"Teller was looking at his plans, he had everything he needed and the time to complete the build. It looked like an unholy cross between a water heater and a spark plug. He had worked on this during the Manhattan Project, he called it the “super” when they had wanted him to complete the gadgets. The theory was that the “gadgets” were wildly inefficient in their use of fissile materials and that perhaps the core implosion could merely be the trigger for a much larger, more focused device. He had driven the van with the materials needed across the country, only taking a side trip to get the final ingredients and taking the time to steal the partially completed device as well. By now the authorities in Washington State would have noticed the man that Teller had shot but it would probably take days for them to do an inventory to figure out what was missing. By then it would be far too late."
Dear God--he's building an hydrogen bomb.
No he THINKS he is building an 'enhanced fission device' and he thinks it will work. I'm going to call PM's bluff on this one because we KNOW Teller was actually wrong on this one
Further and more significantly he did not, and had a compelling and well thought out argument on why a fission explosion could not be used to initiate a fusion explosion and did no believe such a device could be built. He took great pains and initially convinced the man who ACTUALLY suggested the idea to him, (as a tossed off question during their time as colleges with Enrico Fermi, (what's he doing in the US btw? the "talk" was on the subject of atomic warfare which was avoided by most researchers by government request to anyone outside the "US" community and pretty strictly adhered to, if Fermi leaves Italy then things go downhill there pretty near as OTL and for some reason he can't/won't go to Germany which is what he would do without Hitler as he really wanted to stay in Europe, he also had five different offers of employment in the US and choose the only one he'd been to during a guest lecture in 1936 and that invitation had almost not gone out to him) Teller actually convinced Fermi that it wasn't possible and only after much thought and a couple of months did Teller begin to suspect that it might actually work. He may be 'fascinated' by the prospects but as this effort will have some personnel issues, (most of the initially foreign scientists have far less reasons to go to the US and the various European nations have more reason to go out of their way to retain them) so Teller is likely a department head and the narrative puts him under Oppenheimer and directly in bomb design and construction. He has no time, (and no one has the patience) to indulge in definition work on the 'super' nor is there anyway to get math teams or computer time to refine the definition to a workable design. (No he can't get "lucky" either, the 'simple' design of the first h-bomb had a very powerful fission device surrounded by tons of cryogenic deuterium because they needed to guarantee a fusion reaction of ANY level to verify the computer calculations to have an idea on both the radiation and physical compression that produced the fusion. And since Teller's fusion fuel had always been highly optimistic (small), and as the fusion fuel was 'wrapped' around the fission device only a massive amount of fuel could guarantee a fusion reaction of any significance.
So there is no plausible way to have him build an H-bomb. What about a 'gadget' or enhanced gadget?
First of all there was a very good reason that the implosion device had to be tested, (and a number of reasons why sabotaging ONE would be a miracle let alone two!) before they could be sure they had a workable design. I noted that implosion devices are complex, and difficult and this is due both to the need to carefully design and then CRAFT the fissile material into the sub-critical sphere's and pit. The sub-critical spheres and pit were made in the shops at Oak Ridge from plutonium ingots shipped from Hanford, then these segments were shipped to Los Alamos for final finishing and assembly.
Teller here has ingots but no way to make them into the heart of a bomb. He has neither the skills, equipment or practical know how to do so.Further it was at Los Alamos where the mass' and pit had explosives and electrical expert engineers hand craft the implosion matrix of high explosives, (designed individually for each cores dynamics found from tests run before assembly) and the individually built wiring harness' that would detonate all the explosives in the exact patter to compress rather than blow the core apart.
(How hard can this be? Each segment (there were two, and outer and inner) of explosives had to be crafted in a specific shape and a complex and specially built wiring harness had to be built for each set of explosives. Electrical experts had to determine, design and build each harness to allow all the segments to explode at the right time which required segments closer to the initiator to actuallly delay until those on the opposite side o the sphere detonated.
All this took experts and specialists in skills and knowledge that none of the physitsts such as Teller posses. He can't build a working A-bomb either
Secondly he has 'stolen' the components which DUE to the Manhattan Project were at the time controlled and tracked pretty well which is NOT going to go away just because one aspect of the project was shut down. I don't care how much the politicians think this was a waste and what they say about funding and support the MILITARY let alone the entire physics community in the US will not let this go down without a fight. And while some of the higher ups in Germany "protested" working on such a weapon unfortunately for them by the late 40s competent and willing physicists were almost literally a dime a dozen due to the mid-30s uptick in interest in the field. They would be shuffled back into academia to teach and more willing participants recruited as the knowledge needed was no longer esoteric or limited to a small community.
