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The truth about the neutron bomb: The inventor of the bomb speaks out

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There wa a lot of nonsesne and disinformation about the
so-called neutron bomb back in the heady cold war days,
and as Cohen is the father of said weapon, and its greatest proselytizer,
his description might be taken as authoritative. Viz:

Let's start with a fission weapon of Hiroshima size- about 20Kt. 85% of the
energy partition is blast and heat; 10% is delayed radiation from fissile
products (the lighter parts of the split nucleii) and 5% is prompt radiation
in the form of neutrons and gamma rays.

Now, let's say we build a small fusion weapon with a minimal fission trigger
resulting in a 1Kt fission-fusion weapon. The energy partition in the fusion
reaction is 80% prompt radiation and 20% blast and heat. The result is that
this 1Kt weapon has only 0.05 the blast and heat effect of the straight
fission, but equivalent prompt radiation effects. (Recall that most weapons
in the US arsenal are fission-fusion-fission weapons, which is sort of
a way to build a much bigger fission weapon than would otherwise be possible
or practical). We also have no delayed radiation from the fusion reaction,
although there is still some from the fission trigger- though much less from
the straight 20Kt fission weapon.

Cohen's ultimate plan was to develop a pure fusion weapon with no fission
trigger. That's been mentioned in this list before, and I have absolutely
no idea if such a weapon was ever developed. However, if it *could* be develope
it would then be possible to build a 0.01Kt pure fusion device with half the
prompt radiation of the 20Kt fusion device, no delayed radiation, and blast
and heat effects of a large (20,000lb) conventional bomb. Such a device could
be detonated at a comparitively low altitude and result in no blast effects
reaching the ground while still having a kill effect from prompt radiation
over a radius of over 1000 yards.

From this Cohen conceived his idea of a defense plan for Europe and Germany
in particular: Small, cheap bomb shelters for the populace with nothing more
than a few feet of earth as a radiation shield. The warning sounds, people
go the the shelters, the N-weapon missiles are launched, and a few hours
later the battle is over.

Cohen's book covers not only the brief technical outline of the bomb (summerized
above) but also the long political history. The USSR steadily portrayed the enhanced radition weapon as inhumane, even as
they were developing their own. It was often called a bomb that "killed people while leaving real estate intact", but as Cohen pointed out, the people were advancing troops of the Red Army,
and the real estate was the cities and homes of Western Europe.

Highly recommended.

No discussion of the neutron bomb is complete without reading this book.

Sam Cohen writes a bitter discription of how the US politically adopts weapons. He writes about the first debate over the neutron bomb in the 1950's and 1960's, and later offers opinions of the second debate in the 1980's.

He describes how a Neutron Bomb (Enhanced Radiation Weapon) works, and how the concept was first pruposed by himself, and championed by the US Navy. The idea was not well received by the US Air Force, which viewed it as a threat to it's Strategic Air Command - being tactical in nature.

This is a must read for those interested in US Radiological Warfare (RW) history. While he does not discuss any of the now known attempts to develop RW bombets, his discussion of non-nuclear RW is insightful.

The author is highly critical of the US Air Force, which he claims biased every discussion of nuclear warfare. The US Air Force, supporting the Strategic Air Command, sought to eliminate the development of any tactical nuclear weapon. He also points to the persistent belief by US planners that NATO would be the first to employ nuclear weapons, which was not supported by fact.

The surprise twist is the author's discussion that the Soviet Union may have actually been the first to devise a neutron bomb, and that during the 1960's debate of the weapon, the Soviet military openly discussed the advantages of using such weapons in combat. Further irony is gleamed in the author's claim that the US's only neutron bomb is actually not a neutron bomb at all...contrasting the neutron bomb as a fussion device without any blast effects on ground structures, and the US's weapon as a fission device with a considerable blast effect.

The author explains in excellent terms the functioning and employment of enhanced radiation weapons. The neutron bomb essentially releases a short burst of radiation with a low half-life that leaves buildings standing...basically a weapon which allows you to destroy the enemy without destoying buildings or leaving a nuclear waste. Dr. Cohen outlines the political difficulties associated with the development of the weapon and strategic application. A must read for any strategist or nuclear activist of any kind.

Yes, I have read this book. And yes I have read other books on the neutron bomb (I will spare the jargon), nuclear policy, and Cold War history.

Sam Cohen out-Tellers Teller here, making the case for how his technological child would play well with others on the battlefields of Western Europe. This book is, first and foremost, a marketing scheme for the product...the product being the neutron bomb.

I find the section in which tank crews are described as being (somehow) zombified after irradiation especially disturbing. Make no mistake about it, the neutron bomb, or any enhanced radiation weapon, is as morally bankrupt an invention as the most deviously injurious of landmines.

Sure, read this book--too bad everybody has not read it--but make sure you read other studies as well.