re: BREAKING: NK conducts 6th nuclear test; 6.3M earthquake

Not bad, but this is pretty inaccurate:

quote:

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The swarms of neutrons set free [by fusion] can ramp up the explosive chain reaction of a uranium layer wrapped around it, creating a blast far more devastating than uranium fission alone.

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Chain reaction just takes one neutron to get started, and then it goes all by itself. It can only happen in U-235, the rare isotope that has to be separated from the far more common U-238 to make an atomic bomb out of uranium. It sounds like they're talking about fissioning a U-238 tamper used to help contain the thermonuclear package, which is how the first H-bomb, Ivy Mike, generated 85% of its 10 MT yield, a very, very dirty bomb indeed.