The Tsetse was a small American nuclear bomb developed in the 1950s that was used as the primary in several US thermonuclear bombs and as a small stand-alone weapon of its own.

The Tsetse had a boosted composite core which used 2.25 kg Pu-239, 1.4kg U-235 and 6g Tritium.^[1] The nominal yield was 10 kilotons. The design was shared with the UK where the anglicised version was known as Tony.^[2] The difference between Tsetse and Tony was in the high explosives used. The UK considered the PBX 9404 too shock sensitive and replaced it by EDC-11. This however reduced the nominal yield to 8.5 kilotons.^[3]

The Tsetse primary was used in the US B43 nuclear bomb, W44 nuclear warhead, W50 nuclear warhead, B57 nuclear bomb, and W59 nuclear warhead, according to researcher Chuck Hansen.^[4]

After deployment of the B43 two problems were identified in the primary. In 1961 Los Alamos scientists concluded that the primary was not one point safe under all conditions. A long series of tests was needed to develop a safe version.
The second problem was related to tritium aging. To investigate a lifetime extension of the B43 an aged B43 was fired. The test resulted in half the yield. This was quite a shock as it affected not only the B43 but all similar weapons.^[5][6] The solution was to more frequently replenish the tritium supply.^[6]
This problem was apparently shared by the Python primary designs.

Characteristics of these weapons are:

Based on this information it can be assumed that the Tsetse design itself corresponds to the size of the W44 warhead, 13.75 inches diameter and 25.3 inches long, with a weight of around 170 pounds.

See also[edit]

• List of nuclear weapons


• Teller-Ulam design


• Python primary

References[edit]

Notes

Bibliography

• 
  AWPC (1959). AWPAC/8/5 (Report)..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
  


• 
  Hansen, Chuck (1995a). The Swords of Armageddon. VI. Chukelea Publications.
  


• 
  Hansen, Chuck (1995b). The Swords of Armageddon. VII. Chukelea Publications.
  


• 
  Hansen, Chuck (2001). "Beware the old story". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 57 (02): 52–55. doi:10.2968/057002015.
  


• 
  Miller, G.H.; Brown, P.S.; Alonso, C.T. (1987). Report to Congress on stockpile reliability, weapon remanufacture, and the role of nuclear testing (Report).
  


• 
  Moore, R. (2010). Nuclear Illusion, Nuclear Reality: Britain, the United States and Nuclear Weapons, 1958-64. Springer. ISBN 9780230251403.