jan 20, 1956 - The Cobalt Scare

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The Cobalt Scare (1956):

The cobalt scare began in 1950 when renowned nuclear scientist Leo Szilard described the idea of a “Cobalt bomb” otherwise known as a salted bomb. He verbalized the possibility of a bomb with large and long-lasting radioactive properties. He had no intention for this to become a possibility, in fact, Leo actively advocated for this to never become a reality. But many in the nuclear arms race found this intriguing. Because of the half-life of cobalt-60 (5.27 years), it was considered extremely dangerous. It is extremely radioactive and would linger long enough that there would be no possibility of survival in bunkers. The high risk of this bomb earned it a place among the “doomsday weapons”.

Although still a scary possibility, there is no record of an effective large-scale cobalt bomb being produced, there were small tests done by the British in 1950 and the Soviets in 1970. The Soviets supposedly had a tragic accident. While interesting for a short time the incredible upside of wiping out the entire world was enough deterrent to end all public study of these bombs.

-Abraham Musty

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