Bomb uranium

No The worst-case scenario for a nuclear power plant is the meltdown, which occurs as an uncooled nuclear reactor gets so hot that it melts to the floor of the containment building. Nuclear fuel is enriched with fissionable uranium-235 to at most 4 percent. The remainder of the fuel is nonfissionable uranium-238. As discussed in Chapter 4, to build a nuclear bomb, uranium-235 must be enriched to over 90 percent. 

Bombs, Uranium. Theoretical atomic or hydrogen bombs(See Vol l,p A499-L) encased in Uranium, which, on deton, would be transformed into deadly radioactive dust Ref Glossary of Ord(1959),44... 

As it turned out, the properties of Teflon were ideal for an immediate and important application in the development of the first atomic bomb. Uranium hexafluoride (LIF5), which was used to separate fissionable by gaseous diffusion (see... 

The use of larger particles in the cyclotron, for example carbon, nitrogen or oxygen ions, enabled elements of several units of atomic number beyond uranium to be synthesised. Einsteinium and fermium were obtained by this method and separated by ion-exchange. and indeed first identified by the appearance of their concentration peaks on the elution graph at the places expected for atomic numbers 99 and 100. The concentrations available when this was done were measured not in gcm but in atoms cm. The same elements became available in greater quantity when the first hydrogen bomb was exploded, when they were found in the fission products. Element 101, mendelevium, was made by a-particle bombardment of einsteinium, and nobelium (102) by fusion of curium and the carbon-13 isotope. 

One of the most significant sources of change in isotope ratios is caused by the small mass differences between isotopes and their effects on the physical properties of elements and compounds. For example, ordinary water (mostly Ej O) has a lower density, lower boiling point, and higher vapor pressure than does heavy water (mostly H2 0). Other major changes can occur through exchange processes. Such physical and kinetic differences lead to natural local fractionation of isotopes. Artificial fractionation (enrichment or depletion) of uranium isotopes is the basis for construction of atomic bombs, nuclear power reactors, and depleted uranium weapons. 

Another impetus to expansion of this field was the advent of World War 11 and the development of the atomic bomb. The desired isotope of uranium, in the form of UF was prepared by a gaseous diffusion separation process of the mixed isotopes (see Fluorine). UF is extremely reactive and required contact with inert organic materials as process seals and greases. The wartime Manhattan Project successfully developed a family of stable materials for UF service. These early materials later evolved into the current fluorochemical and fluoropolymer materials industry. A detailed description of the fluorine research performed on the Manhattan Project has been pubUshed (2). 

The First Reactor. When word about the discovery of fission in Germany reached the United States, researchers thereafter found that (/) the principal uranium isotope involved was uranium-235 (2) slow neutrons were very effective in causing fission (J) several fast neutrons were released and (4) a large energy release occurred. The possibiUty of an atom bomb of enormous destmctive power was visualized. 

The determination of critical si2e or mass of nuclear fuel is important for safety reasons. In the design of the atom bombs at Los Alamos, it was cmcial to know the critical mass, ie, that amount of highly enriched uranium or plutonium that would permit a chain reaction. A variety of assembhes were constmcted. Eor example, a bare metal sphere was found to have a critical mass of approximately 50 kg, whereas a natural uranium reflected 235u sphere had a critical mass of only 16 kg. 

Reduction of uranium tetrafluoride by magnesium metal has been described in detail (40,53). It is often referred to as the Ames process, since it was demonstrated at the Ames Laboratory in early 1942. The reaction is very exothermic and the reduction process is carried out in a sealed bomb due to... 

Fig. 4. Bomb reactor for the reduction of UF with Mg by the Ames process (capacity 144.2 kg uranium metal) A, steel cover flange with lifting eye B, bolt and nut C, top flange of bomb D, graphite cover E, liner of fused dolomitic oxide F, steel bomb, and G, charge, where represents steel, D liner, ...

Polychlorotrifluoroethylene was the first fluorinated polymer to be produced on an experimental scale and polymers were used in Germany and in the United States early in World War II. PCTFE was used, in particular, in connection with the atomic bomb project in the handling of corrosive materials such as uranium hexafluoride. 

Nuclear fission is also involved in nuclear weapons. To create a bomb, the concentration of the isotope uranium-235 must be increased to at least 85 percent from its natural concenti ation of only 0.7 percent. This increase ot concentration is difficult and expensive. In a typical nuclear reactor the uranium-235 concentration in the fuel is only 3 to 4 percent, and hence a nuclear reactor cannot explode like a bomb. In a nuclear bomb... 

Notice from the fission equations written above that two to four neutrons are produced by fission for every one consumed. Once a few atoms of uranium-235 split, the neutrons produced can bring about the fission of many more uranium-235 atoms. This creates the possibility of a chain reaction, whose rate increases exponentially with time. This is precisely what happens in the atomic bomb. The energy evolved in successive fissions escalates to give a tremendous explosion within a few seconds. 

For nuclear fission to result in a chain reaction, the sample must be large enough so that most of the neutrons are captured internally. If the sample is too small, most of the neutrons escape, breaking the chain. The critical mass of uranium-235 required to maintain a chain reaction in a bomb appears to be about 1 to 10 kg. In the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, the critical mass was achieved by using a conventional explosive to fire one piece of uranium-235 into another. 

As mentioned earlier, magnesiothermic reduction is carried out in a sealed bomb. This steel bomb (400 mm in diameter and 1000-1200 mm in height for about 100 kg of uranium) is provided with a 25 mm MgF2 lining, which is thin enough to permit the influx of... 

Thorium, uranium, and plutonium are used for many things, from medicine to atomic bombs. When these elements break apart, they release large amounts of energy. Chemists and physicists are learning to control this atomic energy and make it do useful work. 

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