Ads
related to: plutonium 240 pit boss
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The plutonium-only core, with its high background neutron rate, had a high probability of predetonation, with reduced yield. [13] Minimizing this probability required a smaller mass of plutonium, which limited the achievable yield to about 10 kt, or using highly pure plutonium-239 with impractically low level of plutonium-240 contamination.
Plutonium-240 (240 Pu or Pu-240) is an isotope of plutonium formed when plutonium-239 captures a neutron. The detection of its spontaneous fission led to its discovery in 1944 at Los Alamos and had important consequences for the Manhattan Project. [3] 240 Pu undergoes
Weapons-grade plutonium is defined as being predominantly Pu-239, typically about 93% Pu-239. [24] Pu-240 is produced when Pu-239 absorbs an additional neutron and fails to fission. Pu-240 and Pu-239 are not separated by reprocessing. Pu-240 has a high rate of spontaneous fission, which can cause a
Apr. 22—The head of U.S. Strategic Command in rounds of congressional testimony this week described renewed plutonium pit production efforts as vital to the nation's nuclear arsenal and, as a ...
Feb. 19—Los Alamos National Laboratory reached what federal officials say is a key milestone in developing its first plutonium pit that can be placed in a nuclear warhead as it seeks to produce ...
240 Pu undergoes spontaneous fission at a small but significant rate (5.8 × 10 −6 %). [1] The presence of 240 Pu limits the plutonium's use in a nuclear bomb, because a neutron from spontaneous fission starts the chain reaction prematurely, causing an early release of energy that disperses the core before full implosion is reached. This ...
“Cleanup at Los Alamos is long delayed,” Coghlan said, adding that annual spending for the plutonium pit work has neared $2 billion in recent years while the cleanup budget for legacy waste is ...
A faster gun was suggested but found to be impractical. So too was the possibility of separating the isotopes, as plutonium-240 is even harder to separate from plutonium-239 than uranium-235 from uranium-238. [141]