HOW MUCH WEAPONS-GRADE PLUTONIUM DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A BOMB?
With plutonium smuggled out of Russia showing up in Germany, and with North Korea determined to make its own, maybe we ought to know. The International Atomic Energy Agency says 8 kilograms, but some experts think that figure was deliberately inflated to discourage would-be proliferators. They don’t seem to be all that discouraged; one of the three plutonium seizures in Germany amounted to 500 grams. In a report released this week by the Natural Resources Defense Council, physicists estimate that as little as one kilogram may be enough to make a one-kiloton bomb. Although that may not sound like much compared to megaton bombs, the radius of destruction would be roughly one-third that of the Hiroshima bomb. Making bombs with less plutonium does take some- what more sophisticated technology. In fact, Edward Teller has been urging the development of baby bombs on the 100-ton scale to quell small disturbances. You got a problem? Eddie’s got a bomb. 2. IF YOU CAN’T GET WEAPONS-GRADE PLUTONI
