Nuclear Weapon Question

[Emperor Tippy]

What would happen if you fully contained a nuclear weapon detonation? Using shield tech, for example, to make a spherical shield around the bomb that contains all of the energy released in the chain reaction. I know that containment effects yield and I was under the impression that eventually all of the fissile material would be used up (the neutrons can't escape and thus every one continues the reaction), giving a far higher, and far cleaner final yield than a regular detonation.

I was talking to another person about this and we got to debating exactly what would happen and how much more effective the nuke would be, so I decided to ask your opinions.

[Jimbo-DR]

Thats a cool question. Unfortunately we can only speculate, and I'm not well versed in the theories behind shield technology to offer anything substantial, but my guess would be close to yours. Assuming that the shield causes particles to bounce back, the reaction would have to continue until all fissable material was gone, right? But what if the shields absorb the particles in some futuristic way, then would the explosion just go off normally and nothing else happen?

[Exiled Master]

What would happen if you fully contained a nuclear weapon detonation? Using shield tech, for example, to make a spherical shield around the bomb that contains all of the energy released in the chain reaction. I know that containment effects yield and I was under the impression that eventually all of the fissile material would be used up (the neutrons can't escape and thus every one continues the reaction), giving a far higher, and far cleaner final yield than a regular detonation.

I was talking to another person about this and we got to debating exactly what would happen and how much more effective the nuke would be, so I decided to ask your opinions.

If the shield was very close to the fissile material, I suppose you could get a more complete reaction. But if it was a lot bigger than that, forget it. That would be like playing billiards with bullets inside a stadium. Not bloody likely.

[Jimbo-DR]

If the shield was very close to the fissile material, I suppose you could get a more complete reaction. But if it was a lot bigger than that, forget it. That would be like playing billiards with bullets inside a stadium. Not bloody likely.

Yes but if the particles continued to bounce all around wouldn't they eventually hit every last particle even if it took thousands of years?

[akren]

I am not trained, nor famaliar, with the workings - practical, theortical or otherwise - of nuclur physics or atom reactions; but would assume either the effect would build up or dissipate eventually.

If using Ancient shield technology powered by a ZPM or similar power source; I assume, or @ least theorize, it would contain the effects of the blast, as well as any radiation that might be created from the fall out; presuming the mechanism to power the shield is itself shield/protected/survives the blast (if located inside the shield bubblwe/blast area itself), or (if power from outside) if the shield is extend around the denotation area in question, i assume the raidtion & necular fallout would be minimal (@ leats until the shield is dropped)?

As for the atomic particles bouncing around the place, wouldn't all that pent up energy make a good 're-actor' (if it could be harnessed as such ) of shorts to use as power source (just a thought)?

I find discussions like this fun, fascinating & annoying; as people like :Carter: understand this way better & are way smarter than me (for crying out loud!) when it comes to stuff like this. . . .

[Lord batchi ball]

Interesting question.

IMO variation of the shield would make all the differance.
If you had like the Ori shield it would just get bigger
If you had a Go'uld variation I think that the particles bouncing off the Shield would produce more energy and more energy from friction and then the shield would fail and create a super massive explosion, but the yield would depend on how long the Shield holds.
This kind of sounds like the big bang theory or a better thing is that maybe a creation of solid substance, if the shield does not fail and all the radition does not escape reacting with the particles it might create somthing besides a huge explosion.

[freyr's mother]

Wouldnt you just end up destroying the device that creates the shield?

[Jimbo-DR]

Wouldnt you just end up destroying the device that creates the shield?

Well I suppose for the purposes of the discussion that the shield itself is generated from somewhere else, and we might as well assume that the shield is nearly perfect and doesn't let out any radiation or energy. Otherwise the discussion becomes extremely complicated.

[Emperor Tippy]

If the shield was very close to the fissile material, I suppose you could get a more complete reaction. But if it was a lot bigger than that, forget it. That would be like playing billiards with bullets inside a stadium. Not bloody likely.

I was assuming that you had the nuclear device and around it (a centimeter or less from the surface of the device) was the shield.

I am not trained, nor famaliar, with the workings - practical, theortical or otherwise - of nuclur physics or atom reactions; but would assume either the effect would build up or dissipate eventually.

If using Ancient shield technology powered by a ZPM or similar power source; I assume, or @ least theorize, it would contain the effects of the blast, as well as any radiation that might be created from the fall out; presuming the mechanism to power the shield is itself shield/protected/survives the blast (if located inside the shield bubblwe/blast area itself), or (if power from outside) if the shield is extend around the denotation area in question, i assume the raidtion & necular fallout would be minimal (@ leats until the shield is dropped)?

As for the atomic particles bouncing around the place, wouldn't all that pent up energy make a good 're-actor' (if it could be harnessed as such ) of shorts to use as power source (just a thought)?

I find discussions like this fun, fascinating & annoying; as people like :Carter: understand this way better & are way smarter than me (for crying out loud!) when it comes to stuff like this. . . .

