Bad Days - Revision history

Hkhenson: fix name

2025-04-02T03:54:46Z

fix name

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:54, 2 April 2025
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	There was a long silence in the drifting cigarette smoke. They each took a sip of the thick sweet coffee. Finally, the Ahmed said "The right people will be informed. You will not speak of this meeting.” Ahmed departed to wherever al-Qaeda agents go.		There was a long silence in the drifting cigarette smoke. They each took a sip of the thick sweet coffee. Finally, the Ahmed said "The right people will be informed. You will not speak of this meeting.” Ahmed departed to wherever al-Qaeda agents go.

	You can't say reversed cathodic protection was an entirely new problem for pipelines. A long time in the past, before the Department of ~~Motherland~~ Security (~~DMS~~) was set up, a major gas pipeline on the Arizona-California border ruptured under a campground, blowing out a hole more than 100 feet in diameter and killing a dozen campers. The gas had roared out of the ruptured pipe for a minute or two before encountering an ignition source, possibly a fleeing camper who tried to start his pickup. That lit off a flame more than 500-feet high. The radiant heat fried the campers like moths in a candle flame.		You can't say reversed cathodic protection was an entirely new problem for pipelines. A long time in the past, before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was set up, a major gas pipeline on the Arizona-California border ruptured under a campground, blowing out a hole more than 100 feet in diameter and killing a dozen campers. The gas had roared out of the ruptured pipe for a minute or two before encountering an ignition source, possibly a fleeing camper who tried to start his pickup. That lit off a flame more than 500-feet high. The radiant heat fried the campers like moths in a candle flame.

	The investigation eventually determined the reason the pipe failed was an accidentally reversed cathodic protection power supply that had caused parts of the pipe in contact with ground water to corrode and fail. Under pressure from the CIA, the NTSB doctored the report blaming the incident on internal corrosion from water condensing inside the pipe and ran down to a low spot. The pipeline company settled the lawsuits with the camper's relatives before their lawyers could ask the right questions. The consequences of reversing leads on a $50 DC power supply were mostly lost to the rest of the pipeline industry for legal and security reasons. It turned out (on the night Herman lost the grape) to be an expensive lesson not to have learned.		The investigation eventually determined the reason the pipe failed was an accidentally reversed cathodic protection power supply that had caused parts of the pipe in contact with ground water to corrode and fail. Under pressure from the CIA, the NTSB doctored the report blaming the incident on internal corrosion from water condensing inside the pipe and ran down to a low spot. The pipeline company settled the lawsuits with the camper's relatives before their lawyers could ask the right questions. The consequences of reversing leads on a $50 DC power supply were mostly lost to the rest of the pipeline industry for legal and security reasons. It turned out (on the night Herman lost the grape) to be an expensive lesson not to have learned.

Hkhenson: addeded lines

2025-03-30T01:11:24Z

addeded lines

Hkhenson at 01:01, 30 March 2025

2025-03-30T01:01:50Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:01, 30 March 2025
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	Angel picked up the laptop and cell phones, Daniel and Chris tested the cellphone detonators.		Angel picked up the laptop and cell phones, Daniel and Chris tested the cellphone detonators.

	They offloaded the aluminum powder and dumped the chlorate into the pneumatic trailer (Heather did most of the forklift driving). They started the air pump and saw it was mixing. Then they dumped in the aluminum powder and with considerable trepidation ran the air pump for 30 minutes. Daniel took a small sample far down wind and dropped a match on it. No as fast as the flash initiator in the bombs, but fast enough he thought it would detonate in quantity.		They offloaded the aluminum powder and dumped the chlorate into the pneumatic trailer (Heather did most of the forklift driving). They started the air pump and saw it was mixing. Then they dumped in the aluminum powder and with considerable trepidation ran the air pump for 30 minutes. Daniel took a small sample far down wind and dropped a match on it. Not as fast as the flash initiator in the bombs, but fast enough he thought it would detonate in quantity.

	To be sure, they borrowed shovels from the rancher, dug a 4 foot hole, buried a gallon can half full of flash powder. Max and Daniel connected a squib inside the can to one of the cell phone detonators with 50 feet of wire. They did this a mile further into the ranch in a sandy wash. When they called the phone and gave the correct instruction, the flash detonated as expected. The sand muffled the sound well enough; it was barely audible at the mixing site. It left an eight-foot crater they filled in. The next rain would finish erasing the crater.		To be sure, they borrowed shovels from the rancher, dug a 4 foot hole, buried a gallon can half full of flash powder. Max and Daniel connected a squib inside the can to one of the cell phone detonators with 50 feet of wire. They did this a mile further into the ranch in a sandy wash. When they called the phone and gave the correct instruction, the flash detonated as expected. The sand muffled the sound well enough; it was barely audible at the mixing site. It left an eight-foot crater they filled in. The next rain would finish erasing the crater.

