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[consolation]

How to Build an H-Bomb


          Making and owning an H-bomb is the kind of challenge
          real Americans seek. Who wants to be a passive victim
          of nuclear war when, with a little effort, you can be
          an active participant? Bomb shelters are for losers.
          Who wants to huddle together underground eating canned
          Spam? Winners want to push the button themselves.
          Making your own H-bomb is a big step in nuclear
          assertiveness training -- it's called Taking Charge.
          We're sure you'll enjoy the risks and the heady thrill
          of playing nuclear chicken.

         Introduction

          When the Feds clamped down on The Progressive magazine
          for attempting to publish an article on the manufacture
          of the hydrogen bomb, it piqued our curiosity. Was it
          really true that atomic and hydrogen bomb technology
          was so simple you could build an H-bomb in your own
          kitchen? Seven Days decided to find out. Food editor
          Barbara Ehrenreich, investigative reporter Peter
          Biskind, Photographer Jane Melnick and nuclear
          scientist Michio Kaku were given three days to cook up
          a workable H-bomb. They did and we have decided to
          share their culinary secrets with you.

        
          --------------------------------------------------------




          Part 1: Making Your Bomb


          Step 1: Getting the Ingredients

          Uranium is the basic ingredient of the A-bomb. When a
          uranium atom's nucleus splits apart, it releases a
          tremendous amount of energy (for its size), and it
          emits neutrons which go on to split other nearby
          uranium nuclei, releasing more energy, in what is
          called a 'chain reaction'. (When atoms split, matter is
          converted into energy according to Einstein's equation
          E=MC2. What better way to mark his birthday than with
          your own atomic fireworks?)

          There are two kinds (isotopes) of uranium: the rare
          U-235, used in bombs, and the more common, heavier, but
          useless U-238. Natural uranium contains less than 1
          percent U-235 and in order to be usable in bombs it has
          to be "enriched" to 90 percent U-235 and only 10
          percent U-238. Plutonium-239 can also be used in bombs
          as a substitute for U-235. Ten pounds of U-235 (or
          slightly less plutonium) is all that is necessary for a
          bomb. Less than ten pounds won't give you a critical
          mass. So purifying or enriching naturally occurring
          uranium is likely to be your first big hurdle. It is
          infinitely easy to steal ready-to-use enriched uranium
          or plutonium than to enrich some yourself. And stealing
          uranium is not as hard as it sounds.

          There are at least three sources of enriched uranium or
          plutonium...

          Enriched uranium is manufactured at a gaseous diffusion
          plant in Portsmouth, Ohio. From there it is shipped in
          10 liter bottles by airplane and trucks to conversion
          plants that turn it into uranium oxide or uranium
          metal. Each 10 liter bottle contains 7 kilograms of
          U-235, and there are 20 bottles to a typical shipment.
          Conversion facilities exist at Hematite, Missouri;
          Apollo, Pennsylvania; and Erwin, Tennessee. The
          Kerr-McGee plant at Crescent Oklahoma -- where Karen
          Silkwood worked -- was a conversion plant that "lost"
          40 lbs of plutonium. Enriched uranium can be stolen
          from these plants or from fuel-fabricating plants like
          those in New Haven, San Diego; or Lynchburg, Virginia.
          (A former Kerr-McGee supervisor, James V. Smith, when
          asked at the Silkwood trial if there were any security
          precautions at the plant to prevent theft, testified
          that 'There were none of any kind, no guards, no
          fences, no nothing.')

          Plutonium can be obtained from places like United
          Nuclear in Pawling, New York; Nuclear Fuel Services in
          Erwin, Tennessee; General Electric in Pleasanton,
          California; Westinghouse in Cheswick, Pennsylvania;
          Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC) in
          Leechburg, Pennsylvania; and plants in Hanfford,
          Washington and Morris, Illinois. According to Rolling
          Stone magazine the Israelis were involved in the theft
          of plutonium from NUMEC.

