BC wrote:
> thanks for the very interesting rundown on the tech and
> the effect Gregory. though i still feel there is a connection
> between 'war and architecture', or defensive spaces in case of
> war as being a design issue. in times of war i think it may be
> more central of an issue, and, if recent threats are ever made
> real, we might have to reevaluate our domestic designs, ala 70s
> shelters and put the fear of (god|dess) in the bunker busting
> bomb blastoids of nuclear fission design experiments.
You're welcome. Actually, the threats are present now, but people have just
tuned them out completely (the human capacity for self-delusion apparently
knowing no bounds).
Building a nuclear weapon is almost ludicrously easy to do. All the
information you need to design and build one is available on the net. A
nuke assembly shop is virtually indistinguishable from your average
precision machine shop. The only difficult thing about building a nuke is
obtaining around 7 to 15 kg of U-235, which is among the most strictly
controlled substances on earth (weapons-grade plutonium being number one on
that list). However, since around 1990 (collapse of the Soviet Union), that
too has been much easier to come by. It really is just a matter of time
before nuclear proliferation doesn't just apply to governments any more.
Should people pull themselves out of their comfortably ignorant complacency
to realize that, it wouldn't require a war to give the issue new centrality.
I, however, am not holding my breath.
~g
J. Gregory Wharton
Architect
Seattle, WA, USA
> thanks for the very interesting rundown on the tech and
> the effect Gregory. though i still feel there is a connection
> between 'war and architecture', or defensive spaces in case of
> war as being a design issue. in times of war i think it may be
> more central of an issue, and, if recent threats are ever made
> real, we might have to reevaluate our domestic designs, ala 70s
> shelters and put the fear of (god|dess) in the bunker busting
> bomb blastoids of nuclear fission design experiments.
You're welcome. Actually, the threats are present now, but people have just
tuned them out completely (the human capacity for self-delusion apparently
knowing no bounds).
Building a nuclear weapon is almost ludicrously easy to do. All the
information you need to design and build one is available on the net. A
nuke assembly shop is virtually indistinguishable from your average
precision machine shop. The only difficult thing about building a nuke is
obtaining around 7 to 15 kg of U-235, which is among the most strictly
controlled substances on earth (weapons-grade plutonium being number one on
that list). However, since around 1990 (collapse of the Soviet Union), that
too has been much easier to come by. It really is just a matter of time
before nuclear proliferation doesn't just apply to governments any more.
Should people pull themselves out of their comfortably ignorant complacency
to realize that, it wouldn't require a war to give the issue new centrality.
I, however, am not holding my breath.
~g
J. Gregory Wharton
Architect
Seattle, WA, USA