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2015/03/building-spaceship-in-dungeons-and_25.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Part II: Propulsion Systems</span></a></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-41537252237525076732015-03-08T19:19:00.003-07:002015-03-08T19:23:03.407-07:00The Philosopher's Bomb, Part 3<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><u><b>Those
Magnificent Men and their Atomic Machines</b></u></span></div>
<br />
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>The
Philosopher's Bomb: The AEC Effort to Create New Elements with
Nuclear Explosions</b></u></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: normal;"><u><b>Part
III</b></u></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Back to <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-philosophers-bomb-part-1.html">Part I</a>, <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-philosophers-bomb-part-2.html">Part II</a></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">With Special Thanks to
Dr. Stephen A. Becker and Dr. David W. Dorn</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: normal;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><b>DURYEA through
VULCAN</b></u></span></span></div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The AEC fired four more
heavy element tests in the spring of 1966: DURYEA (April 14 1966, 70
kT, LRLL), CYCLAMEN (May 5 1966, 12 kT, LASL), KANKAKEE (June 15
1966, 20 to 200 kT, LRLL), and VULCAN (June 25 1966, 25 kT,
LRLL).</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[GURC][Be2]</sup></span> DURYEA was a failure, but I haven't
been able to find out anything else about it. The other shots left
more concrete records.</span></span></div>
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</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> CYCLAMEN's target
included <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americium">americium-243</a> as well as the usual uranium-238. By this
point, the scientists had decided that a side reaction was the most
likely reason for the even-odd mass abundance reversal: deuterium
nuclei were colliding with the uranium-238 target, ejecting a neutron
and forming <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptunium">neptunium-239</a>. J. Carson Mark's team included the
americium to exploit this effect: deuterium fusing with americium
would form <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curium">curium-244</a>, six nucleons heavier than uranium-238. If,
like the neptunium-239, it then captured 19 neutrons, it would reach
mass 263, 6 neutrons heavier than any previous test.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Do2][Ec]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_iBBKDZImbCbCwrH10wBPVhTHSGqS5jgRwOzISieEgYlYAfuR_i5vmq4PQQNFFdG-wWoLyddZH7MDfeiqthZKGnIe6xCoGvXEDyQuevUXDnwNa0n0IU-T_z4uf2Qz5o8n4EjqTBMq7vl_/s1600/Samples+from+CYCLAMEN+Shot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_iBBKDZImbCbCwrH10wBPVhTHSGqS5jgRwOzISieEgYlYAfuR_i5vmq4PQQNFFdG-wWoLyddZH7MDfeiqthZKGnIe6xCoGvXEDyQuevUXDnwNa0n0IU-T_z4uf2Qz5o8n4EjqTBMq7vl_/s1600/Samples+from+CYCLAMEN+Shot.png" height="296" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Figure 24: <i>Samples
from CYCLAMEN Test</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">[Wa]</span></sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> Unfortunately, the trick
didn't work. CYCLAMEN produced a flux of 18 moles/cm<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>2</sup></span>,
50% higher than their previous best, but the debris samples didn't
yield any new isotopes. The higher concentration of curium-244 and
-245 in the debris indicated that some deuterium atoms <i>had</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
fused with the americium, but the heaviest isotope recovered was
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermium">fermium-257</a>, the same as in BARBEL.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> KANKAKEE was designed to
minimize this neptunium-producing side-reaction, to test whether this
was the real explanation for the odd-even reversal. The device
matched TWEED's neutron flux but had a lower yield of heavy elements
above mass 253; not quite conclusive, but strong evidence that the
side reaction was the real cause of the even-odd reversal.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Do2][Ec]</sup></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">VULCAN was a repeat of
the TWEED test, using a uranium-238 target instead of plutonium and
neptunium. The results were essentially identical to the PAR test,
confirming that TWEED <i>had</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
reached 12 moles/cm</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">2</span></sup></span><span style="font-style: normal;">,
and its disappointing results were not due to a lower-than-calculated
neutron flux. TWEED's plutonium target had probably fissioned
rather than absorbing neutrons. VULCAN also included scandium in
the sample; since its neutron capture cross-sections were well-known,
it would provide an easy way to calculate the precise neutron
flux.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">[Bel][Ec][EH]</span></sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Mathematical
models suggested heavier isotopes </span><i>should</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
have been formed, at least by CYCLAMEN. At the very least, either
fermium-259 or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendelevium">mendelevium-259</a> should have been recovered. Why
weren't they? The scientists considered a number of explanations:</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<ul>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Mendelevium-259 might
have been accidentally separated out in the chemical processing.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">The chemists were
looking for new isotopes by searching for alpha particle radiation
signatures that did not match known isotopes. Perhaps the 259
product was so long-lived they hadn't detected its alpha decay.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Alternatively, perhaps
it decayed so fast that it was gone before the samples reached the
laboratory.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Neutron-induced fission
might overwhelm neutron capture. When a neutron strikes a uranium
or neptunium nucleus, there is always a chance the nucleus may split
instead of absorbing the neutron, but below mass 257 the ratio of
fissions-to-captures was small enough that plenty of nuclei
survived. Perhaps the ratio climbed steeply above mass 257.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Finally, as the
neptunium-259 atoms beta-decayed, they might pass through a region
with a very short spontaneous fission half-life, resulting in all of
the mass 259 atoms being lost before they reached fermium.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[HH][Hof]</sup></span></span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> Unfortunately, while
none of these could be ruled out, the final two possibilities seemed
most likely. The first possibility might account for the absence of
mendelevium-259, but they should still have found fermium-259. The
second and third possibilities would mean the theoretical predictions
for their half-lives were wrong by about a factor of 100, one way or
the other; half-life prediction is an extremely inexact science, but
usually not <i>that</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> inexact.
That left neutron-induced fission or a spontaneous fission
“catastrophe” somewhere in the decay chain – a bad sign. If
true, it would mean the whole enterprise was impossible.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">[Hof][Co4]</span></sup></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">But Dorn's team would
give it one more try. Code-named HUTCH, it would take three years
for new designs and fabrication methods to be developed and
implemented, for one last great assault on the stronghold of the
atomic nucleus.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Do]</sup></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> <u><b>PERSIMMON through
PLIERS</b></u></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> Los Alamos's next
neutron physics experiment, PERSIMMON, was fired 300 meters
underground on February 23<sup>rd</sup> of 1967.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Si][DoE]</sup></span>
PERSIMMON featured experiments to measure the fission cross-sections
of plutonium-238 and curium-244 and capture cross-sections of
plutonium-238, promethium-147, europium-151, lutetium-175, and
niobium-43.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[HDB]</sup></span> These last four were of special
interest as fission products formed in nuclear reactors.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">The Promethium-147
sample was transported in a lead-lined canister and only loaded into
the experimental rig with hydraulics fifteen seconds before
detonation.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fa]</sup></span> This complicated maneuver was a
rehearsal for a planned later experiment on promethium-148; Pm-148 is
so radioactive it could damage the instruments if left in place for
too long.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[BDS]</sup></span> In fact, with the technology of the day,
the Pm-148 cross-section could not be accurately measured by any
other way – its natural radioactivity was so high, it introduced
substantial error into measurements made with weaker neutron sources.
Besides Los Alamos, British scientists from the Aldermaston Atomic
Weapons Research Establishment also mounted experiments on PERSIMMON,
including making their own measurements of the Pu-238 fission
cross-section.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Si]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Unfortunately, all these
experiments were spoiled by an error in the design of the neutron
moderator, which reduced the energy resolution to inadequate
levels.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[He]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">The next experiment,
POMMARD, was fired March 14<sup>th</sup>, 1968, yielding 1.5 kT<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[DoE]</sup></span>.
While the problems with PERSIMMON's moderator had been fixed, this
time noise in the signal cables lost all of the data produced between
50-250 microseconds after the shot, covering the intermediate energy
range, while other problems introduced significant noise into the
rest of the data.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[He][BAPS]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">But, after two strikes,
the next shot hit a home run. This experiment was called variously
PLIERS or PHYSICS 8. PHYSICS 8 had several major differences from
earlier shots. The 100-foot-tall experimental tower, which took
several months to assemble, was actually mounted on railroad tracks
so it could be slid out of the way before the subsidence crater
formed.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[He]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Figure 25: <i>PLIERS
Experiment Tower Prior to Test</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">[He]</span></sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> Also, the neutron pipe
was not aimed at the bomb itself; instead, it was aimed at a block of
moderating material to its side. Neutrons would be reflected off
the moderator up the pipe, but the gamma rays, which added noise to
the experimental signals, would not be.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[BCo]</sup></span> Los Alamos
detonated PLIERS on August 27<sup>th</sup>, 1969.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[DoE]</sup></span></span></span></div><br>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">The PLIERS shot
generated so much data it took months to just finish reading the film
records.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[He]</sup></span> The shot included 32 separate experiments:</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Fission cross-sections
of americium-243, berkelium-249, californium-249 and -252,
curium-243, -244, -245, -246, -247, and -248, einsteinium-253,
neptunium-237, plutonium-239, -242, and -244, and uranium-232, -234,
-236, and -238;</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Capture cross-sections
of gold-197, thorium-232, uranium-238, curium-244 and -246, and
plutonium-239;</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Scattering
cross-sections of ytterbium-89, tantalum-181, and plutonium-239;</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Transmission
cross-section of plutonium-239;</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Fission symmetry of
uranium-235;</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Isomer production of
cesium-134;</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And
a feasibility experiment in neutron polarization.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[CD]</span></span></span></sup></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl2TYjJi7aIF1sUuykB2jERBsrr4AEGpzTj6GdFpNG44soq-P2rOKvA1lCApwOcgGHdYj807wtXQdgDfRP2aRCQe-HvTxc1jBGeWQcY40A06uObuboQAm5U-p9IhzFVrlD5AcSeUPyhimR/s1600/PLIERS,+After+Shot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl2TYjJi7aIF1sUuykB2jERBsrr4AEGpzTj6GdFpNG44soq-P2rOKvA1lCApwOcgGHdYj807wtXQdgDfRP2aRCQe-HvTxc1jBGeWQcY40A06uObuboQAm5U-p9IhzFVrlD5AcSeUPyhimR/s1600/PLIERS,+After+Shot.png" height="307" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Figure 26: <i>PLIERS
Experiment Tower After Test</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">[LANL2]</span></sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> PLIERS was the last
<i>identified</i> neutron physics shot of the 1960s, but there was at
least one, and possibly two, additional tests which I have been
unable to identify. At a conference in 1968, J. A. Farrell of Los
Alamos briefly discussed two different approaches to neutron physics
tests, unlike any used in the known physics shots:</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none;">
“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">While the technique of
measuring cross sections by means of a vacuum flight path to the
surface has been well developed, there are other possibilities for
using the nuclear explosion that are also being explored. One is
the use of a short flight path with the entire apparatus underground.
This would permit even higher fluxes for measurements on very small
samples. A first attempt at this technique was unsuccessful but
there is no reason to believe it will not work. Another possible
experiment involves a very long flight path in a horizontal tunnel
with an unmoderated source for high resolution in the kilovolt
region. A test experiment of this method is in progress.”<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Fa]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> These experiments are
more unusual than they seem. The known neutron physics tests could
be added to existing weapons tests with relatively little additional
expense, since the line-of-sight pipes leading from the bomb to the
experimental tower could be installed in the vertical drillhole
containing the bomb. Farrell's proposals would require a more
complicated tunnel geometry, with horizontal shafts leading to the
device. Such tests were generally mounted by the Defense Nuclear
Agency, but not by Los Alamos. Unfortunately, I could not locate
any other records of these experiments, so for now they will have to
remain mysterious.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> Cowan's team planned a
further test for 1970.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Di]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> <u><b>Plowshare in the
Late '60s</b></u></span></span></div><br>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">By 1969, Plowshare was
clearly in trouble. And since the heavy elements program was part
of Plowshare, politically and budgetarily, that meant it was in
trouble too.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> The AEC had fired three
nuclear cratering tests by 1965: SEDAN, SULKY, and PALANQUIN. The
next test was codenamed CABRIOLET, a 2.7-kiloton device buried 170
feet under the Nevada Test Site. The AEC wanted to fire CABRIOLET
around March 1<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>st</sup></span>, 1966. The AEC submitted the proposed
shot to the 269 Committee, the interagency committee which approved
all nuclear tests that could potentially violate the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Nuclear_Test_Ban_Treaty">Partial Test BanTreaty</a> (PTBT), in November of 1965.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> The Committee did not
even meet to consider CABRIOLET until after it was supposed to have
been fired, and when it did meet, it did not reach a conclusion.
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_Control_and_Disarmament_Agency">Arms Control and Disarmament Agency</a> (ACDA) and the State
Department were deeply opposed to the test, seeing it as a threat to
the PTBT and to other arms control initiatives. The matter bounced
around Washington for months. Finally, in September, the argument
reached all the way to the White House, and President Lyndon Johnson
personally authorized the shot for November.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> Then, in October, he
decided to reevaluate the shot a second time. In December, he
authorized CABRIOLET again, this time for February of 1967. Then –
one day before the shot was fired, with the device already emplaced
underground – he changed his mind again. This cycling continued
for the rest of 1967. The AEC finally fired CABRIOLET on January
26<sup>th</sup> of 1968.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnA1lJ-YOoaCLYiSB-XIkFO-cb5mbs2ziSl9GiBkW1KjcdiWILwY8G3Pr7NlN1qq9EhyZ6AhP6x9pl9yIx_eoA0vA74rq8rNMA6QmH5xWU_0jW0aNbemajuFhEXJZMg_8h7qsjc1M7nyF/s1600/CABRIOLET+Blast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnA1lJ-YOoaCLYiSB-XIkFO-cb5mbs2ziSl9GiBkW1KjcdiWILwY8G3Pr7NlN1qq9EhyZ6AhP6x9pl9yIx_eoA0vA74rq8rNMA6QmH5xWU_0jW0aNbemajuFhEXJZMg_8h7qsjc1M7nyF/s1600/CABRIOLET+Blast.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Figure 27: <i>CABRIOLET
Blast</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> The blast formed a
400-foot-wide, 125-foot-deep crater. Glenn Seaborg triumphantly
noted in his diary that “no radioactivity attributable to CABRIOLET
was detected by the Canadians” - the PTBT had not been violated.
