A new hi-rez "Impeach Bush" graphic

Enjoy (if possible).



FYI: This is a picture of the "Ivy Mike" test. Full data follows for the geeks:

Ivy Mike

Detonated 11/1/52 at 0714:59.4 +/- 0.2 sec (local time) at ground level on Elugelab/Flora island at Enewetak atoll.

Total yield: 10.4 megatons.

This was the first test of the Teller-Ulam (or Ulam-Teller) configuration. The Mike device used liquid deuterium as the fusion fuel. It was a massive laboratory apparatus installed on Elugelab Island in the Enewetak Atoll consisting of a cylinder about 20 feet high (more exactly 243.625 inches or 6.19 m), 6 ft 8 in wide, and weighing 164,000 lb (including attached diagnostic instruments); also said to weigh 140,000 lb without "the cryogenic unit" (this may mean the casing by itself). It was housed in an open hanger-like structure 88 ft x 46 ft, and 61 ft high, where assembly started in September of 1952.

The Mike device consisted of a massive steel cylinder with rounded ends, a TX-5 implosion bomb at one end acted as the primary, and a giant stainless steel dewar (thermos) flask holding several hundred liters of liquid deuterium surrounded by a massive natural uranium pusher/tamper constituted the secondary fusion stage (know as the "Sausage").

The welded steel casing was lined with a layer of lead. A layer of polyethylene several centimeters thick was attached to the lead with copper nails. This layer of plastic generated plasma pressure during the implosion.

The Sausage consisted of a triple-walled stainless steel dewar. The inner most wall contained the liquid deuterium. Between this wall and the middle wall was a vacuum to prevent heat conduction. Between the middle wall and the outer wall was another vacuum, and a liquid nitrogen-cooled thermal radiation shield made of copper.

To reduce thermal radiation leakage even further, the uranium pusher (which was oxidized to a purple-black color, making it an excellent thermal radiator) was lined with gold leaf.

Down the axis of the dewar, suspended in the liquid deuterium was a plutonium rod that acted as the "spark plug" to ignite the fusion reaction once the compression shock wave arrived at the center. It did not run the entire length of the dewar, but was supported at each end by axial columns. The spark plug was a boosted fission device, it was hollow and was charged with a few grams of tritium/deuterium gas (which of course liquified once the dewar was charged with liquid deuterium).

The Mike device had a conservative design. The external casing was made of steel and was extraordinarily thick (usually described as "a foot thick", but more likely 10 inches to be consistent with the weight) to maximize the confinement of the radiation induced pressure inside. The interior diameter was thus about 60 inches. A very wide radiation channel was provided around the secondary stage to minimize thermal gradients, and to make success less dependent on sophisticated analysis. Due to the low density of liquid deuterium, and the necessity of thermal insulation, the secondary itself was quite voluminous which, when combined with the wide channel between the secondary and the casing led to the 80 inch diameter. The massive casing accounted for most of Mike's weight (about 85%).

The TX-5 device was an experimental version of the implosion system that was also deployed as the Mk-5 fission bomb. It used a 92 point ignition system, that is, 92 detonators and explosive lenses were used to make the spherical imploding shock wave. This allows the formation of the implosion shock wave with a thinner layer of explosive than earlier designs. The TX-5 was designed to use different fission pits to allow variable yields. The highest reported yield for a TX-5 test was Greenhouse Easy at 47 kt on 20 April 1951, with a 2700 lb device. The smaller mass compared with earlier designs kept the temperature higher and allowed thermal radiation to escape more quickly from the primary, thus enhancing the radiation implosion process. If the Easy configuration was used in Mike, then the secondary fusion/primary yield ratio was 50/1. The deployed Mk-5 had an external diameter of 43.75 inches, the TX-5 would have been substantially smaller since it lacked the Mk-5 bomb casing.

Three fuels were considered for Mike: liquid deuterium, deuterated ammonia (ND3), and lithium deuteride. The reason for choosing liquid deuterium for this test was primarily due to two factors: the physics was simpler to study and analyze, and extensive studies had already been conducted over the previous decade on pure deuterium fuel. The desirability of lithium-6 deuteride as a fuel was known, but sufficient Li-6 could not be produced in time to make the November 1952 target date (in fact construction of the first lithium enrichment plant had just begun at the time of the test).

Liquid deuterium produces energy through four reactions:

D + T -> He-4 + n + 17.588 MeV
D + D -> He-3 + n + 3.268 MeV
D + D -> T + p + 4.03 MeV
He-3 + D -> He-4 + p + 18.34 MeV

For Mike to function successfully, densities and temperatures in the secondary sufficient to ignite reactions 2 and 3 were required. This requires densities hundreds of times normal, and temperatures in the tens of millions of degrees K (say, 75 g/cm^3 and 3x10^7 K).

