INT 184 – PL Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar – Weapons of Mass Destruction – Spring 2013

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Professor: Philip Lubin

Office 2015C Broida

Email: prof@deepspace.ucsb.edu

Classes: Th 5-7 PM in Broida 3302

Class Gmail account:

User: ucsb.physicswmd

Pass: @phys…

Synopsis: This is an interdisciplinary course that is designed to explore the science and policy of nuclear weapons. This course is not designed to be a only a Physics specific course but rather we will explore multiple aspects of weapons of mass destruction and the nuclear doctrine upon which our policies of deterrent are based. This course is open to honors majors with a goal of bringing together students from various background in the humanities and the sciences.

Weapons of Mass Destruction: Science and Policy

Like it or not the world is filled with weapons of vastly increased destructive potential than could have been imagined even 70 years ago. For example, the total amount of Allied bombs dropped during all of WW II was about 3 MT (megatons TNT) or the equivalent of one medium sized thermonuclear device. To put this in perspective, at the height of the Cold War, the world’s nuclear arsenal was about 10,000 times larger than the total used in WW-II and most of it could be deployed in a matter of hours or less. These weapons dominate much of the geopolitical landscape of the world. In this seminar we will discuss and explore the scientific issues behind these weapons and the role of policy (or lack thereof) in preventing them from being used in anger. Being ignorant of these devices, how they work and how we make policies in light of their existence is not in the best interests of a peaceful world. At the moment they both threaten stability and enable an unstable stability. In the long term these same devices and the science behind them may enable us to explore other stars, protect ourselves from threats such as Earth crossing asteroids or pursue inertial confinement fusion but at the moment they are a threat worth understanding. Ignorance may be bliss but the consequences are too great to ignore.

 

If we fight a war and win it with H-bombs, what history will remember is not
the ideals we were fighting for but the methods we used to accomplish them.
These methods will be compared to the warfare of Genghis Khan who ruthlessly
killed every last inhabitant of Persia.  Hans A. Bethe

…And these atomic bombs which science burst upon the world that night were strange even to the men who used them.  H. G. Wells, The World Set Free, 1914

 

Reading List:

The Making of the atomic Bomb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Making_of_the_Atomic_Bomb

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1451677618

Dark Sun

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Sun-Making-Hydrogen-Bomb/dp/0684824140

Interviews with Robert Christy (worked on Pu implosion and other topics during the Manhattan Project) on various topics related to nuclear weapons

 “Robert Christy – Pu Implosion – Constructing the Trinity Test and the Nagasaki atomic bomb”

Early Phase of Spherically Symmetric Nuclear Explosions

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303821700_Point_kinetic_model_of_the_early_phase_of_a_spherically_symmetric_nuclear_explosion

Physics of Nuclear Explosions and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/10193318

Physics of Nuclear Explosions – CTBT – UCRL-1D-117293

Physics of Nuclear Explosions – Barroso 2021

https://www.amazon.com/PHYSICS-NUCLEAR-EXPLOSIVES-DALTON-BARROSO/dp/B08VRN2ZM5

A Technical History of America’s Nuclear Weapons v. 1 & 2″ by Dr. Peter A. Goetz

https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Technical_History_of_America_s_Nuclear/jSLZzQEACAAJ?hl=en

https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Technical_History_of_America_s_Nuclear/Ji_azQEACAAJ

The Physics of the Manhattan Project – Bruce Reed

https://www.amazon.com/Physics-Manhattan-Project-Bruce-Cameron/dp/3030613755

Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos during the Oppenheimer Years, 1943–1945 (Hoddeson et al)

https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Assembly-Technical-History-Oppenheimer/dp/0521541174

Minuteman: A Technical History of the Missile That Defined American Nuclear Warfare (2021)

https://www.amazon.com/Minuteman-Technical-History-Missile-American/dp/1682261549

Nuclear Explosions in Deep Space

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/nuclear-explosions-in-deep-space.972433/

The Containment of Soviet Underground Nuclear Explosions

https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/0312/report.pdf

The Containment of Soviet Underground Nuclear Explosions – Adushkin – 2001

Nuclear War: A Scenario – NY Times Bestseller 2024

https://www.amazon.com/Nuclear-War-Scenario-Annie-Jacobsen/dp/0593476093

The Manhattan Project

http://books.google.com/books?id=AqbE63yS5HkC&source=gbs_similarbooks

The Los Alamos Primer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_Primer

http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520075764  (Serber)

The Los Alamos primer: the first lectures on how to build an atomic bomb – Serber, Robert edited with an introduction by Richard Rhodes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992. ISBN 0-520-07576-5

http://masi.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/los-alamos-primer/

http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/1993/january/rjan93.html

