[98, Cf, Californium, 锎, (251)]

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.

Cf-252具有出色的自发裂变率，可作为紧凑的，激烈的裂变谱中子源，因此是具有任何重要工业意义的唯一同位素。

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

但是，从军事上来说，Cf-251确实令人头疼。

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.

原因如下：通常来说，当同位素质量为偶数时，其就具有较高的自发裂变率而不易裂变；为奇数时，则变得易裂变但自发裂变率较低。因此，偶数同位素更适合作辐射源，而奇数同位素更适合作爆炸物。

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.

Cf-251极易裂变，自发裂变率相对较低，半衰期为800年。 1.7千克的临界质量可以轻松地制成0.45口径的子弹。

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.

世界上唯一的核武器是雷明顿根据国防部的合同制造的“尖叫鹰”手枪。这不是一件容易上手的武器。考虑到子弹的重量和产生的巨大热量，“尖叫鹰”需要一个体格强壮的步兵以双手持枪姿势使用。当然，热量的测量仍是按传统方法来的。但业内估计，每发子弹产生的能量约合0.5至40吨TNT。

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.

尖叫鹰手枪的最远射程为1.5英里。其子弹的爆炸半径为2英里。因此，士兵如果要申请下来“尖叫之鹰”的使用权，不仅要够强壮，还要够蠢才行。