It was a sour victory. The repeated delays had tripled the
planned cost of the experiment.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3SjBq5jFa9XearJ0mLOd42Pnqfm_-A2GykQ3L_Eess4OnrajI02IYeoIe7cfMOgbMKmX8QoqhJ41o6AP2Z3KFfBCJCRI8HLyOTpwlPCv_ZpENLAzrWGZQWdaZML3H7FIGlQIo75vaqV4/s1600/CABRIOLET+Crater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3SjBq5jFa9XearJ0mLOd42Pnqfm_-A2GykQ3L_Eess4OnrajI02IYeoIe7cfMOgbMKmX8QoqhJ41o6AP2Z3KFfBCJCRI8HLyOTpwlPCv_ZpENLAzrWGZQWdaZML3H7FIGlQIo75vaqV4/s1600/CABRIOLET+Crater.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Figure 28: <i>CABRIOLET
Subsidence Crater</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> The AEC managed two more
cratering shots on the heels of CABRIOLET, BUGGY and SCHOONER, both
in 1968. But those were the last. The objections to nuclear
excavation raised by ACDA and the State Department were growing into
a chorus, both within and outside the government. The estimated
cost of nuclear excavation had risen sharply, as previously neglected
costs were factored in. And the hoped-for amendment to the PTBT to
permit peaceful nuclear explosives had proved elusive – the Soviets
were indeed embarking on their own version of Plowshare, but
apparently felt no need to seek a revision to the treaty.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[SL]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> <u><b>HUTCH</b></u></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6L2rSOlU5lxwQqTEMerKUSw_yOQaVVWvLCE5r92Ax5Mc5wZSDS8bNrITVza8aIa9hDd-PaRWyBSRVdV_JOTZlKJpRAGxgB6xp1rOQ5zxe9r_HBrm4vU4d_BU6aSisyjp0LhfwYlKBUdV/s1600/Tab6.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6L2rSOlU5lxwQqTEMerKUSw_yOQaVVWvLCE5r92Ax5Mc5wZSDS8bNrITVza8aIa9hDd-PaRWyBSRVdV_JOTZlKJpRAGxgB6xp1rOQ5zxe9r_HBrm4vU4d_BU6aSisyjp0LhfwYlKBUdV/s1600/Tab6.png" height="30" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> HUTCH would be LLRL's
biggest, boldest heavy element experiment. Part of the plan was to
increase the neutron flux by using a bigger bomb: the more D-T
fusions, the more neutrons. The neutron flux, they hoped, should be
strong enough to also confirm or disprove the hypothesis that the
odd-even reversal was due to protactinium from a side reaction; the
strong flux should mean the main reaction would dominate the yield
until past mass 260.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">The target was a mixture
of 17.8 grams of uranium-238 and 8.8 grams of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium">thorium-232</a>. It was
also spiked with argon, phosphorous, and iron as a side experiment;
theoretical analysis suggested that the previously-unknown isotopes
phosphorous-35, silicon-34, argon-46, iron-62, and thorium-236 might
be produced by neutron absorption. Like VULCAN, the HUTCH target
also included scandium to measure the neutron flux.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[EH][Ec]</sup></span>
If it succeeded in finally getting past mass 257, they planned to
fire a follow-on test in fiscal year 1970.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[JCAE70]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Dorn's team detonated
HUTCH on July 16<sup>th</sup>, 1969.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[DoE]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7WYDyVEjJvm0FCyyGqLra6IuMLlJ3iYD1G4boTQYvjXl9jYd-Zz76B-6wGB52QUfTL0GXyf80C9-euQYEgrPpXAD74zLCQonMmrnNWQIuJhcQDyEo7cFMky_Lrb4ipOnWxM9MH-0ivNQ/s1600/HUTCH+Crater.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7WYDyVEjJvm0FCyyGqLra6IuMLlJ3iYD1G4boTQYvjXl9jYd-Zz76B-6wGB52QUfTL0GXyf80C9-euQYEgrPpXAD74zLCQonMmrnNWQIuJhcQDyEo7cFMky_Lrb4ipOnWxM9MH-0ivNQ/s1600/HUTCH+Crater.png" height="222" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Figure 29: <i>HUTCH
Subsidence Crater</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">[Ec]</span></sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> Post-shot analysis of
the debris showed the device had reached 35 moles/cm<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>2</sup></span>,
almost twice the previous best. The first sample of rock from the
test contained seven times as much fermium-257 as had ever been
produced before. And, unlike every previous test, there was no
odd-even reversal, confirming the side reaction theory.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[EH][Ec]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6qIp5jKNfncOPt3cA6FNebPvi0CnjgUpKFzyo0dK4CWrpTyGtoOjTpEmTnPG9X-Hmia3cmoDE3KbkSYMAxZFNhfpZvtsfx9hg3l5fycHyS1CUytXcIQXJdUIXx5jaS_wI60cBe7ksBisd/s1600/HUTCH+and+CYCLAMEN+Yield+Curves.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6qIp5jKNfncOPt3cA6FNebPvi0CnjgUpKFzyo0dK4CWrpTyGtoOjTpEmTnPG9X-Hmia3cmoDE3KbkSYMAxZFNhfpZvtsfx9hg3l5fycHyS1CUytXcIQXJdUIXx5jaS_wI60cBe7ksBisd/s1600/HUTCH+and+CYCLAMEN+Yield+Curves.png" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Figure 30: <i>HUTCH and
CYCLAMEN Element Abundances</i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">[Ec]</span></sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> But they still didn't
find any new elements.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> <u><b>The End of the
Project</b></u></span></span></div><br>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Some of the Lawrence
Livermore scientists still wanted to press on. Theory said that new
elements <i>must</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> have been
produced in HUTCH; that they were not found meant they were decaying
before they could be recovered. Prompt sampling systems could get
samples to the lab fast enough to spot the new elements before they
decayed.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> Others
disagreed, and, in the end, they won. Dr. Dorn, the head of the
effort at Livermore, believed that further shots were futile: if
HUTCH had not reached new elements, there was no reason to expect any
other shot would, and he was not alone.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">[Do][Ec]</span></sup></span><span style="font-style: normal;">
And any shot with a prompt sampling system would not only be
difficult and expensive, it would risk a leak of radioactive fallout
through the sampling tube. In 1960, when the PTBT was still new,
the AEC would have been willing to run the risk, but not in 1970.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">[Be]</span></sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
AEC's 1971 budget proposal asked for money to fire a follow-up to
HUTCH. They didn't get it. LASL's next neutron physics experiment
was cancelled too. All Plowshare funding for scientific
applications was eliminated in that year's budget – along with all
funding for excavation research. Only natural gas extraction was
funded. Plowshare's supporters still hoped this would be only a
temporary defeat. John Kelly, head of the AEC's Division of
Peaceful Nuclear Explosives, called it a “hiatus”.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">[JCAE71]</span></sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">It wasn't. The AEC
asked for money to reopen Plowshare scientific work in 1972, but
didn't get it then either. They asked again in 1973 – including
requesting money for an “open” neutron physics experiment – and
got the same answer. That was the last time they
asked.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[JCAE73][PWA74]</sup></span> Plowshare itself didn't survive
much longer. By 1975, it was officially dead.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><b>Attempts
at Resurrection</b></u></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">However,
t</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">he
idea resurfaced periodically through the 1970's and 80's.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In
1972, a group of Livermore scientists, including the famed Edward
Teller, suggested a “sequential exposure” process in which one
HUTCH-style device would irradiate a U-238 target, and the plasma
then “squirted” into the blast of a second bomb.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Me]</span></span></span></sup></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
A year later, another group suggested replicating HUTCH in a salt
formation to produce large quantities – a tenth of a milligram –
of Cm-250, then bombarding it with U-238 ions in a particle
accelerator.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Ho]</span></span></span></sup></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Still another group proposed a complicated scheme in 1974 involving
a target of mixed U-238 and Pu-242, prompt sample recovery, and
subsequent re-exposure in a pair of “laser-energized fusion
micro-explosives”, the aim being to chart a course of neutron
captures and beta-decays through the periodic table, avoiding regions
with high spontaneous fission rates.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[MNW]</span></span></span></sup></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Still another proposal suggested leaving an open horizontal tunnel
between a HUTCH-style device and a chamber full of salt, which would
capture heavy elements shot produced in the explosion for faster,
easier recovery.</span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Hec]</span></span></sup></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Besides such sometimes Rube Goldbergian ideas, there were a number
of proposals to simply replicate HUTCH to produce Cm-250 and Fm-257
for more conventional physics experiments.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The
final attempt to resurrect the program came at Los Alamos in the
early 90s, and it came closer then any of the others. Dr. Stephen
Becker, a Los Alamos physicist, proposed fielding a new series of
shots, beginning with a replication of HUTCH using a Th-232
target.</span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Be3]</span></span></sup></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
He managed to convince the chief designer of a suitable upcoming
nuclear test to incorporate his heavy element experiment. But the
shot was delayed by unrelated fabrication issues – and, by the time
the problem had been resolved, Congress had passed a nine-month
moratorium on all nuclear testing. The moratorium has not ended to
this day.</span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Be][Ea]</span></span></sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><u><b>The
End of the Story</b></u></span></span></div><br>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">But that's not quite the
end.</span></span></div><br>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Extrapolation from the
initial samples of HUTCH debris indicated it had made more then a
quarter of a milligram of fermium-257 – ten billion times more
Fm-257 then had ever before been made by humans – along with 40
milligrams of curium-250.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[EH]</sup></span> From August 22<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>nd</sup></span>
to September 14<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>th</sup></span> 1969, half a ton of additional debris
was recovered by reaming the sample boreholes, and processed to
recover the precious isotopes.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> In 1971, a group of
radiochemists at LLRL bombarded samples of fermium-257 from the HUTCH
test with deuterium ions in a particle accelerator, producing the
first samples ever detected of fermium-258.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[HWLEQ]</sup></span> That
was only the beginning. Over the next decade, at least nine
scientific papers were published on experiments using Fm-257, Pu-244,
and Pu-246 recovered from HUTCH, and three new isotopes were
discovered:</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">1971: Fm-258 produced for
the first time by deuterium bombardment of Fm-257<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[HWLEQ]</sup></span><br />Measured
the number of neutrons produced by spontaneous fission in
Fm-257<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[CBHT]</sup></span><br />Measured the mass symmetry of the Fm-257
spontaneous and neutron-induced fission fragments<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[JHLW]</sup></span><br />Measured
the gamma-ray decay of Am-246 and Cm-246<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[MTMM]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">1972: Measured the
thermal neutron destruction cross-section of Fm-257<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[WHL]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">1973: Measured the
kinetic energy of spontaneous fission fragments of Cm-250 and
Cf-250<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[HFB]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">1976: Measured the
gamma-ray and electron-conversion decay of Am-246 and Cm-246<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[MTM]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">1978: Cm-251 produced for
the first time by neutron irradiation of Cm-250, and the Cm-250
neutron capture cross-section measured.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[LWHHL]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;">1981: Cf-255 produced for
the first time by neutron irradiation of Cf-254, and the Cf-254
neutron capture cross-section measured.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[LHWQED]</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> Obviously, there is no
chance of these experiments being revived as long as the nuclear
testing moratorium holds, and hopefully it will hold for many, many
years to come. But fate and international politics have a way of
coming back around, and I would honestly not be too shocked if, some
day, the US did resume nuclear weapons testing.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> I am not a physicist,
and I do not have the expertise to say if reviving this project would
be worthwhile. The actual physicists I have spoken to disagree: Dr.
Dorn believes they are unlikely to get any further then they did in
the '60s, while Dr. Becker believes it is worth trying. But I do
know this: while <span style="font-style: normal;">Dr. Dorn and the
other AEC scientists may not have achieved their primary aim, they
succeeded in pushing back the boundaries of human knowledge, and that
is a valuable prize.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> The Plowshare scientific
applications program added to our knowledge of how heavy elements are
formed in supernovae.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>[Ho3]</sup></span> It generated data on reaction
cross-sections and other aspects of particle physics. It provided a
supply of impossibly-rare heavy isotopes that could not have been
obtained in any other way. A program that is still producing papers
<i>twelve years</i> after its last experiment is not a failure.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> None of the other
Plowshare projects left a legacy like this. Nuclear excavation is a
fascinating idea, but the fact remains that the Plowshare excavation
program consumed a great deal of money and man-power and, in the end,
produced very little. The reasons for its failure are complicated,
and not entirely the fault of the technology itself, but still: no
canals were dug, no mountain passes blasted open, no harbors
excavated. But while nuclear excavation got all the attention and
the press, the scientific shots actually produced something of value.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> There's a moral in
there, somewhere.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: normal;"> <i>The End</i></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Citations can be found <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-philosophers-bomb-citations.html">here</a>. </span></span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-71167928354299904202015-03-08T12:05:00.003-07:002015-03-08T12:06:16.341-07:00Partial List of US Scientific Nuclear Tests<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm posting this as a separate post, prior to posting Part 3 of <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-philosophers-bomb-part-1.html">The Philosopher's Bomb</a>, because there's a very common misconception about how many nuclear shots the Plowshare program fired off. Most lists of Plowshare tests do not include most of these tests, because they were officially sponsored by the AEC's Division of Military Applications as military tests, and the incorporated experiment was only an add-on. Nonetheless, if we ignore them - which almost all histories of the Plowshare program do - we're missing an important part of the story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Note, by the way, that this is only a <i>partial</i> list. First, there were some tests, as discussed in The Philosopher's Bomb, that I was not able to identify. Second, although the Plowshare scientific applications program ended with PLIERS in 1969, other, later tests did incorporate science add-ons as part of other programs. There was a project in the 1970s, codenamed HALITE/CENTURION, that used nuclear explosions as X-ray sources to test concepts for inertial confinement fusion. There was another project in the late 70s and 80s that used nuclear explosions to determine the physical properties of metals under extreme pressure. There was yet another project in the late 50s that used high-yield atmospheric tests to inject radioactive tracers into the upper atmosphere, to map the air currents up there. And probably more I don't know about. I hope to eventually investigate and write up those projects as well, but, until then, this list will remain incomplete.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table border="1" bordercolor="#0033FF" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Test</span></th>
<th><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Date</span></th>
<th><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yield</span></th>
<th><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sponsor</span></th>
<th><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Purpose</span></th>
<th><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Flux</span></th>
<th><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lab</span></th>
<th><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cites</span></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">BUTTERNUT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">05/11/58</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">81 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Kn]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">May '58</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physics</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N/A</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[CD]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">QUAY</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10/10/58</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">79 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physics</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N/A</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[CD]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">GNOME</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">12/10/61</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3.1 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DPNE</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Multiple</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N/A</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1962</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physics</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N/A</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Alb]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ANACOSTIA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11/27/62</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5.2 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DPNE</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2.5-4</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Be2]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">KAWEAH</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">02/21/63</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DPNE</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[GURC]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">GERBIL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">03/29/63</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Low</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[GURC]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">KENNEBEC</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">06/25/63</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Low</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DPNE</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4.6-6</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Be2]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ANCHOVY</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11/14/63</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Low</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2-3</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Be2]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">GREYS</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11/22/63</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Inter.</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[GURC]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">OCONTO</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">01/23/64</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10.5 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[GURC]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PIPEFISH</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">04/29/64</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">< 20 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physics</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N/A</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[HDB]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">BYE</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">07/16/64</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">20-200 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[GURC]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PAR</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10/09/64</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">38 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DPNE</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Be2]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">BARBEL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10/16/64</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">< 20 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Be2]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PARROT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">12/16/64</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1.3 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physics</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N/A</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[GURC]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SCAUP</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">05/14/65</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">< 20 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[GURC]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">TWEED</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">05/21/65</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">< 20 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">12</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Be2]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PETREL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">06/11/65</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1.3 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physics</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N/A</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[GURC]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DURYEA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">04/14/66</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">70 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">???</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[GURC]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">CYCLAMEN</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">05/05/66</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">12 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">18</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Be2]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">KANKAKEE</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">06/15/66</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">20-200 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">12</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Be2]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">VULCAN</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">06/25/66</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">25 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DPNE</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">12</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Be2]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PERSIMMON</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">02/23/67</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">< 20 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physics</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N/A</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[GURC]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">POMMARD</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">03/14/68</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1.5 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physics</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N/A</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Di]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">HUTCH</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">07/16/69</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">20-200 kT</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">35</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Be2]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PLIERS</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">08/27/69</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><20 kT