Nuclear Matter Handbook

http://www.acq.osd.mil/ncbdp/nm/nm_book_5_11/

Trinity Atomic Website – excellent

http://www.cddc.vt.edu/host/atomic/nuketech/index.html

Trinity Report – Historical and Technical Report on the Trinity Test – Bainbridge

Trinity – Bainbridge – detailed account and physics of July 1945 test – excellent

Weapons Radiochemistry:Trinity and Beyond

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00295450.2021.1951538

Weapons Radiochemistry Trinity and Beyond

Designing a Fission Device – Student Guide and Spreadsheet – Reed 2010

Student-level_numerical_simulation_of_fission_bomb Reed 2010

Additional related references:

fissioncore: A desktop-computer simulation of a fission-bomb core: American Journal of Physics: Vol 82, No 10 (scitation.org)

Composite cores and tamper yield: Lesser-known aspects of Manhattan Project fission bombs: American Journal of Physics: Vol 88, No 2 (scitation.org)

A powerful graphical display of technical information: Robert Serber’s plot of physical conditions inside a nuclear explosion: American Journal of Physics: Vol 88, No 7 (scitation.org)

https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1119/10.0002457

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-14709-8

https://www.wob.com/en-us/books/bruce-cameron-reed/atomic-bomb-the-story-of-the-manhattan-project/9781627059909

https://oa.mg/work/10.1119/1.1526133

Smyth Report and Military Uses of Atomic Energy 1945

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smyth_Report

http://rmp.aps.org/abstract/RMP/v17/i4/p351_1

http://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Military-Purposes-Stanford-Nuclear/dp/0804717222

Nuclear Weapons Databook – NRDC 1984

https://fas.org/nuke/cochran/nuc_84000001a_01.pdf

Physics Hypertextbook – Nuclear Weapons – short but good summary with HG Wells Historical References

http://physics.info/weapons/

Teller-Ulam  1951 Description of Heterocatalytic Detonation (H bomb rad and implosion)

http://www.nuclearnonproliferation.org/LAMS1225.pdf

Global Security site – Weapons Design History and Issues

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/intro/miniaturization.htm

Defense Nuclear Agency 1947-1997  – DTRA History – Excellent Historical Summary

Defense Nuclear Agency 1947-97 – Excellent Summary of Nuclear Program

IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency 

https://www.iaea.org/

List of Nuclear Weapons and Tests

https://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/tests/index.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_weapons

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_weapons_tests

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W56

The Effects of Nuclear Weapons – Glasstone and Dolan – 1977 3rd edition

Searchable PDF:  (see https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/effects/glasstone-dolan/chapter3.html#section4 for technical equations)

https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/effects/glasstone-dolan/index.html

http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/effects/

Effects of Nuclear Weapons – 1977 -3rd edition – complete

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_nuclear_explosions

Paperback edition 2020 (Glasstone):

https://www.amazon.com/Effects-Nuclear-Weapons-Department-Defense/dp/B08RGYSX5B

The Effects of Nuclear Weapons – short summary

https://www.atomicarchive.com/science/effects/

http://books.google.com/books/about/Effects_of_Nuclear_Weapons.html?id=kZo5PQAACAAJ

http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/effects/  (1977 edition)

http://www.fourmilab.ch/bombcalc/brico.html   (1977 circular slide rule)

Radioactivity from and Radiological Effects of Nuclear Weapons – Global Above Ground Tests and Effects

Total Residual Radiation Source Term from Hiroshima Detonation – Spriggs – 2017

World Wide Nuclear testing – World-Nuclear,org

List of Above Ground Nuclear Detonations – Nuclear Test Sheet-a

Review Of Nuclear Explosion Phenomenon for Protective Construction – Brode – 1964

Review of Nuclear Explosion Phenomenon for Protective Construction – Brode – 1964

Atomic Audit – The Cost and Consequences of US Nuclear Weapons since 1940

amazon.com/Atomic-Audit-Consequences-Nuclear-Weapons/dp/0815777736

Preserving Nuclear Test Data – LLNL Digitizing Atmospheric Test Films – Greg Spriggs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftCcMjXPpII

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWpqGKUG5yY

https://www.wired.com/video/watch/rare-films-of-nuclear-bomb-tests-reveal-their-true-power

History of the Manhattan Project and Beyond Trinity

http://www.ushistory.org/us/51f.asp

https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history

https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Events/1945-present/venona.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Med/Med.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Trinity.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Crossrd.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Sandston.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Ranger.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Grnhouse.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Busterj.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Tumblers.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Ivy.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Upshotk.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Castle.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Teapot.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Wigwam.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Redwing.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Plumbob.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Proj57-58.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Hardtack1.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Argus.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Hardtack2.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Nougat.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Dominic.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Storax.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Nts.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/index.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/index.html

