John Tisdale

@TradFidiGuy @Phrankensteyn @allnewtomorrow @Jordan_W_Taylor I've found AI is bad/contradictory with this topic in general. If you're interested, Carey Sublette's nuclearweaponarchive.org is a great resource on weapons design.

@TradFidiGuy @Phrankensteyn @allnewtomorrow @Jordan_W_Taylor The primary drivers of miniaturization were advancements in reducing the size and weight of the remaining parts of the "physics package", one speculation for example is that the W33 used a "double gun" mechanism where two HEU projectiles were shot at each other.

Liquid metal or salt cooled fast reactors that 'breed' their fuel offer fuel utilisation up to 100 times greater than traditional reactors. Yet so skewed are lifetime nuclear costs towards the initial build that regular old light water reactors still reign supreme.

@TradFidiGuy @Phrankensteyn @allnewtomorrow @Jordan_W_Taylor Iran developed a compact implosion system for a HEU core until the AMAD project was shut down ~ 2003. Iran likely had the capability to build nuclear warheads for a while, the fact that they haven't suggests that their enrichment program is primarily a political/diplomatic tool.

@TradFidiGuy @Phrankensteyn @allnewtomorrow @Jordan_W_Taylor As for uranium implosion, several states, like Pakistan & China built and deployed ballistic missile warheads using that design. The Chinese CHIC-4 missile warhead design was later proliferated by A.Q. Khan's network.

@BillKriebel @DA_Stockman It's giving contradictory answers depending on wording of the same prompt and it's a crapshot whether the result is correct or not. I would call that being full of shit, yes. In any case, when you double check using actual sources you'll find the above answer is the correct one.

@VVO1080 @DA_Stockman John Tisdale @VVO1080: "Well, ChatGPT is full of shit."

I'll tell you what, Dinesh. Even if you had 400 kilos of 90% U-235 and a box of matches, the length of time it would take you to make a nuke is NEVER. The fact is, 60% enriched uranium like the Iranians had isn't even 10% of the way to a bomb. The rest--- engineering, machining, fabrication and assembly of the watch-like innards of a nuclear implosion bomb---is the real hard part. And even that ignores the fact that no one in their right mind---even the mullahs---would attempt to launch against the USA a beginners bomb that had never been tested and which no Iranian missile could carry for the 10,000 kilometer trip to the US in any event. And that's to say nothing of reentering the atmosphere successfully under blistering heat and percussion. In short, Iran's possession of 10 bombs worth of HEUs was not remotely an imminent threat, and that's according to the repeated attestations of the 17 US intelligence agencies, including DNI Tulsi Gabbard's testimony to Congress in March 2025. So what in the hell are you gumming about in year pathetic, self-evidently barking ignorance?

@BillKriebel @DA_Stockman If you prefer to hear it from ChatGPT (citing Wikipedia):

@VVO1080 @DA_Stockman You claim "ChatGPT is full of shit" and then cite Wikipedia???!!! Oh, please! Wikipedia isn't a starting point for anything.

@BillKriebel @DA_Stockman lmao

@BillKriebel @DA_Stockman Well, ChatGPT is full of shit. Repeat the same prompt or ask about specific tests and answers will vary widly. There is plenty of public record, I gave multiple examples you can look up for yourself instead of asking ChatGPT. Wikipedia is a good starting point.

@VVO1080 @DA_Stockman Not according to chatgtp:

@BillKriebel @DA_Stockman Not true. Plenty of examples of tested and deployed weapons. US Operation Sandstone (Zebra core), Ivy Mike, the British Orange Herald. Early Chinese (including CHIC-4 test on ballistic missile) and Pakistani weapons were uranium implosion bombs as well.

@VVO1080 @DA_Stockman A uranium implosion bomb has never been tested.

@sigraenn @tonyver45 @LincolnsBible Weight is not an issue considering the US deployed compact nuclear artillery shells using the gun design from the 50s. But the design is wasteful in any case, which is why every program that started with HEU, with the exception of South Africa, went with implosion designs.

@tonyver45 @LincolnsBible The gun type requires more uranium and is too heavy to put on a rocket once you add the tamper, which is actually very important.

I keep thinking about the classified documents that donald stole and allegedly sold. You know, the nuclear and advanced technology docs? Yeah, those. I mean… if you were the foreign adversary or criminal syndicate who purchased them, you’d probably need a bunch of scientists who created or worked on that tech to make whatever was in the docs, right?

