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With regards to Project Orion, nuclear pulse engine, could the 0.015 kiloton up to 0.35 kiloton Deuterium/Lithium bombs proposed by Freeman Dyson be constructed? Could they be built to leave a small to insignificant amount of radioactive fallout in space?

Jerard Puckett
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John
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    Wow.. that's a whole bunch of questions! It's generally encouraged to ask just a single question at a time. That way, answers are easier to find, and if someone knows the answer to that one question (but none of the others) it gives them more confidence to reply. – Andrew Thompson Dec 04 '15 at 07:42
  • "insignificant amount of radioactive fallout" In space, just about any waste radiation is insignificant (to anything but delicate electronics and the crew, both of which can be shielded). In the atmosphere of Earth, almost every level of waste radiation is significant (politically and environmentally). Where do you mean? – Andrew Thompson Dec 04 '15 at 07:49
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    There's very little point making such small hydrogen bombs. They require pretty strong nuclear explosion to ignite, regardless of size, so even if you make a 0.001kt hydrogen bomb, it will still need a couple kiloton to start up. The only way would be to develop an alternative fusion ignition mechanism... which we don't have. (or at least we don't have any that is reasonably energy-efficient.) – SF. Dec 04 '15 at 10:36
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    Scaling laws are explained at http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/ – Deer Hunter Dec 04 '15 at 10:47

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