70 Years Since Trinity – The Atlantic – July 16, 2015

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/07/70-years-since-trinity-when-we-tested-nuclear-bombs/398735/

Talks and Interviews with Oppenheimer

UCLA 1964 – an eloquent discussion of science, politics and society – recollections of Bohr

Tsar Bomba – Largest Nuclear Weapon Ever Tested – USSR – 50 MT (rated for 100 MT) – Oct 30, 1961

https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/tsar-bomba

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbC7BxXtOlo

Spies and Espionage

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/05/uk/uk-atomic-spy-australia-intl-gbr/index.html

Introductory Nuclear Physics

Megawatts and Megatons

http://books.google.com/books/about/Megawatts_and_Megatons.html?id=etbaAAAAMAAJ

American Promethius: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

http://books.google.com/books/about/American_Prometheus.html?id=hDt7PwAACAAJ

Broken Arrows – Nuclear Weapons and Related Accidents

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_explosion

Criticality Tests and Accidents – 1946 – The Demon Core

On Thermonuclear War

http://books.google.com/books?id=EN2gtPTjFd8C&source=gbs_similarbooks

Proliferation Review – Countries with Nuclear Weapons – Institute for Science and Int Security

https://isis-online.org/

Iran nuclear program – Project Amad – seizure of documents – Jan 2018

https://isis-online.org/isis-reports/detail/neutron-source-irans-uranium-deuteride-neutron-initiator-1/

N Korea Li-6 production for thermonuclear weapons:

https://isis-online.org/isis-reports/detail/north-koreas-lithium-6-production-for-nuclear-weapons/10

US Nuclear Weapons – The Secret History and The Swords of Armageddon – Chuck Hansen (excellent)

https://www.amazon.com/Us-Nuclear-Weapons-Secret-History/dp/0517567407

http://www.uscoldwar.com/index.htm

The Nuclear Matters Handbook (excellent)

http://www.acq.osd.mil/ncbdp/nm/nm_book_5_11/index.htm

http://www.acq.osd.mil/ncbdp/nm/nm_book_5_11/appendix_F.htm

Detailed Weapon Designs issues

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq4.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_design

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon

W53 – 9MT for possible planetary defense use: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B53_nuclear_bomb

Highest Efficiency Nuclear Weapons

      W41 – 25 MT –  5.2 MT/t – 3 stage:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B41_nuclear_bomb

      W56 – 1.2 MT – 5.0 MT/t  (demonstrated):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W56

      Taylor Limit – 6 MT/t

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_yield

Physics of Thermonuclear Weapons – Carey Sublette

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq4-4.html#Nfaq4.4.3.3

ICBM’s

https://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-30.html

http://www.astronautix.com/m/minuteman3.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-30_Minuteman

US Warheads and Weapon Applications

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/wrjp159u.html

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/wrjp159s.html

Properties of Plutonium

Plutonium in use – LANL – 00818005

Chemical Complexities of Plutonium – LANL – 00818038

Nuclear Warfare – Notre Dame 2004 Course

https://www3.nd.edu/~nsl/Lectures/phys205/

Arsenals of Folly

http://books.google.com/books/about/Arsenals_of_Folly.html?id=Hf6pPwAACAAJ

The Effects of Nuclear Weapons

John Northrop Handbook of Nuclear Weapon Effects EM1 1996 BRIEF EXTRACT ONLY_text

Handbook of Nuclear Weapon Effects: Calculation Tools Abstracted from DSWA’s Effects Manual One

Why They Kill 

http://books.google.com/books/about/Why_They_Kill.html?id=l1IMX9QIED0C

The Plutonium Files

http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Plutonium_Files.html?id=eg5svv9-ijkC

Undue Risk

Secret State Experiments on Humans

https://www.amazon.com/Undue-Risk-Secret-Experiments-Humans-ebook/dp/B00CUFD690

US Nuclear Weapons Policy

http://www.amazon.com/U-S-Nuclear-Weapons-Policy-Independent/dp/0876094205/

http://www.amazon.com/Nuclear-Weapons-Very-Short-Introduction/dp/0199229546/

http://www.amazon.com/Nuclear-Weapons-Foreign-Kissinger-Foreword/dp/B004TZGN8U/

http://www.amazon.com/Stockpile-Behind-Strategic-Nuclear-Weapons/dp/1591145317/

http://www.amazon.com/U-S-Nuclear-Weapons-Policy-Confronting/dp/0815713657/

http://www.amazon.com/U-S-Nuclear-Arsenal-History-Delivery/dp/1557506817/

The Progressive Case – The United States of America vs The Progressive – Howard Morland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._The_Progressive

http://progressive.org/images/pdf/1179.pdf

Country by Country Breakdown of Nuclear Capability and Delivery Systems

http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/03/world/nuclear-weapon-states/?iid=article_sidebar

