Jim Yanik wrote:

"Dan Welch" wrote in news:3fd7c4ad$1_2@mk-nntp-
1.news.uk.worldonline.com:

The theory is that if you put a cobalt sheath around a nuclear
weapon you get lots of rather nasy cobalt 60 in the
fallout zone. The doomsday merchants would have you believe this
could wipe out all life on earth. The reality is nasty to be sure
but not quite that bad.

Keith

Cobalt bombs were to be extremely DIRTY enhanced-fallout bombs,Cobalt-60
being a hi-level radioactivity isotope. I don't know what the half-life is
for it,though. Reasonably long,I suppose.

According to
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/resourc...pdf/cobalt.pdf, 5.2 years.

See also http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...1111.Ph.r.html
for the potential effects of Goldfinger's fictional, but quite nasty,
cobalt/iodine weapon on the contents of Fort Knox, KY.

/------------------------------------------------------------\
| George Ruch |
| "Is there life in Clovis after Clovis Man?" |
\------------------------------------------------------------/

It's used for food irradiation sources in the US.