Editing Cobalt bomb (section)

== History ==
The concept of a [[cobalt]] bomb was originally described in a radio program by physicist [[Leó Szilárd]] on February 26, 1950.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Armageddon Science: The Science of Mass Destruction|publisher=St. Martins Griffin |isbn=978-1-250-01649-2|first=Brian |last=Clegg |page=[https://archive.org/details/armageddonscienc0000cleg/page/77 77] |date=2012-12-11 |url=https://archive.org/details/armageddonscienc0000cleg/page/77}}</ref> His intent was not to propose that such a weapon be built, but to show that [[Nuclear weapon design|nuclear weapon technology]] would soon reach the point where a [[doomsday device]] could end human life on Earth.<ref name="Bushan">{{cite book | last = Bhushan | first = K. |author2=G. Katyal  | title = Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Warfare | publisher = APH Publishing | year = 2002 | location = India | pages = 75–77 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JelgwgVx-P0C&q=%22leo+szilard%22+salted+cobalt+nuclear+life&pg=PA75 | isbn = 978-81-7648-312-4}}</ref><ref name="Sublette">{{cite web | last = Sublette | first = Carey | title = Types of nuclear weapons | department = FAQ | publisher = The Nuclear Weapon Archive | date = July 2007 | url = http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq1.html#nfaq1.6 | access-date = 2010-02-13}}</ref>

The [[British nuclear tests at Maralinga#Operation Antler|Operation Antler]]/Round 1 test by the British at the Tadje site in the [[British nuclear tests at Maralinga|Maralinga range]] in Australia on September 14, 1957, tested a bomb using cobalt pellets as a radiochemical tracer for estimating [[nuclear weapon yield]]. This was considered a failure, and the experiment was not repeated.<ref name=arch>{{cite web|title=1.6 Cobalt Bombs and other Salted Bombs |url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq1.html#nfaq1.6|access-date=February 10, 2011}}</ref> In Russia, the triple "[[Nuclear weapon design#Clean bombs|taiga]]" nuclear salvo test, as part of the preliminary March 1971 [[Pechora–Kama Canal]] project, produced relatively high amounts of [[cobalt-60]] (<sup>60</sup>Co or Co-60) from the steel that surrounded the taiga devices, with this [[Nuclear fusion|fusion]]-generated [[neutron activation]] product being responsible for about half of the [[Gamma ray|gamma]] dose in 2011 at the test site. The high percentage contribution is largely because the devices primarily used fusion rather than [[Nuclear fission|fission]] reactions, so the quantity of gamma-emitting [[caesium-137]] fallout was comparatively low. A [[secondary forest]] now exists around the lake that was formed by the detonation.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Radiological investigations at the 'Taiga' nuclear explosion site: Site description and in situ measurements| doi=10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.04.003 |pmid = 21524834|volume=102|issue=7|pages=672–680|journal=Journal of Environmental Radioactivity|year=2011|last1=Ramzaev|first1=V.|last2=Repin|first2=V.|last3=Medvedev|first3=A.|last4=Khramtsov|first4=E.|last5=Timofeeva|first5=M.|last6=Yakovlev|first6=V.| bibcode=2011JEnvR.102..672R }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Radiological investigations at the 'Taiga' nuclear explosion site, part II: man-made γ-ray emitting radionuclides in the ground and the resultant kerma rate in air| doi=10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.12.009|pmid = 22541991|volume=109|pages=1–12|journal=Journal of Environmental Radioactivity|year=2012|last1=Ramzaev|first1=V.|last2=Repin|first2=V.|last3=Medvedev|first3=A.|last4=Khramtsov|first4=E.|last5=Timofeeva|first5=M.|last6=Yakovlev|first6=V.| bibcode=2012JEnvR.109....1R}}</ref>

In 2015, a page from an apparent Russian [[nuclear torpedo]] design was leaked. The design was titled "[[Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System|Oceanic Multipurpose System Status-6]]", later given the official name ''Poseidon''.<ref>{{cite news|title=U.S. calls for new nuclear weapons as Russia develops nuclear-armed torpedo|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/02/u-s-reverse-obama-decisions-catch-up-russia-china-rapidly-expanding-nuclear-capabilities-reverse-oba/302746002/|access-date=4 February 2018|work=USA TODAY|date=2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/22270/russia-releases-videos-offering-an-unprecedented-look-at-its-six-new-super-weapons|publisher=The Drive|date=2018-07-19|access-date=2021-04-27|title=Russia Releases Videos Offering An Unprecedented Look At Its Six New Super Weapons|first=Joseph|last=Trevithick}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://nationalinterest.org/feature/russias-new-super-torpedo-carries-the-threat-nuclear-14537|title=Russia's New Super-Torpedo Carries the Threat of Nuclear Contamination|first=Michael|last=Peck|magazine=[[The National Interest]]|date=2015-12-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/11/12/kremlin-controlled-tv-airs-secret-plans-for-new-submarine-launched-nuclear.html|title='Secret' Russian nuclear torpedo blueprint leaked|date=November 12, 2015|publisher=[[Fox News]]}}</ref> The document states the torpedo would create "wide areas of radioactive contamination, rendering them unusable for military, economic or other activity for a long time." Its payload would be "many tens of megatons in yield". Russian government newspaper ''[[Rossiiskaya Gazeta]]'' speculated that the warhead would be a cobalt bomb. It is not known whether the Status-6 is a real project or whether it is Russian disinformation.<ref name=BBC-Russia/><ref name=npr>{{cite news|title=Buried In Trump's Nuclear Report: A Russian Doomsday Weapon|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/02/02/582087310/buried-in-trumps-nuclear-report-a-russian-doomsday-weapon|access-date=4 February 2018|work=NPR.org|date=2 February 2018|language=en}}</ref> In 2018, the Pentagon's annual [[Nuclear Posture Review]] stated Russia is developing a system called the "Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System". If Status-6 does exist, it is not publicly known whether the leaked 2015 design is accurate or whether the 2015 claim that the torpedo might be a cobalt bomb is genuine.<ref name=npr/> Amongst other comments on it, Edward Moore Geist wrote a paper in which he says that "Russian decision makers would have little confidence that these areas would be in the intended locations"<ref>{{cite journal|title=Would Russia's undersea "doomsday drone" carry a cobalt bomb?|journal = Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|first=Edward Moore|last=Geist|date=July 3, 2016|volume=72|issue=4|pages=238–242|doi=10.1080/00963402.2016.1195199|bibcode = 2016BuAtS..72d.238G|s2cid = 147795467}}</ref> and Russian military experts are cited as saying that "robotic torpedoes could have other purposes, such as delivering deep-sea equipment or installing surveillance devices."<ref name=BBC-Russia>{{cite news |title=Russia reveals giant nuclear torpedo in state TV 'leak' |date=November 12, 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34797252 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=February 16, 2017}}</ref> The Poseidon nuclear weapon was later claimed by Russia's state television as real, described as being supposedly intended to destroy Britain and the Western Europe with a gigantic radioactive tsunami wave in the propagandist [[Dmitry Kiselyov]]'s public threat of nuclear annihilation.<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/11/15/putin-propaganda-24-hours-of-russian-media/</ref> Kiselyov's claim appeared to contain factual errors.<ref>https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a39879099/russian-state-tv-threatens-to-annihilate-the-uk-with-1600-foot-tall-nuclear-tsunamis/</ref> Later, another Russian propagandist, [[Vladimir Solovyov (TV presenter)|Vladimir Solovyov]], issued a similar threat claiming that the Poseidon system could destroy the entire continental United States.<ref>https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1924448793677758937</ref>