Multimedia: Bomb Basics
  • Introduction
  • Gun-Type Weapons
  • Implosion Weapons
  • Boosted Weapons
  • Thermonuclear Weapons

    • Boosted Weapons

    boosted fission weapon uses nuclear fusion to increase the explosive power of a fission weapon.

    • A boosted fission weapon is a fission weapon with a small amount of deuterium and tritium placed inside the weapon’s core.
    • When the fissile material inside the weapon is compressed into a critical mass, the deuterium and tritium undergo nuclear fusion.
    • This fusion produces additional explosive energy, but more importantly, releases more neutrons. These neutrons cause more of the fissile material in the weapon to fission before it is dispersed by the explosion.

     

    Bomb Basics, page 4 of 5

    This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents.
    Copyright © 2005 by MIIS.