Michael Swanwick's Periodic Table of Science Fiction

Californium

(251)

Nuclear Handguns

With its prodigious spontaneous fission rate, Cf-252 serves well as a

compact, intense, fission-spectrum neutron source, and is thus the only

isotope of californium of any significant industrial importance.

Militarily, however, it's Cf-251 that really kicks butt.

Here's why: As a rule, isotopes with even-numbered masses have high

spontaneous fission rates and are less fissile. Those with odd numbers

are highly fissile and have lower spontaneous fission rates. So the even

isotopes are good for radiation sources, the odd ones for explosives.

Cf-251 is extremely fissile, with a comparatively low spontaneous fission

rate, and an 800-year half-life. A critical mass of 1.7 kg can easily be

made into a .45-caliber projectile.

The world's only nuclear sidearm is the Screaming Eagle handgun,

manufactured by Remington under contract to the DOD. It is not an easy

weapon to master. Given the weight and considerable heat of the

projectile, the Screaming Eagle requires a brawny infantryman and a

"two-handed" stance. The exact yield of such a projectile is, of course,

classified. But industry estimates range from 0.5 to 40 kilotons of TNT

per bullet.

The range of the Screaming Eagle handgun is up to 1.5 miles. The blast

radius of its projectile is 2 miles. It is for this reason that an

infantryman rated to carry the Screaming Eagle should be not only brawny

but dumb as mud.

The End