          Finally you can steal enriched uranium or plutonium
          while it's en-route from conversion plants to fuel
          fabricating plants. It is usually transported (by air
          or truck) in the form of uranium oxide, a brownish
          powder resembling instant coffee, or as a metal, coming
          in small chunks called "broken buttons." Both forms are
          shipped in small cans stacked in 5-inch cylinders
          braced with welded struts in the center of ordinary 55
          gallon steel drums. The drums weigh about 100 pounds
          and are clearly marked "Fissible Material" or "Danger,
          Plutonium." A typical shipment might go from the
          enrichment plant at Portsmouth, Ohio to the conversion
          plant in Hematite Missouri then to Kansas City by truck
          where it would be flown to Los Angeles and then trucked
          down to the General Atomic plant in San Diego. The
          plans for the General Atomic plant are on file at the
          Nuclear Regulatory Commission's reading room at 1717 H
          Street NW Washington. A Xerox machine is provided for
          the convenience of the public.

          If you can't get hold of any enriched uranium you'll
          have to settle for commercial grade (20 percent U-235).
          This can be stolen from university reactors of a type
          called TRIGA Mark II, where security is even more
          casual than at commercial plants.

          If stealing uranium seems too tacky you can buy it.
          Unenriched uranium is available at any chemical supply
          house for $23 a pound. Commercial grade (3 to 20
          percent enriched) is available for $40 a pound from
          Gulf Atomic. You'll have to enrich it further yourself.
          Quite frankly this can be something of a pain in the
          ass. You'll need to start with a little more than 50
          pounds of commercial-grade uranium. (It's only 20
          percent U-235 at best, and you need 10 pounds of U-235
          so... ) But with a little kitchen-table chemistry
          you'll be able to convert the solid uranium oxide
          you've purchased into a liquid form. Once you've done
          that, you'll be able to separate the U-235 that you'll
          need from the U-238.

          First pour a few gallons of concentrated hydrofluoric
          acid into your uranium oxide, converting it to uranium
          tetrafluoride. (Safety note: Concentrated hydrofluoric
          acid is so corrosive that it will eat its way through
          glass, so store it only in plastic. Used 1-gallon
          plastic milk containers will do.) Now you have to
          convert your uranium tetrafluoride to uranium
          hexafluoride, the gaseous form of uranium, which is
          convenient for separating out the isotope U-235 from
          U-238.

          To get the hexafluoride form, bubble fluorine gas into
          your container of uranium tetrafluoride. Fluorine is
          available in pressurized tanks from chemical-supply
          firms. Be careful how you use it though because
          fluorine is several times more deadly than chlorine,
          the classic World War I poison gas. Chemists recommend
          that you carry out this step under a stove hood (the
          kind used to remove unpleasant cooking odors).

          If you've done your chemistry right you should now have
          a generous supply of uranium hexafluoride ready for
          enriching. In the old horse-and-buggy days of A-bomb
          manufacture the enrichment was carried out by passing
          the uranium hexafluoride through hundreds of miles of
          pipes, tubes, and membranes, until the U-235 was
          eventually separated from the U-238. This
          gaseous-diffusion process, as it was called is
          difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.
          Gaseous-diffusion plants cover hundreds of acres and
          cost in the neighborhood of $2-billion each. So forget
          it. There are easier, and cheaper, ways to enrich your
          uranium.

          First transform the gas into a liquid by subjecting it
          to pressure. You can use a bicycle pump for this. Then
          make a simple home centrifuge. Fill a standard-size
          bucket one-quarter full of liquid uranium hexafluoride.
          Attach a six-foot rope to the bucket handle. Now swing
          the rope (and attached bucket) around your head as fast
          as possible. Keep this up for about 45 minutes. Slow
          down gradually, and very gently put the bucket on the
          floor. The U-235, which is lighter, will have risen to
          the top, where it can be skimmed off like cream. Repeat
          this step until you have the required 10 pounds of
          uranium. (Safety note: Don't put all your enriched
          uranium hexafluoride in one bucket. Use at least two or
          three buckets and keep them in separate corners of the
          room. This will prevent the premature build-up of a
          critical mass.)

          Now it's time to convert your enriched uranium back to
          metal form. This is easily enough accomplished by
          spooning several ladlefuls of calcium (available in
          tablet form from your drugstore) into each bucket of
          uranium. The calcium will react with the uranium
          hexafluoride to produce calcium fluoride, a colorless
          salt which can be easily be separated from your pure
          enriched uranium metal.


