Dud or Fraud?
The North Korean blew up something underground, but the size of the explosion was not what would normally be expected for a first test of a nuclear device. Now we have to wait to find out if it was truly a nuclear explosion.
South Korea has already obtained a SAUNA [Swedish Automatic Noble Gas Analyser] and there will be upper atmosphere sampling missions with a WB-57 or similar aircraft looking for the traces of the noble gases, usually argon-37 and xenon-133, that indicate a nuclear event.
It could take a couple of months for the confirmation, so for now we have to accept the word of Kim Jong Il that he did it. [You can stop laughing now. Look at how many people believe the Shrubbery.]
2 comments
I always learn something when I read your blog and I consider that to be a very neat thing. Thank you.
I once watched the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces for the US, and the WB-57 missions once flew out of Eielson AFB in Alaska, where I was nominally stationed. Watching for nuclear testing was part of the job.