Big Chemical Encyclopedia

Chemical substances, components, reactions, process design ...

Articles Figures Tables About

Nuclear weapon materials

The neutrons in a research reactor can be used for many types of scientific studies, including basic physics, radiological effects, fundamental biology, analysis of trace elements, material damage, and treatment of disease. Neutrons can also be dedicated to the production of nuclear weapons materials such as plutonium-239 from uranium-238 and tritium, H, from lithium-6. Alternatively, neutrons can be used to produce radioisotopes for medical diagnosis and treatment, for gamma irradiation sources, or for heat energy sources in space. [Pg.210]

Cost and Value of Plutonium. The cost of building all U.S. nuclear weapons has been estimated as 378 biUion in 1995 dollars (24). If half of this sum is attributed to U.S. weapons-grade plutonium production (- lOOt), the cost is 1.9 x 10 /kg of weapons-grade Pu. Some nuclear weapons materials (Be, enriched U, Pu) also have value as a clandestine or terrorist commodity. The economic value of reactor-grade plutonium as a fuel for electric power-producing reactors has depended in the past on the economic value of pure 235u... [Pg.193]

HEU) or mixed oxide (MOX) fuel containing oxides of uranium and plutonium in commercial nuclear power reactors, in order to dispose of nuclear weapons materials. Other theoretical reactor concepts are also being investigated for disposal of actinides. [Pg.942]

See United States Executive Branch Report to Congress, Plan for Securing the Nuclear Weapons, Material, and Expertise of the States of the Former Soviet Union, 2003, pp. 47-57. [Pg.9]

National Research Council, Protecting Nuclear Weapons Materials in Russia, Washington, D.C. NRC, 1999. [Pg.52]

Detonation of an improvised or stolen nnclear weapon by terrorists is the worst-case radiological attack scenario (5). Althongh difficnlt to construct, due to requirements for sophisticated engineering and expertise, an improvised nuclear device could produce a yield similar to the Hiroshima bomb, with release or radiation, blast, thermal pulses, and radioactive fallout (1). At a minimum, a small nuclear detonation could cause damage equal or exceeding the September 11 attacks in New York City. Even if the nuclear detonation were unsuccessful, the conventional explosion associated with the device could cause significant environmental contamination with the nuclear weapons material, such as plutonium or uranium (1). [Pg.163]

Production of weapon materials The production rates of nuclear weapon materials have never been published therefore, they are estimated by the amounts of the long-lived nuclides in... [Pg.2542]

Radionuclides released from the production of nuclear weapon materials and from fabrication plants are not widely published. The exposures from nuclear materials production/ processing centers (Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Tomsk) in the Russian Federation were published, and the annual effective doses were 0.0054-0.11 mSv. [Pg.2543]

Because the vessel is sealed, there is no probability to use excess neutrons generated in the core to produce nuclear weapon materials. [Pg.752]

Pu (86 years) is formed from Np. Pu is separated by selective oxidation and solvent extraction. The metal is formed by reduction of PuF with calcium there are six crystal forms. Pu is used in nuclear weapons and reactors Pu is used as a nuclear power source (e.g. in space exploration). The ionizing radiation of plutonium can be a health hazard if the material is inhaled. [Pg.318]

Plutonium has assumed the position of dominant importance among the trasuranium elements because of its successful use as an explosive ingredient in nuclear weapons and the place which it holds as a key material in the development of industrial use of nuclear power. One kilogram is equivalent to about 22 million kilowatt hours of heat energy. The complete detonation of a kilogram of plutonium produces an explosion equal to about 20,000 tons of chemical explosive. [Pg.204]

The amount of HEU that becomes avadable for civdian use through the 1990s and into the twenty-first century depends on the number of warheads removed from nuclear arsenals and the amount of HEU in the weapons complex that is already outside of the warheads, ie, materials stockpdes and spent naval reactor fuels. An illustrative example of the potential amounts of weapons-grade materials released from dismanded nuclear weapons is presented in Table 7 (36). Using the data in Table 7, a reduction in the number of warheads in nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia to 5000 warheads for each country results in a surplus of 1140 t of HEU. This inventory of HEU is equivalent to 205,200 t of natural uranium metal, or approximately 3.5 times the 1993 annual demand for natural uranium equivalent. [Pg.188]

