Did the U.S. ever try to construct a nuclear cobalt bomb?

Cobalt jacketed bombs were purely theoretical. The only “dirty” bombs ever developed were three stage weapons with a tamper of U-238. I'm not sure if any were ever actually deployed although some were built. read more

Cobalt jacketed bombs were purely theoretical. The only “dirty” bombs ever developed were three stage weapons with a tamper of U-238. I’m not sure if any were ever actually deployed although some were built. read more

A cobalt bomb is a standard nuclear weapon"salted" with ordinary cobolt. When triggered, the neutrons from the nuclear fission reaction will be absorbed by the cobalt and turn it into the radioactive isotope Cobalt-60. This isotope is scattered with the rest of the by products of the explosion, enhancing the nuclear fallout. read more

A cobalt bomb could be made by placing a quantity of ordinary cobalt metal (59 Co) around a thermonuclear bomb. When the bomb explodes, the neutrons produced by the fusion reaction in the secondary stage of the thermonuclear bomb's explosion would transmute the cobalt to the radioactive cobalt-60 (60 Co), which would be vaporized by the explosion. read more