Word: hydrogenized
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Another limitation of the old-style uranium bombs is that the core must have a certain minimum size or it will not explode. Hydrogen bombs can be designed in such a way that a smaller core will detonate. So a stockpile of uranium (or plutonium) would go farther if built into hydrogen bombs than it would if used alone. This advantage would appeal to such nations as the U.S.S.R., if they have smaller hoards of uranium than...
Plenty of Bombs. For bomb builders the most convenient thing about the hydrogen bomb is the abundance of the ingredients. Rich deposits of uranium are rare, but enough ordinary hydrogen for hundreds of bombs could be drawn in a day from a bathroom faucet. Deuterium (heavy hydrogen) can be separated from natural hydrogen without much trouble. Lithium is plentiful too, and so are other elements that may be useful in a hydrogen bomb...
...ingredient tritium (hydrogen 3) is radioactive and is excessively rare in nature, but it is not hard to make. One method is to bombard lithium 6 with neutrons in a uranium pile. The reaction yields tritium and helium, which can be separated by simple chemistry. This job could be done in the plutonium-making piles at Hanford, but probably will be done in a special pile built without difficulty for the purpose...
Scientists are confident that the U.S. will be able to test hydrogen bombs within a year or so. So will the U.S.S.R...
...Scientists are convinced that a hydrogen reaction will not spread through the scarce hydrogen in the atmosphere or the plentiful hydrogen in the ocean. To explode at all, a hydrogen bomb must have just the right ingredients, and seawater is a haphazard collection of many elements. Even a few scientists, however, will feel slightly nervous if the first test bomb is exploded at Eniwetok, so near the Pacific Ocean's hydrogen...