@frametofinish11 @TWT_UNLEASHED @RapidResponse47 There's quite a bit of public info on the design Iran pursued under the AMAD project 20 years ago. A compact HEU implosion bomb with an advanced, unlensed multipoint initiation system (provided by a former Soviet nuke expert) requiring only two detonation points.

@TWT_UNLEASHED @RapidResponse47 It's really not that complicated especially with Uranium. Usually a cannon type device. (Little Boy type) Plutonium is more difficult with an implosion type device, but a lens maker could build the parts correctly. Timing the triggers to the millisecond is also very doable.

60 MINUTES: Iran still has nearly 1,000 pounds of highly-enriched uranium — "enough material, if you enrich it just a little bit more, for 10-11 nuclear bombs." "Iran has been lying about its nuclear weapons effort for over 20 years now."

@sluethje1 @DA_Stockman Uranium bombs can be of either gun or implosion type, with the latter being the preferable/more advanced option. Designing a compact implosion bomb will not be a significant hurdle for any modern industrial state. Iran did most of the work 20+ years during the AMAD project.

@DA_Stockman Ok, say you don’t know anything about uranium bombs while acting like an “expert.” Uranium bombs are not implosion bombs moron! They are MUCH simpler and quite a few countries figured it out easily.

@BillKriebel @DA_Stockman Implosion bombs can absolutely use uranium, or a composite of both uranium and plutonium. It's a much more efficient use of the material than the gun design (10-15 kg of weapon grade HEU required vs 50+ kg for a gun).

@DA_Stockman Implosion bombs use plutonium, not uranium. The "Little Boy" bomb dropped on Hiroshima was basically a cannon that fired one piece of uranium-235 into another to achieve a critical mass.

@JessicaBones10 @philippilk Iran developed a compact implosion system intended for an uranium core over twenty years ago as part of the AMAD project.

@philippilk I really enjoy some of your work but you've gone a bit over your skis here A Uranium bomb would not be trivial to mount onto an ICBM because of its large size Iran doesn't have Plutonium Also the extremely specialised skills build an implosion type device aren't common

Most of the military analyst sector are charlatans who decry other people as "amateurs" and say OSINT and social media are bad. The estimates I took are from the BotAS. These nuclear physicists know a lot more than Paul about how to build a bomb. thebulletin.org/2025/01/how-qu…

@IamThiagoCortes @Gadget612 Implosion is much more efficient than gun-type designs; only needs 10-20 kg of weapon grade HEU vs 50+ kg for comparable yield. Iran's AMAD design was unboosted, with a levitated pit, uranium deuteride internal neutron source & fairly sophisticated, unlensed implosion system.

@IamThiagoCortes @Gadget612 Plenty of examples of implosion bombs using U-235 cores, like early US (Zebra core), Chinese and Pakistani bombs. The Chinese CHIC-4 missile warhead was proliferated by A.Q. Khan to multiple states, including NK and Iran.

This will not be like Caracas. Expect casualties if ground troops are involved. Another B2 raid, perhaps with more advanced ordinance designed specifically to tackle modern HDBTs would be more appropriate.

@CarlosFrum1970 @_mr__creosote_ @IAPonomarenko The implosion system Iran developed under the AMAD project over 20 years ago was considerably smaller and more advanced than CHIC-4.

@_mr__creosote_ @IAPonomarenko AQ Khan proliferated not just Urenco centrifuges. The CHIC4 design (a uranium implosion missile deliverable warhead) is available to all.

Can anyone tell me how one can actually make 11 atomic bombs with 450 kg of only 60% enriched uranium? Or is it Steve Witkoff being Steve Witkoff again?

@FarZenith @disparutoo @DJSnM One can make fairly small uranium gun-type bombs, see the various nuclear artillery shells using that design that were deployed starting from the 50s.

@disparutoo @DJSnM Gun style uranium bombs are stupidly easy to make, but require much higher enrichment levels, are inefficient, and can’t really be miniaturised. The uranium bomb was not tested before dropped on Hiroshima because it was that simple. Trinity was a plutonium implosion bomb.

Apparently Nuclear Design Bureau is being blocked from released by the U.S. Department of Commerce who think it could violate export control laws. The physics in the sim are intentionally wrong because it's only 2D. It's comparable to PowderToy but with missions and challenges.