| MadSci Network: Physics |
Dear Dennis, A quick search of the web for red mercury fusion reveals that it's likely a hoax. The claims are that heavily irradiated mercury salts will turn red and make a powerful fusion bomb. None of my sources indicate that it's real, so it's either a) a hoax, or b) an elaborate government cover up. Take your pick. My reading indicate that it's the former. As for using mercury to seperate two chunks of uranium, and then somehow removing the mercury to allow the halves to come together, that is a way to make a very crude nuclear bomb. However, one would need a) sufficiently pure U235-- not U238-- (say 90% or greater) and b) a critical mass of U238 (about 2 pounds). For a crude bomb, naturally, you'd need more. As for what you say you've found, how do you know it's U238 instead of U235? How do you know the metal is mercury and not, say, colloidal mercury?
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