Hkhenson: uploaded

2025-03-30T00:46:37Z

uploaded

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:46, 30 March 2025
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	Bad Days		Bad Days


			Complete story but not polished

	Keith Henson		Keith Henson

Hkhenson: Second attempt to upload

2025-03-30T00:44:04Z

Second attempt to upload

Show changes

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:11, 30 March 2025
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	Angel was offered a managerial position in the FBI. He turned it down to remain a hard case investigator. Max and Daniel prospered a reasonable fashion, but never forgot they had done something exceptional. Nor did they talk about it unless they met up with the others.		Angel was offered a managerial position in the FBI. He turned it down to remain a hard case investigator. Max and Daniel prospered a reasonable fashion, but never forgot they had done something exceptional. Nor did they talk about it unless they met up with the others.



	END NOTES, NOT PART OF THE STORY		END NOTES, NOT PART OF THE STORY

	Tom Clancy in The Sum of all Fears details the design, construction, and detonation of a thermonuclear terrorist weapon at a Denver Super bowl game. In his end notes Clancy goes into detail about how easy it is to get the information and machine tools needed to construct an H-bomb. He comments that his description is incorrect in a place or two, not that that would stop a terrorist from building a weapon from the same open sources he used.		Tom Clancy in The Sum of all Fears details the design, construction, and detonation of a thermonuclear terrorist weapon at a Denver Super bowl game. In his end notes Clancy goes into detail about how easy it is to get the information and machine tools needed to construct an H-bomb. He comments that his description is incorrect in a place or two, not that that would stop a terrorist from building a weapon from the same open sources he used.

	Could an Aum Shinrikyo or Jim Jones type cult build working nukes from the rough description here? I don't know, I am an electrical engineer who never had more than a passing interest in weapons design before wasting some months in jail, thoroughly annoyed at a cult (my lawyer tell me I cannot even name), and the local, state and federal government agencies the cult corrupted or intimidated. I was working on a concept (cable powered space elevator, geosync power satellites, and synthetic fuel plants) to reduce the cost of gasoline back to under a dollar a gallon before I was jailed.		Could an Aum Shinrikyo or Jim Jones type cult build working nukes from the rough description here? I don't know, I am an electrical engineer who never had more than a passing interest in weapons design before wasting some months in jail, thoroughly annoyed at a cult (my lawyer tell me I cannot even name), and the local, state and federal government agencies the cult corrupted or intimidated. I was working on a concept (cable powered space elevator, geosync power satellites, and synthetic fuel plants) to reduce the cost of gasoline back to under a dollar a gallon before I was jailed.

	That project was at a stage where I needed computers and contact with other engineers to make progress and I could not work on it in jail. My interest has shifted to writing a novel and I don't know if I will ever get back to this project.		That project was at a stage where I needed computers and contact with other engineers to make progress and I could not work on it in jail. My interest has shifted to writing a novel and I don't know if I will ever get back to this project.

	Engineers, particularly pissed off ones, can't help thinking, especially when they are forgotten for an hour or two by the jail guards who locked them in a shower.		Engineers, particularly pissed off ones, can't help thinking, especially when they are forgotten for an hour or two by the jail guards who locked them in a shower.
	Tom Clancy finessed the hard part of nukes by having Israeli-US weapons grade plutonium fall into the hands of the bad guys. To appreciate the hard part you need to understand how weapons grade plutonium is made, or rather was made. A little weapons grade plutonium may be have been made in recent years by the smaller nuclear powers but as far as I know none of the major nuclear powers have made any for more than a decade. How it is made? Any reactor that has U 238 in the fuel makes plutonium by neutron capture. A substantial fraction of the energy power reactors make comes from the plutonium they make and then fission.		Tom Clancy finessed the hard part of nukes by having Israeli-US weapons grade plutonium fall into the hands of the bad guys. To appreciate the hard part you need to understand how weapons grade plutonium is made, or rather was made. A little weapons grade plutonium may be have been made in recent years by the smaller nuclear powers but as far as I know none of the major nuclear powers have made any for more than a decade. How it is made? Any reactor that has U 238 in the fuel makes plutonium by neutron capture. A substantial fraction of the energy power reactors make comes from the plutonium they make and then fission.