</span></td><td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physics</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N/A</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL</span></td>
<td><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Di]</span></td>
<!--20--></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DMA: Division of Military Applications.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DPNE: Division of Peaceful Nuclear Explosives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LASL: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, now Los Alamos National Laboratory.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LRL: Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, now Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SHEs: SuperHeavy Elements.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Citations can be found <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-philosophers-bomb-citations.html">here</a>.</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-44323344350025375462015-02-13T19:25:00.001-08:002015-02-13T19:25:38.750-08:00War in the Atomic Age?<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So, last week I snagged a rather entertaining little item through interlibrary loan.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb95R1HKDgoc9QHXaN67-CcEycKetnhTStB8IIZVINSCy2WXjd5FAXc0gwQzCfx1G6q4ZKaVsHo0G3FX1hISzW2V9s_4pxdAWHNmhyphenhyphen9YBRAJXNOpSk65FgWKoQF9apTmqjljnPvK1ccdcX/s1600/Fig1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb95R1HKDgoc9QHXaN67-CcEycKetnhTStB8IIZVINSCy2WXjd5FAXc0gwQzCfx1G6q4ZKaVsHo0G3FX1hISzW2V9s_4pxdAWHNmhyphenhyphen9YBRAJXNOpSk65FgWKoQF9apTmqjljnPvK1ccdcX/s1600/Fig1.png" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Figure 1: <i>War in the Atomic Age?</i> Cover</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Public Domain)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This little volume was written in 1946, some time after the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads">Operation CROSSROADS nuclear test.</a> Captain Walter Karig was a prolific author - he even has <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Karig">his own wikipedia page</a> - who had previously crafted such gems as <i>Zotz!</i> and <i>Doris Force at Raven Rock</i>. <i>War in the Atomic Age?</i> is in the vein of the patriotic young adult novels of World War II, all about the derring-do of our Heroes in Uniform, only set in World War III.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a thoroughly forgettable little bit of atomic pop, but I feel like indulging myself after giving my first Real Math Talk, and frankly, you can't stop me. And I want to share some of the pictures, some of which are pretty cool.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The scene is set in the US in 1976. The world is at peace, and Father O'Shea of Georgetown University is observing the seismograph. He sees a sudden jump, somewhere near the center of the country. He confers with his colleagues in New York, who tell him to turn on the TV. Kansas City has been nuked by the evil forces of the Galaxy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That's right, the Galaxy! They're the baddies of this story, an alliance of six unspecified countries with an unspecified but definitely evil ideology. Given the geography involved, we know they have a port on the Pacific coast of Eurasia, but their "Herr Direktor" is more Germanic then Russian, and their flag is green, not red. Other then that, all we know of them is that they're very evil. Very, very evil. They've just nuked Kansas City, after all, and now they're broadcasting a surrender demand on television, threatening to nuke more cities if the US doesn't come to heel. Naturally, the president tells them off, and everyone cheers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Father O'Shea never appears again in the book, by the way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhA4a-13DkKUQVt4dFGd95dUVqStYCrtzJoSujt8LQjX-6w29E3cyjL_Lh73QMqG2v5-hMvf4gRVWQRg8rQQ7NTWZXM0QCp4sUAahtLpeKsQk8r1rm2JzIKS2IPSt1aU6OI2o_NFfDQ5K/s1600/Fig2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhA4a-13DkKUQVt4dFGd95dUVqStYCrtzJoSujt8LQjX-6w29E3cyjL_Lh73QMqG2v5-hMvf4gRVWQRg8rQQ7NTWZXM0QCp4sUAahtLpeKsQk8r1rm2JzIKS2IPSt1aU6OI2o_NFfDQ5K/s1600/Fig2.png" height="320" width="276" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 2: <i>. . . the Galaxy has been secretly manufacturing atomic bombs."</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span><i> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fortunately, US submarines soon spot and sink the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habakkuk">iceberg bases</a> used to launch the missiles:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOYhz-AU5wHjVSqjrKWjCoJm62-aTBovyRwR1nMHEGMrA4Tq_H93ltaMc3cXnrkBnXpjn2odnKuSGo9yFhVAPO4QgNHG7DtQ5URDOVy40S5BBY0eSfbJGO7kXshAkcuJ-rO2lfbKplYBRY/s1600/Fig4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOYhz-AU5wHjVSqjrKWjCoJm62-aTBovyRwR1nMHEGMrA4Tq_H93ltaMc3cXnrkBnXpjn2odnKuSGo9yFhVAPO4QgNHG7DtQ5URDOVy40S5BBY0eSfbJGO7kXshAkcuJ-rO2lfbKplYBRY/s1600/Fig4.png" height="268" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 3: <i>". . . the fore-end of the berg split and gaped wide."</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Public Domain)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oddly, despite the title, this is the only atomic bomb used in the story. Atomic bombs were outlawed after World War 2, so the US doesn't have any of our own. And now that the US Space Force is alerted, there's no way the Galaxy will be getting a second A-bomb through our defenses. Both the US and the Galaxy have force field projectors that destroy anything tangible trying to pass through:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_sqVihptLBk0g4FY3DHCaEpsbTiy8qeCHw345zYehOME9Njd1SIzA0gDcw4eKfQIuRtbRjNaB_ckQI-Y9njBxXeJu9lSBtNrdEOYjlljmEn5Cj5ivU_SQNKuAF2tM1F2_cEhJypOO1aK/s1600/Fig3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_sqVihptLBk0g4FY3DHCaEpsbTiy8qeCHw345zYehOME9Njd1SIzA0gDcw4eKfQIuRtbRjNaB_ckQI-Y9njBxXeJu9lSBtNrdEOYjlljmEn5Cj5ivU_SQNKuAF2tM1F2_cEhJypOO1aK/s1600/Fig3.png" height="320" width="318" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 4: <i>"Everyone was detonated in flight against the super-electronic wall . . ."</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Public Domain)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Because of the force fields, the One Week War - which actually only lasts six days, but who's counting - will primarily be a war of super-weapons, as each side tries to find a way to punch a hole through the other's force field. The first attempt is by the Galaxy: the Kansas City missile had been accompanied by a spaceship, to provide electronic guidance to the missile, and which is now trapped inside the United States' barrier. (Spaceships in this story behave more like really fast, high-flying airplanes.)</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALUvb5P3oDSMeQqluYvKBOBDkplj5S1SksYV6oFvtscn1-Z9nmi3f8KFGhGY2rOfYbI9hR1G_89mbgkM_YoNFIh29Q54Y-BAgyQuxFVemwny4Yf-zQXkK0m6_q4M49hyphenhyphenUpc44hgn-4hpv/s1600/Fig10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALUvb5P3oDSMeQqluYvKBOBDkplj5S1SksYV6oFvtscn1-Z9nmi3f8KFGhGY2rOfYbI9hR1G_89mbgkM_YoNFIh29Q54Y-BAgyQuxFVemwny4Yf-zQXkK0m6_q4M49hyphenhyphenUpc44hgn-4hpv/s1600/Fig10.png" height="257" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 5: <i>A flying electronic laboratory from which bombardier and technician guide the flying missiles to their targets.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Realizing they will soon be tracked down and destroyed by the valiant Americans, the ship's crew decide to kamikaze their vessel against one of the force field projectors, knocking a hole through which flying wing bombers can attack:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyR_YWNF1bmKRDpMwKFZQj-I7Enmy_RfhK_CH88wtsdssNruIx0ejUY02Z409ct7sVQdya7bpw7TlfTAqr888IQY2OUeW5TiUE45C4hqxV2xe9TE_pmXQRKfztZwT3ryDDWkFMSBp5oHbH/s1600/Fig5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyR_YWNF1bmKRDpMwKFZQj-I7Enmy_RfhK_CH88wtsdssNruIx0ejUY02Z409ct7sVQdya7bpw7TlfTAqr888IQY2OUeW5TiUE45C4hqxV2xe9TE_pmXQRKfztZwT3ryDDWkFMSBp5oHbH/s1600/Fig5.png" height="265" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 6: <i>"The first mass assault . . . of flying wings."</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Public Domain)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The enemy bombers make it through, but fortunately all are shot down before they reach their targets, and the Navy patches the barrier with a floating shield generator. (Phew!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Next, the Galaxy drops biological and radiological weapons on the neutral island of Palmyra, as an experiment, landing a science team to observe the results. (I think Karig picked that island at random from an atlas, because in the real world <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmyra_Atoll">it's uninhabited</a>.) American submarines - watching with "sky-spies", what we would call drones - send amphibious robots armed with flame throwers to avenge the poor Palmyrans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ3jGdEf_NOlomE3muGs01yXyeaoYEVISb4C00n7R9uPnu119VkJch8X4MDwUf9kpLkTGS_yk_voDG0FpmOslCFLxVbROVvffgIHcwki9UUMzYMgm2l5_xEblA9ukMjTduS4WZ8_vxS_k/s1600/Fig6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ3jGdEf_NOlomE3muGs01yXyeaoYEVISb4C00n7R9uPnu119VkJch8X4MDwUf9kpLkTGS_yk_voDG0FpmOslCFLxVbROVvffgIHcwki9UUMzYMgm2l5_xEblA9ukMjTduS4WZ8_vxS_k/s1600/Fig6.png" height="216" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 7: <i>"Crawling up out of the sea, the squat machines began belching streams of liquid fire."</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then the Galaxy tries to change the Pacific currents to turn the US into a desert, only to be stopped by American submarines and Atomic Drone Hoverfoils - nuclear-powered kamikaze drone ships, basically.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBf_NtUAHmPTP7ZyJQ-1_eswZIXALy6ohDwLyvOfCIpK117r48Izv4TINBd25zn3DQjEqKKuNHTjR-qpoHRohNczuHrnb15p8ka2BPU2BsJK2tgUGtJLeAT4Ov-QG3w-FWS_cGH79PxlQ/s1600/Fig7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBf_NtUAHmPTP7ZyJQ-1_eswZIXALy6ohDwLyvOfCIpK117r48Izv4TINBd25zn3DQjEqKKuNHTjR-qpoHRohNczuHrnb15p8ka2BPU2BsJK2tgUGtJLeAT4Ov-QG3w-FWS_cGH79PxlQ/s1600/Fig7.png" height="320" width="305" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 8: <i>"Now we ought to be able to see something. Turn on the works."</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then the Galaxy finds a way to project weaponized sound through the great barriers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhZmyPVAGQnXQNPLy2eZuvlgr_s9su3gdS4_dV2-1VgT-78SPE0Uf9KssfDI7eLBqlJr6tP7j_qZZg2d35g-b8S0ddGdzr0-GdnBx3zcmc9QCdYqYIqkrAOoY0SjnclUfxHL4R0LnqSot/s1600/Fig8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhZmyPVAGQnXQNPLy2eZuvlgr_s9su3gdS4_dV2-1VgT-78SPE0Uf9KssfDI7eLBqlJr6tP7j_qZZg2d35g-b8S0ddGdzr0-GdnBx3zcmc9QCdYqYIqkrAOoY0SjnclUfxHL4R0LnqSot/s1600/Fig8.png" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 9: <i>"Noise such as never assailed human ears before."</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Public Domain)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fortunately, before they're able to drive the defenders insane, brilliant American scientists counter with giant mirrors projecting concentrated sunlight, to melt the Galaxy force field generators, in coordination with an assault by submarines and amphibious robots.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJimgPVBmPHIUn7w3PBEzCuafGhCP6uKFW20OYAhEc6dnOl2RTsxKqvx_nZleSrBw6sj-A5HdifKpCxyhbMOAGegtcv5PXcqney37rst5NDkifmCWhLcQDZ1n6ar3dOOp0eo0zdjYPs-91/s1600/Fig9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJimgPVBmPHIUn7w3PBEzCuafGhCP6uKFW20OYAhEc6dnOl2RTsxKqvx_nZleSrBw6sj-A5HdifKpCxyhbMOAGegtcv5PXcqney37rst5NDkifmCWhLcQDZ1n6ar3dOOp0eo0zdjYPs-91/s1600/Fig9.png" height="400" width="306" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Figure 10: <i>"A concentrated beam of solar energy shot down to the Galaxy coast."</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Public Domain)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">American bombers and troop transports quickly pour through the breach, seizing key points throughout the unspecified enemy countries. After a day the Galaxy has surrendered. The book ends with a plea for peace through strength, especially naval strength.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I find this book interesting for a couple of reasons. First, as a reflection of the times - this was published in 1946, before the Cold War had really set in, and when the Navy perceived itself to be in a desperate fight for strategic relevance against the new, atomic-armed Air Force. Karig was a captain in the Navy Reserve, and it comes through - notice how most of the victories are won by the Navy, and they provide critical assistance even in the final battle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Second, I think it's very interesting how few narratives there are of actually fighting an atomic war in the old good-guy/bad-guy style. There are plenty of stories set <i>in</i> an atomic war, but almost all depict thirty-minute mutual suicides. And there's more then a few WW3 technothrillers, but almost all of them depict a purely conventional war - if nukes are used at all, it's only at the end. The only other stories about <i>fighting</i> a nuclear war I can recall are <i>The War We Do Not Want</i>, a training film by SAC, and maybe <i>Arc Light</i>, by Eric L. Harry. Not that any of these stories are <i>realistic</i>, by any means, but people write all kinds of unrealistic things, and it's odd that this particular type of narrative hasn't been exploited. I guess it strikes a little too close to people's fears.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Incidentally, does anyone know a good place to upload a pdf to share? The book's out of copyright - it was never renewed when they extended the copyright life time in the '70s - so I scanned the whole thing.</span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-91767195575086370352014-12-21T13:29:00.003-08:002014-12-21T13:29:37.018-08:00A Friendly Shout-Out to the Neighbors<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't often make posts that are just links to something else. That's very deliberate, both because I want to maintain a high quality:quantity ratio, and because I think relatively few sites are really working in the same specific niche I'm trying to work in. I'm going to make an exception today: check out <a href="http://atomic-annhilation.blogspot.com/">Atomic Annihilation</a>, "the internet's most complete guide to the end of the world". I particularly recommend <a href="http://atomic-annhilation.blogspot.com/2014/10/1952-destruction.html">1952...destruction</a> and <a href="http://atomic-annhilation.blogspot.com/2014/12/1946-wacky.html">1946...wacky!</a></span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-51593704304727484132014-11-08T20:51:00.000-08:002014-11-08T20:51:00.929-08:00Learning from the Storm
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> On
March 21<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">st</span></sup>, 1952, a cluster of tornadoes struck the
Mississippi valley. The damage stretched across nine states; 231
people died and 1,829 were injured. In White County, Arkansas, a
pair of cyclones leveled the town of Judsonia, destroyed 650
buildings, and killed 46 people.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu5]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Thirteen
days later, as the townsfolk were still picking through the wreckage,
twenty-six scientists arrived in Judsonia from Chicago. Instead of
first aid kits and blankets, they carried tape recorders and
notebooks. They fanned out across White County, picked a
representative cross-section of homes, and asked their inhabitants if
they could interview them.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> To
their own surprise, most of the people they asked said yes.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Over
the next two weeks, working twelve hour days, they interviewed 423
people in Judsonia and the surrounding towns. When did they realize
the tornado was approaching? Did they heed warning signs? How did
they react when they realized what was happening? Did they panic,
did they weep, did they pray, how did they act after the storm
passed, did they have nightmares, headaches, trouble concentrating –
an average of an hour and a half with each man or woman. Then, back
in Chicago, they coded the results on to punch cards and fed them
into a computer.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu5][NORC]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> These
scientists – mostly graduate students in sociology – worked for
the National Opinion Research Center, or NORC. From 1950 to 1954
NORC researched the behavior of people in disasters under a contract
from the Army Chemical Command (ACC). The Army knew that, in the
next world war, the United States would not be spared attack. Army
planners worried about panicked, screaming hordes clogging evacuation
routes, frenzied looters smashing shop windows, the breakdown of
social order in the chaos of nuclear war.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Storm,
earthquake, fire, and flood were the closest analogues to nuclear war
available in the United States. If the military were to effectively
protect the public in World War III, they needed to know how the
public would behave. Therefore, they paid NORC $50,000 to go into
disaster zones and find out.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu][Qu5]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
The project was born from the 1948 Donora, Pennsylvania temperature
inversion. In a temperature inversion, hot air forms a layer above
cold air, trapping the cold air near the surface. Pollution from
nearby metalworks was trapped along with the cold air over Donora,
forming a thick, choking, poisonous smog that turned noon dark as
night. Twenty people died and 7,000 were sickened before rain
brought clean air back into the town.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The
Army Chemical Command, being in the poison gas business, was
naturally interested in the event. And they noticed something
unusual: many people in the area who had not actually been exposed to
the smog showed symptoms of it, apparently a sort of psychosomatic
poisoning.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The
ACC asked NORC to study Donora to measure and analyze the effect.
However, the NORC leadership felt that, by the time a research team
could be gathered and trained, too much time would have passed to
collect good data. Instead, they proposed setting up a field team
to rapidly respond to new disasters, who would go into the damaged
areas to interview the victims. The ACC agreed to the proposal:
“empirical study of peacetime disasters will yield knowledge
applicable to the understanding and control, not only of peacetime
disasters, but also of those which may be anticipated in the event of
another war.” This was not the first sociological study of a
disaster, but previous efforts had been isolated and singular, a
thesis here, a monograph there. The NORC effort would be a
sustained, on-going research <i>program</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
examining numerous events and looking for common features across a
wide range of events.</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu][Kn][NORC]</span></span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Charles
Fritz, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, was one of
the leaders of the NORC research effort. Fritz had trained as a
photographer and worked on the Strategic Bombing Survey after World
War II. The survey attempted to quantify the physical, economic,
and social impact of the massive Allied air campaign against Germany
and Japan, including how the raids effected civilian morale. They
discovered that morale tended paradoxically to <i>increase</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
under heavy bombing. But, p</span>olitically, the survey was
supposed to justify <span style="font-style: normal;">the doctrine of
strategic bombing, and therefore the establishment of an independent
Air Force – and Fritz noticed that the military officers writing
the survey's conclusions omitted the sociologists' results, asserting
that strategic bombing could win wars by breaking civilian morale.
While the military may not have been interested, Fritz was, and after
leaving the survey he entered the University of Chicago's Ph.D.
