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65 years ago today, the Soviet Union tested the Tsar Bomba - the most powerful nuclear weapon or weapon of any kind ever constructed and tested. It yielded the equivalent of 50 megatons of TNT. (en.wikipedia.org)
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[–] 3 points 1 week ago (1 child)

I'm trying to remember the exact details, but if I recall they actually used some kind of shielding in the core or something that made it less powerful than it could have been.

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 1 week ago

    In theory, the bomb would have had a yield over 100 Mt (418 PJ) if it had included the natural ^[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_uranium] uranium tamper^[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamper_(nuclear_weapon)] which featured in the design but was replaced with lead^[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_design#Designs_with_lead_tampers] in the test to reduce radioactive fallout.

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    [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    I'm not sure anything significant was gained. Bet global cancer rates went up in proportion though.

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