          A few precautions:

             * While uranium is not dangerously radioactive in
               the amounts you'll be handling, if you plan to
               make more than one bomb it might be wise to wear
               gloves and a lead apron, the kind you can buy in
               dental supply stores.

             * Plutonium is one of the most toxic substances
               known. If inhaled, a thousandth of a gram can
               cause massive fibrosis of the lungs, a painful way
               to go. Even a millionth of a gram in the lungs
               will cause cancer. If eaten plutonium is
               metabolized like calcium. It goes straight to the
               bones where it gives out alpha particles
               preventing bone marrow from manufacturing red
               blood cells. The best way to avoid inhaling
               plutonium is to hold your breath while handling
               it. If this is too difficult wear a mask. To avoid
               ingesting plutonium orally follow this simple
               rule: never make an A-bomb on an empty stomach.

             * If you find yourself dozing off while you're
               working, or if you begin to glow in the dark, it
               might be wise to take a blood count. Prick your
               finger with a sterile pin, place a drop of blood
               on a microscope slide, cover it with a cover slip,
               and examine under a microscope. (Best results are
               obtained in the early morning.) When you get
               leukemia, immature cells are released into the
               bloodstream, and usually the number of white cells
               increases (though this increase might take almost
               2 weeks). Red blood cells look kind of like donuts
               (without the hole), and are slightly smaller than
               the white cells, each of which has a nucleus.
               Immature red cells look similar to white cells
               (i.e.. slightly larger and have a nucleus). If you
               have more than about 1 white cell (including
               immature ones) to 400 red cells then start to
               worry. But, depending upon your plans for the
               eventual use of the bomb, a short life expectancy
               might not be a problem.

          --------------------------------------------------------




          Step 2: Assembling the A-Bomb

          Now that you've acquired the enriched uranium, all
          that's left is to assemble your A-bomb. Go find a
          couple of stainless steel salad bowls. You also want to
          separate your 10 pounds of U-235 into two hunks. (Keep
          them apart!) The idea is to push each half your uranium
          into the inside of a bowl.

          Take one hunk of your uranium and beat it into the
          inside of the first bowl. Uranium is malleable, like
          gold, so you should have no trouble hammering it into
          the bowl to get a good fit. Take another five-pound
          hunk of uranium and fit it into a second stainless
          steel bowl. These two bowls of U-235 are the
          "subcritical masses" which, when brought together
          forcefully, will provide the critical mass that makes
          your A-bomb go. Keep them a respectful distance apart
          while working because you don't want them to "go
          critical" on you... At least not yet.

          Now hollow out the body of an old vacuum cleaner and
          place your two hemispherical bowls inside, open ends
          facing each other, no less than seven inches apart,
          using masking tape to set them up in position. The
          reason for the steel bowls and the vacuum cleaner, in
          case you're wondering, is that these help reflect the
          neutrons back into the uranium for a more efficient
          explosion. "A loose neutron is a useless neutron" as
          the A-bomb pioneers used to say.

          As far as the A-bomb goes, you're almost done. The
          final problem is to figure out how to get the two U-235
          hemispheres to smash into each other with sufficient
          force to set off a truly effective fission reaction.
          Almost any type of explosive can be used to drive them
          together. Gunpowder, for example, is easily made at
          home from potassium nitrate, sulfur, and carbon. Or,
          you can get some blasting caps or TNT. (Buy them or
          steal them from a construction site.) Best of all is C4
          plastic explosive. You can mold it around your bowls,
          and it's fairly safe to work with. (But, it might be
          wise to shape it around an extra salad bowl in another
          room, and THEN fit it to your uranium-packed bowls.
          This is particularly true in winter, when a stray
          static electrical charge might induce ignition in the
          C4. A responsible bomb maker considers it impolite to
          accidentally destroy more of the neighborhood than
          absolutely necessary.)

          Once the explosives are in place all you need to do is
          hook up a simple detonation device with a few
          batteries, a switch, and some wire. Remember though
          that it is essential that the two charges -- one on
          each side of the casing -- go off simultaneously.