program in sociology. While at Chicago he joined the NORC project,
leading the newborn field team.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Fritz
and his team began with practice interviews around Chicago, covering
porch collapses and other small incidents. Fritz later recalled
that “<span style="font-style: normal;">a lot of people we talked to
thought this was ridiculous... there was a feeling that particularly
disaster-struck populations, one they would be so preoccupied with
their problems or they would be so antagonistic to the idea of your
coming in to exploit them, get information from them when actually
you ought to be helping them in some way. But here you are a
scientist coming in to get information rather than to provide any
kind of assistance.” But, in fact, almost everyone they spoke to
agreed to be interviewed.</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Kn][Qu6]</span></span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> By
1951, the NORC field team was ready. On September 15<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup>,
a plane crashed into a crowd of spectators during an airshow at
Flagler, Colorado, killing 20 people. The NORC field team was there
three days later, interviewing the survivors.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[NORC]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nvWPxoIoH1hPPFsgbak1Srn5NyIUua-LkfFDLjDLrobWFOSCBC6yRXOzpQGrCSH6riJB0PhDfNiVXsC1DgCDdmSRLh46Rxfo0JEzkT_XdyKDrg0l2Hv6I3HdiS64Q8D1Doj4OyIaVtUg/s1600/Image+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nvWPxoIoH1hPPFsgbak1Srn5NyIUua-LkfFDLjDLrobWFOSCBC6yRXOzpQGrCSH6riJB0PhDfNiVXsC1DgCDdmSRLh46Rxfo0JEzkT_XdyKDrg0l2Hv6I3HdiS64Q8D1Doj4OyIaVtUg/s1600/Image+4.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Figure 1: <i>Unidentified DRC Field Researcher in Hobart, Tasmania in 1967, Following a Forest Fire</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DRC2]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Used with Permission)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> From
July 1951 through August 1952, the NORC team criss-crossed the
country, landing everywhere something horrible had happened. They
studied an earthquake in California, airplane crashes in Colorado and
New Jersey, gas explosions in New York, a factory explosion in
Minnesota, a coal mine disaster in Illinois, a carbon monoxide
poisoning in Chicago, and more. Altogether, they interviewed almost
a thousand people. The White County tornado study was the crowning
jewel of the program, producing a vast trove of data, to this day
still one of the most complete, thorough analyses of a single
disaster ever produced<span style="font-style: normal;">.</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu][FM]</span></span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> What
they learned surprised them.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It was
common knowledge that, in a disaster, people lose their heads, they
panic and flee mindlessly, often putting themselves in greater danger
than if they had stayed put. In fact, “in the face of danger,
most people do not lose self-control and run in panic, break down in
hysterics, or 'freeze' on the spot. Most individuals in a crisis
situation actively attempt to cope with it... Individuals may be
greatly afraid, their behavior may be very highly anxiety-motivated,
but they will act – alone and with others – to control the
situation they see themselves faced with.”<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[NORC]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> It
was common knowledge that, in a disaster, looting inevitably breaks
out, that military force is necessary to prevent depredation and
chaos. In fact, while almost everyone had </span><i>heard</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
of someone being looted, actual instances of looting were rare. In
the White County tornado study, there were many instances of
onlookers stealing small items as souvenirs, but only two cases of
actual looting for personal gain (a cash register and a grand
piano).</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[NORC]</span></span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> It
was common knowledge that, in a disaster, only trained first
responders will act to rescue the trapped and the injured, while the
bulk of the populace waits apathetically for help. In fact, after
the tornadoes hit Judsonia, a quarter of the population – more than
half of the town's adult male survivors – began working to free
people trapped in rubble and care for the wounded hours before
outside help arrived.</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[FM][NORC]</span></span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MtzyvmBZkuBWbQZMCi36b_6zjU_nXVumqJg0xlyNOr7BDHnF5tBUtXNRC-jFTtI-xEZzF22K2CcU-0PLZePrMNuBskKTueDwe_HwYQUv0Ct7kAE80rTnhjvvFwPXY-dquSe9JxDwwqii/s1600/Image+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MtzyvmBZkuBWbQZMCi36b_6zjU_nXVumqJg0xlyNOr7BDHnF5tBUtXNRC-jFTtI-xEZzF22K2CcU-0PLZePrMNuBskKTueDwe_HwYQUv0Ct7kAE80rTnhjvvFwPXY-dquSe9JxDwwqii/s1600/Image+5.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Figure 2: </span><i>Unidentified DRC Field Researcher in Jackson, Mississippi in 1966, Following a Tornado</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DRC2]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">(Used with Permission)</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> As
Quarantelli, one of the NORC researchers, put it, they quickly
</span>“learned the basic principle that many of the central
beliefs about disasters held by planners, operational responders, and
even researchers were mostly mythological.”<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu3]</span></sup> The
ACC contract was premised on faulty assumptions. In disasters,
keeping order is not the problem. The problem is <i>coordination</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
– there were never shortages of willing volunteers for whatever
tasks needed doing, but people generally did not know what was
needed. Individuals had no sense of the larger situation, and
simply reacted to what they saw around them. Often they initially
didn't even realize that the disaster extended beyond their own house
or their own block. The only major problem of control was people
</span><i>outside</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> the disaster
zone rushing into the effected area to find relatives, help the
wounded, or simply sightsee, clogging roads and preventing emergency
vehicles from passing.</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[NORC]</span></span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> NORC's
contract with the ACC ended in 1954. But by this point there was
already another organization working in the area. In 1952, the
Army, Navy, and Air Force Medical Services asked the National Academy
of Sciences (NAS) to fund a program of disaster research, to continue
NORC's work. Since funding was forthcoming, the NAS was willing,
and they established a Committee on Disaster Studies, later renamed
the Disaster Research Group. Charles Fritz and Harry Williams,
another sociologist, were picked to head the project – Fritz was
actually the first sociologist to work full-time for the NAS.</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu9]</span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;">
The committee published a series of titles on disaster research and
supported continued field studies of disasters, including the first
study outside the United States, on a flood in Holland in
1953.</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu][FEMA]</span></span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Fritz
and Williams left the Disaster Research Group in 1959, and the Group
shut down in 1962. But the baton was quickly picked up at Ohio
State University, where Enrico Quarantelli had landed after
graduating from Chicago.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Quarantelli
temporarily left the disaster research field after finishing his
Master's degree, but stayed in touch with Fritz. In 1961, Russell
Dynes and Eugene Haas, two other OSU sociologists, approached him.
They were putting together a proposal to fund more field research,
had heard of his involvement with the NORC study, and wanted him to
join their project, which Quarantelli agreed to. Besides field
research, they also asked for money to conduct laboratory simulations
studies, which were very trendy in social science in the early '60s .
The three asked the National Science Foundation for $50,000 over
eighteen months for the project.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWoSnZnUxdAQX8fZy2cGMaJ0_5gbo8dZ7Kwmp1uVNWkeHy-NsUUIzpmO8kwOQpDw1ky9OTzfev5zSoa4GH1CECkrqDfLoDftPzJEfH-P-alFehDVZpPI1-zdSYPiBCn7BaOcJHVhP9su3x/s1600/Image+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWoSnZnUxdAQX8fZy2cGMaJ0_5gbo8dZ7Kwmp1uVNWkeHy-NsUUIzpmO8kwOQpDw1ky9OTzfev5zSoa4GH1CECkrqDfLoDftPzJEfH-P-alFehDVZpPI1-zdSYPiBCn7BaOcJHVhP9su3x/s1600/Image+1.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Figure 3: <i>From Left to Right: Steven R. Tripp, Enrico L. Quarantelli, and Russell R. Dynes, at a Conference in 1968</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DRC2]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Used with Permission)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Somehow
– they never did learn how – their request got into the hands of
the Office of Civil </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Defense (OCD). Before they had even received
the rejection notice from the National Science Foundation, they got a
call from an official of the OCD, who invited them to come to
Washington to meet with a group from civil defense and the Air Force
Office of Scientific Research. Jim Kerr, one of the OCD officers,
suggested that they would be more interested in supporting an entire
center to study disasters rather than just a series of field studies.
He suggested $200,000 per year as a starting budget, with a
five-year initial contract. The Air Force was more interested in
the laboratory simulations studies, and indicated they would be
willing to chip in as well. The three sociologists quickly agreed,
and the Disaster Research Center (DRC) was inaugurated in the fall of
1963.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Kn][Qu][Qu4]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The
DRC would be the primary center of disaster research for the next
twenty years. Haas ran the simulations lab, while Quarantelli and
Dynes focused on field studies. The government, despite paying for
the Center, gave them considerable freedom to pursue their own
interests; according to Quarantelli, there “was very little effort
made to direct what should be studied and/or how it should be
studied.”<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Quarantelli,
Dynes, and Haas used this freedom to shift the focus of disaster
research away from individual reactions, the focus of earlier
research with its emphasis on panic and hysteria, towards how first
responders planned for and coped with disasters.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[QDW]</span></sup>
DRC field researchers – like NORC, mostly sociology graduate
students – were required to keep a go bag ready at all times and to
head for the airport on a moment's notice.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu7]</span></sup> They
would fly to disasters still in progress and attach themselves as
observers to emergency command staffs – first responders sometimes
even asked them for advice.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Kn]</span></sup> Haas, back at the
university, had volunteers perform various tasks to measure how their
behavior changed under stress, culminating in a simulation of a plane
crash for a group of police dispatchers.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DRC]</span></sup> The
simulation work ended in the late '60s after the Air Force lost
interest and Haas left Ohio State, but the field studies continued,
expanding into studying civil unrest during the turbulent years of
the Vietnam War.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Unfortunately,
Quarantelli and his coworkers eventually realized that the reason
their sponsors allowed them so much freedom was because most of them
weren't paying attention. Quarantelli said they <span style="font-style: normal;">“learned
later... [OCD and Air Force] officials saw the proposal as
something... to show they were doing something to meet the new threat
to American society.”</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Kn]</span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;">
“Sponsored research, at least in the early days, was primarily
commissioned at the highest levels of the agencies for reasons other
than seeking answers to practical problems... Disaster research was
initiated (and the initiation came from the agencies and not social
scientists) because of internal bureaucratic pressure for agencies to
be current with the post World War II phenomena of social science
research being on the agenda of many government groups.”</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu]</span></span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> An
OCD-sponsored study of local civil defense offices was a prime
example. The DRC interviewed a number of officials at these
offices, and found that most of them were not particularly interested
in preparing for a nuclear war. They were spending their time
preparing for natural disasters and industrial accidents, with
perhaps some work on fallout shelters as a sideline. Quarantelli
and Dynes told their OCD sponsors that they needed to start working
on smaller-scale disasters as well if they wanted to gain the local
offices' cooperation in preparing for a nuclear conflict. But the
OCD wasn't interested – their policy was that they were exclusively
concerned with nuclear war, and that policy was not going to change
just because it wasn't working, at least not yet.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu6]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But,
while the OCD may not have been paying attention, others were.
Information from disaster research began to appear in textbooks to
train first responders. In the 1970s, sociologists outside the DRC
started to take an interest – a sometimes very critical interest –
in the new field. The DRC, now located at the University of
Delaware, remains a key center of the field, and is still funded by
the OCD's descendant, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Qu8][FEMA]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Images thanks to the <a href="http://www.udel.edu/DRC/">Disaster Research Center</a>. Previously published in the <i>Journal of Civil Defense</i>, the magazine of <a href="http://www.tacda.org/">The American Civil Defense Association</a>.</b></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><b><u>Works
Cited:</u></b></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
[DRC]: <i>The Disaster Research Center Simulation Studies of
Organizational Behavior Under Stress</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Disaster Research Center, 1967. Miscellaneous Report #6. <a href="http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/1269">http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/1269</a></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[DRC2]: Personal communication, Disaster Research Center.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
[FEMA]: <i>The Social Dimensions of Disasters: Instructor Guide</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Federal Emergency Management Agency.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
[FM]: Fritz, Charles E., and Marks, Eli S. “The NORC Studies of
Human Behavior in Disaster.” <i>Journal of Social Issues</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
Vol. 10 No. 3 (1954), pp. 26-41.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">[Fr]: Fritz, Charles E.
“Disaster.” </span><i>Contemporary Social Problems</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Harcourt, Brace and World, 1961.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">[Fr2]: Fritz, Charles E.
“Disasters.” </span><i>International Encyclopedia of the Social
Sciences</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. MacMillan, 1968.
Vol. 4, pp. 202-207.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Kn]:
Knowles, Scott Gabriel. </span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Disaster Experts: Mastering Risk in Modern America</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Kr]:
Kreps, Gary A. “The Worth of the NAS-NRC (1952-63) and DRC
(1963-present) Studies of Individual and Social Response to
Disasters.” </span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Social
Science and Natural Hazards</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Abt Books, 1981. pp. 91-121.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
[QDW]: Quarantelli, E. L., Dynes, R. R., and Wenger, D. E. “The
Disaster Research Center: Its History and Activities.” Disaster
Research Center, 1986. Miscellaneous Report #35.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Qu]:
Quarantelli, E. L. “Disaster Studies: An Analysis of the Social
Historical Factors Affecting the Development of Research in the
Area.” </span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">International
Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. <a href="http://www.ijmed.org/articles/145/">http://www.ijmed.org/articles/145/</a></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Qu2]:
Quarantelli, E. L. “Study and Research in the United States.”
</span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Proceedings
of Organizational and Community Responses to Disasters</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
pp. 17-26.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Qu3]:
Quarantelli, E. L. “Commentary on The Worth of the NAS-NRC
(1952-63) and DRC (1963-present) Studies of Individual and Social
Response to Disasters.” </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Social
Science and Natural Hazards</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Abt Books, 1981. pp. 122-135.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
[Qu4]: Quarantelli, E. L. “The Early History of the Disaster
Research Center.” <a href="http://www.udel.edu/DRC/AboutDRC/EarlyHistory_DRC.pdf">http://www.udel.edu/DRC/AboutDRC/EarlyHistory_DRC.pdf</a></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
[Qu5]: Quarantelli, E. L. “The NORC Research on the Arkansas
Tornado: A Fountainhead Study.” <i>International Journal of Mass
Emergencies and Disasters</i>, Vol. 6 No. 3 (November 1988), pp.
283-310.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
[Qu6]: Interview with E. L. Quarantelli. <i>The First 72 Hours: A
Community Approach to Disaster Preparedness</i>. iUniverse, 2004. pp.
321-339.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
[Qu7]: Quarantelli, E. L. “The Disaster Research Center (DRC)
Field Studies of Organized Behavior in the Crisis Time Period of
Disasters.” <i>Methods of Disaster Research</i>. pp.
94-117. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ijmed.org/articles/406/">http://www.ijmed.org/articles/406/</a></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
[Qu8]: Quarantelli, E. L. “Disaster Research.” <i>Encyclopedia
of Sociology</i>. pp. 681-688.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
[Qu9]: Quarantelli, E. L. “Disaster Studies: The Consequences of
the Historical Use of a Sociological Approach in the Development of
Research.” <i>International Journal of Mass Emergencies and
Disasters</i>, Vol. 12 No. 1 (March 1994), pp. 25-49.</span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-72273882733124349962014-10-09T15:54:00.000-07:002014-10-09T15:54:05.838-07:00Do You Want To Help Build the First Nuclear-Powered Airplane?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then Pratt & Whitney wants you! Or <i>did</i>, sixty years ago.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ran across these while skimming old <i>Newsweeks</i>. Unfortunately, doesn't look like they need mathematicians. Also, I think the job might have been filled by now.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtaOjHY41cpOtrr5k6lFxSff0olw97-YapJaltXpEjtj6FPLdsAoo0mpr9R0hAnm-dhpDqbIhARCb42bA9aMVQyRS49oHznCUVPxnkmUaWV2vSS8Z5rMV0jspJgMmtgJQ-PhJx0yQ6fH7n/s1600/P&W+-+ANP+%232.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtaOjHY41cpOtrr5k6lFxSff0olw97-YapJaltXpEjtj6FPLdsAoo0mpr9R0hAnm-dhpDqbIhARCb42bA9aMVQyRS49oHznCUVPxnkmUaWV2vSS8Z5rMV0jspJgMmtgJQ-PhJx0yQ6fH7n/s1600/P&W+-+ANP+%232.png" height="640" width="152" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONOGavJUaVJhBbHTSPQLO85jTybkmMAP0NL_ytxLgH3KAaReI92kaWhDqu26cMwTGQPrbI19mkrUWA-RExLn1Xp6aNs6MrvZHdQPhSrMGD0WgMDcLmYpgQv3fIhIoDdIPvTvfF6G6tC8o/s1600/P&W+-+ANP+%231.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONOGavJUaVJhBbHTSPQLO85jTybkmMAP0NL_ytxLgH3KAaReI92kaWhDqu26cMwTGQPrbI19mkrUWA-RExLn1Xp6aNs6MrvZHdQPhSrMGD0WgMDcLmYpgQv3fIhIoDdIPvTvfF6G6tC8o/s1600/P&W+-+ANP+%231.png" height="640" width="152" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Image Sources:</span></u></b></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Top: <i>Newsweek</i>, Feb. 28 1955.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Middle: <i>Newsweek</i>, Jan. 31 1955.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Bottom Left: <i>Newsweek</i>, Oct. 25 1954.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Bottom Right: <i>Newsweek</i>, Sept. 20 1954.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Copyright Note:</b> No copyright notice was found on these images, so I believe they are in the public domain. If you are the rights-holder or their agent you can contact me at MarkAtAtomicSkies -at- GMail -dot- com.</span></span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-70522482822988953262014-10-02T16:00:00.001-07:002014-10-02T16:00:37.838-07:00Toxic Stars<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not dead! Really, I'm not. Just busy. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned the blog; I have a few things that should be going up here over the next few months.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things that's been keeping me busy is <i>Toxic Stars: The Future of Humankind in the Cthulhu Mythos</i>, a Lovecraftian transhumanist space opera. I've been posting it on a forum behind a registration barrier, but I've decided to put it up in public. If you're interested, you can find it <a href="http://toxic-stars.blogspot.com/">here</a>.</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-16132694274089437682014-07-19T21:23:00.001-07:002014-07-19T21:23:44.623-07:00Happy Moonwalk Day<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At 9:56 PM today, Eastern Standard Time, forty-five years ago, Neil Armstrong first set foot on the lunar surface.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When times are hard, when the world seems filled with evil, hold that moment in your mind, when human feet first set foot on another world, and remember: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">together, there is nothing we cannot do.</span></span></span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-1578761240585151122014-07-16T09:18:00.002-07:002014-07-16T09:18:36.712-07:00Guest Post at ClarksonPunk<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hi! Sorry for the slow posting. Things, hopefully interesting things, are in progress here, but are not yet ready for the light of day. Also, I'm writing my thesis, which obviously takes up a certain amount of time. In the meantime, you can satisfy your craving for my writing with a guest post I wrote at the blog <a href="http://ajwriterblog.wordpress.com/">ClarksonPunk</a>: <a href="http://ajwriterblog.wordpress.com/2014/07/16/an-atompunk-manifesto/">An Atompunk Manifesto</a>.</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-53299997822477374242014-05-13T19:37:00.002-07:002014-05-13T19:37:57.866-07:00Gimme Shelter<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
“<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It's a den of noise</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Filled with fidgety boys</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Our home beneath the firmament</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And I'm glad it's a phase</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Just lasting two days</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Rather than something that's
permanent.”</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">-”The Shelter”<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[SESP]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> On July 31<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">st</span></sup>, 1959, two