List of Nuclear Weapons Tests

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_weapons_tests

EMP – Electromagnetic Pulse

http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/earth-will-have-15-minutes-to-protect-electronics/

http://superstore.wnd.com/books/A-Nation-Forsaken-AutographedHardcover

Radiological Effects

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_bomb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fallout

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_bomb

External Exposure to Radionuclides in Air, Water and Soil – Eckerman and Ryman – used in LWAC code – 1993

Total Residual Radiation Source Term from Hiroshima Detonation – LWAC – Spriggs – 2017

Restricted Data Declassification Issues

Restricted Data Declassification Decisions – RDD-8 – 1946-present 2002

Missile Defense Systems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative

Nuclear Terrorism

Homeland Security Affairs – 2009 – Robert Harney

Inaccurate Prediction of Nuclear Weapons Effects and Possible Adverse Influences on Nuclear Terrorism Preparedness

https://www.hsaj.org/articles/97

Russian Nuclear Targets in the US and Elsewhere

Movies:

The Manhattan Project – History Channel

http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Marvels-Manhattan-Project-History/dp/B000AABL5I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb-GC65i_i0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4TL3tGhLOQ&feature=fvwp&NR=1

Oppenheimer – Now I have become Death

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26YLehuMydo

Trinity and Beyond – The Atomic Bomb Movie

http://www.amazon.com/Trinity-Beyond-Atomic-Bomb-Movie/dp/B000GFRI72/ref=pd_cp_mov_0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySoEYa7zrxc&playnext=1&list=PLE55DC3FE455D09B4&feature=results_main

http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=%2Fmovie%3Fv%3D4uusEDvUhvY

The Day After Trinity

http://www.amazon.com/The-After-Trinity-Hans-Bethe/dp/B0000648XV/ref=pd_cp_mov_1

White Light Black Rain – The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

http://www.amazon.com/White-Light-Black-Rain-Destruction/dp/B000RL6G8M/ref=pd_cp_mov_3

America Atomic Bomb Tests

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Atomic-Bomb-Tests-Collection/dp/B0009HLCLK/ref=pd_cp_mov_2

Day One

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Atomic-Bomb-Tests-Collection/dp/B0009HLCLK/ref=pd_cp_mov_2

Critique of Nuclear Explosions depicted in Popular Movies – Greg Spriggs LLNL

Websites

Yield Estimates and Taylor Smitov singularity solution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_yield

http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/311/notes/dimension/node7.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_wave

Ted Taylor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Taylor_(physicist)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bomb_(novel)

Nuclear Weapons Effects Calculator

http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/nukes/nuclear_weapon_effects/nuclearwpneffctcalc.html

NUKEMAP interactive calculator (excellent – with Google Maps)

http://nuclearsecrecy.com/blog/2012/02/03/presenting-nukemap/

http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

Nuclear testing Calendar

http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/alex-wellerstein/nuclear-testing-2013-calendar/calendar/product-20397446.html

Nuclear Weapons Archive (excellent)

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq5.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq5.html#nfaq5.1

Nuclear Weapons Effects Calculator

http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Science/Nuke.html

Nuclear Bomb Effects Calculator – The Effects of Nuclear Weapons

http://www.fourmilab.ch/bombcalc/

HYDESim – Effect simulator

http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/gmap/hydesim.html

Online Calculators – PhP for many systems

http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/calculators.php

http://panoptesv.com/SciFi/LaserDeathRay/DamageFromLaser.php (laser damage calculator)

http://janus.astro.umd.edu/astro/impact/

http://www.5596.org/cgi-bin/nuke.php

http://www.5596.org/cgi-bin/thrusters.php

http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Science/Nuke.html

Effects of Nuclear Explosions (overview of issues)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_nuclear_explosions

Global Security – WMD calculator

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/intro/nuke-effects-calc.htm

TEDx Talk on the Affects of Nuclear War – Brian Toon – 2018

Note that the following “Nuclear Winter” effect depends on the area involved in a nuclear war as it is related to combustion products.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Toon

https://futureoflife.org/2019/11/14/not-cool-ep-23-brian-toon-on-nuclear-winter-the-other-climate-change/

 

Nuclear Effects – Android Phone

Nuclear Above Ground Testing Films

Time Lapse of All Above Ground Nuclear Detonations

Misc Nuclear Explosion Films

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nsmt-yec_4 (Trinity)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqagmRy9ukQ

Tsar Bomba Shot ?

Tsar Bomba Shot

Tsar Bomba Shot

Castle Bravo Shot

Castle Bravo Shot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT59uo3kz98

Grable Shot

Civil Defense Films

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGoLpc_33yk

Nevada test site