Writing a book and need some help - Nuclear question

[Warners]

I'm working on a book and need some suggestions on a particular part of the story. Obviously, this is fiction, but I would like it to at least be BELIEVABLE. No aliens coming down and doing what we perceive as impossible. In the final part of the book, an older teen will be faced with the task of making a 140 yard shot across a river to take out a terrorist, who is guarding a suitcase sized nuclear device. Is there ANY even somewhat feasible way that the nuclear device could be disarmed? My first thought was to have it thrown into the river, shorting out the electronics. Pretty far fetched, right? Does anyone have any suggestions on how it might be disarmed? (the other option I'm exploring is to have it NOT be a nuclear device, but a decoy that is not really dangerous at all).

Thanks in advance folks,

Warner

 

[JustinJ]

This isn't really relevant to guns but cutting the wires to the detonators of the convential explosives would do the trick as would removing the power supply that initiates the detonation. Do you understand how a nuke works? Roughly you have a core of fissionable material encased in convential explosives sort of like an orange peel. The explosives are detonated creating an implosion that compresses the fissionable material. If just one part of the outer core of explosives were to be removed sufficient compression would not occur and it would then be a dirty bomb. There was a movie with Goerge Clooney where they did this but i don't recall the title.

 

[Sam1911]

Sorry but nuclear bomb technology is way off topic for THR -- especially this kind of question.