young parents and their three children entered an 8-foot-by-9-foot
soundproof room in the basement of a laboratory at Princeton
University. They stayed inside for the next fourteen days.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ve][MN]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><div style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This was the first shelter occupancy
experiment in the United States. There had been previous stays in
fallout shelters, but these had been essentially publicity stunts by
shelter manufacturers. Princeton's “Project Hideaway” was the
first effort to gather empirical data on how untrained people would
react to being confined underground for long periods of time – but
it was not the last.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The
early 1960s were the high-water mark of the US </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">public
civil defense program. President Kennedy strongly supported civil
defense, and two foreign crises in quick succession led Congress to
give substantial funds to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) for the
first time. Kennedy's shelter push is still visible in the rusting
yellow-black fallout signs on public buildings across the country,
and many experts and advocates hoped that it would lead to a
large-scale public shelter program.</span></span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Bl]</span></span></span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
However, if war did break out, no one knew how the average citizen
would react to living in a fallout shelter.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> To find out, government contractors
recruited volunteers from the general population and locked them into
simulated shelters for up to two weeks. The studies included
volunteers as young as three months and as old as 79
years<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[SESP][HA2]</span></sup>, including one study of 28 children
supervised by only two adults<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ha]</span></sup>. Groups ranged in size
from 5 to 1,046.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[HA2][Ve]</span></sup></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Early
studies were tentative and exploratory, intended just to determine
whether or not people could stand being cooped up underground for so
long. They tended to use relatively spacious, luxurious simulators
with amenities such as beds and kitchens.</span></span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ca]</span></span></span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
A typical example was the American Institute for Research's shelter
simulator. The AIR's simulator had three-tier bunk beds, a “radio”
playing CONELRAD messages, canned food, a stove, a moveable wall to
adjust the space available to the occupants, and ubiquitous
microphones and one-way mirrors.</span></span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[ASM]</span></span></span></span></sup></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFr1FSm2bSxa_qRcVHUxBDbjsrdyY117aoNyuRR4X1_ijxYhPmB11MybzcKwxQzPghM3PszMgroLEiab3Ltm9ot4PLd7DvYgxF99TzEObHOcUaJ5e5kVfX134tfUoHK-aGcL3tAoranzLc/s1600/AIR014.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFr1FSm2bSxa_qRcVHUxBDbjsrdyY117aoNyuRR4X1_ijxYhPmB11MybzcKwxQzPghM3PszMgroLEiab3Ltm9ot4PLd7DvYgxF99TzEObHOcUaJ5e5kVfX134tfUoHK-aGcL3tAoranzLc/s1600/AIR014.png" /></a></div>
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<span id="goog_1275903212"></span><span id="goog_1275903213"></span><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Figure 1: <i>Interior of AIR Shelter</i></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[ASM]</span></span></span></span></sup></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">(Used with Permission)</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7ItArWERJ8UZct1u38pNo73TGTVlOLTC0n8lL9ol_rBEtQYhC4u_4nB3rJXerXhuSUkNRZ39l0RMDh5uyqx9sUwe3WLwjq0evUVoV8dyY_ze7e4OW4EfHYLfV0rNM8FTLlbcW1BR-cTb/s1600/AIR+Shelter+Map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7ItArWERJ8UZct1u38pNo73TGTVlOLTC0n8lL9ol_rBEtQYhC4u_4nB3rJXerXhuSUkNRZ39l0RMDh5uyqx9sUwe3WLwjq0evUVoV8dyY_ze7e4OW4EfHYLfV0rNM8FTLlbcW1BR-cTb/s1600/AIR+Shelter+Map.png" height="258" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Figure 2: <i>Map of AIR Shelter</i></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[ASM]</span></span></span></span></sup></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">(Used with Permission)</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> As
research progressed, and it became clear that the average American
could tolerate more austere conditions than they had been given
credit for, the shelters became more spartan.</span></span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ca]</span></span></span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
The University of Georgia built several shelters of this type, in
one of the longest-running research programs the OCD sponsored. The
Georgia researchers at times seemed to be trying to test how awful
they could make conditions in the shelter before occupants decided
they would prefer a lingering death to remaining inside. In their
most extreme study, shelterees slept on bare concrete floors and
lived on just 315 calories of OCD “biscuits” per day. Eight of
the study's volunteers defected before it had finished – but
twenty-two stayed inside.</span></span></span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[HO]</span></span></span></span></sup></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Shelter leaders tried to follow a
daily schedule, with mixed success. A typical schedule had
shelterees waking at about 7:30. After group exercises and shelter
clean-up, breakfast was served at 8:30.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[He2]</span></span></span></span></sup></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLNdO5GxWr-7Jk8zGLM6veHg5wDgIAq8Di4hu5p-7EyXy1z4OYQGJHclbDc7_e1Y5nEglLD4SEH2eu_RHjG8iMT5oZcAVHkTpIcQxfhcsSzvRD-f1HEzFvo6vgvXmXY-3Wf-vuW-6mCXn/s1600/Feeding+Baby.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLNdO5GxWr-7Jk8zGLM6veHg5wDgIAq8Di4hu5p-7EyXy1z4OYQGJHclbDc7_e1Y5nEglLD4SEH2eu_RHjG8iMT5oZcAVHkTpIcQxfhcsSzvRD-f1HEzFvo6vgvXmXY-3Wf-vuW-6mCXn/s1600/Feeding+Baby.png" height="200" width="168" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Figure 3: <i>Feeding an Infant</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[SESP]</span></span></span></span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSeC21hSkbsIm44XPPHhkAI99kReIFq_4pCMoXVd_LyZ5dqLrSjkxhoF8CGwsoiY699XF78_Q0tok7Nt5kPAf7Zd5-iKUv6FHX10euFcCUZHTsfQ1BXS6NHm8LO4fTNd-FqHPVdTBcjKO/s1600/Group+Exercises.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSeC21hSkbsIm44XPPHhkAI99kReIFq_4pCMoXVd_LyZ5dqLrSjkxhoF8CGwsoiY699XF78_Q0tok7Nt5kPAf7Zd5-iKUv6FHX10euFcCUZHTsfQ1BXS6NHm8LO4fTNd-FqHPVdTBcjKO/s1600/Group+Exercises.png" height="320" width="269" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Figure 4: <i>Group Exercises</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[SESP]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From 9:00 to 11:00 the children had “school” while adults filled out their study diaries and had other quiet activities</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. </span></span></span></span></span>Group games were held from 11:00 to
12:00, followed by lunch and then a rest period until 2:00. A
second exercise and game session was held from 2:00 to 2:30, then a
training lecture and discussion session on civil defense topics</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ha2]</span></sup></span></div>
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<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Figure 5: <i>Lecture on CD Topics</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[SESP]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">An
afternoon snack was served at 3:30, followed by a second round of
schoolwork for the children. Dinner was at 6:00, followed by group
singing and whatever special events the shelterees could improvise.
A second round of study diaries were filled out at 9:00, and lights
out scheduled for 11:00.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ha2]</span></sup></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Most studies followed a similar arc.
After an initial period of disorganization, occupants settled into
some sort of regular schedule. Morale and energy would initially be
quite high. Over time, stress and boredom would take their toll and
sprits would drop. Occupants never acted out violently, but became
irritable, withdrawn, and apathetic. Then, some time after the
halfway point, people would begin to perk up again, returning to
normal by the time they were scheduled to leave.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Life in the shelters was difficult.
Common complaints included the noise of ventilation equipment, heat,
the stench from the group toilet, the inability to bathe or wash
clothes, and the quality of shelter rations and water. Many
shelterees complained about the bad taste of stored water and the
dryness and flavorlessness of the OCD “biscuits”.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Shelterees also often had trouble
sleeping. Shelter sleeping accommodations varied between hard bunk
beds and bare concrete, and with thirty or more people crammed into a
small room, a single noisy person could disturb everyone else. In
the most extreme case, the shelter manager – an unemployed
35-year-old youth instructor, who had not received any OCD training –
became convinced the other shelterees were planning to remove him
from leadership. He stopped sleeping altogether, apparently to
ensure no one could plan against him while he was unconscious.
After three days he became convinced the scientists were irradiating
the shelterees through the one-way mirrors and started carrying a
screwdriver for “self-protection”. He was finally coaxed out
after several mothers in the shelter slipped notes under the door
demanding his removal for the safety of the children. He reportedly
recovered fully.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[ASM]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Despite the hardships of living in a
concrete box, most shelterees reported a strong sense of <i>espirit
de corps</i>, especially in the smaller groups. In some cases
people with legitimate medical or personal reasons for leaving
insisted on remaining inside so as to not let the group down. Being
trapped in a small room with complete strangers for days was an
intense bonding experience; many shelterees continued to socialize
with their fellows for some time after the experiment finished.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Shelterees proved impressively
adaptable and innovative in finding ways to stay occupied while under
cover. Card games and singing were very popular, especially since
they could be done as a group. Religion was a particular source of
strength; most groups improvised some form of non-denominational
Sunday service</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[ASM]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Figure 6: <i>Shelterees Amusing Themselves</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[SESP]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> In fact, despite the odors, the bad
food, the lack of privacy, and the general discomfort, most
shelterees described their experience as a positive one that they
would be willing to repeat – and no shelteree reported any
long-lasting negative consequences of their stay.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[ASM]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Interestingly, at least four large
studies at the University of Georgia were racially integrated;
between 10% and 20% of the shelter populations of 150 to 504 were
black. No racial conflicts were reported in the surviving
documents.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[HA]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> OCD researchers were particularly
interested in shelter leadership. In most early studies leaders
were appointed and trained by the researchers, although several
studies were conducted with “emergent” leadership. Pre-shelter
training, even for just a few hours, dramatically improved results;
shelters with trained leaders had stronger morale, fewer
mid-experiment defections, and higher post-study evaluations than
shelters without. However, in a war, there would probably not be
enough trained personnel for more than a handful of shelters; the
shelterees would have to organize themselves, with the aid of
whatever instructional material was stocked in the shelter.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> The University of Georgia conducted
several experiments between 1964 and 1968 where leaders were
determined in the shelter through a byzantine system of cards and
pamphlets. The first three shelterees inside were greeted by a sign
appointing them “Temporary Shelter Managers”, with leaflets to
explain what that meant. They were then supposed to select a
(rather sizable) temporary staff, who operated the shelter for
several hours while passing out information cards for the other
shelterees to fill out. The cards were then used to select a
permanent staff on the basis of instructions in the temporary shelter
manager's leaflet, who were then provided with still more pamphlets
and manuals to explain their duties.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Despite repeated tinkering by the
researchers in between studies, this system never worked very well.
Staff members, particularly among the temporary staff, often didn't
read or follow instructions properly, or decided that this was more
than they had signed up for and just ignored their appointment. In
one of the University's largest studies, the pamphlets for the
permanent staff were accidentally distributed to the temporary staff,
leading to much confusion. Eight members of the shelter staff
defected from the experiment.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[HA]</span></sup> Still, in every study
the permanent staff was eventually formed and began to operate, and
things settled into some sort of routine.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Obviously, these experiments could
never truly replicate the conditions of nuclear war, and the
scientists running them understood that. Their test subjects knew
that, no matter how smelly and cramped the shelter was, civilization
still continued outside, and that after a fixed period of time they
could leave and return to their normal lives. A few studies tried
to make the experiments more realistic: in one study in West
Virginia, an actor with faked leg wounds was included among the
shelterees as a simulated casualty. A second actor, “contaminated”
by fallout and armed with a hatchet, attempted to force his way into
the shelter, screaming “Let me in! Let me in! I'm dying! You
god-damned bunch of Communists!”, and had to be forced back out the
door. Later in the exercise the shelterees improvised a defense
plan with pen knives after they were told via “radio” that a band
of looters was heading for their shelter.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Fl]</span></sup> Even more
dramatic approaches to realism were considered: the use of hypnosis
to convince people that an attack was imminent or had taken place was
discussed in a 1963 study. But the OCD decided that, while
informative, such extreme measures could not be morally justified –
not in peacetime, anyway.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Da]</span></sup></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Despite the limitations, research
pressed on through the 1960s. Bad data was, after all, better than
no data at all. By 1970, over 7,100 people had participated in 82
simulated shelter studies.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Le]</span></sup> However, after the early
60s, the projects gradually dried up. OCD researchers tried to find
other sponsors for these studies, but were unsuccessful. Cresson
Kearny at Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted experiments using
his famous “expedient shelters” as late as 1976<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ke]</span></sup>,
but his work was unique.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> I have not found any documents
specifically addressing why the studies ended, but it is not hard to
guess. The shelter occupancy experiments followed the same arc as
the civil defense program in general. The funding that flowed into
the OCD dried up once the crises of the early 60s receded and Kennedy
died, and it never came back.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Bl]</span></sup> With little money to
do anything, research of this sort must have seemed like a luxury.
Except for Kearny's work, I have found no records of similar studies
in the United States after 1970.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Previously published in the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><i>Journal of Civil Defense</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>, the magazine of </b><a href="http://www.tacda.org/" style="font-weight: bold;">The American Civil Defense Association</a><b>.</b> I'd like to take the occasion to welcome <a href="http://theamericancivildefense.com/">TACDA to the blogosphere</a>!</span><br />
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Works Cited:</span></b></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[ASM]:
Altman, James W., Smith, Robert W., et al. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Psychological
and Social Adjustment in a Simulated Shelter: A Research Report</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
American Institute for Research, 1961.
</span></span></span></span><u><a href="http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD0270163"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD0270163</span></span></a></u><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Ba]:
Barnes, Dick. “Nation's Fallout Shelters Provide Only Barest
Needs.” </span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Robesonian</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
Monday, May 5</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> 1969. </span></span></span></span><u><a href="http://newspaperarchive.com/robesonian/1969-05-05/page-9"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://newspaperarchive.com/robesonian/1969-05-05/page-9</span></span></a></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Bl]:
Blanchard, B. Wayne. “American Civil Defense, 1945 – 1984: The
Evolution of Programs and Policies.” Federal Emergency Management
Agency, 1985.
</span></span></span><u><a href="http://www.training.fema.gov/emiweb/edu/docs/Blanchard%20-%20American%20Civil%20Defense%201945-1984.pdf"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.training.fema.gov/emiweb/edu/docs/Blanchard%20-%20American%20Civil%20Defense%201945-1984.pdf</span></span></a></u></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">[Ca]:
Carr, Fred. </span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">“State
of the Art Shelter Management Research, Volume 1.” Second Edition
(Revised). Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, 1976.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">[COA]:
</span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Hearing on Independent
Offices and Department of Housing and Urban Development
Appropriations</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">.
Subcommittee on Independent Offices Appropriations, Senate
Committee on Appropriations. April 21-23, 28-29, May 12-14, 19-21,
27, and June 3, 1970. US Government Printing Office, 1970.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">[Da]:
Davis, Tracy. </span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Stages
of Emergency: Cold War Nuclear Civil Defense</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">.
Duke University Press, 2007.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Fl]:
Fleming, Helen Parr. “The Unprepared.” </span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Sunday
Gazette-Mail</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
September 26</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
1965.
</span></span></span></span><u><a href="http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2011/07/survival-verite-fallout-shelter-test.html"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://conelrad.blogspot.com/2011/07/survival-verite-fallout-shelter-test.html</span></span></a></u></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">[Ha]:
Hammes, John A. </span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Final
Report: Shelter Occupancy Studies at the University of Georgia, 1965</span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">.
Office of Civil Defense, 1966.
</span></span></span><u><a href="http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=AD0653881"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=AD0653881</span></a></u></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">[Ha2]:
Hammes, John A. </span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Final
Report: Shelter Occupancy Studies at the University of Georgia, 1964
Appendix</span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">.
Office of Civil Defense, 1964.
</span></span></span><u><a href="http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=AD0615003"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=AD0615003</span></a></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[HA]:
Hammes, John A., and Ahearn, Thomas R. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Final
Report: Shelter Occupancy Studies at the University of Georgia, 1966</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Office of Civil Defense, 1966.
</span></span></span></span><u><a href="http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/653881.pdf"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/653881.pdf</span></span></a></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[HA2]:
Abstract of Hammes, John A., and Ahearn, Thomas R. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Final
Report: Shelter Occupancy Studies at the University of Georgia, 1967</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Office of Civil Defense, 1967.
</span></span></span></span><u><a href="http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0673778"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0673778</span></span></a></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[HO]:
Hammes, John A., and Osborne, R. Travis. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Final
Report: Shelter Occupancy Studies at the University of Georgia,
1962-1963.</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Office of Civil Defense, 1963.
</span></span></span></span><u><a href="http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/439396.pdf"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/439396.pdf</span></span></a></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Ke]:
Kearny, Cresson. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Expedient
Shelter Construction and Occupancy Experiments</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1976. ORNL-5039.
</span></span></span></span><u><a href="http://alwaysprepared.info/index.php?topic=1267.0"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://alwaysprepared.info/index.php?topic=1267.0</span></span></a></u></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[Le]:
Levit, R. A. “Behavioral Aspects of Fallout Shelter Stay.”
Defense Nuclear Agency, 1979.
<a href="http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA064144">http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA064144</a></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[MN]:
“Family of Five Survives 14 Days in 8x9 Shelter.” </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Miami
News</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
August 16 1959.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[SESP]:
Strope, W. E., Etter, H. S., Schultze, H. P., and Pond, J. J. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Family Occupancy Test, 4-6 November 1960</span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
US Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, 1960.
</span></span></span></span><u><a href="http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/288228.pdf"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/288228.pdf</span></span></a></u><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ve]:
Vernon, Jack A. “Project Hideaway: A Pilot Feasibility Study of
Fallout Shelters for Families.” Office of Civil Defense, 1959.
