Heard in a movie, The Fourth Protocol:

[Wilson Gray]

On Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 8:43 PM, Sarah <puellaest at gmail.com> wrote:
> As the critical mass of Pu-239 is ~24lbs, needing 200lbs, even for a dirty bomb, is at best ridiculous

Well, it was only a movie. The discussion was meant to be frightening,
not informative. Though, of course, the scientifically-naive may take
it as truth.

Ca, 1948-49, in ASF, I read a story in which Federal agents
inadvertently set off a chain-reaction, followed by a nuclear
explosion, as a consequence of stupidly bringing into contact a
critical mass of two 15-lb. blocks of Pu. I took that as fact for
years. However, in adulthood, I've sense ... uh, *since* ... been
informed by any number of people that that could never happen. The
heat generated by the chain-reaction would be so intense that the Pu
would instantaneously melt, thereby eliminating critical mass,
stopping the chain-reaction, and eliminating the possibility of a
nuclear explosion.

--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org