[Alt History] Alternative conclusion to the Pacific conflict in WW 2

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

After that even the plutonium won't be bothered by a few measly decades. It's really only conventional aging and corrosion on the conventional components that might be a problem. The test ban treaty shouldn't stop you from double-checking those.

The problem I see is that NASA has noted radioactive decay thermopiles seem to result in much more rapid corrosion and the thermocouples decay faster than expected (resulting in the failures of the Pioneers before expected failure dates); any such test on a nuke would require disassembly - which itself invalidates the mechanical test to some degree - because the presence/lack of radioactives is in fact a major issue to be tested for on the systems. And rapid radiation exposure in the lab is quite unlike long term radiation in the field, at least for thermopiles.

Plus, the initiator charge is a conventional explosive.

@Jason - not strangelovian at all. A very serious question.

One of the reasons the Nike missiles were removed from Alaska was that the missiles themselves were largely non-functional already (according to USAF text on Ballistic Missiles). Rockets really don't store all that well - they are not as corrosion resistant as normal constructs of the same materials because, largely, they're incredibly weight sensitive. The ICBMs and Anti-Ballistic-missile rockets (Nike, etc) were intended for ongoing replacement schedules.

And, as we see mechanical failures in more nuclear plants... they're sounding more like mechanical fatigue at higher than expected levels. Only 3 have been really notable failures - Chernobyl, Three-Mile Island, and Fukashima Daichi. (There is suspicion that one of the lost soviet nuclear subs may have also been a plant failure, rather than simply a dive below crush depth.)

Sure, they pulled the chem out of some WWII naval gun shells in the 1980's and refilled them - but keep in mind the actual mechanics are only added within seconds of going into the guns. They didn't use the WW II fuses nor the WW II powder-bags, nor even the WW II explosives in the shells. Just the shell-case. The army is doing so with 155 rounds, too. http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Sec...4521425048106/
http://www.army-technology.com/featu...ition-4583575/

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by ak_aramis

The problem I see is that NASA has noted radioactive decay thermopiles seem to result in much more rapid corrosion and the thermocouples decay faster than expected (resulting in the failures of the Pioneers before expected failure dates); ]

Why would this be relevant to nukes? RTGs use isotopes with far shorter half-lives (c. three orders of magnitude) and don't have thermocouples to corrode anyway.

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Why would this be relevant to nukes? RTGs use isotopes with far shorter half-lives (c. three orders of magnitude) and don't have thermocouples to corrode anyway.

Every dissimilar metal joint is effectively also a low efficiency thermocouple.

The neutron radiation of Pu239 is still notable, and can cause failures and radioactive metal decay. It's not been well tested, and the only data points on long term effects that are well reviewed are all from thermopiles using Pu238.