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NKorea blast likely less powerful than hoped: expert
Seoul (AFP) May 28, 2009 The atomic bomb which North Korea tested Monday was probably less powerful than hoped because it was detonated incorrectly, according to one expert citing seismic data. The explosive, while larger than the first test in October 2006, was still far short of the expected yield of a crude Hiroshima-type bomb, according to Jeffrey Park, director of the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies. "More than likely this means North Korea tried and failed to get a simple plutonium bomb to detonate correctly," Park wrote in an article on the website of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Park said most estimates of the Richter magnitude were in the low half of the 4.5-5 range "so it seems likely that the yield was four kilotons or smaller." While that was much larger than the 2006 test, it still fell far short of an expected 12-20 kiloton yield of a crude Hiroshima-style device, Park wrote. "For comparison's sake, the first nuclear tests of all other nations that are self-announced members of the nuclear club had larger yields than this latest North Korean test." Park said that compared to bomb technology based on uranium 235, "building a plutonium-based bomb represents a technical challenge because the critical mass can blow apart in a split second before the detonation reaches max efficiency." Even an inefficient nuclear weapon is "nothing to dismiss," Park said. "But one should be mindful of the technical challenges North Korea still faces in carrying out the threats implied by its deliberate pairing of its explosive test with test missile launches." Other experts have also estimated the power of Monday's underground blast at around four kilotons, or 4,000 tons of TNT, compared to less than one kiloton for the first test. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
China finding it harder to support NKorea: analystsBeijing (AFP) May 28, 2009 China has long been the main ally of North Korea, but as it assumes a greater role in international affairs, Beijing will find it more difficult to defend the isolated regime, analysts say. North Korea's nuclear test this week and its threat to attack US and South Korean ships has infuriated the international community, which leaves China with less room to stand by Pyongyang's side, they say ... read more |
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