Teller would have to steal most of the Los Alamos machine shop equipment AND assembly lab equipment to construct a working 'gadget' and while he spent most of his and his teams time, (and was allowed to do so as they had more than enough high level workers OTL but not this TL) working on possible "enhancement" concepts for his "supers" it was not until the majority of the organization was put onto the project that things finally began to come together.
Further it took significant time and effort with the most advanced computers of the day to come to a basic conclusion on how to actually ignite a fusion explosion during which, (as noted above) it was found that none of Tellers original concept were viable.
If they had, (as stated) Teller actually working on the 'gadget' design then he would not have had time to refine his basic ideas let alone the stuff that actually worked. It also wasn't "theory" that stated that the "basic" implosion bomb wasn't as efficient as it could be it was a known fact. The gun-type was even less efficient but it was vastly more simple to build and WOULD work barring obvious sabotage once the numbers were worked out. In fact the biggest issue was it could work TOO well which is why procedure for "Little Boy" did not put the explosive charges into the bomb body until just before arriving over the target.
I had this in another post but PM's pace kind or forced my hand.
The ONLY way Teller is going to build and detonate an implosion bomb is if "someone" knows what he's doing and is helping him along which even if you assume some actual 'conspiracy' of disgruntled project scientists is rather silly. The main problem is the implosion device was the 'best' path for a mid-level powerful bomb but the plutonium was a problem as there wasn't a lot AND it was expensive and hard to make. It was "worth" more an ounce than gold and treated as it was worth. Fort Knox would envy the security on the Hanford storage areas EVEN IF THE PROJECT WERE SHUT DOWN. No ifs, no buts, or discussion it was that valuable. Enriched uranium would be only slightly less for the same reason. Shall we guess how the Polonium was treated considering it was even harder to make and store than plutonium?
Now Teller could actually try and make a bomb from the plutonium but that makes some assumptions I'm not comfortable with. In that it takes almost as much planning and effort as needed with the implosion device but the actual materials set up is well within Teller's capability.
PM wrote:
Author's Note: I don't know how familiar you might be with Edward Teller but I recall him giving interviews where he was enthusiastically lobbying the US Congress for civil applications of hydrogen bombs. In short, this is someone you wouldn't trust with a box of waffle mix much less anything that could go boom.
No note that this was under Eisenhower's dubious "atoms for peace" program where the bombs would be used to dig canals and other 'heavy' construction projects which both the US and USSR were not only talking about but doing test shots for at the time? Teller was a fan of the 'super' and "H-bomb" its true and whole the most vocal and visible he was far from alone. His ego was such that he refused to share credit for its invention but there's a really good reason why it is officially known as the "Teller-Ulm" process. And the second half of that is currently (TTL) in Germany working on their 'super' program.
Teller specifically noted that his main hope was that the destructiveness of the hydrogen bomb would make nuclear war less likely and he, (again) was far from alone in that thinking as it became clear early on that the bomb was in fact far easier to make than initially thought. This was especially troubling to those working on them in various nations because, (and this is highly relevant in TTL) initial work with the gun-type required far more material than either an implosion device or super would and so the extraction and production systems were set up to handle and produce FAR more materials that would actually be used.
At this point the US (and Germany and England and France as the basic knowledge groups are not concentrated as they were OTL) have hundreds of tons of enriched uranium, tons of highly enriched uranium, hundreds of pounds of plutonium, several pounds of polonium on hand along with several production and research reactors in operation. Along with the necessary production and support infrastructure which are working on many aspects of nuclear research along with the bomb.
