• chuckleslord@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The demon core wouldn’t explode. It just emits a bright light, fatal amounts of radiation, and would melt if kept closed for more than a few moments.

    At least that’s based on the info I found digging around.

    • PersnickityPenguin
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, those cores will only detonate through a carefully orchestrated implosion explosion that, with the addition of a neutron reflector, triggers the plutonium to undergo fission as the volume it occupies collapses due to the explosive lenses.

      Or something like that, I’m not a physicist.

      • chuckleslord@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That’s the gist of it, to my understanding. The demon core makes fission happen, but slower. Like slowly sprinkling raw sodium into a lake, compared to throwing all 50kg in at once.