# Nuetron Bomb **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2001, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuetron-bomb/82516 "2001-09-19T02:36:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuetron-bomb/82516/1 "2001-09-19T02:36:44Z")
Having followed proper protocol by doing a search, and getting nothing, which surprised me, I ask; how does a nuetron bomb work? My buddy’s opinion is that it is a viable option in Afghanastan. Personally, I feel it would be a PR disaster, and we can be just as destructive without it. an Lay waste to an area, then occupy it a couple of days later. I have heard that it acts sort of like a microwave oven in that it boils things that have water in them, like living things. I also hear that, although it is less powerful than modern nuclear bombs, it is still way more deadly than what was dropped on Japan in WWII. I remember talking about it in High School back around 80-81. Our Gov’t teacher, a known liberal, said that it sounded like a “neat little weapon.” ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuetron-bomb/82516/2 "2001-09-19T02:42:20Z")
You didn’t find anything when searching because you spelled “neutron” wrong. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=61177](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=61177) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=65717](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=65717) ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuetron-bomb/82516/3 "2001-09-19T04:03:19Z")
All neutron bombs are reported to be dismantled. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2001, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuetron-bomb/82516/4 "2001-09-19T06:46:10Z")
Sigh… A neutron bomb was designed with a specific mission in mind. Throughout the cold war the Soviet Union mantained a significant armored threat towards western Europe. Meaning they had way more tanks than we did. The purpose of the so-called ‘neutron bomb’, more accurately called an enhanced radiation weapon, was to use the intense blast of neutron radiation to penetrate the Soviet tank’s heavy armor. Like regular atomic bombs they can be made of varying yield (i.e. power). Once the cold war ended neutron bombs became a weapon without a viable mission.