Yes, the shield generator would be outside of the shield and the shield is supposed to contain all of the energy (radiation) generated by the nuclear detonation. As for using it as a reactor, that is something I have thought of but it depends on how much energy you need to provide the shield with to contain the explosion. If you have to provide as much or more energy then it isn't worth it.

[Exiled Master]

Well I suppose for the purposes of the discussion that the shield itself is generated from somewhere else, and we might as well assume that the shield is nearly perfect and doesn't let out any radiation or energy. Otherwise the discussion becomes extremely complicated.

If the shield were perfect, there would be no way to know what was going on inside it. Light is a form of radiation too. And no sound is going to come out either.

[Ouroboros]

In theory though to contain the energy of this nuclear blast you would need a shield being powered by at least the same amount of energy, likely more when accounting for inefficiencies. Thus doing this is pretty much waste of time at least in so far as making a bomb or reactor out of it. If you've already got the energy to create this shield to contain this nuclear blast to get this energy, just use that initial energy you had for whatever you wanted to do.

[Emperor Tippy]

As I said, a good power source if you don't need as much energy powering the shield as you create in the explosion. But it has never been established either way if you need as much energy in the shield as you are defending against.

[Merlin's_Legacy]

If you note what happens on the show when weapons of any kind are fired at a shield, they hit the shield and stop while the shield sort of glows around the impact site. This implies that the shield is absorbing the energy directed at it, rather than deflecting it. Otherwise firing on a shielded vessel in the middle of a large-scale battle could be just as hazardous to your allies as to the target ship.

With that being the case, and shields absorbing the energy rather than deflecting it, the nuclear reaction should continue as it normally would but the energy would be absorbed or dispersed by the shield.

In the event that a shield was designed that actually reflected the energy back into the reaction, then yes, the explosion would proceed to the point o consuming all matter within the shield, not just the regular fissionable fuel. You've got to remember that a fission reaction spews out tons of neutrons and those can make other normally stable substances fissionable if they impact it with enough energy.

In that scenario, after a short while, you'd be left with a huge mass of elementary particles all flying around still gaining energy by impacting the shield. If enough energy was pumped in the elementary particle would begin colliding with each other with enough energy to split into their constituent quantum "particles". I don't really know what happens at that point, because you're still pumping energy into a "quantum plasma" although my guess would be that once the particles were broken down into their quantum states, the shield would no longer be able to contain them. I would think that even a shield that was capable of dumping energy into whatever it contained would still be dependent on quantum cohesion for the containment to work. There is also the possibility that the quantum plasma might be multi-dimensional and could just slip into hyperspace or some similar concept.

I do know, however, that if the shield were to be suddenly removed for the quantum plasma before it escaped then you would have a condition almost identical to a small-scale version of the "big bang" and the various quanta would immediately begin coalescing into various types of subatomic particles which would themselves begin randomly forming atoms of various elements, then molecules, on up the chain.

Would definitely be cool to watch.

[wolfax]

If you note what happens on the show when weapons of any kind are fired at a shield, they hit the shield and stop while the shield sort of glows around the impact site. This implies that the shield is absorbing the energy directed at it, rather than deflecting it. Otherwise firing on a shielded vessel in the middle of a large-scale battle could be just as hazardous to your allies as to the target ship.

With that being the case, and shields absorbing the energy rather than deflecting it, the nuclear reaction should continue as it normally would but the energy would be absorbed or dispersed by the shield.

In the event that a shield was designed that actually reflected the energy back into the reaction, then yes, the explosion would proceed to the point o consuming all matter within the shield, not just the regular fissionable fuel. You've got to remember that a fission reaction spews out tons of neutrons and those can make other normally stable substances fissionable if they impact it with enough energy.

In that scenario, after a short while, you'd be left with a huge mass of elementary particles all flying around still gaining energy by impacting the shield. If enough energy was pumped in the elementary particle would begin colliding with each other with enough energy to split into their constituent quantum "particles". I don't really know what happens at that point, because you're still pumping energy into a "quantum plasma" although my guess would be that once the particles were broken down into their quantum states, the shield would no longer be able to contain them. I would think that even a shield that was capable of dumping energy into whatever it contained would still be dependent on quantum cohesion for the containment to work. There is also the possibility that the quantum plasma might be multi-dimensional and could just slip into hyperspace or some similar concept.

I do know, however, that if the shield were to be suddenly removed for the quantum plasma before it escaped then you would have a condition almost identical to a small-scale version of the "big bang" and the various quanta would immediately begin coalescing into various types of subatomic particles which would themselves begin randomly forming atoms of various elements, then molecules, on up the chain.

Would definitely be cool to watch.

If what you say is true, then wouldn't it be like a star consuming its normal hydrogen fuel then the carbon fuel then ether it turning into a neutron object or worse a black hole forming.

[Emperor Tippy]

If one could contain the energy until the reaction was fully completed (pure energy) it would be interesting if you could shape the shield, turning it from a sphere into a cigar shape (with an opening in 1 end) and aimed at a target, all of that energy fired on a pencil thin beam at an enemy shield. What do you think would happen?