... especially in regards to the handling of hydrogen for anyone interested in poking around the roots of the impractical "hydrogen as a motor fuel" concept.
It started with the hydrogen bomb.
The Untold Story of Building the First Megaton Thermonuclear Fusion Device: The Simple Element and IVY Mike
Abstract:
This report is a research and development engineer’s perspective on the fascinating story of the world’s first megaton-class thermonuclear device, IVY Mike (10.4 Mt). Few modern scientific endeavors have matched the complexity and breadth of scientific achievement in such a short amount of time as IVY Mike. This paper will take a look at the design, engineering, fielding, and execution of the world’s first megaton-class physics experiment by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and the birth of industrial liquid hydrogen use spawned by the Cold War effort. Although others have written on aspects of this technical history, they have not benefited from access to the original classified documents used by the present author. The present paper must necessarily omit some technical details that remain classified but represents the most comprehensive summary of the engineering and fabrication of the IVY Mike device in the open literature.
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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15361055.2025.2503035#abstract
The hydrogen bomb was "invented" at least three times, by the United States, the Soviet Union, and Britain. The greatest hurdle to overcome in building such a complex thing, of course, is knowing that it's possible.
The
hush hush nuclear secrets! disclaimer in both these articles is rather quaint. The biggest hurdle any nation wanting to build a nuclear bomb has to overcome here in 2026 is having the intellectual and industrial infrastructure to do it, or having allies who are willing to share that capacity.
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