The US thermonuclear design is based on Teller–Ulam
I get your point. But I only mentioned that the Chinese warhead design is quite different from the W88. Both are obviously Teller-Ulam designs. And yes, the position of the primary and secondary does not really matter in a T-U. Just that there are many variations and design optimization. The W88 in my opinion is still a well optimized T-U design. Combining compact size for great yield.
I just feel that China could do well to have 475kT W88 equivalent warheads. It'll put so much more punch into their MIRV-capable ICBMs and SLBMs.
I think Soviet thermonuclear bombs follow a different design template as opposed to true T-U. Its speculated to be the 'layer cake design'. This allows for the relative clean but super powerful 3-stage design like the Tsar Bomba. Though I kinda suspect these kinds of warheads are significantly bulkier than US T-U designs.
Chinese H-Bomb design is not based on Teller-Ulam but based on Chinese designer Yu Min H-bomb configuration design which is considered superior because need much less maintenance
“China had already struggled with deuterium and tritium to “boost” its weapons, or make more efficient use of fissile material. Yu Min described the process of miniaturizing the primary as “drawing near a precipice,” due to the difficulty of determining how small the primary could be and still drive the secondary. As of 1986, Yu Min reported that despite 10 years of research on miniaturization, the weaponeers still needed to weaponize the designs. According to Yu Min, “By the end of the 1980s they had completed their assignment to break through principles of new types of miniaturized primaries.” Chinese accounts relate that there are two kinds of hydrogen bombs currently in the world, one is Teller-Ulam [TU] configuration from the United States and the other is a "hypersensitive" configuration by Yu Min, an unique original hydrogen bomb configuration. IT is said that the hydrogen bomb design named the "Yu Min configuration", compared with the United States T-U configuration, is a configuration for which the cost and maintenance costs are relatively low, so it can be said that for the hydrogen bomb, Chinese technology is more advanced. It gives China the ability to maintain H-bombs in service.
Although atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs are both nuclear weapons, the two have different storage conditions due to different principles. The atomic bombs can be stored for long periods of time in a dry, constant temperature environment. The hydrogen bombs, due to the use of fusion materials, are very unstable and have a short life expectancy. The hydrogen bombs must be inspected, maintained and maintained regularly throughout their service. China's hydrogen bombs have adopted a more advanced and stable Yu Min configuration, basically eliminating cumbersome maintenance.
Since the 1970s, Yu Min played an important role in advocating and promoting a number of high-tech projects. He won the first prize of National Natural Science Award in 1982, the first prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award in 1985, 1987 and 1989, the "May 1st Labor Medal" in 1985, the "National Model Worker" in 1987, Guanghua Award 1992 Grand Prize.
Yu Min played a crucial role in the design of China's nuclear weapons, and is one of 23 recipients of the Two Bombs, One Satellite Achievement Medal, the country's top award to scientists contributing to China's nuclear and satellite projects. Yu Min won China's top science and technology accolade on 09 January 2015.”
The article is from this site but unfortunately the site has outdated security configuration and is considered not secure
