Physics of Nuclear Bomb

This essay outlines the important features of the fission bomb and covers the fundamental
concepts required to fully understand its operation.

Fission bombs rely on the exponential decay rate of condensed uranium-235 often referred
to as HEU( highly enriched uranium) and plutonium. This will occur so long as the chain
reaction involving the decay of the Ur-235 or Pu-239 and its subsequent release of high
speed neutrons is not put to an end by its own destruction. [1]
As later discussed, one of the most important factors in nuke preparation is the residence
time of the chain reaction. By maximising its magnitude, the degree of explosion is in turn
maximised to an extremum. [2]
That being the case, the most complex stage in the building in the building of an atomic
bomb is the acquisition of the raw materials required. To give an example, although only
between 50 and 60 kg of HEU and plutonium was required for the fission bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is estimated that 90 percent of the effort invested into the
Manhattan project was directed to figuring out its production [3]. Since then, this required
amount, although already minimal in volume relative to its destructive capabilities, has been
significantly reduced via more efficient design. This will be discussed later in the text.
Firstly, the conditions that must be met for a fission material to be at critical mass, a density
for which the decay is self-sustaining must be understood.
It should be obvious that a low density mass of Ur is of little danger, any decay, induced or
naturally occurring will produce neutrons that have little chance of finding any other nuclei
and starting a chain reaction. Physicist solved for this by creating, temporary, high pressure
environments with neutron reflecting walls, usually through the use of traditional
explosives. For fat man and little boy, the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, a
very simple procedure took place where one piece of uranium was fired ( like a cannon ball)
towards another inside a tamper [4]. This method, simple but inefficient was certain enough
to work that it wasn’t even tested before its final use.
The method today of the fission bomb ( as they are still used today as triggers for hydrogen
bombs ) is much more elegant. It involves a hollow sphere of fission material with a small
quantity of fusion material inside (tritium, deuterium [5]) called the initiator. This is in turn
surrounded by a tamper then a vacuum then the chemical explosives (HMX,RDX,TATB) as
shown in figure 1. It is called the implosion design.
The Uranium or Plutonium is in the shape of a hollow sphere, this not only makes it easier
for the chemical explosives to symmetrically crush the fission material but also allows it to
be crushed at higher speeds [5]. This may seem like a trivial matter but is of utmost
importance, consider the case in which the material is slowly crushed. As its density
increases reactions begin, slowing the compression until eventually the minimal amount of
reactions have taken place to produce enough energy to overcome the tamper and explode.
This method of detonation clearly will not make use of all the fission material in the device.
This is not ideal, it is the case that higher speed implosions lead to larger explosions. This
leads us to the purpose of the air gap between the high explosives and the tamper, it is
there to give time for the shockwave of the explosive to accelerate before hitting the
tamper, effectively it is just another means for a higher speed implosion.
As the fission material is crushed, high pressures and temperatures are produced causing
the fusion of the initiator ( the fusion material inside the sphere ). The fusion serves two
purposes, firstly it contributes to the overall power of the explosion and, secondly, it
initiates the fission reaction through the production of many high speed neutrons. [5]
Now, as has have stated, any fraction of a second is very important during the detonation of
a nuclear bomb, so much so that the Physicists leading there design came up with a new
informal unit of time called the shake, which is 10 nanoseconds long. All this to illustrate
that even enough time for 1 or 2 more generations of nuclei to decay can be responsible for
a significant chunk of the energy released in the final product, usually more than half of the
total energy [6]. This is where the role of the tamper is taken into consideration.
The tamper is a particularly heavy material used to slow down the expansion of the fission
material by those few very important shakes. As it turns out, trying to cage in the decaying
material is a futile attempt, but slowing it down, be it not for very long, has practical results
[5][7]. It is logical therefore that tampers tend to be made of very dense material. The
tampers sometimes also have the property to be reflective of neutrons, however this is in
practise not necessary as by the time the first generation neutrons have been reflected,
several generations of neutrons have been produced rendering there numbers insignificant.
That summarises a few concepts used in the making of atomic bombs, it should be
mentioned that the topic in question is significantly more vast and nuanced than might be
suggested in the document. Finally I thought I might conclude by noting that since there first
use in 1945 we’ve made fission bombs look like a Year 12 chemistry experiment compared
to the hydrogen bombs of today. It is curious to think why humanity built such a thing.
References
[1] Serber , R. “fast neutron chain reaction”, The Los Alamos Primer: The First Lectures on
How to Build an Atomic Bomb, pp10-15 ,university of California press , Oakland California
1992
[2] Cochran,T.B.Hydronuclear testing or comprehensive test ban, Washington DC ,natural
resource defence council, 1994
[3] Chenoweth, W.L. Raw materials activities of the Manhattan project on the Colorado
plateau,1997
[4] Serber,R. ”shooter”, The Los Alamos Primer: The First Lectures on How to Build an Atomic
Bomb, pp73-74 ,university of California press , Oakland California 1992
[5] Sublette,C.Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions , 2019,
http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/
[6] Serber , R. “energy of fission process” , The Los Alamos Primer: The First Lectures on How
to Build an Atomic Bomb, pp3-10 ,university of California press , Oakland California 1992
[7] Smyth ,H.D. The work on the atomic bomb The Official Report on the Development of
the Atomic Bomb Under the Auspices of the United States Government maple press ,York
Pennsylvania, 1945

Physics of Nuclear Bomb

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Physics of Nuclear Bomb

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Physics of Nuclear Bomb

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

This essay outlines the important features of the fission bomb and covers the fundamental

concepts required to fully understand its operation.

You might also like