| Webster's Online Dictionary |
| Expressions | Domain | Definition | |
| Implosion weapon | Military | 1: A device in which a quantity of fissionable material, less than a critical mass, has its volume suddenly decreased by compression, so that it becomes supercritical and an explosion can take place. The compression is achieved by means of a spherical arrangement of specially fabricated shapes of ordinary high explosive which produce an inwardly-directed implosion wave, the fissionable material being at the center of the sphere. (references) | |
| 2: (DOD) A weapon in which a quantity of fissionable material, less than a critical mass at ordinary pressure, has its volume suddenly reduced by compression (a step accomplished by using chemical explosives) so that it becomes supercritical, producing a nuclear explosion. (references) | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
