and how does one learn about the real truth of nukes and stockpiles?
It's simple.....I'll tell you.......the libs will never believe it, but Sparky will confirm what is the truth.....he has worked around nukes for most of his life.
The truth is "The Genie is Out of the Bottle"......and never can be put back.
The operative word to consider is "The Cores".......
A nuclear warhead is composed of three basic elements;
the "trigger", the "lens", and the "core". Everything else is just machine parts designed to hold everything together, machined castings, wiring, struts, framework, housings, and shielding.
The "trigger" is simply circuit boards, sensors and wiring.......
The "lens" is composed of conventional explosives, like highly refined SEMTEX, or C-4, enclosed by titanium focusing plates, covered by an "enhancer" which can make the reaction "thermonuclear" instead of just "nuclear"......
All of the above components can be disassembled, recycled, or simply tossed away (except for the conventional explosives)......these parts are not radioactive, and contain no hazards.......
This leaves the core......
The "core" is composed of between 2.2 and 15 Kg of 99% pure U-235 or Plutonium (depending on design and yield). Once the fissionable material has been refined to "weapons grade" (98-99% purity).....there is NO practical method to "de-refine" it to a lower state, or convert it back to the natural ore from whence it came.......the only practical method to "destroy" a nuclear core is to
detonate it.......it's here forever until it eventually decays down to lead.........which takes a very, very long time.......
Although weapons-grade material can be reprocessed into fuel rods for power plant use, it's a vastly more complex, dangerous, and costly process to do so than to simply refine new material to the level of purity that can be used in reactors.
Therefore, everytime some asshole like Obama decides to reduce our nuclear stockpile, what happens is simply that the weapons are disassembled, and the "cores" are placed in highly secure vaults for future use. In a practical sense, we still have the bombs, all we have to do is reassemble them. In some cases (like during the SALT treaty) all we did was remove the cores from the weapons, keep both separately, so in a matter of hours, they can become active weapons again.
The hippy myth of a "nuke free" world is just that........a myth......wishful thinking.
The cores are forever.......last time I heard speculation, we have 20,000 cores in vaults around the country......
Since the US is in "recycle" mode.......meaning we no longer really refine much weapons-grade material (we have more than we really need for the next 1000 years)......we have plants that are basically just dismantling old obsolete weapons designs, reconfiguring the cores, and placing them in much more modern designs. These manufacturing facilities are constantly operating.......dunno if it's true, but I was told that we have a plant in Texas that is capable of assembling 10 warheads per day (working three shifts). In light of this fact regardless of how much Obama reduces our nuclear arsenal, under optimum conditions, it can be restored in a matter of days, weeks, or at maximum, months.......
The cores never die.......and America can never totally be disarmed.......the genie is out of the bottle......
doc
