Season 8, Episode 11: Landscape of Thorns (Patreon)

This week on Mobile Suit Breakdown: an extra long podcast as we tackle Gundam 0083 episode 11 - ラビアンローズ / La Vie En Rose. Featuring part 2 of our deep dive on the physics behind the Mk-82 fusion bomb used to destroy the Federation Naval Review, plus accurate predictions, Admiral Cowen's long term plan, the REAL spirit of Zeon, and your loyal hosts agree to disagree about Lucette Audevie.

Show Notes

Please note: the show notes for episodes 8.10 and 8.11 are the same, since it's really one research piece in two parts.

Principles of Fusion and Fusion Reactors

• What is Nuclear fusion?, Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. Available at https://www.ipp.mpg.de/15047/kernfusion
• Basic fusion physics, International Atomic Energy Agency. Available at https://www.iaea.org/topics/energy/fusion/background
• Fusion - Frequently Asked Questions, International Atomic Energy Agency. Available at https://www.iaea.org/topics/energy/fusion/faqs
• DOE Explains… Nuclear Fusion Reactions, American Department of Energy’s Office of Science. Available at https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsnuclear-fusion-reactions
• American Department of Energy’s Office of Science, DOE Explains… Deuterium-Tritium Fusion Reactor Fuel. Available at https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsdeuterium-tritium-fusion-reactor-fuel
• Nuclear fusion in the Sun, University of Calgary Energy Education. Available at https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Nuclear_fusion_in_the_Sun
• Star Life Cycle, University of Utah. Available at https://sunshine.chpc.utah.edu/Labs/StarLife/fusion.html
• Fusion on the Sun, EUROfusion. Available at https://euro-fusion.org/fusion/fusion-on-the-sun/
• Paul Breeze, Nuclear Power, Academic Press (October 15, 2016).
• The Sun’s Structure and Nuclear Fusion, Calspace (University of California at San Diego). Available at http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/ita/07_2.shtml
• An Assessment of the Prospects for Inertial Fusion Energy, National Research Council (2013). Available at https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18289/an-assessment-of-the-prospects-for-inertial-fusion-energy
  • Specifically Appendix A: The Basic Science of Inertial Fusion Energy. Available at https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/18289/chapter/8
• Farrokh Najmabadi et al., Fusion reactor, Encyclopedia Britannica. Updated May 12, 2023. Available at https://www.britannica.com/technology/fusion-reactor
• Clea Simon, Why nuclear fusion is so exciting, Harvard Gazette, December 13, 2022. Available at https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/12/why-nuclear-fusion-is-so-exciting/
• Succinct definition of Plasma from the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: https://www.psfc.mit.edu/vision/what_is_plasma
• Fraser Cain, What is the Light From Stars?, February 10, 2009. Available at https://www.universetoday.com/25179/what-is-the-light-from-stars/
• Beau Counts, Photovoltaics: The Conversion of Sunlight into Electricity, April 19, 2014. Available at http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/webproj/212_spring_2014/Beau_Counts/beau_counts/page_3.html
• Aabha Dixit (editor), International Atomic Energy Agency Fact Sheet: Harnessing Energy from Nuclear Fusion. Available at https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/19/09/harnessing-energy-from-nuclear-fusion.pdf
• Carley Willis and Joanne Liou, Safety in Fusion, International Atomic Energy Agency Bulletin 62-2. May 2021. Available at https://www.iaea.org/bulletin/safety-in-fusion
• C.K. Li et al., Study of direct-drive, deuterium-tritium gas-filled plastic capsule implosions using nuclear diagnostics at OMEGA, Physics of Plasma 8, 11. November 2001. Available at https://www-internal.psfc.mit.edu/research/hedp/Home%20Page/Papers/Li2001.pdf
• The Fission Process and Heat Production from Reactor Concepts Manual, USNRC Technical Training Center. Available at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students/for-educators/02.pdf
• Nuclear Fission Energy, from the Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart, Contemporary Physics Education Project. Updated August 9, 2000. Available at https://www2.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/14/1.html
• Achieving Fusion Ignition, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Available at https://lasers.llnl.gov/science/pursuit-of-ignition
• Fuelling the Fusion Reaction, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. Available at https://www.iter.org/sci/FusionFuels
• Making It Work, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. Available at https://www.iter.org/sci/MakingitWork
• Jeremy Hsu, Plasma Ring Experiment Offers New Path for Fusion Power, IEEE Spectrum. April 19, 2013. Available at https://spectrum.ieee.org/plasma-ring-experiment-offers-new-path-for-fusion-power
• Plasma Device Developed at MU Could Revolutionize Energy Generation and Storage, Mizzou on YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5sIPJL_6F8

