Ballotechnics
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Ballotechnics is a speculative field within nuclear physics and is concerned with ballotechnic nuclear reactions, also called "induced gamma emission" (often abbreviated as IGE). This is a nuclear reaction that produces gamma rays, and no alpha rays or beta rays. That is the result of a high-energy nuclear isomer changing into a low-energy nuclear isomer, (i.e. with no change of mass number). Such high-energy isomers include both spin isomers and shape isomers.
As of 2005, there are 5 known ballotechnic nuclear isomers, namely tantalum-180m, osmium-187m, platinum-186m, hafnium-178m, and zinc-66m. The term 'ballotechnics' may have been coined by Samuel Cohen, who was largely responsible for publicizing it. Samuel Cohen is the inventor of the neutron bomb.
Application to possible nuclear explosives, and aircraft
The hafnium bomb is a hypothetical explosive device based on a metastable excited state of hafnium-178 (a nuclear isomer, Hf-178m2, half life around 31y, decay energy 2.5 MeV). While this excited state was known as a curiosity for some time, in the 1990s Carl Collins of the University of Texas at Dallas claimed to have discovered a method of inducing it to rapidly decay through exposure to x-rays. As x-rays of the required energy were relatively easy to produce, and the energy of the released gamma rays was far greater than the required energy input, this discovery had considerable applicability as a radiological weapon.If the induced-emission effect exists, then ballotechnic materials may have an energy density that is high enough to allow their energy release (in the form of gamma radiation) to cause deuterium-tritium fusion, it is speculated. Induced gamma emission (IGE) of ballotechnic materials can be caused by gamma rays, x rays, or physical shock. Because of that, ballotechnic energy release could concievably cause chain reactions at a sufficient density. Therefore, a bomb that includes a trigger, ballotechnic material of sufficient density, and a deuterium-tritium mixture could constitute a working fusion bomb that does not require a critical fissionable mass (such as uranium or plutonium). As a result, such a bomb could be very small (about the size of a softball), and it would not produce radioactive fallout, such that it is a 'clean' nuclear bomb, (except for some escaping gamma rays and induced radioactivity from the neutron flux). Because of that, the creation of ballotechnic fusion bombs might decrease the psychological threshold for their use, and thus nuclear war. However, producing a sufficient ballotechnic material density appears to be unlikely in the near future.
If a ballotechnic fusion bomb does not incorporate a neutron reflector, then it constitutes a ballotechnic neutron bomb, and, as was mentioned, such neutron bombs could be as small as a softball.
However, even if the required physical effect exists, none of these weapons have been shown to be technically feasible.
In February 2003, [New Scientist] the idea of the ballotechnic nuclear powered airplane was described. The new idea was to utilize Hf-178 (presumably due to its high energy to weight ratio) which would be triggered to release gamma rays that would heat air in a chamber for jet propulsion. This power source is sometimes called a "Quantum nucleonic reactor".
False rumors
Some have thought that a substance called red mercury, that appeared in the media in the mid 1990s, is a Soviet code name for a ballotechnic substance, particularly hafnium-178. See red mercury for other theories about it.
Negative scientific evaluations
The JASON Defense Advisory Group put out a relevant public report, High Energy Density Explosives, N. Lewis, R. Garwin, D. Hammer, W. Happer, R. Jeanloz. J. Katz, S. Koonin, P. Weinberger, E. Williams. October 1997. JSR-97-110. [online pdf] ("distribution is unlimited")- Section 4. page 13. ENERGERIC [sic] MATERIALS FROM RADIOSOTOPE REACTIONS
- "A proposal was presented to the members of this JASON study to use nuclear isotope processes to prepare energetic materials. In brief, the notion is to couple nuclear transitions to electronic transitions in isomers such as 178mHf, and, in some ill-defined fashion, to then achieve a resonance condition through which electronic processes could be stimulated with high yield and with a rapid ( < 106 sec [sic, probably means 10-6 sec]) energy release rate.
- "There was a disturbing absence of a reality check in this proposal. There was no scientific justification of how such a process might possibly be obtained with high enough efficiencies to be useful in any practical process. ... Without such a defendable order-of-magnitude estimate of how the reaction rate will be increased to useful values, this approach seems to have no merit at the present time."
Positive experiments in the 21st century
Positive experiments conducted with monochromatic X-rays from the World's premier synchrotron facility [SPring-8] in Hyogo showed induced gamma ray emission with high statistical significance [Confidence Levels Supporting Hf-Isomer Triggering Claims in 2006]. References to peer-reviewed technical articles are included.Samuel Cohen warns of fissionless fusion bombs
[The Nuclear Threat That Doesn't Exist – or Does It?] by Samuel Cohen and Joe Douglass, March 11, 2003, guest editorial in Financial Sense Online. He again claims that Russia has such weapons, "red mercury" exists as claimed, and the US, among the technical elite, take it seriously, while the US at the same time started a disinformation campaign claiming "red mercury" is bogus. Independent confirmation of such claims in the article is lacking.See also
Literature
- C.B. Collins, N.C. Zoita, F. Davanloo, Y. Yoda, T. Uruga, J.M.Pouvesle, and I.I. Popescu, Nuclear Resonance Spectroscopy of the 31-year isomer of Hf-178, [Laser Physics Letters 2, p162-167 (2005)].
External links
- [Imaginary Weapons: A Journey Through the Pentagon's Scientific Underworld]
- [Scary Things Come in Small Packages], Wahington Post article by Sharon Weinberger
- [Hf-isomer Summary Page of Results], C.B. Collins, University of Texas, Dallas
- ["Atomic Powered Global Hawk Jet Reving For Take-Off?"], a SciScoop weblog entry
- [a scientist on panel disputes feasibility of nucleonic reactor], October, 2003.
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