At 11:42 AM 9/20/04 -0500, J.A. Terranson wrote:

On Sun, 19 Sep 2004, Major Variola (ret) wrote:

...

(Remember the Hiroshima bomb was *not* tested, so sure were the scientists. Trinity

My understanding (and I am *positive* someone will correct me if I'm wrong) was that there was a shortage of both fissionable materials and appropriate [altimeter] fuse mechanisms, making testing a outside of enemy territory a losing proposition.

Fissiles were expensive, still are, but the design of U-gun is better (if you can afford the enrichment) because of U's lower spontaneous fission rate, ie fewer spare neutrons to spoil the fun. Even pure Pu-239, the result of short irradiation, has a problem with premature ejaculation.