A type of radiation which was the Federation considered to be theoretical until 2379, when it was detected aboard the Reman vessel Scimitar. Shinzon had managed to develop a method of producing and controlling thalaron for weapon purposes. The unique properties of thalaron make possible a "cascading biogenic pulse", an energy discharge which can expand almost without limit depending on the radiant intensity of the radiation. Any living being caught within the discharge undergoes a rapid and catastrophic change, becoming almost rock-like - a process which is of course instantly fatal. Non-living material is not affected.1Shinzon developed at least two different versions of the device; one was a small and highly portable unit which could be easily carried by a single person. It produced a discharge capable of enveloping a large room. The Romulan Senator Tal'aura, an ally of Shinzon, smuggled one of these devices into the Romulan Senate chamber to assassinate the entire senate as part of Shinzon's coup.1
The second version was built into the Scimitar - indeed the ship was in large part a flying thalaron generator weapon intended to be capable of enveloping an entire planet. Shinzon likely intended to use the device against Earth, but was forced to try and capture Captain Picard first in order to gain the transplant material he needed to correct his own genetic defects. When the Scimitar was disabled during a battle with the Enterprise-E, Shinzon tried to use the thalaron weapon against the Starship. The device was destroyed before it could fire when Lieutenant Commander Data fired his phaser into the thalaron generator.1
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