Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Hafnium bomb
The Hafnium bomb is a hypothetical explosive device based on a metastable excited state of Hafnium-178 (Hf-178m2, half life > 10y, decay energy 2.5 MeV). While this excited state was known as a curiosity for some time, in the 1990s Carl Collins of the University of Texas at Dallas claimed to have discovered a method of inducing it to rapidly decay through exposure to x-rays. As x-rays of the required energy were relatively easy to produce, and the energy of the released gamma rays was far greater than the required energy input, this discovery had considerable applicability as a radiological weapon.
To date, the claimed effect has not been duplicated, casting doubt on the use of Hafnium-178m2 as a weapon component or power storage mechanism.
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