	The problem with trying to use power reactor plutonium for weapons is the Pu 240. Usually the Pu 239 fissions when it is hit with a neutron, but some of the time it will absorb a neutron becoming Pu 240. Pu 240 is nasty stuff to have in weapons because it decays by spontaneous fission, i.e., it splits and spits out neutrons. The neutrons degrade the explosive and make the bombs easy to detect as well as being unhealthy to be around.		The problem with trying to use power reactor plutonium for weapons is the Pu 240. Usually the Pu 239 fissions when it is hit with a neutron, but some of the time it will absorb a neutron becoming Pu 240. Pu 240 is nasty stuff to have in weapons because it decays by spontaneous fission, i.e., it splits and spits out neutrons. The neutrons degrade the explosive and make the bombs easy to detect as well as being unhealthy to be around.
	According to Clancy's description, the way nukes are set off is to implode and compress the plutonium. When it is close to maximum density, a shot of neutrons from a little cyclotron/target initiate the chain reaction for maximum yield.		According to Clancy's description, the way nukes are set off is to implode and compress the plutonium. When it is close to maximum density, a shot of neutrons from a little cyclotron/target initiate the chain reaction for maximum yield.

	The problem is that spontaneous fission neutrons from Pu 240 will start the chain reaction before the ideal point of compression. The more Pu 240 in the fuel, the more likely you will have a "fizzle" like the first North Korean bomb test is thought to have been. "Weapons grade" plutonium is made in dedicated reactors. There is a tradeoff between grade and production. For high grades the slugs of uranium are pushed through the reactor core in a shorter time so relatively little of the newly formed plutonium picks up an additional neutron. The slugs are dissolved in acid and the plutonium sorted out chemically.		The problem is that spontaneous fission neutrons from Pu 240 will start the chain reaction before the ideal point of compression. The more Pu 240 in the fuel, the more likely you will have a "fizzle" like the first North Korean bomb test is thought to have been. "Weapons grade" plutonium is made in dedicated reactors. There is a tradeoff between grade and production. For high grades the slugs of uranium are pushed through the reactor core in a shorter time so relatively little of the newly formed plutonium picks up an additional neutron. The slugs are dissolved in acid and the plutonium sorted out chemically.
	A decade or so ago it occurred to me that the extraction step could be combined with the exposure step and the newly formed Pu 239 could be removed before it became Pu 240. (I kept this to myself for many years.) All you have to do is circulate uranyl nitrate (or sulfate) in a high neutron flux such as you get in a power reactor core and remove the plutonium 239 as it is formed. Over a fuel cycle (a few years) a large power reactor makes kg of neutrons. Stealing a tenth of a kg of neutrons would make 24 kg of extremely high-grade plutonium, enough for about four bombs. Power reactors have holes in the high neutron flux zones of the core used for control rods. Replacing one or two with a loop circulating depleted uranium (U 238) solution would not present much of an engineering challenge. Obtaining depleted uranium would not be difficult either. If for some reason weapon builders didn't want to leave tracks by buying it, the US left hundreds of tons of DU in the Mid East in the last two wars. It would not be hard to collect.
			A decade or so ago it occurred to me that the extraction step could be combined with the exposure step and the newly formed Pu 239 could be removed before it became Pu 240. (I kept this to myself for many years.) All you have to do is circulate uranyl nitrate (or sulfate) in a high neutron flux such as you get in a power reactor core and remove the plutonium 239 as it is formed. Over a fuel cycle (a few years) a large power reactor makes kgs of neutrons. Stealing a tenth of a kg of neutrons would make 24 kg of extremely high-grade plutonium, enough for about four bombs. Power reactors have holes in the high neutron flux zones of the core used for control rods. Replacing one or two with a loop circulating depleted uranium (U 238) solution would not present much of an engineering challenge. Obtaining depleted uranium would not be difficult either. If for some reason weapon builders didn't want to leave tracks by buying it, the US left hundreds of tons of DU in the Mid East in the last two wars. It would not be hard to collect.

