[EVA] [SPOILER?]The Kaji "Cluedo" Question - in a basement with silenced gun.

[Sebastian Palm]

Malebolgia wrote:
||| ---<snip>---
|||| In EoE, I think Seele sent the JSSDF, & the official orders were
|||| given by the prime minister to drop N-mines (Neutron bombs?) on
|||| Nerv.
||| ---<snip>---
||| That's another good question, does anyone know what kind of weapons
||| N2 mines are supposed to be?  They seem to be very powerful
||| weapons, but they also don't seem to be nuclear weapons.
|||      -Brian
|||
||
|| Yes it's interesting to debate about these bombs: don't forget that
|| the exact name is N2 (I suppose "square", sorry for mistake). So, it
|| means "double neutron"? As I know, neutron weapons are possible and
|| probably non-nuclear, with the unusual feature of killing peoples
|| with minus objects damage... But these are only rumors I heard; it'd
|| be nice to receive some good information by a technician.
||
|| - Marco Libra

Okay, I think it's time for a little lesson (puts on hat... :-)

"Neutron bomb" is the colloquial term for what in treaty-ese is called
an 'enhanced radiation warhead'. Basically, it's a fission bomb (basic
atom bomb), made in such a fashion as to make a small bang and a lot of
gamma and x-ray radiation. They were designed to be very small, enough
so as to be useful as artillery shells, and they were supposed to be
used on enemy tanks - the armor would not stop the radiation,, and thus
the crew would die, leaving a useless tank. Using them in cities and
such is not a good idea - concrete and other building materials would
soak up the gamma rays, and become radioactive themselves. As far as I
know, no large amounts of these were ever produced, because they were
banned by treaty very soon after the idea was first fielded.

If I remember the EVA story correctly, an N2 bomb would have the exact
opposite effect of a neutron bomb - big bang, no radiation. One way of
doing this, possibly, would be by making a fusion bomb that doesn't use
a fission reaction to start. (normally, the only way to start a fusion
reaction is to start with a fission, because of the extreme requirements
for fusion to start). Fusion reactions are a lot cleaner than fission,
mostly because the by-products of both successful and unsuccessful
fission are both toxic and radioactive, while fusion by-products are
among the most commonly occuring elements, and very few of them have
large enough nuclei to emmit radiation.

If anyone knows in their hearts that this is dead wrong, feel free to
correct me, it's been a while since I studied the matter...


Sebastian