          Now put the whole thing in the casing of an old Hoover
          vacuum cleaner and you're finished with this part of
          the process.

          The rest is easy.

          --------------------------------------------------------


          Step 3: Make More A-Bombs Following the Directions
          Above


          --------------------------------------------------------



          A Word to the Wise About Wastes


          After your A-bomb is completed you'll have a pile of
          moderately fatal radioactive wastes like U-238.  These
          are not dangerous, but you do have to get rid of them.
          You can flush leftovers down the toilet. (Don't worry
          about polluting the ocean, there is already so much
          radioactive waste there, a few more bucketfuls won't
          make any waves whatsoever.) If you're the fastidious
          type -- the kind who never leaves gum under their seat
          at the movies -- you can seal the nasty stuff in coffee
          cans and bury it in the backyard, just like Uncle Sam
          does. If the neighbor kids have a habit of trampling
          the lawn, tell them to play over by the waste. You'll
          soon find that they're spending most of their time in
          bed.

          --------------------------------------------------------




          Going First Class

          If you're like us, you're feeling the economic pinch,
          and you'll want to make your bomb as inexpensively as
          possible, consonant of course with reasonable yield.
          The recipe we've given is for a budget-pleasing H-bomb,
          no frills, no flourishes; it's just a simple 5-megaton
          bomb, capable of wiping out the New York metropolitan
          area, the San Francisco Bay area, or Boston. But don't
          forget, your H-bomb will only be as good as the A-bombs
          in it.

          If you want to spend a little more money you can
          punch-up your A-bomb considerably. Instead of
          centrifuging your uranium by hand, you can buy a
          commercial centrifuge. (Fisher Scientific sells one for
          about $1000.) You also might want to be fussier about
          your design. The Hiroshima bomb, a relatively crude
          one, only fissioned 1 percent of it's uranium and
          yielded only 13 kilotons. In order to fission more of
          the uranium, the force of your explosive "trigger"
          needs to be evenly diffused around the sphere; the same
          pressure has to be exerted on every point of the sphere
          simultaneously. (It was a technique for producing this
          sort of simultaneous detonation by fashioning the
          explosives into lenses that the government accused
          Julius and Ethel Rosenberg of trying to steal).

          --------------------------------------------------------





         Part 2: Putting Your H-Bomb Together


          The heart of the H-bomb is the fusion process. Several
          A-bombs are detonated in such a way as to create the
          extremely high temperature (100 million degrees C)
          necessary to fuse lithium deuteride (LiD) into helium.
          When the lithium nucleus slams into the deuterium
          nucleus, two helium nuclei are created, and if this
          happens to enough deuterium nuclei rapidly enough, the
          result is an enormous amount of energy: the energy of
          the H-bomb. You don't have to worry about stealing
          lithium deuteride, it can be purchased from any
          chemical-supply house. It costs $1000 a pound. If your
          budget won't allow it you can substitute lithium
          hydride at $40 a pound. You will need at least 100
          pounds. It's a corrosive and toxic powder so be
          careful.

          Place the lithium deuteride or hydride in glass jars
          and surround it with four A-bombs in their casings.
          Attach them to the same detonator so that they will go
          off simultaneously. The container for the whole thing
          is no problem. They can be placed anywhere: Inside an
          old stereo console, a discarded refrigerator, etc...

          When the detonator sets off the four A-bombs all eight
          hemispheres of fissionable material will slam into each
          other at the same time creating four critical masses
          and four detonations. This will raise the temperature
          of the lithium deuteride to 100 million degrees C fast
          enough (a few billionths of a second) so that the
          lithium will not be blown all over the neighborhood
          before the nuclei have time to fuse. The result, at
          least 1000 times the punch of the puny A-bomb that
          leveled Hiroshima (20 million tons of TNT vs. 20
          thousand tons.)





         Part 3: What to do With Your Bomb

          Now that you have a fully assembled H-bomb housed in an
          attractive console of your choice you may be wondering,
          "What should I do with it?" Every family will have to
          answer this question according to its own tastes and
          preferences, but you may want to explore some
          possibilities which have been successfully pioneered by
          the American government.