Effect of Neutron Radiation on Materials

• Frederick L. Vook, Effects of radiation on materials, Physics Today 28, 9, 34 (1975). Available at https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/4189920
• Sophia Chen, Sorting Out the Neutron Lifetime, American Physical Society 28, 7 (July 2019). Available at https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201907/neutron.cfm
• George Chabot, Answer to Question #13412 Submitted to "Ask the Experts" (Does radiation have any effect on aluminum or mercury?), Health Physics Society (April 8, 2020). Available at http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q13412.html
• P. Rinard, Neutron Interactions with Matter, Los Alamos National Laboratory (1997). Available at https://www.lanl.gov/org/ddste/aldgs/sst-training/_assets/docs/PANDA/Neutron%20Interactions%20with%20Matter%20Ch.%2012%20p.%20357-378.pdf
• Interactions of Neutrons with Matter, slide show from Basic Health Physics, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (February 4, 2011). Available at https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1122/ML11229A705.pdf
• Michael Amdi Madsen, Neutron Blast Fusion Materials in New IAEA Project, International Atomic Energy Agency (April 4, 2022). Available at https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/neutrons-blast-fusion-materials-in-new-iaea-project
• Physics of Uranium and Nuclear Energy, from the World Nuclear Association, available at https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/introduction/physics-of-nuclear-energy
• Carl R. Nave, "Nuclear Fission" and "Fissionable Isotopes" from Hyperphysics. Available at http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/fission.html
• Fissionable Material from Nuclear-Power.com, available at https://www.nuclear-power.com/glossary/fissionable-material/
• Xuelong Fu et al., The Advancement of Neutron Shielding Materials for the Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations (2021). Available at https://www.hindawi.com/journals/stni/2021/5541047/
• Hector Rene Vega Carrillo et al., NEUTRON SHIELDING PERFORMANCE OF WATER-EXTENDED POLYESTER, Second European IRPA Congress, Paris, (15-19 May, 2006). Available at https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/39/075/39075326.pdf
• Franco Cozzani, Fission, Fusion and Staging (July 26, 2011). Available at http://www.ieri.be/fr/publications/ierinews/2011/juillet/fission-fusion-and-staging
• Rubel, M. Fusion Neutrons: Tritium Breeding and Impact on Wall Materials and Components of Diagnostic Systems. J Fusion Energ 38, 315–329 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10894-018-0182-1

Nuclear Weapons

• Samuel Glasstone and Philip J. Dolan, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, United States Departments of Defense and Energy (1977). Available at https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/effects/glasstone-dolan/index.html
• James L. Denton, The Third Nuclear Age: How I Learned to Start Worrying about the Clean Bomb (February 14, 2013). Available at https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1018896.pdf
• Suzanne L. Jones and Frank N. Von Hippel, The Question of Pure Fusion Explosions Under the CTBT, Science & Global Security 7 (1998). Available at https://scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs07jones.pdf
• Nuclear Weapons Primer, Wisconsin Nuclear Project. Available at https://www.wisconsinproject.org/nuclear-weapons/
• Carey Sublette, Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions (March 13, 2019). Available at https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq4-4.html
• Alex Wellerstein, Kilotons per kilogram, The Nuclear Secrecy Blog (December 23rd, 2013). Available at https://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/12/23/kilotons-per-kilogram/
• Richard Wolfson and Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress, The Devastating Effects of Nuclear Weapons, MIT Press Reader (March 2, 2022). Available at https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/devastating-effects-of-nuclear-weapons-war/
• The Fireball from Atomic Archive.com. Available at https://www.atomicarchive.com/science/effects/fireball.html
• Robert W. Buchheim and The Rand Corporation, Space Handbook: Astronautics and its Applications, Chapter 17. Nuclear Weapons. 1958. Available at https://history.nasa.gov/conghand/nuclear.htm
• Ethan Siegel, Ask Ethan: How Can A Nuclear Bomb Be Hotter Than The Center of Our Sun?, Forbes (March 28, 2020). Available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/03/28/ask-ethan-how-can-a-nuclear-bomb-be-hotter-than-the-center-of-our-sun

Casaba Howitzers

• Stan Tacket, Nuclear Pulse Propulsion: Gateway to the Stars, ANS Nuclear Cafe (March 27, 2013). Available at https://www.ans.org/news/article-1294/nuclear-pulse-propulsion-gateway-to-the-stars/
• George Dyson, Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship. Macmillan (2003). (Yes, the author is the son of the more famous Freeman Dyson of the Dyson Sphere)
• Blog post on ToughSF, The Nuclear Spear: Casaba Howitzer, June 17, 2016. Available at http://toughsf.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-nuclear-spear-casaba-howitzer.html

