How small can u make a nuclear device like bullet size? or grenade size?

Answer 1

Depends on what you mean by a nuclear device.

There is a minimum size for a device that actually undergoes a nuclear fission explosion, but it is much larger than what you are expecting. The Army used to have a 280 mm shell that delivered a 1 kiloton blast by artillery.

Of course, if you have some powdered plutonium hanging around and are game, you could load it into a grenade-type device. I'd make sure that I had plenty of life insurance first and that it was paid up; the radioactivity will do you in before it does anybody else in. Shielding against its effects would diminsh its effectiveness as a WMD.

Answer 2

It depends on what kind of nuclear material you're dealing with. You need what's called critical mass. That's enough of the stuff in one place where the spontaneous decay turns into a runaway reaction. The more radioactive the substance, the smaller the critical mass needs to be. But this generalization depends on the type of radiation being emitted.

Then, there's the time you have. The longer you wait, the more the sample has decayed, and you need more of it to go critical.

Now don't go blowing anything up.

Answer 3

even from the fastest moving chemical and phyical reactions we aresorely limited to the the cubic meter size and larger reactions for nuclear propagation devices.

and yes, you are being reported to the proper authorities that will follow your lead into why you ask such things.

Answer 4

This is the Department of Homeland Scurrility! By asking that question, you are in violation of the "Patriot Act". You have the right to piss in your pants and to name all your terrorist friends, even if they aren't terrorists. Do you understand your rights?