Since the reaction cross section of 1 is some 100 times higher than the combined value of 2 and 3 the tritium is burned as fast as it is produced, contributing most of the energy early in the reaction. Reaction 4, on the other hand, requires temperatures exceeding 200 million K before its cross section becomes large enough to contribute significantly. Whether sufficient temperatures are reached and quantities of He-3 are produced to make 4 a major contributor depends on the combustion efficiency (percentage of fuel burned).

If only reactions 1-3 contribute significantly, corresponding to the combustion of 25% of the deuterium fuel or less, then the energy output is 57 kt/kg. If reaction 4 contributes to the maximum extent, the output is 82.4 kt/kg. The maximum temperature generated by an efficient burn reaches 350 million K.

The fission fraction for Mike was quite high - 77%. The total fusion yield was thus 2.4 megatons, which corresponds to the efficient thermonuclear combustion of 29.1 kg of deuterium (172 liters), or the inefficient combustion of 41.6 kg (249 liters). The total fission yield was 7.9 megatons, the fission of 465 kg of uranium. All but some 50 kt of this was due to fast fission of the uranium secondary stage tamper by fusion neutrons, a 3.3 fold boost.

The amount of deuterium actually present in Mike was no more than 1000 liters, which is the amount of liquid deuterium handled by Operation Ivy. In fact, it was probably substantially less than this since excess LD2 was undoubtedly brought along in case leakage or other losses occurred.

Prior to test, Mike's yield was estimated at 1-10 megatons, with a most likely yield of 5 Mt, but with a remote possibility of yields in the range of 50-90 Mt. The principal uncertainties here would have been the efficiency of the fusion burn, and the efficiency with which the tamper captured neutrons. Both of these factors are strongly influenced by the success of the compression process. The fusion efficiency involved novel and complex physics which could not be calculated reliably even if the degree of compression were known. The physics for determining the efficiency of neutron capture on the other hand were well understood and could be calculated if the conditions could be predicted.

The upper limit estimate provides some insight into the mass of the uranium fusion tamper. Presumably the 90 Mt figure was calculated by assuming complete fusion and fission of all materials in the secondary. If 1000 liters of deuterium were burned with complete efficiency, the yield would be 13.9 Mt. Fission must account for 76.1 Mt, corresponding to a uranium tamper mass of 4475 kg. Lower amounts of deuterium would lead to higher tamper estimates (a ratio of 0.82 kg of U for each liter of LD2).

The detonation of Mike completely obliterated Elugelab, leaving an underwater crater a 6240 feet wide and 164 ft deep in the atoll where an island had once been. Mike created a fireball 3 miles wide; the "mushroom" cloud rose to 57,000 ft in 90 seconds, and topped out in 5 minutes at 135,000 ft - the top of the stratosphere- with a stem eight miles across. The cloud eventually spread to 1000 miles wide, with a stem 30 miles across. 80 million tons of soil were lifted into the air by the blast.

TX-16/EC-16
The Mike design was actually converted into a deliverable weapon, demonstrating that lithium deuteride is not essential to making a usable weapon. The weaponized design, designated the TX-16, went into engineering development in June 1952 (5 months before the Ivy Mike test). The design eliminated the cryogenic refrigerator, reduced the weight of the tamper, drastically reduced the dimensions and mass of the casing, used a lighter and less powerful primary, and pared the weight in other areas. The expected yield was reduced to 7 Mt. The device was about 60 inches in diameter, 25 ft long, and weighed 30,000 lb. This weapon design would have been filled with liquid deuterium at a cryogenic filling station before take-off, a reservoir in the weapon held sufficient liquid hydrogen to replace boil-off losses during flight. Components for about five of these bombs were built in late 1953, and had reached deplyment by the time of the Castle tests.

A unit of the TX-16, code named Jughead, was slated for proof test detonation on 22 March 1954 as part of the Castle series, prior to its expected deployment as the EC-16 (Emergency Capability) gravity bomb in May 1954. The excellent results with the solid-fueled Shrimp device in the Castle Bravo test on 1 March(see below) resulted in the cancellation of this test, and then of the entire EC-16 program on 2 April 1954.

but the text is actually kind of hard to read. I think it would have more visual impact if the font was blockier and bolder.

and let me know if you like the new font. :toast:

Scarier...fits more with the theme too. good job!

nevermind I think im an idiot.. I misread what it said on the picture..