	The chemical processing to get plutonium out of solution is well understood; the whole process can be considered kitchen chemistry (if your kitchen contains a power reactor). There are ways to make neutrons without a reactor. If one of them is practical on the scale of tens to hundreds of grams of neutrons then the threshold for bomb builders is reduced even further.		The chemical processing to get plutonium out of solution is well understood; the whole process can be considered kitchen chemistry (if your kitchen contains a power reactor). There are ways to make neutrons without a reactor. If one of them is practical on the scale of tens to hundreds of grams of neutrons then the threshold for bomb builders is reduced even further.
	Given plutonium in kg quantities, the next problem is how to implode it to a super critical state. (The above method should make plutonium good enough to use in a gun type device, but implosion gets results from smaller amounts.) Normally a ball of explosives around a sphere of plutonium accomplishes this. The explosives have to be exquisitely shaped and set off from many points on the surface with precise timing. The design of these explosive "lenses" is a demanding task.		Given plutonium in kg quantities, the next problem is how to implode it to a super critical state. (The above method should make plutonium good enough to use in a gun type device, but implosion gets results from smaller amounts.) Normally a ball of explosives around a sphere of plutonium accomplishes this. The explosives have to be exquisitely shaped and set off from many points on the surface with precise timing. The design of these explosive "lenses" is a demanding task.

	While I was waiting for a guard to let me out of the shower, I realize that there was a way discussed in Dr. Robert L. Forward's SF story “Camelot 30K” where a nuclear "fizzle" is used to bootstrap a thermonuclear explosion. It uses a flash source at one foci of an ellipsoidal reflector to focus soft x-rays on a target at the other foci. It occurred to me that the intense light from a few pounds of flash powder would be enough to set off a light sensitive ball of explosives at the other foci--with close to perfect timing and over the entire surface. This trick eliminates the complicated design problems that require hydro code programs, complicated electronics, and krytrons. It may reduce the difficulty of creating such devices to the level it could be done by a decently funded street gang. It's not a compact design, per the text 8 feet long and 7 feet in diameter, but if it's being shipped in a container, it doesn't need to be small.		While I was waiting for a guard to let me out of the shower, I realize that there was a way discussed in Dr. Robert L. Forward's SF story “Camelot 30K” where a nuclear "fizzle" is used to bootstrap a thermonuclear explosion. It uses a flash source at one foci of an ellipsoidal reflector to focus soft x-rays on a target at the other foci. It occurred to me that the intense light from a few pounds of flash powder would be enough to set off a light sensitive ball of explosives at the other foci--with close to perfect timing and over the entire surface. This trick eliminates the complicated design problems that require hydro code programs, complicated electronics, and krytrons. It may reduce the difficulty of creating such devices to the level it could be done by a decently funded street gang. It's not a compact design, per the text 8 feet long and 7 feet in diameter, but if it's being shipped in a container, it doesn't need to be small.

	Would it work? Darned if I know, here it's just an element in a story I wrote while in jail.		Would it work? Darned if I know, here it's just an element in a story I wrote while in jail.

	As to a cult leader being insane enough to try to kill thousands of people--that has already been demonstrated. If Jim Jones, Heaven's Gate and Aum Shinrikyo aren't enough, consider Pol Pot, Rwanda and Osama bin Laden (as a cult leader). Ideally, this is a cautionary tale, one that might get the IAEA inspectors to watch for pipes being used to steal neutrons out of power reactors. Perhaps Sum of all Fears has had such an effect and someone is watching the sale of precision machine tools good enough to make parts for nukes. But Clancy's Debt of Honor (1998) included a jumbo jet being used in much the same way as the 9/11 attacks and this bestseller unfortunately didn't help the FBI agents trying to get the attention of FBI high level bureaucrats when they were trying to report Arab pilots learning to fly (but not land) 767/757 aircraft.		As to a cult leader being insane enough to try to kill thousands of people--that has already been demonstrated. If Jim Jones, Heaven's Gate and Aum Shinrikyo aren't enough, consider Pol Pot, Rwanda and Osama bin Laden (as a cult leader). Ideally, this is a cautionary tale, one that might get the IAEA inspectors to watch for pipes being used to steal neutrons out of power reactors. Perhaps Sum of all Fears has had such an effect and someone is watching the sale of precision machine tools good enough to make parts for nukes. But Clancy's Debt of Honor (1998) included a jumbo jet being used in much the same way as the 9/11 attacks and this bestseller unfortunately didn't help the FBI agents trying to get the attention of FBI high level bureaucrats when they were trying to report Arab pilots learning to fly (but not land) 767/757 aircraft.

	Probably nobody will take this seriously either until a nuke goes off in a US city.		Probably nobody will take this seriously either until a nuke goes off in a US city.