</span><a href="http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/270225.pdf">http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/270225.pdf</a></span></span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-62455660911910842152014-05-03T19:28:00.000-07:002018-04-15T15:10:10.877-07:00The Philosopher's Bomb, Part 2<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Those </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial";">Magnificent</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Men and their Atomic Machines</span></b></u></span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><u><b>The Philosopher's Bomb: Discovering New Elements with Nuclear Explosions</b></u></span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: medium;"><u><b>Part II</b></u></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Back to <a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-philosophers-bomb-part-1.html">Part I</a></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">With Special Thanks to
Dr. Stephen A. Becker and Dr. David W. Dorn</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> For first time readers,
<a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-philosophers-bomb-part-1.html">part I</a> should be read before reading part II.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <u><b>Operation FISHBOWL</b></u></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> On July 8<sup>th</sup>,
1962, at 11:00 pm local time, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_(rocket_family)">Thor missile</a> blasted off from
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnston_Atoll">Johnston Atoll</a> in the Pacific Ocean. Fifty other rockets rose with
it, from Johnston, Hawaii and California. Thirteen minutes and
forty-one seconds later, the Thor touched its apogee 399 kilometers
above the ocean and exploded, the light of its 1.4-megaton <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W49">W49 warhead</a> tearing through the Pacific night. The <a href="http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/emp.htm">electromagnetic pulse</a> from the blast destroyed street lights and triggered burglar
alarms on Oahu 800 miles away, and created spectacular aurorae
visible for more than 1,600 miles. This was STARFISH PRIME.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Su][ND]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHlPHRUMK_DsT1NZFMKfs9vLHi0NIF4PUVoPiC1g1Arw36M0UxVB-56N12LOIEMYmdqRRRuSie1ysJf2-ZopYbXt0ehg7fnE-7GGHxLaSpkaydtDBJ8U5jXyj1Nu1WNUPRT-sVDuzICNb/s1600/STARFISH+PRIME+Test.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHlPHRUMK_DsT1NZFMKfs9vLHi0NIF4PUVoPiC1g1Arw36M0UxVB-56N12LOIEMYmdqRRRuSie1ysJf2-ZopYbXt0ehg7fnE-7GGHxLaSpkaydtDBJ8U5jXyj1Nu1WNUPRT-sVDuzICNb/s1600/STARFISH+PRIME+Test.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 17: <i>Aurora from
STARFISH PRIME Explosion</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[LANL]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> STARFISH PRIME was part
of a series of tests code-named Operation FISHBOWL and sponsored by
<a href="http://www.lanl.gov/about/history-innovation/index.php?row_num=0">Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory</a> (LASL) and the Department of
Defense. FISHBOWL's purpose was to develop techniques for
penetrating <a href="http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/soviet/abm1.htm">missile defense screens</a>. The escort rockets carried
instruments measuring radiation flux, debris formation, and other
technical data. Four other high-altitude tests followed as part of
Operation FISHBOWL: CHECKMATE (October 20 1962), BLUEGILL TRIPLE
PRIME (October 26 1962), KINGFISH (November 1 1962), and TIGHTROPE
(November 4 1962).<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DoE]</span></sup> One of those tests had an extra
escort: a <a href="http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/nikpache.htm">Nike Apache</a> sounding rocket launched from Hawaii carrying
samples of uranium-233 and -235 and a neutron counter.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The nuclear explosion
produced a pulse of neutrons, spread over a range of energies. As
the neutrons flashed through space, the slower ones fell behind. By
the time they hit the uranium samples 150 kilometers over Hawaii they
had sorted themselves neatly by energy. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The missile transmitted 23
seconds of data back to the ground station, measuring the fissions
produced in the two samples. The probability of U-235 fission –
the fission cross-section – at different energies was well-known;
by measuring the ratio of U-233 and U-235 fissions the <a href="https://www.llnl.gov/str/Hacker.html">Lawrence Radiation Laboratory at Livermore</a> (LRLL) scientists who had launched
the rocket could calculate the probability of U-233 fission at
different neutron energies.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Alb]</span></sup> These had previously
been measured using less heroic methods, but the 1,280-kilometer
separation between the neutron source and the samples drastically
increased the resolution of the measurements.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> There was some hope that
FISHBOWL would be followed by other high-altitude tests incorporating
physics experiments. But TIGHTROPE was the last US high-altitude
nuclear test. Electrons produced by the STARFISH PRIME blast
created an artificial radiation belt that destroyed a third of all
satellites in Low Earth Orbit. Then, on August 5<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup> 1963,
the United States signed the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Nuclear_Test_Ban_Treaty">Partial Test Ban Treaty</a>. A consolation
prize for negotiators who had hoped for a comprehensive ban, the treaty outlawed any nuclear tests in or above the atmosphere. STARFISH
PRIME would not be repeated. To continue their experiments, the
scientists of Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore would have to go
underground.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <u><b>ANACOSTIA through
KENNEBEC</b></u></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> For well into the 1950s,
most US nuclear weapons tests took place <a href="http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Ppg.html">in the Pacific</a>.
Multi-megaton hydrogen bombs could be tested far from inhabited
areas, where the seismic shock and fallout couldn't harm civilians.
That, at least, was the intention, though <a href="http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/06/21/castle-bravo-revisited/">sometimes</a> the precautions
proved insufficient.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> But, in 1950, the US
government decided to move some tests to the continental United
States. Thousands of miles from the laboratories, the Pacific
testing sites were expensive to operate, and it took months to
organize experiments so far from home. A testing site on the
continent would be limited to low-yield shots, but would be cheaper
and more flexible. The Atomic Energy Commission eventually chose a
site within Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, just 105 kilometers
north of Las Vegas; they fired <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ranger">the first shot</a> in 1951.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[HDu]</span></sup>
In the clear, desert air the tests could be seen for miles, and
Vegas tourism officials made it part of the city's attraction –
visitors could sip atomic cocktails (vodka, brandy, sherry, and
champagne) and watch the drifting mushroom clouds between rounds of
gambling.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Wo]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8fs2Ip0VIOf185WjIzWEnpO-YQ5s8P2IvFTM2fcPsLNG8Z3irHnZAlTu9qCCCzHv8UjcxoAtraG-j763P5DoOrOKoR2cUQjgU55E6PvLHRIC3txrQq2kRtt3OA92TZIzjMTJSBHdisy1O/s1600/Atomic+Test+Seen+from+Las+Vegas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8fs2Ip0VIOf185WjIzWEnpO-YQ5s8P2IvFTM2fcPsLNG8Z3irHnZAlTu9qCCCzHv8UjcxoAtraG-j763P5DoOrOKoR2cUQjgU55E6PvLHRIC3txrQq2kRtt3OA92TZIzjMTJSBHdisy1O/s1600/Atomic+Test+Seen+from+Las+Vegas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 18: <i>Mushroom
Cloud Seen from Las Vegas</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[NNSA]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The Partial Test Ban
Treaty ended the show, but not the tests. Testing moved
underground, and almost all of the underground tests took place in
Nevada. Hundreds of meters beneath the scorching desert sand, AEC
scientists put the deadliest weapons ever built through their paces.
And Plowshare – the AEC's program to find peaceful uses for the
atomic bomb – followed the weapons tests.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The head of device
design at Livermore for the Plowshare project to make heavy elements
was Dr. David W. Dorn. Dorn earned his Ph.D. in physics from Purdue
University after serving in the Navy in Korea, and joined Livermore
in 1959.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Do3]</span></sup> He was heavily involved with both the
superheavy elements program and the nuclear excavation program. In
the early '60s, the AEC weapons labs gave their scientists
considerable autonomy in choosing their own projects; Dorn recruited
personnel for the Plowshare program by telling prospective recruits
that nuclear explosives are “so attractive that they will be used,
and if you join us, we can make sure they are designed so as to
maximize the useful effects and minimize the unwanted side
effects.”<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Do]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillHCi4lwX0Zrw9TBrvTbRmuWNY9eEFq-JFK3f8pLk92kXhJebCVfASx3AbKHe2h_wqfgqSBzX2iHhqganYXKcn546cRd9BdIIUKDqflWOcsqp3AL8bwd7f9rLu9alPw7j7stqYwvr6I45/s1600/Dave+Dorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillHCi4lwX0Zrw9TBrvTbRmuWNY9eEFq-JFK3f8pLk92kXhJebCVfASx3AbKHe2h_wqfgqSBzX2iHhqganYXKcn546cRd9BdIIUKDqflWOcsqp3AL8bwd7f9rLu9alPw7j7stqYwvr6I45/s1600/Dave+Dorn.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 19: <i>David W.
Dorn Today</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[Do]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Used with Permission)</span></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">His counterpart at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) was Jordan Carson Mark, a Canadian immigrant, mathematician, and leader of the lab's theoretical division. Mark had worked at Los Alamos since the Manhattan Project. Ted Taylor, a Los Alamos physicist, said that Mark “had a unique way of stimulating no-nonsense approaches to creativity. He kept intimate track of the many new and complex accomplishments of an incredibly productive group of staff members and eminent consultants.”<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Co4][PBB]</span></sup></span></div>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Dorn and Mark planned
to use tests at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) to develop nuclear
explosives for the heavy element program. Then, once a suitable
device had been produced, they would return to the GNOME site in New
Mexico for the actual explosion, codenamed COACH. New elements
could be chemically recovered far more easily from the Carlsbad salts
than from the hard Nevada alluvium.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> COACH would need a high
but uniform neutron flux, and a yield low enough to be fired in the
Carlsbad salts without damaging nearby buildings.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[HD]</span></sup>
Higher neutron fluxes were achieved by designing the devices to
“maximize the neutron density within a relatively small volume of
burning thermonuclear fuel surrounding a uranium target and to slow
the disassembly time”<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Co]</span></sup> – that is, to maximize how
long it took for the assembly to blow itself apart. David Dorn
described it as trying “to create a 'ball of thermal neutrons' and
hold it together long enough for multiple neutron captures to take
place. This had never been done on the scale we were attempting,
and we were sensitive to the audacity of even thinking we could do
so.”<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Do]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Dorn's team fired the
first heavy element test, code-named ANACOSTIA, at NTS on November
27<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup>, 1962.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DoE]</span></sup> Workers drilled a 229-meter
vertical shaft into the desert alluvium, lowered the device into it,
refilled the hole, and detonated it. The 5.2-kiloton device hit a
uranium-238 target with a neutron flux of between 2.5 and 4 moles per
square centimeter. (A mole is a unit of measurement counting
numbers of particles; for neutrons, one mole equals about one
kilogram). ANACOSTIA reached a flux greater than the original MIKE
test, at 2 to 3 moles/cm<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></sup>, but with a yield 2,000 times
lower.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Be2]</span></sup> After the blast, workers drilled back into
the “shot chimney” of shattered stone and retrieved samples of
rock mixed with solidified bomb debris.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 20: <i>Retrieving
Samples from a Nuclear Test</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[Wa]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Chemists screened the
samples for radioactivity, and pulverized the hottest rocks. They
then dissolved the powder in a mixture of nitric, perchloric, and
hydrofluoric acid to remove the silica, a tricky process which
produced what the chemists understatedly described as a “vigorous
exothermic reaction”. Then they mixed the residue with
tri-n-butyl phosphate-nitrate (TBP), followed by a mixture of
di-2-ethylhexyl orthophosphoric acid and nitric acid (HDEHP) to
extract the lanthanides and transuranics. Finally they passed the
material through a series of ion exchange columns, producing a
residue of transuranics, the heavy elements produced by the intense
flash of neutrons from the explosion. Because of the radiation,
most of this work had to be done by remote control behind lead
shielding.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[WDFH]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGD0_Mp_wYcfeIZgpKklqVffhgY_Num7oUcwmAxezrZUh8qZlHTFh9lMV3eUfORFHgxwXUpJvEsAOWqP73bGBKP3zoQgNgItLJ45ELvP_QUtJdxsYqOrWkLTK_AKdU0C9rfPM1LmjWskUB/s1600/Actinide+Extraction+Apparatus.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGD0_Mp_wYcfeIZgpKklqVffhgY_Num7oUcwmAxezrZUh8qZlHTFh9lMV3eUfORFHgxwXUpJvEsAOWqP73bGBKP3zoQgNgItLJ45ELvP_QUtJdxsYqOrWkLTK_AKdU0C9rfPM1LmjWskUB/s1600/Actinide+Extraction+Apparatus.png" width="191" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 21: <i>TBP and
HDEHP Extraction Apparatus</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[WDFH]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">A: Lines to AL(NO3)3,
NH4NO3, and HNO3 wash solutions and to water; </span>
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">B: TBP transfer vessel;
C: HDEHP transfer vessel; D: typical solenoid valve; </span>
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">E: TBP mixing vessel; F:
stainless-steel centrifugal stirrer; G: HDEHP mixing </span>
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">vessel; H: Teflon gland;
I: air pressure line; J: 4-liter feed solution vessel; </span>
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">K: 4-liter vessels for
receiving waste solutions or product</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The analysis showed
that, below mass 246, ANACOSTIA produced a higher relative yield than
MIKE:</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUKzab1TcAWaF30d6HfCM7S2HGrtLgF7YIjiWr4OIjf_DccvAv9G-NG_uKbb7Of6mKT-bc2h6ciVfxvz8jS3HW-JzgBi_k9jZ0XY65s21FP0EWlmN9PQS4cCE0Bi-3XB-XzJc9-srfwhj/s1600/ANACOSTIA+Yield.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUKzab1TcAWaF30d6HfCM7S2HGrtLgF7YIjiWr4OIjf_DccvAv9G-NG_uKbb7Of6mKT-bc2h6ciVfxvz8jS3HW-JzgBi_k9jZ0XY65s21FP0EWlmN9PQS4cCE0Bi-3XB-XzJc9-srfwhj/s1600/ANACOSTIA+Yield.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 22: <i>ANACOSTIA
and MIKE Relative Yields</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[HD]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Note logarithmic scale</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californium"> Californium</a>-252 and -254
were also detected in the ANACOSTIA samples, but at concentrations
too low to be confident they weren't from contaminated laboratory
equipment.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[HD]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Three more tests
followed in the 1962-63 testing season: KAWEAH (Feb. 21<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">st</span></sup>
1963, 3 kT), GERBIL (March 29<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup> 1963, less than 20 kT),
and KENNEBEC (June 25<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup> 1963, less than 20
kT).<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DoE][GURC]</span></sup> Dorn's team at Lawrence Livermore
designed KAWEAH and KENNEBEC, while Mark's group at Los Alamos
designed GERBIL. ANACOSTIA, KAWEAH, and KENNEBEC were funded
directly by the AEC's new Division of Peaceful Nuclear Explosives,
but GERBIL was primarily a weapons test, with the heavy element
experiment incorporated as an add-on.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DoE]</span></sup> This would be
a common tactic in later years: by joining forces with weapons
testers, the Plowshare scientists could save the not-incosiderable
cost of building the device and emplacing it hundreds of meters
underground. After 1963, most of the superheavy element tests would
follow GERBIL's lead, piggybacking on weapons tests to reduce costs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> KAWEAH and GERBIL were
failures<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Do3]</span></sup>, but KENNEBEC reached a flux of 4.6 to 6
moles/cm<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></sup>.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Be2]</span></sup> Irradiation for a year in the
High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge – a nuclear reactor
specifically designed to produce superheavy isotopes by neutron
transmutation – produced only 0.15 moles/cm<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></sup>.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Do3]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> While they had not yet
reached a neutron flux that would justify proceeding to COACH,
ANACOSTIA and KENNEBEC showed promise. In October of 1963, the AEC
placed the camp at the GNOME site on standby status, while
development continued at the Nevada Test Site.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[JCAE65]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> After 1962, Livermore
took the lead in the superheavy element program. Los Alamos
continued to sponsor superheavy element tests, but focused primarily
on other types of neutron physics experiments. The two laboratories
cooperated closely on the experiments, although each took different
approaches. According to Dr. Dorn, Livermore “had more freedom to
innovate and 'blue sky' our approaches.” “The focus of
[Livermore] was more on deliverables, while [Los Alamos]
made sure that the underlying physics was well understood. We were
a team and the combined focus served both laboratories well.”<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Do]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <u><b>Prompt Sample
Recovery</b></u></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Besides improving the
devices themselves, Livermore and <a href="http://www.ornl.gov/ornl/about-ornl/history">Oak Ridge National Laboratory</a> also worked on prompt sampling systems – mechanisms to
rapidly recover products of the explosion. Conventional drilling
took at least 36 hours to recover samples from the blast; since many
heavy elements decay in hours, minutes, or less, they would be gone
before drill teams could reach them. Developers of prompt sampling
systems sought to retrieve samples essentially instantaneously.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> TAMALPAIS and GNOME were
not the first nuclear tests to incorporate prompt sampling systems.
The idea actually originated with the weapon designers, as a way to
get information on a weapon's performance. A prompt sampling system
would hopefully be cheaper than drilling as well as faster.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The first prompt
sampling systems, developed under Gary Higgins at Lawrence Livermore,
were used during the HARDTACK II test series in 1958. However,
these early systems were legendarily unreliable. The pipes could
allow the blast to escape; at least two major ventings were
attributed to prompt sampling pipes. More often, they failed to
actually collect any material; the joke was that the best way to keep
radiation from leaking through instrumentation cabling pipes was “to
always, on all drawings, and when discussing them, speak of them as
rad chem sampling devices.” Unfortunately, relatively little
information on these systems is available in the public domain,
presumably because of their use in weapons test diagnostics.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ca]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Both the ANACOSTIA and
KAWEAH tests included experimental prompt sampling systems.