This is neither easy nor "safe" to simply shut down and put a few guards on till it's scrapped. There are medical, energy, and research programs going on in parallel with the bomb project. The Navy is primarily interested in energy and propulsion while the Army and Army Air Force, (i can't see a logical reason why they would be separate services in TTL, the A-Bomb was the main reason they 'split' OTL)were primarily interested in the weapons aspect they too had interest in the other areas. They would keep explaining the needs to Congress who could shut down the implosion bomb project, (and arguably throw Teller and Oppenheimer under the bus for public consumption) but if nothing else would easily construct and test a gun-type uranium bomb in the weeks between the last implosion failure and those Congressional hearings. Further they would parade in front of the committee hundreds of researches and scientist working on those other areas and if need be flat out state they would NOT be shutting down those research areas OR "abandoning" the materials because THEY are well aware of the dangers. (By the point where they can construct "test" gadgets they have already had first hand examples of the dangers of radiation exposure and the materials themselves so yes the military CAN in fact get away with letting Congress have a couple of sacrificial lambs to parade in public but not letting them 'shut down' the entire program.
The other downfall here is while Oppenheimer and Teller might be used in such a way they would not be allowed to roam around freely. If Congress insists on 'punishing' them as is suggested they will both be put in Federal Prisons where they will supposedly serve time. I say supposedly because unlike OTL since the US does not in fact know of the status of any other nuclear program TTL and that those programs HAVE to exist since the 'majority' of researchers in the area are from other nations those men will have to be kept under observation and if possible kept working on some aspects of the project no matter what Congress THINKS is going on.
For some odd reason, (actually because the civilian's got most of the 'official' credit) people forget that the military had high level scientists working right alongside Op and Teller who not only understood the theory but helped design and build everything from the uranium refining and enrichment facilities to the explosive ignition system to the bomb components themselves.
The idea that the whole project could fall apart from two failures and Teller possibly being a 'deviant' is borderline ASB material. Even if we assume that the FBI was put in charge of the investigation there are two separate military intelligence and investigation services that will be running parallel investigations which the Abwehr (or Hoover) can't control. And I will vehemently point out that the implosion bomb was KNOWN to be vastly more complex and likely to fail, whereas the uranium gun-type was so well understood and know to be workable it was never tested. And before someone suggests that the project could be told to 'pick-one' and drop the other the military is very much used to such decisions by policy makers who don't understand what's really going on.
So much so we have a rather "standard" (and pretty universal as it goes back to before the Romans) procedure to deal with it. In this case they say fine, the Army chooses the implosion bomb and the Navy will proceed with a uranium depth bomb and both will use the already shared Manhattan Program infrastructure.
What? The implosion device failed in two tests and Congress wants an investigation and heads to roll? Well that's really uncalled for as the implosion devices are a very small cost in the overall program costs and those costs are being shared by a few, (unrolls a 20ft long list of 'ancillary projects') other research and development programs who utilize the output of the project production and development infrastructure. While we're on the subject here are a half dozen experts to explain that while the devices didn't work this time the SHOULD have and there are only a limited number of reasons they might not have, with the majority being simple mechanical or electrical issues not related to the theory or design of the device itself. Oh and here's a short film of the Navy tests of its bomb design which while "wasting" a lot of materials the implosion device would not works quite well and can begin mass production anytime. Here also are some experts on the effects and possible ways to misuse or have accidents with the very expensive materials that have been produced for these devices. And while we're on the subject here are several dozen possible uses of those materials to DELIBERATELY cause death and destruction on a vast scale even if we NEVER get the implosion device to work*.
What? Teller is a "deviant" of some sort with "devices" in his basement and no witness' of the accused behavior and a marked change in his mental state which can be traced to his possibly being poisoned? (Yes if I understand PM correctly he was poisoned to make him more paranoid and that level of chemicals is going to leave a trace. Worse, even if Teller could be an pain such a treatment will affect his work noticeably and be grounds to assume it may be a mental condition. His level of involvement would automatically put him under government care and he's not going to be free to build a home-made H-bomb)
Oppenheimer could be accused of mismanagement, his civilian career could be ruined as suggested but keep in mind this was only done much later OTL when his organizational and expert skills could easily be replaced. Also keep well in mind that he will not be the only one openly defending the program even if he's the only one defending Teller and frankly that won't be the case. Teller wasn't easy to get along with but he had friends and those who disliked him in general but greatly respected his skills and abilities. The project workers socialized as did their families as the project progressed the lived full time at Los Alamos, (in government built housing with no basement btw) and would have had little opportunity or abililty to practice "deviate" activities as they generally were to busy.
Have more but I need to go as my back med has kicked in and I can't see the screen anymore. Post again tomorrow as soon as i can
Randy