The recycle weapons fuel cycle rehes on the reservoir of SWUs and yellow cake equivalents represented by the fissile materials in decommissioned nuclear weapons. This variation impacts the prereactor portion of the fuel cycle. The post-reactor portion can be either classical or throwaway. Because the avadabihty of weapons-grade fissile material for use as an energy source is a relatively recent phenomenon, it has not been fully implemented. As of early 1995 the United States had purchased highly enriched uranium from Russia, and France had initiated a modification and expansion of the breeder program to use plutonium as the primary fuel (3). AH U.S. reactor manufacturers were working on designs to use weapons-grade plutonium as fuel. [Pg.202]

Most modem projectiles and virtually all missiles contain explosives. The plasmas that result from explosives are intrinsic to operation of warheads, bombs, mines, and related devices. Nuclear weapons and plasmas are intimately related. Plasmas are an inevitable result of the detonation of fission and fusion devices and are fundamental to the operation of fusion devices. Compressed pellets, in which a thermonuclear reaction occurs, would be useful militarily for simulation of the effects of nuclear weapons on materials and devices. [Pg.117]

The NRC also imposes special security requirements for spent fuel shipments and transport of highly enriched uranium or plutonium materials that can be used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. These security measures include route evaluation, escort personnel and vehicles, communications capabiHties, and emergency plans. State governments are notified in advance of any planned shipment within their state of spent fuel, or any other radioactive materials requiring shipment in accident-proof. Type B containers. [Pg.92]

Uranium-235 Enrichment. The enrichment of uranium is expressed as the weight percent of in uranium. For natural uranium the enrichment level is 0.72%. Many appHcations of uranium requite enrichment levels above 0.72%, such as nuclear reactor fuel (56,57). Normally for lightwater nuclear reactors (LWR), the 0.72% natural abundance of is enriched to 2—5% (9,58). There are special cases such as materials-testing reactors, high flux isotope reactors, compact naval reactors, or nuclear weapons where enrichment of 96—97% is used. [Pg.321]

Pu-239 is used as a fast reactor fuel, in nuclear weapons, and frequently in chemical research where production grade material of mixed isotopic content is suitable. Available enrichments range from 99.99+% to 97%. [Pg.452]

In a nuclear weapon, the fissile material is initially subcritical. The challenge is to produce a supercritical mass so rapidly that the chain reaction takes place uniformly throughout the metal. Supercriticality can be achieved by shooting two subcritical blocks toward each other (as was done in the bomb that fell on Hiroshima) or by implosion of a single subcritical mass (the technique used in the bomb that destroyed Nagasaki). A strong neutron emitter, typically polonium, helps to initiate the chain reaction. [Pg.839]

A particular focus of ourjoint efforts in the DOE work with Minatom has been to reduce the amounts of special nuclear material and to increase the security and accountability of the material that remains. Commercial nuclear power plants are key to the program, since that is where the weapons material is ultimately burned. ... [Pg.56]


See other pages where Nuclear weapon materials is mentioned: [Pg.201]    [Pg.116]    [Pg.175]    [Pg.605]    [Pg.605]    [Pg.121]    [Pg.2190]    [Pg.85]    [Pg.193]    [Pg.323]    [Pg.57]    [Pg.428]    [Pg.130]    [Pg.201]    [Pg.116]    [Pg.175]    [Pg.605]    [Pg.605]    [Pg.121]    [Pg.2190]    [Pg.85]    [Pg.193]    [Pg.323]    [Pg.57]    [Pg.428]    [Pg.130]    [Pg.179]    [Pg.210]    [Pg.232]    [Pg.323]    [Pg.69]    [Pg.43]    [Pg.399]    [Pg.364]    [Pg.817]    [Pg.879]    [Pg.883]    [Pg.1169]    [Pg.511]    [Pg.307]    [Pg.27]    [Pg.63]    [Pg.67]   
See also in sourсe #XX -- [ Pg.2542 ]




SEARCH



Nuclear weapons

© 2024 chempedia.info