          1. Sell Your Bomb and Make a Pile of Money

               In these days of rising inflation, increasing
               unemployment, and an uncertain economic outlook,
               few businesses make as much sense as weapons
               production. If your career forecast is cloudy,
               bomb sales may be the only sure way to avoid the
               humiliation of receiving welfare, or unemployment.
               Regardless of your present income level, a home
               H-bomb business can be an invaluable income
               supplement, and certainly a profitable alternative
               to selling Tupperware or pirated Girl Scout
               cookies.

               Unfortunately for the family bomb business, big
               government has already cornered a large part of
               the world market. But this does not mean that
               there is a shortage of potential customers. The
               raid on Entebee was the Waterloo of hijacking, and
               many nationalist groups are now on the alert for
               new means to get their message across. They'd jump
               at the chance to get hold of an H-bomb. Emerging
               nations which can't ante up enough rice or sugar
               to buy themselves a reactor from G.E. or
               Westinghouse are also shopping around.

               You may wonder about the ethics of selling to
               nations, or groups, whose goals you may disapprove
               of. But here again, take a tip from our
               government: forget ideology -- it's cash that
               counts. And remember, H-bomb sales have a way of
               escalating, almost like a chain reaction. Suppose
               you make a sale to South Yemen which you believe
               to be a Soviet puppet. Well within a few days some
               discrete inquiries from North Yemen and possibly
               the Saudis, the Egyptians and the Ethiopians as
               well can be expected. Similarly, a sale to the IRA
               will generate a sale to the Ulster government; and
               a sale to the Tanzanians will bring the Ugandans
               running, and so forth.

               It doesn't matter WHICH side you're on, only how
               many sides there are. Don't forget about the
               possibility of repeat sales to the same customer.
               As the experience of both the U.S. and the
               U.S.S.R. has shown, each individual nation has a
               potentially infinite need for H-bombs. No customer
               -- no matter how small -- can ever have too many.


          2. Use Your Bomb at Home


               Many families are attracted to the H-bomb simply
               as a "deterrent." A discrete sticker on the door
               or on the living room window saying "This Home
               Protected by H-bomb" will discourage IRS
               investigators, census takers, and Jehovah's
               Witnesses. You'll be surprised how fast the crime
               rate will go down and property values will go up.
               And once the news gets out that you are a home
               H-bomb owner you'll find that you have unexpected
               leverage in neighborhood disputes over everything
               from parking places and stereo noise levels to
               school tax rates. So relax and enjoy the pride and
               excitement of home H-bomb ownership!

          --------------------------------------------------------



         Is It For You?


          Let's be honest. The H-bomb isn't for everyone. Frankly
          there are people who can't handle it. They break out in
          hives at the very mention of mega-death, fallout, or
          radiation sickness.

          The following quiz will help you find out whether you
          have what it takes for home H-bomb ownership. If you
          can answer "yes" to six or more of these questions,
          then you're emotionally eligible to join the nuclear
          club. If not, a more conventional weapon may be more
          your cup of tea, try botulism-toxin, laser rays, or
          nerve gas.

          1. I ignore the demands of others.

          2. I subscribe to one or more of the following: Soldier
          of Fortune, Hustler, Popular Mechanics, Self.

          3. Though I have many interesting acquaintances, I am
          my own best friend.

          4. I know what to say after you say "Hello," but I am
          seldom interested in pursuing the conversation.

          5. I have seen the movie "The Deer Hunter" more than
          once.

          6. I know that everyone can be a winner if they want
          to, and I resent whiners.

          7. I own one or more of the following: handgun, video
          game, trash compactor, snowmobile.

          8. I am convinced that leukemia is psychosomatic.

          9. I am aware that most vegetarians are sexually
          impotent.

          10. I have read evidence that solar energy is a
          Communist conspiracy.

          --------------------------------------------------------




          Myths About Nuclear War

          Ever since the first mushroom cloud over Hiroshima
          ushered in the atomic age, a small group of nay-sayers
          and doom-mongers has lobbied, campaigned and
          demonstrated to convince Americans that H-bomb
          ownership, along with nuclear power, is dangerous and
          unhealthy. Using their virtual stranglehold over the
          media, these people have tried to discredit everything
          nuclear from energy to war. They have vastly overrated
          the risks of nuclear bombs and left many Americans
          feeling demoralized and indecisive; not sure where the
          truth lies. Well, here are the myths, and here are the
          facts.