10-inch-diameter pipes led from the bomb chamber to the surface,
where they connected to horizontal pipes leading to holding tanks 650
feet from ground zero. The bottoms of the pipes were filled with a
mixture of 50% starch and 50% water by weight. This mixture is
ordinarily solid, but becomes fluid when squeezed – a property
called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thixotropy">thixotropicity</a>. The tops of the pipes were filled with
water.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> When the bomb detonated,
the pressure of the blast liquified the starch-water mix and drove
fragments of the target into the pipe, then crimped the pipe shut.
The material was then carried to the surface and from there to the
holding tanks. Catchers mounted in the pipes intercepted some of
the material for quick analysis, while the remainder settled in the
tanks for later retrieval. 10 to 40 kg of material was delivered in
this way from ANACOSTIA, and 360 kg from KENNEBEC.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Although elegant in
theory, the material from the catchers showed a lower level of
radioactivity than material retrieved from the melt puddle by
drilling, and Livermore decided to leave the material in the tanks
and use samples retrieved by drilling.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Br]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Starting in 1961, Oak
Ridge, working with the Pitman-Dunn Institute for Research at
Frankford Arsenal, investigated two alternative approaches to
sampling: the jet sampler and the bubble sampler.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[CTD62]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The bubble sampler was a
pipe beginning several meters away from the bomb. When the bomb
detonated, the explosion cavity would reach to within a meter of the
inlet. In the moment after the blast, “special methods” –
presumably explosives – would be used to open a connection between
the pipe and the cavity, allowing retrieval of gas from the cavity
just a few tenths of a second after detonation. To protect the pipe
from the blast, it would initially be filled with water and
surrounded with conventional explosives. The explosives would
create a “gas blanket” that would attenuate the nuclear shock
wave. The bubble sampler never proceeded beyond paper studies, and
development seems to have been abandoned after 1964.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[CTD61][CTD65]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The jet sampler used
shaped high explosives to shoot a target one meter from the bomb up a
100 meter pipe at a speed of 10 to 100 kilometers per second, after
it had been irradiated by the bomb but before the blast wave reached
it. Mathematical models suggested that up to 50% of the original
target could be retrieved in this fashion, compared to three parts in
a trillion for the GNOME sampler.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Oak Ridge conducted
live-fire jet sampler experiments at Frankford Arsenal beginning in
1962 or 1963, using 25mm targets made variously of uranium, copper,
iron, or aluminum. The jets were slower than they had hoped, but
still fast enough to escape a nuclear blast. At least 50% of the
material made it to a 3-foot-thick, laminated wood block placed at
the end of the 55-foot-long pipe as a “catcher”, suggesting that
this would be an effective approach for use in the
field.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[CTD63][CTD64][CTD66]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Later experiments,
performed some time in 1966 or 1967, used five copper cones, each
plated with 3 grams of gold that had been irradiated in a nuclear
reactor. Neutron-activated gold-198 simulated superheavy elements
and, since it was radioactive, could be easily tracked.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[CTD66][CTD67]</span></sup>
However, the results of these later experiments seem to have been
lost, and there are no records of the hypervelocity jet sampler
program after 1967.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <u><b>ANCHOVY through
BARBEL</b></u></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCnZYn-bvSsCW4wI853QkiHP4N0qoLI2yyxx2f51eWH8isJtdPKSps9N_fUwTCmRcbV9ZeIrxfCUqkAqqsQnt1mBBZTnvDGq15OEeaFFqErYFSq3dtzA0gTlMG6z-Z9Il3UpH5bZVuuGsU/s1600/Tab2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCnZYn-bvSsCW4wI853QkiHP4N0qoLI2yyxx2f51eWH8isJtdPKSps9N_fUwTCmRcbV9ZeIrxfCUqkAqqsQnt1mBBZTnvDGq15OEeaFFqErYFSq3dtzA0gTlMG6z-Z9Il3UpH5bZVuuGsU/s1600/Tab2.png" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> In the 1963-64 testing
season, codenamed Operation NIBLICK, Livermore and Los Alamos
conducted another three superheavy element tests, all as add-ons to
weapons tests: ANCHOVY (November 14<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup> 1963, less than 20
kT, Los Alamos), GREYS (November 22<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">nd</span></sup> 1963, between 20 kT
and 200 kT, Livermore), and OCONTO (January 23<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">rd</span></sup> 1964,
10.5 kT, Livermore).<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[GURC][DoE]</span></sup> ANCHOVY was the most
successful of the three, but even it reached only 2 to 3 moles/cm<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></sup>
flux, worse than ANACOSTIA.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Be2][Do3]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The next testing season
began to see real results. The first test of Operation WHETSTONE,
BYE (July 16<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup> 1964, 20 to 200 kT, Livermore)<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DoE]</span></sup>,
was another failure, but the 38-kiloton PAR test of October 9<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup>
1964 reached a flux of 11 moles/cm<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2 [Be]</span></sup>. Atoms of the
uranium-238 sample absorbed up to 19 neutrons – two more than in
MIKE – producing isotopes as heavy as Fermium-257. One of the
isotopes that was produced was Curium-250 – the first time that
isotope had been detected, and the first major success for the heavy
element program.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> A second test, BARBEL
(October 16<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup> 1964, less than 20 kT, Los Alamos),
replicated PAR's neutron flux and managed to reach Fermium-257.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[LARG]</span></sup>
PAR was funded by the Plowshare program, while the other two were
weapons test add-ons.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DoE]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> This was not the only
new result. Radiochemists at the nuclear labs discovered
previously-unknown alpha decay paths of the rare, short-lived
isotopes californium-253 and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsteinium">einsteinium</a>-255. These isotopes had
been produced before in nuclear reactors, but reactor-produced
samples were heavily contaminated with other isotopes of the same
elements, drowning out the signal of these decay modes.
Radiochemists also tried to make the previously-unknown isotope
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermium">fermium</a>-258 by irradiating Fm-257 produced by the nuclear shots in a
reactor, but without success.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[CRG]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> In all of the tests, the
yields showed a sawtooth pattern: isotopes with even masses were
relatively more abundant than isotopes with odd masses. This was
expected; nuclei with odd numbers of neutrons have higher neutron
capture cross-sections than those with even numbers. Uranium has an
even number of protons, so an odd mass number meant an odd number of
neutrons. Thus an odd-mass uranium atom would be more likely to
absorb another neutron and reach a higher mass than an even-mass one.
But, after mass 250, the pattern reversed:</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5p_rKLGLDg4c519-rjlD7y0oPNAXePpLDx4s_Vz20ZgttHA3NmnLHd2hrVaXN_WhUbkG968AGoDpNcNt9Zr3o8QkqVPYnQmVANM1ZLmA8UkBanVscIn6kN1k0toltyA4_W5gNyyrl5dLe/s1600/PAR+and+BARBEL+Isotope+Yields+(Modified).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5p_rKLGLDg4c519-rjlD7y0oPNAXePpLDx4s_Vz20ZgttHA3NmnLHd2hrVaXN_WhUbkG968AGoDpNcNt9Zr3o8QkqVPYnQmVANM1ZLmA8UkBanVscIn6kN1k0toltyA4_W5gNyyrl5dLe/s1600/PAR+and+BARBEL+Isotope+Yields+(Modified).png" width="371" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 23: <i>PAR and
BARBEL Isotope Yields</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[CRG]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Note: Some points are
missing due to the short half-lives of the isotopes</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government, modified
by author)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> This pattern reversal
was a mystery. Several hypotheses were advanced: David Dorn and R.
W. Hoff of Livermore suggested that, as the even-mass nuclei
beta-decayed after neutron capture, they passed through a region with
a very high spontaneous fission rates, whereas the odd-mass nuclei
did not. Although not impossible, this would be an odd
coincidence.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DH]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> P. R. Fields and H.
Diamond of Argonne National Laboratory suggested an unanticipated
side-reaction was occurring: un-fusioned deuterium ions were
colliding with U-238 nuclei, fusing with them and expelling a
neutron, producing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptunium">neptunium</a>-238. Since neptunium has one more
proton than uranium, even mass numbers would correspond to odd
numbers of neutrons, reversing the effect. Only about 1 in 1000
U-238 atoms would be converted to neptunium, but neptunium isotopes
have a larger capture cross-section than uranium isotopes, and so
disproportionately reach higher mass numbers.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Be2]</span></sup> For
the moment, though, the question remained open.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[LARG]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The AEC fired two more
heavy element tests in the 1964-65 testing season: SCAUP (June 14<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup>
1965, less than 20 kT yield, Los Alamos) and TWEED (July 21<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">st</span></sup>
1965, less than 20 kT, Livermore).<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DoE]</span></sup> Both tests
failed, but TWEED incorporated a new twist: the target was
neptunium-237 mixed with plutonium-242 rather than
uranium-238.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[In][Ec]</span></sup> Dorn's team hoped that, since
Pu-242 was four nucleons heavier than U-238, the shot would produce
correspondingly heavier elements. Calculations indicated the shot
reached a 12 mol/cm<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></sup> neutron flux<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ec]</span></sup>, but the
heavy element yield was <i>worse</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
than in PAR and BARBEL – possibly the plutonium had fissioned when
struck by neutrons rather than absorbing them. However, it was not
clear whether this was a solid result, or if the neutron flux had
actually been lower than they thought.</span><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[Bel]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Even at 12 mol/cm<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></sup>,
though, the devices were still not ready to move back to the GNOME
site in New Mexico for the COACH test. And the AEC was getting
tired of paying for the New Mexico camp's upkeep.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The AEC cut funding for
the camp for fiscal year 1965 to $60,000; the next year, they
eliminated it entirely.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[JCAE66]</span></sup> John Kelly, director of
the AEC's Peaceful Nuclear Explosives division, reassured
Representative Thomas Morris of New Mexico that this did not mean
COACH was cancelled:</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none;">
“<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Morris: It doesn't
seem to me that Project COACH is very much alive...</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kelly: No, I think
Project COACH is alive...we have been carrying this Carlsbad site
for-I don't know-$60,000 a year. It is in sort of a semiready
standby basis. I hope we can completely button it up and reduce the
standby costs. This is the reason I am having the field office look
into what is the minimum that we can maintain this site for. I
think it will be a rather small number so I didn't budget any
specific total for that.”<sup>[JCAE66]</sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> This is the last time
Project COACH appears in the public record. It does not seem to
have ever been formally cancelled, but improvements in drilling and
chemical analysis made it unnecessary,<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[JCAE65B]</span></sup> while the
public was becoming more and more restive about nuclear tests in
places like New Mexico, outside of the unpopulated waste of the
Nevada Test Site.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <u><b>PIPEFISH through
PETREL</b></u></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> While Livermore focused
on superheavy element experiments, Los Alamos worked more on other
areas of neutron physics. The Los Alamos program, although it
included some superheavy element tests, focused on using nuclear
explosions to measure reaction cross-sections and do other neutron
measurements. Bernard Diven, a scientist working on the program,
said “it was great fun. We would just piggyback a regular weapon
shot that's going to take place and it looked like it was a kind of a
bomb that would be good for us to work on and we would just ask them
for a line-of-sight, which is really a pretty big deal but the test
division people would accommodate these things.”<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Di2]</span></sup></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The first known Los
Alamos neutron physics test after GNOME was code-named PIPEFISH
(April 29 1964, less than 20 kT). PIPEFISH was
essentially a feasibility test, and did not produce any useful data.
There may have been other neutron physics experiments between GNOME
and PIPEFISH – the naming scheme suggests there were two
unidentified physics tests. But PIPEFISH was the first where the
signal of the neutron pulse could be discerned from the background.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> PIPEFISH was followed
eight months later by PARROT. A pipe ran from the 1.3-kiloton
PARROT device through a four-foot-long steel collimator to the
surface. A 17-foot-wide, 50-foot-tall metal tower sat above it,
mounted on truck tires to protect it from the ground shock.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[HDB][DoE]</span></sup></span></div>
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<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 24: <i>PARROT
Physics Tower, Before theTest</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[He2]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The neutron beam would
pass through seven foils of various isotopes – plutonium-239, -240,
-241, and -242, lithium-6, uranium-235, and a blank to measure
background. Each foil was mounted at an angle to the beam.
Fragments of atoms split by a passing neutron would escape the film
to electronic detectors mounted to the side, to measure the fission
cross-section. After the seven fission foils were two thicker
slices – still less than 0.3 mm – of bismuth-209 and uranium-235.
These were mounted next to gamma-ray detectors, to measure the
percentage of neutron captures in uranium-235 that resulted in
fission. The bismuth, like the blank foil, served to measure the
background. Finally came a 3-centimeter layer of aluminum, whose
total cross-section they wanted to measure, and then a neutron
counter – eight separate experiments on a single beam.</span></div>
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<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 25: <i>Typical
Experiment Stack</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[He]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Since the tower would be
destroyed when the ground subsided after the blast, some of the more
valuable equipment was mounted on sleds, to be winched to safety
after the detonation but before the subsidence reached the surface.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The Los Alamos team
fired PARROT on December 16<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup>, 1964.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[He2]</span></sup></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 26: <i>Physics
Sled Being Winched to Safety</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[HDB]</span></sup></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 27: <i>PARROT
Tower After Test</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[He2]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The data produced by
PARROT was of questionable accuracy. Among other issues, neutrons
reflected from the bottom of the explosion cavity caused “ghost”
peaks on the measurements.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> At least one of the
PARROT sleds was reused a year later in the 1.3 kT PETREL test, on
June 11<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">th</span></sup>.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DoE]</span></sup> PETREL added a 5 cm
polyethylene moderator shielded by lead to the pipe above the bomb,
which would reduce gamma contamination from the explosion and slow
the neutrons. Nine different experiments were mounted on this one
test, measuring the fission cross-sections of plutonium-239, -240,
and -241, uranium-233 and -235, and americium-241 and -242m, and the
capture cross-sections of plutonium-240 and uranium-238. Some of
these cross-sections were already known, serving to confirm the
technique's viability, and some were new.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[HDB]</span></sup></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 28: <i>PETREL
Tower</i><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">[Di2]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> So far, the tests had
mostly replicated earlier results in order to prove the method. The
data produced had been as or less accurate than achieved using less
heroic methods, but given the enormous amount of neutrons produced in
nuclear shots, there seemed to be a clear path to improving the
accuracy to surpass traditional methods.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Di4]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <u><b>The Plowshare
Program in 1965</b></u></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Scientific research
interested the scientists of Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos, but
it held less appeal for the US Congress. The AEC sold the Plowshare
program to Congress on the basis of nuclear excavation, and, as a
result, the future of the heavy element project was inevitably tied
to the excavation program.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Between 1962 and 1965,
the Plowshare excavation program fired eight nuclear tests. These
tests included the 104-kiloton SEDAN shot, which dug the largest
man-made crater in the continental United States.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[DoE]</span></sup></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Figure 29: <i>SEDAN
Explosion</i><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[NNSA2]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(US Government)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Funding for Plowshare
increased from $2.6 million in modern dollars in 1958 to $94 million
in 1964.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[PWA60][PWA66]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
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<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Figure 30: <i>Plowshare
Funding, 1958-1965, Modern Dollars</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[PWA60][PWA61][PWA62][PWA63][PWA66][JCAE67][JCAE68][JCAE69][JCAE73]</span></sup></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Author)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Nuclear excavation
appeared to be off to an excellent start. But it was already
struggling with the obstacles that would ultimately kill it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> When President Kennedy
signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty, AEC Chairman <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_T._Seaborg">Glenn Seaborg</a> had
promised congress the treaty would not impede the Plowshare program.
That promise proved to be flat-out wrong.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> The treaty prohibited
nuclear explosions that resulted in “radioactive debris” crossing
national boundaries. But the treaty did not define “debris”.
The AEC thought the term meant fallout in sufficient quantity to
endanger human health. The State Department and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_Control_and_Disarmament_Agency">Arms Control and Disarmament Agency</a> (ACDA) thought it meant <i>any</i> fallout, no
matter how small. (The Russians' opinion appeared to depend on
whose fallout was under discussion.) If the AEC's view prevailed,
the Plowshare excavation program would be delayed but could still
continue, as Seaborg had promised. If State and ACDA won, then
either the treaty would have to be modified, or nuclear excavation
would have to be abandoned.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> On October 31<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">st</span></sup>,
1963, President Kennedy established a committee to review nuclear
tests which might be accused of violating the PTBT, which came to be
called the 269 committee after the memorandum establishing it. In
practice, the 269 committee was dominated by State and ACDA.