Starfish Prime

• Phil Plait, The 50th Anniversary of Starfish Prime: The Nuke that Shook the World, Discover Magazine, July 9, 2012. Available at https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/the-50th-anniversary-of-starfish-prime-the-nuke-that-shook-the-world
• Kaleena Fraga, The Incredible Story Of Starfish Prime, When The U.S. Detonated A Nuclear Bomb In Space, All That’s Interesting. November 29, 2022. Available at https://allthatsinteresting.com/starfish-prime
• David S. F. Portree, Starfish and Apollo (1962), Wired Magazine, March 21, 2012.
• Gilbert King, Going Nuclear Over the Pacific, Smithsonian Magazine, August 15, 2012.
• Brian Gutierrez, Why the U.S. once set off a nuclear bomb in space, National Geographic, July 15, 2021. Available at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-the-us-once-set-off-a-nuclear-bomb-in-space-called-starfish-prime
• U.S. Department of Defense, A “QUICK LOOK” AT THE TECHNICAL RESULTS OF STARFISH PRIME (August, 1962). Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20101105204805/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA955411&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf
• Liz Boatman, Sixty Years After, Physicists Model Electromagnetic Pulse of a Once-Secret Nuclear Test, American Physical Society 31, 11 (November 10, 2022). Available at https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/202212/pulse.cfm
• Robert Matthews, What would happen if a nuclear bomb was detonated in space?, Science Focus. Available at https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/what-would-happen-if-a-nuclear-bomb-was-detonated-in-space/
• Robert Krulwich, A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space, All Things Considered on NPR (July 1, 2010). Available at https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2010/07/01/128170775/a-very-scary-light-show-exploding-h-bombs-in-space and video at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5-Rf3E9JP4
• Videos of the Starfish Prime Explosion:
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZoic9vg1fw
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFXlrn6-ypg

Electromagnetism

• Magnetic Confinement Fusion:Radiation, University of Calgary Energy Education. Available at https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Nuclear_fusion_in_the_Sun
• Electromagnetic Radiation, from Climate Science Investigations, available at https://www.ces.fau.edu/nasa/module-2/radiation-sun.php
• Radiation, from Energy Education.ca. Available at https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Radiation
• Edward Gerjuoy and Robert C. Stabler, Self-Confinement of Plasmas, Physics of Fluids 7 (1964). Available at https://pubs.aip.org/aip/pfl/article-abstract/7/6/920/967069/Self-Confinement-of-Plasmas
• DOE Explains… Plasma Confinement, presented by the American Department of Energy. Available at https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsplasma-confinement
• Fire and Ice: How to Keep Fusion from Melting Metal Devices,  American Physical Society (November 9, 2020). Available at https://www.aps.org/newsroom/vpr/dpp/2020/11-09-2020-10.cfm

Misc.

• David Hambling, The Secret History of Plasma Weapons, Popular Mechanics (May 23, 2022). Available at https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a25091957/plasma-weapon-history/
• Yuri Gagarin: The first man in space, BBC News. Available at https://youtu.be/KANuFlelQ5k
• Yousaf M. Butt, The EMP threat: fact, fiction, and response (part 1), Space Review. January 25, 2010. Available at https://www.thespacereview.com/article/1549/1
• Thomas B. Cochran and Robert S. Norris, Nuclear electromagnetic pulse, Encyclopedia Britannica. Updated May 25, 2023. Available at https://www.britannica.com/science/nuclear-electromagnetic-pulse.
• Dave Mosher, Nuclear bombs trigger a strange effect that can fry your electronics - here’s how it works, Insider (June 7, 2017). Available at https://www.businessinsider.com/nukes-electromagnetic-pulse-electronics-2017-5
• Angela Libal, The Temperatures of Outer Space Around the Earth, Sciencing (June 1, 2023). Available at https://sciencing.com/temperatures-outer-space-around-earth-20254.html
• Metals - Specific Heats, Engineering Toolbox. Available at https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/specific-heat-metals-d_152.html
• Heat, Grandinetti Group. Available at https://www.grandinetti.org/heat.
• Solar Wind, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Space Technology 5, available at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/nmp/st5/SCIENCE/solarwind.html

Relevant Wikipedia Articles Consulted

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_particle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_mass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_chain_reaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_damage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_nuclear_explosion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boosted_fission_weapon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_protection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_radiation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_temperature

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamper_(nuclear_weapon) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_nuclear_explosions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion%E2%80%93fission_hybrid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Ignition_Facility

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiant_energy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casaba-Howitzer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) The recap music is “80's Synth Rock (Guitar Improvisation)” by Zombie-Fish.

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