Was it a single solid core that was imploded? I thought it was at least two non-critical-mass hemispheres, or more, that were smashed together by the conventional explosives/detonators, to create a critical mass.
replyYou’re thinking of the other bomb, the U-235 one, which they didn’t test at Trinity and which was dropped on Hiroshima. That is two separate pieces of Uranium that are slammed together to create a critical mass. The P-239 core was a single sphere of metal. It was subcritical until you compress it down with a spherical implosion from explosive charges all around it (from the size of a grapefruit to the size of a lime), at which point it reaches a high enough density to go critical.
replyDo you mind linking the photo you mentioned? I’d love to see it if you are able to find it
replyIt's in the TFA, there a photo of a fellow holding a small box thing that looks like a battery from a car or an old box torch.
replyThat’s the one I meant. It’s the core, but in a box, which makes it look even more innocuous, like he is indeed just lugging a piece of industrial equipment around. There’s lots of photos of the actual (unboxed) cores online if you search.
replyOn flight WiFi so searching was a hard but I did find it. Thanks!
replyI saw that but not a picture of the plutonium core which I thought the OP was referring to
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