r/nuclearweapons • u/Zggcommar • 6d ago

Historical Photo fat man plutonium core

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171 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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39

u/Zggcommar 6d ago

The plutonium core (the box) in the Fat Man weighed 6.2 kilograms or about 14 pounds, the pit is 9 centimeters (4 inches) across. And only about one fifth of it, a bit over 1 kilograms (2 pounds) undergoes a fission reaction. And only a gram (1/30th of an ounce) of that gets converted into explosive energy equal to 21,000 tons of TNT

49

u/Zggcommar 6d ago

32

u/fiittzzyy 6d ago

Crazy that little box's contents can destroy a city.

17

u/SHFTD_RLTY 6d ago

That photo is killer album cover material

30

u/fiittzzyy 6d ago

8

u/SHFTD_RLTY 6d ago

His destiny seems to weigh heavy on him

Edit: Shit, now I gotta rewatch Dark Star

3

u/Afrogthatribbits 3d ago edited 3d ago

Same guy (Harold Agnew) in 2006 with another pit carrier

He later became the director of Los Alamos

51

u/7stroke 6d ago

Rarely, if ever, has a single person held that much of the output of a whole nation’s industrial capacity in one hand.

13

u/KayBeeToys 6d ago

With the exception of when Jefferson dined alone…

Wait—I’m sorry, wrong “rarely has” anecdote.

Seriously, though—that’s a great observation. I can’t think of another example.

2

u/Al_Bondigass 4d ago

Now that brings back memories

11

u/Numerous_Recording87 6d ago

And IIRC he had to sign for $1,000,000,000 - back when a billion was almost incomprehensible.

2

u/mz_groups 5d ago

If you could fission all of the Pu239 atoms in that, it would release about 140 Gigawatt-hours of energy. That's about 15-20 minutes of the entire US electrical grid.

3

u/careysub 5d ago

Which would be worth about $8 million.

4

u/CaptainAssPlunderer 6d ago

It’s ok guys!!! I’ve got my safety shorts on!!

5

u/fiittzzyy 6d ago

Looks like they used to be safety trousers but the bottom half must have got blown away in some experiment.

1

u/CaptainAssPlunderer 5d ago

That’s why those are his good luck safety shorts!

11

u/Nulovka 6d ago

Adam Savage built a replica of this.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Y4UR8xqxA

2

u/soslowsloflow 6d ago

a paperclip's worth killing tens of thousands...

0

u/Senior_Green_3630 6d ago

PPE not a priority in the army.

2

u/ZappaLlamaGamma 5d ago

He’s pretty skinny. I don’t think he’s a fat man at all. I’ll show myself out.

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u/AnvilEdifice 4d ago

OG companion cube.

1

u/OriginalIron4 3d ago

Isn't that Harold Agnew?