Nuclear Railgun

A nuclear railgun is a kinetic weapon that uses the instantaneous energy released from a radiation-optimised nuclear fusion explosion to generate electricity via a radiovoltaic pack and deliver it to the rails of the weapon to accelerate the payload to hundreds of kilometres per second. The first nuclear railguns were designed and manufactured by CORE Group, but in the modern era many corporations manufacture them.

Power

Each self-contained nuclear railgun cartridge contains a small fission warhead, alongside lithium deuteride and encased in a material designed to maximise the production of neutrons. This is then surrounded by a radiovoltaic pack, which is designed to be consumed in the explosion as it produces its output power. The remaining energy and gases are contained within the spherical detonation chamber of the gun, which is made of nearly 50cm thick solid steel. The waste heat is absorbed by a water jacket built into the cell, which is instantly flashed to superheated steam and vented from the weapon.

When the energy is generated, it is directly fed to the rails of the weapon via superconducting links, accelerating the payload to its desired velocity. The projectiles are constructed in such a way to prevent fusion with the surrounding air while travelling at hypervelocity speeds. Despite the thickness of the detonation chamber; firing a nuclear railgun still creates a large amount of external radiation, rendering it a weapon only useful in active warzones and requiring the operator to wear an exosuit.

Ammunition

There are three main types of ammunition; D-Type, P-Type, and KS-Type. D-Type (decimator) cartridges are designed to completely obliterate a target in close proximity. They contain a large number of loose pellets that are designed to spread out, and are analogous to shotgun slugs.

P-Type (penetrator) cartridges are specifically designed to defeat forcefields. They include a tiny sabot, generally made up of tungsten, depleted uranium, or a proprietary composite material. The purpose of the sabot is to hit and destroy the target’s forcefield generator, after which it can be assaulted with conventional weaponry.

Finally, KS-Type (kinetic shredder) cartridges consist of a tightly packed grid of monomolecular carbon filaments that automatically unfold when fired. These are designed to hit a target and cleave its entire mass into cubes. They are primarily intended to neutralise potentially anomalous armoured or shielded lifeforms, when rendering them fully inert is desired and Guided-Ray Irradiator (GRID) systems are unsuitable or ineffective. Due to their intricate construction and exotic material composition, KS rounds are extremely expensive.