Plowshare could continue developing nuclear excavation devices –
such tests could be done deep underground, with no risk of releasing
fallout. But permission to conduct cratering tests, which would
breach the surface, became harder and harder to get.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[SL]</span></sup>
And Plowshare needed a series of cratering tests. They needed to
know exactly how much earth their bombs would move, and where to.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> And the opposition was
not only within the government. The public was becoming
increasingly wary of nuclear testing, and tests outside NTS were
drawing more and more protest.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> After SEDAN, the AEC had
planned to fire six cratering tests over the next five years. By
the end of 1965 they had fired only two cratering tests: SULKY and
PALANQUIN, both in the NTS.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> And, of course, no
actual <i>deployment</i> of the technology could move forward unless
the treaty was revised. The Russians had indicated their
willingness to revise the treaty – they were becoming interested in
peaceful nuclear explosives themselves – but the moment never
seemed quite right. Fundamentally, the problem was that Plowshare
had very little support in the government outside of Congress and the
AEC itself.<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">[Ki]</span></sup></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> For the moment, though,
none of these issues affected the heavy element and neutron physics
programs.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-philosophers-bomb-part-3.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Part 3</span></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">With Special Thanks to my
Pre-Readers, J. Fletcher and B. Bennet</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Citations can be found
<a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-philosophers-bomb-citations.html">here</a>.</span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-82182161166590874652014-04-09T11:09:00.001-07:002014-04-09T11:09:22.881-07:00Atomic Machines 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've written a second atompunk history sampler for <a href="http://alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.blogspot.com/">Alternate History Weekly Update</a>. You can read it <a href="http://alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.blogspot.com/2014/04/atomic-machines-atompunk-sampler-part-2.html">here</a>.</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-29418179910286483572014-04-06T08:49:00.003-07:002014-04-06T08:49:49.354-07:00"Hot Flight"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Someone called AVHistoryBuff posted a very interesting video on YouTube recently: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eOYHkiBkzA&feature=player_embedded">Hot Flight: The Quest for Nuclear-Powered Flight</a>. I highly recommend it; it's an old Air Force propaganda film from the '50s discussing the Convair NB-36H flights. For those not familiar with this, they installed a 1 MWth research reactor in the bomb bay of a B-36 and flew it around - it didn't propel the airplane, it was only used to gather data on radiation shielding.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Incidentally, there's no mention in the film of the cargo plane full of paratroopers that supposedly trailed the NB-36H in case it crashed. I've been wondering for a while now if that may be just an urban legend.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Hat tip sferrin of the <a href="http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=855.new;topicseen#new">Secret Projects</a> forum.)</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-45558230022675681972014-02-14T13:50:00.000-08:002014-02-14T13:50:25.568-08:00Project CARRYALL<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In 1962, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atchison,_Topeka_and_Santa_Fe_Railway">Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway</a> began planning a new railway between Needles and Barstow through the Bristol mountains in California. The straighter, more level route would </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">be 15 miles</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> shorter than the old line, shaving 50 minutes off the trip. But getting through the mountains would require either drilling a tunnel or excavating a new pass; the railway judged the cost of doing either with conventional means to be prohibitive. So, in December of 1962, the Santa Fe Railway contacted the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), to ask if the job could instead be done with hydrogen bombs.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">That inquiry was just what the AEC had been waiting for.</span><sup style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">[Ki]</span></sup><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The AEC began investigating the peaceful use of nuclear explosions in 1957. The <a href="https://www.osti.gov/opennet/reports/plowshar.pdf">Plowshare program</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">stu</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">died </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://atomic-skies.blogspot.com/2013/06/peaceful-uses-for-nuclear-explosions.html">many, many possible uses</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"> for </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">the
peaceful nuke, but nuclear excavation </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">– “geographical engineering” as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Teller">Edward Teller</a> put it</span><sup style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">[TB]</span></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">
– was what fired the dreams of Plowshare's supporters. Since that </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">included the politicians
who decided the AEC's budgets, excavation was where the AEC put the bulk of its effort.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The excavation program's primary objective was digging a sea-level replacement for the Panama Canal.
A new canal was one of the few projects </span><i>big</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> enough to justify
the expense of developing the technology in the first place and remote enough to perhaps be doable. (And, even if it was never
actually built, the State Department found the </span><i>possibility</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
of a new canal in some other country to be helpful in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs'_Day_(Panama)">dealing</a> with the Panamanians.) But,
before the AEC could ask other countries to host a nuclear excavation blast, they needed to do at least one real project on American soil. So the AEC was looking for partners, governmental or private, who needed the sort of
holes dug that only nuclear bombs can dig.</span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">[Ka]</span></sup><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span">That was when the Santa Fe Railway contacted them.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The California
Department of Public Works (DPW) was also planning a new road through
the area to shorten US Highway 66, and they joined the project as
well.</span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The AEC, DPW, and the railway together published a feasibility study in November of 1963 proposing to use 23 nuclear bombs,
totaling 1,830 kilotons, to blast the new pass through the
Bristols. They called the plan Project CARRYALL.</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">[PCFS]</span></sup></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJeGVZKjidjueoMzbfSXzK1owYXnGCkrUqX33AxchBKpkoqM3dQ8tuguYsAXvfug6XlEsIalvOoX5O9raoVo2oZ6tpj6BubCWSRQceno8fwKlNnY2dlJI8qjuyt_U35qMrLmye7-zhHkBU/s1600/CARRYALL+Model.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJeGVZKjidjueoMzbfSXzK1owYXnGCkrUqX33AxchBKpkoqM3dQ8tuguYsAXvfug6XlEsIalvOoX5O9raoVo2oZ6tpj6BubCWSRQceno8fwKlNnY2dlJI8qjuyt_U35qMrLmye7-zhHkBU/s320/CARRYALL+Model.png" height="320" width="249" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Figure
1: </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CARRYALL
Model</span></span></i></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[GHH]</span></sup></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Public Domain)</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2W3nSaQvHl9mKDNuPj6ULu6MiNqQmdJZxG_0iTWX5wo-914h5a4mE-Ug9_yabAWsA2Eq-8G_PVLlNxCyGiuOob3bPitc6rLJaALYBKXXFeC6N3FPjG1yX_ZdcUsLaPOSDjx1PAWX7soS/s1600/Caryall+Map,+Color.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2W3nSaQvHl9mKDNuPj6ULu6MiNqQmdJZxG_0iTWX5wo-914h5a4mE-Ug9_yabAWsA2Eq-8G_PVLlNxCyGiuOob3bPitc6rLJaALYBKXXFeC6N3FPjG1yX_ZdcUsLaPOSDjx1PAWX7soS/s400/Caryall+Map,+Color.png" height="238" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Figure 2: <i>CARRYALL Map</i></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[PCFS]</span></sup></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Public Domain)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Twenty-two devices of 20 to 200 kilotons yield would be set off 340 to 780 feet underground. The explosions would remove 68,000,000 cubic yards of earth, creating a roughly parabolic cut 11,000 feet long, 360 feet deep, and from 600 to 1,300 feet wide.
A final 100-kiloton device would dig a drainage
crater to hold rainwater runoff from the new pass</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[PCFS][Pr]</span></sup></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY4DosT9JMU64Sg3WRD_Gd8z4vwxyhCVSx3Xao90Gfs4vfHkWOdDom47O0CEEvlicbsd2s_QcTH6CdOw9MRElSatI8RqrxJE7hxUJqaiSQ1Wt2yyfuSUQZ4iIerD2QL9aOhdmKpdA05R6/s1600/CARRYALL+Map+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY4DosT9JMU64Sg3WRD_Gd8z4vwxyhCVSx3Xao90Gfs4vfHkWOdDom47O0CEEvlicbsd2s_QcTH6CdOw9MRElSatI8RqrxJE7hxUJqaiSQ1Wt2yyfuSUQZ4iIerD2QL9aOhdmKpdA05R6/s400/CARRYALL+Map+2.png" height="232" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Figure 3: </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CARRYALL Closeup</span></span></i></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[PCFS]</span></sup></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Public Domain)</span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Bids for highway construction needed to be gathered by the beginning of the 1968 fiscal year if the highway was to be finished on time, which put CARRYALL on a tight time schedule. </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The plan was to do site
investigation through 1964, including drilling twenty-seven 3-inch exploratory holes for rock samples. Assuming they found no unexpected problems, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">in 1965 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">twenty-three of the holes would be enlarged </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">to 36 inches</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> to fit the nuclear devices, then lined with corrugated metal casing to ensure the charges wouldn't get stuck halfway down the shaft. The bombs would be set
off in early 1966 in two separate detonations. The ensuing dust cloud was expected be thick enough to obscure vision for 100 miles downwind</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[PCFS][Pr][FSC]</span></sup><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The first inspection teams would enter the blast zone 24 hours after the shot. The feasibility study estimated that the radiation would die down to a level low enough to allow work in the craters “without unusual safeguards” three days later</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[PCFS]</span></sup></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> It's not clear if that means unusual for construction or unusual for nuclear explosions. The feasibility study isn't specific, but seems to imply jeans and hardhats. But a separate, preliminary report from August 1963 said workers would need protective clothing and respirators for the first year after the shots</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[Ki]</span></sup></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In any event, construction was not scheduled to begin until late 1967, by which time crews could work without special gear. </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Contractors would build two rail lines and four highway lanes on roadbeds made of aggregate shattered by the blast</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[PCFS]</span></sup></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Figure 4: </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CARRYALL Projected Cross-Section</span></span></i></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[PCFS]</span></sup></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Public Domain)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The railroad would open for traffic in April of 1969, the highway following in July. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The total cost was estimated at $14 million ($104 million today) - a savings of $8 million ($59 million) compared to conventional methods. However, this did not include the cost of the nuclear explosives themselves, since that number was still classified</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[PCFS]</span></sup></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Figure 5: <i>CARRYALL Time Tabl</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>e</i></span></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[Zo]</span></sup></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Based on tests at the <a href="http://www.nv.energy.gov/about/default.aspx">Nevada Test Site</a>, the AEC believed most of the fallout would be trapped by the rock falling back
into the crater. 90% of what did escape should return to earth within five miles of the blast site, before it reached densely settled areas:</span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAZMkpxji_xRprYFjeEss3YXSo-sdLfkQ64R6uss4NLGZBsq6xDinCxABkzQmOhA30m3_6FhtljqhmDxcpmcKn8pxBd3gP5m03vNOXIqzK9DHnRlkuGQ0EhFk0zYcM_0q-raLTYawMKxy/s1600/Carryall+Fallout+Map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAZMkpxji_xRprYFjeEss3YXSo-sdLfkQ64R6uss4NLGZBsq6xDinCxABkzQmOhA30m3_6FhtljqhmDxcpmcKn8pxBd3gP5m03vNOXIqzK9DHnRlkuGQ0EhFk0zYcM_0q-raLTYawMKxy/s400/Carryall+Fallout+Map.png" height="272" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Figure 6: <i>CARRYALL Fallout Map</i></span></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[Zo]</span></sup></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Public Domain)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The contours in the above map show projected total dose in roentgens. The federal limit on public radiation exposure in 1963 was 0.5 R per year (today it's 0.1 R). But the study may have been overoptimistic: they estimated that the 1,830 kilotons of the CARRYALL blasts would release only two-thirds as much fallout as the 100-kiloton <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssLZ4bUTDYM">SEDAN blast</a> of 1962, thanks to cleaner bombs and better emplacement techniques. When the AEC asked M. L. Merrit of <a href="http://www.sandia.gov/about/history/">Sandia Lab</a> to review the study in 1964, he concluded the fallout contours would actually extend twice as far and dose rates peak at five times as high. Merrit wasn't necessarily opposed to going ahead - "under certain conditions," he said, "the project can probably be carried out safely." But, fundamentally, the AEC just didn't have enough information yet to draw firm conclusions about how much fallout would be released by the blasts - or even what the precise shape of the craters would be. The AEC had so far conducted only one nuclear excavation test and a handful of military cratering tests; they just didn't have the data to say one way or the other with certainty</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[Ki]</span></sup></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The AEC planned to fire several more nuclear tests to get that data </span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">before CARRYALL went forward</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. At least three shots would be needed: BUGGY, SCHOONER, and GALLEY. GALLEY was particularly important; it was to be a "combination of effects" test, a five-bomb row charge blast that would be almost a rehearsal for CARRYALL</span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[Ki]</span></sup></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The feasibility study proposed firing GALLEY in December of 1964</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[Ki][PCFS]</span></sup></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But GALLEY didn't happen in 1964. The United States had inconveniently signed the <a href="http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/ltbt/">Limited Test Ban Treaty</a> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">in 1963,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> banning nuclear tests that led to radioactive debris crossing international borders. The AEC had initially hoped that "radioactive debris" would be interpreted to mean amounts potentially hazardous to human health, but the rest of the US government read it as <i>any</i> fallout at all. (The Soviets' interpretation appeared to depend on whose fallout was under discussion.) The AEC proposed amending the treaty, but the politics of that never seemed quite right, and it never happened. Instead, the AEC nuclear excavation program withered on the vine as the excavation tests were delayed again and again</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[Ka]</span></sup><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Figure 7: <i>CARRYALL After Construction is Complete</i></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9px;">[GHH]</span></sup></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The California highway division dropped out of CARRYALL in September of 1966, unwilling to wait any longer</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">[BEK]</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> BUGGY and SCHOONER were finally fired in 1968.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> GALLEY never took place</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">[DoE]</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> The CARRYALL project was never formally shut down, but study was put on hold in 1965, and its last official mention was in May of 1970</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">[BEK][AEC]</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> The Plowshare excavation program itself didn't survive much longer.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The new pass was eventually dug by more traditional means</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">[BEK]</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> All that marks the CARRYALL site today is a plaque, set up by the "Billy Holcomb Chapter of the Ancient and Honorable Order of <a href="http://www.eclampusvitus.com/">E Clampus Vitus</a>"</span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">[Jo]</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Figure 8: <i>CARRYALL Site Plaque</i></span><sup><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">[ECV]</span></sup></div>
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<b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Copyright Note:</span></u></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I believe figures 1-7 are in the public domain as the document I acquired them from bears no copyright notice and predates the change in the law that made such notice unnecessary; in addition, I have searched the US government copyright registry but found no record of copyright renewal. If you are the owner of these images or their representative and wish these images to be removed, you can contact me at MarkAtAtomic Skies -at- GMail.com</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><u><b><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-style: normal;">Works
Cited:</span></b></u></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">[AEC]: <i>US Atomic Energy Commission Annual Report to Congress for 1965</i>. Atomic Energy Commission, 1965. <a href="http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000521900">http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000521900</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">[BEK]: Beck, Colleen M., Edwards, Susan R., and King, Maureen L. <i>The Off-Site PLOWSHARE and VELA UNIFORM Programs: Assessing Potential Environmental Liabilities through an Examination of Proposed Nuclear Projects, High Explosive Experiments, and High Explosive Construction Activities</i>. Desert Research Institute, 2011. DOE/NV/26383-22. Vol. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. </span><a href="http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?query_id=0&page=0&osti_id=1046575&Row=1&formname=basicsearch.jsp"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?query_id=0&page=0&osti_id=1046575&Row=1&formname=basicsearch.jsp</span></a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[DoE]: <i>United States Nuclear Tests, July 1945 through September 1992</i>. Department of Energy, 2000. DOE/NV--209-REV 15. <a href="http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/publications/historical/DOENV_209_REV15.pdf">http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/publications/historical/DOENV_209_REV15.pdf</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[ECV]: Billy Holcomb Chapter of E Clampus Vitus. <a href="http://www.billyholcomb.com/?page_id=248">http://www.billyholcomb.com/?page_id=248</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">[FSC]: Fry, J. G., Stane, R. A., and Crutchfield, Jr., W. H. "Preliminary Design Studies in a Nuclear Excavation - Project Carryall."</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <i>Highway Research Record</i> No. 50, 1963.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">[GHH]: Gerber, Carl R., Hamburger, Richard, and Hull, E. W. Seabrook. <i>Plowshare</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. US Atomic Energy Commission, date uncertain (mid-60s).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Jo]: Johnson, Mike. "Blasting the Bristols." <a href="http://www.legacy.billyholcomb.com/Blasting%20the%20Bristols.pdf">http://www.legacy.billyholcomb.com/Blasting%20the%20Bristols.pdf</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Ka]:
Kaufman, Scott. </span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Project
Plowshare: The Peaceful Use of Nuclear Explosives in Cold War
America</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Cornell University Press, 2013.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Ki]: Kirsch, Scott. <i>Proving Grounds: Project Plowshare and the Unrealized Dream of Nuclear Earthmoving</i>. Rutgers University Press, 2005.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Pr]: Prentice, H. C. "Application of Nuclear Explosives for a Mountain Pass Highway and Railroad." <i>Engineering with Nuclear Explosives</i>. TID-7695. <a href="http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA396463">http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA396463</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[PCFS]:
</span></span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Project
CARRYALL Feasibility Study</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
US Atomic Energy Commission, California Department of Public Works, and Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, 1963.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-weight: normal;">[TB]: Teller, Edward, and Brown, Allen. <i>The Legacy of Hiroshima</i>. Doubleday & Company, 1963.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; font-weight: normal;">[Zo]: Zodtner, Harlan H. "Operations and Safety Problems Associated With a Nuclear Excavation Project." <i>Highway Research Record</i> No. 50, 1963.</span></span></span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8062651468331172034.post-66279933173563049482014-01-30T09:16:00.003-08:002014-01-30T09:16:41.585-08:00Atomic Machines<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have a guest post today at the excellent blog <a href="http://alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.blogspot.com/">Alternate History Update</a>. <a href="http://alternatehistoryweeklyupdate.blogspot.com/2014/01/atomic-machines-atompunk-sampler.html">Atomic Machines: an Atompunk Sampler</a> briefly discusses some of my favorite products of Atomic Age imaginations.</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12523189413175446117noreply@blogger.com3