          Myth: After a nuclear exchange the earth will no longer
          be suitable for human habitation.

          Fact: This is completely false. According to one
          scientist (quoted in John McPee's The Curve of Binding
          Energy) "The largest bomb that has ever been exploded
          anywhere was 60 megatons, and that is one-thousandth
          the force of an earthquake, one-thousandth the force of
          a hurricane. We have lived with earthquakes and
          hurricanes for a long time." Another scientist adds,
          "It is often assumed that a full blown nuclear war
          would be the end of life on earth. That is far from the
          truth. To end life on earth would take at least a
          thousand times the total yield of all the nuclear
          explosives existing in the world, and probably a lot
          more." Even if humans succumbed, many forms of life
          would survive a nuclear free-for-all, cockroaches,
          certain forms of bacteria, and lichens, for instance.


          Myth: Radiation is bad for you.

          Fact: Everything is bad for you if you have too much of
          it. If you eat too many bananas you'll get a
          stomach-ache. If you get too much sun you can get
          sunburned (or even skin cancer). Same thing with
          radiation. Too much may make you feel under the
          weather, but nuclear industry officials insist that
          there is no evidence that low-level radiation has any
          really serious adverse effects. And, high-level
          radiation may bring unexpected benefits. It speeds up
          evolution by weeding out unwanted genetic types and
          creating new ones. (Remember the old saying, "Two heads
          are better than one.") Nearer to home, it's plain that
          radiation will get rid of pesky crab grass and weeds,
          and teenagers will find that brief exposure to a
          nuclear burst vaporizes acne and other skin blemishes.
          (Many survivors of the Hiroshima bomb found that they
          were free from skin and it's attendant problems
          forever.)


          We hope this clears up any misconceptions you may have
          had. Enjoy your H-Bomb!

[dilnalomo]

does it work with the 8.8.1 kernel? i dont think JaS is going to patch that...

[U.C.]

[Zombie Voice] I need an H-bomb or A-bomb [/Zombie Voice]

[gwprod12]

I dont think it's particularly funny.  But I dont claim my taste in humor is universal.

[NeSuKuN]

Has anyone tried this? any design suggestion for the 'this home is protected by H-Bomb' sign? Now I must find another tutorial like '[How-To] ballistic missile' or 'Laser guidance for noobs'

[Kiko]

Yeah, i did this in my younger days, (when i had skin), laser guidance is apin, just get a cheapo gps system and connect some servo's to it, make a rockt (empty barrel with propane gas can at the bottom and voila a rocket .

Nice tutorial lol

[lord_muad_dib]

what the... we already have apple legals on the back
we don't need more troubles.. lol

[MacSimilian]

arrrr im a crazy terrorist...aarrrrrrr   

[icey-ice-ice]

trav1085, on Nov 12 2006, 09:54 PM, said:

What the heck is this? How is this related to computers at all?

Yeah how do i launch A-bombs from my hackintosh?

[~Neo]

Ahm, I will make an installer for this (for easy use!)
You can then order it on my website!
hahaha lol

[oregano]

alright..........................................................

[consolation]

aww.... someone moved it out of tutorials.

I thought that this is the best way to get yourself a copy of mac os X that runs on anything.

1)make one of these puppies
2)pop up (down) to Cupertino for quick chat with Stevo.
3)upload to your favourite tracker.

Seems so much simpler than editing plists for the next ten years...
Damn it, why do I have to live in a nuclear free country.

[gameguy132]

I wouldnt be surprised if consolation suddenly stopped posting here...

[Takuro]

I liked the part where it said to swirl a bucket of U-238 over your head to seperate the U-235 from it like a centrifuge. Lol. I can see some guy in Alabama trying this and killing himself.

The scary part is, most of this stuff sounds like it was written by somebody who has a very good understanding of chemistry. The basic process is correct, but the tools used are really implausible. A vaccuum isn't much of a housing for sub-critical masses.