On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 2:59 PM, Kurt Feltenberger <xxxxxx@thepaw.org> wrote:

> I'm working on a piece of fiction and when I run the numbers on how many
> nuclear warheads the ship can carry, I come up with some rather large
> numbers. This leads me to posing this question to the group:

Side note, unless you're planning something like an Orion, with
propulsion via nuclear explosions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29

you're also going to need some sort of delivery system for the nukes,
and the delivery system will probably be substantially larger than the
nukes themselves.

Even the little Davy Crockett nuclear mortars, the delivery system
looks to be about 3-4 times the volume of the warhead.  IF you're
looking for an example of a minimal weapon, here you go:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_%28nuclear_device%29

> With the resources of a solar system similar to ours, how many nuclear
> weapons would it be possible to construct?

As others have point out, many.  To some extent, the answer also
depends on how big a boom you're expecting per weapon.

--

"Any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine
kook." -Alan Morgan