A salted bomb is a nuclear weapon designed to function as a radiological weapon by producing larger quantities of radioactive fallout than unsalted nuclear arms. This fallout can render a large area uninhabitable.[1] The term is derived both from the means of their manufacture, which involves the incorporation of additional elements to a standard atomic weapon, and from the expression "to salt the earth", meaning to render an area uninhabitable for generations. The idea originated with Hungarian-American physicist Leo Szilard, in February 1950. His intent was not to propose that such a weapon be built, but to show that nuclear weapon technology would soon reach the point where it could end human life on Earth.[1]
No intentionally salted bomb has ever been atmospherically tested, and as far as is publicly known, none has ever been built.[1] However, the UK tested a one-kiloton bomb incorporating a small amount of cobalt as an experimental radiochemical tracer at their Tadje testing site in Maralinga range, Australia, on September 14, 1957.[2] The Russian triple "taiga" nuclear salvo test, as part of the preliminary March 1971 Pechora–Kama Canal project, converted significant amounts of stable cobalt-59 to radioactive cobalt-60 by fusion-generated neutron activation and this product is responsible for about half of the gamma dose measured at the test site in 2011.[3][4] The experiment was regarded as a failure and was not repeated.[1]
A salted bomb should not be confused with a "dirty bomb", which is an ordinary explosive bomb containing radioactive material which is spread over the area when the bomb explodes. A salted bomb is capable of megatons of explosive force, which can contaminate a far larger area with far more radioactive material than even the largest practicable dirty bomb.
^ abcdSublette, Carey (May 1, 1998). "Types of Nuclear Weapons – Cobalt Bombs and Other Salted Bombs". Nuclear Weapons Archive Frequently Asked Questions. Archived from the original on September 28, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
^Sublette, Carey (August 23, 2007). "British Nuclear Testing". Nuclear Weapons Archive. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
^Ramzaev, V.; Repin, V.; Medvedev, A.; Khramtsov, E.; Timofeeva, M.; Yakovlev, V. (2011). "Radiological investigations at the "Taiga" nuclear explosion site: Site description and in situ measurements". Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. 102 (7): 672–680. doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.04.003. PMID 21524834.
^Ramzaev, V.; Repin, V.; Medvedev, A.; Khramtsov, E.; Timofeeva, M.; Yakovlev, V. (2012). "Radiological investigations at the "Taiga" nuclear explosion site, part II: Man-made γ-ray emitting radionuclides in the ground and the resultant kerma rate in air". Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. 109: 1–12. doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.12.009. PMID 22541991.
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