Word: l16
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Plain lithium hydride, which can be bought on the open market, is probably not the kind that the bomb-builders use. Natural lithium contains two isotopes, L17 and L16, which behave differently in a fusion reaction. Most guessers believe that L16 is the preferred isotope. The hydrogen in the compound is probably deuterium (H²). So the compound may be described as "lithium-six deuteride...
What happens when a charge of lithium-six deuteride is ignited is almost anyone's guess. A great many reactions are possible, and many must surely take place (see diagram). The main reaction is the combination of L16 with H², forming two atoms of helium (He4) and giving off a flood of energy. Since helium is the final product, the well-designed bomb should produce as much of it as possible, but side reactions are likely. Neutrons from the reacting plutonium are apt to hit lithium atoms, turning them into helium and tritium (H³). Tritium...
This task should be no strain on any bomb-possessing nation. Lithium is abundant, and its L16 isotope (7.9% of the total) is not hard to separate. Deuterium is found in nature as about 1/5,000 of the hydrogen in water. As nuclear prices go, it is cheap and easy to obtain. Measured by its explosive effect, lithium-six deuteride is cheap indeed. One pound, if all of it reacts, has the explosive effect of 23,000 tons of TNT. Any desired amount can be used in a single bomb. Twenty-two tons of it, efficiently fired, would be equivalent...