Chapter 748 Progress of Nuclear Weapons

Involving the army in hunting hares was a proposition that Arthur had never thought of.

But think about it. Soldiers are also trained to hit fixed targets, and even more training to hit moving hares.

It is even more difficult to hit a hare than a fixed target, which may also help improve the soldier's hit rate.

As for the consumption of funds caused by large-scale organizing of armies to hunt hares, it is not a problem for Australasia at present.

It also happens to allow the army to conduct long-term training, firstly to train the army's combat capabilities in various terrains, and secondly to train the soldiers' marksmanship.

After thinking about it carefully and feeling that this method was feasible, Arthur did not hesitate.

Arthur asked William to go to the Ministry of Defense himself and let the staff formulate a plan to mobilize the army to hunt hares.

If the hare population can be effectively eliminated, it will be a feat and a credit to William.

Of course, if you can't effectively eliminate hares, you can still train an army. In short, there won't be much fault.

The reason why this matter was handed over to William was that, in addition to increasing William's prestige, Arthur also had a more important thing to do, which was to inspect the progress of the nuclear weapons research project.

For Arthur, nuclear weapons are the trump card weapons that he dreams of possessing, and they are also an important means to ensure the development and strength of Australasia.

As long as it can develop nuclear weapons ahead of the rest of the world, the next period of time when other countries do not have nuclear weapons will be the time for Australasia to freely use nuclear weapons.

After some relatively powerful countries have acquired nuclear weapons, such weapons are more of a deterrent and not a commonly used weapon.

Therefore, it is very important to develop nuclear weapons as soon as possible. If nuclear weapons could be developed before World War II, the subsequent war would be much easier.

Especially in the face of a crazy enemy like the island country, Arthur can use nuclear weapons unscrupulously and without any psychological burden.

It may not be possible to completely eliminate this nation, but if we just eliminate this country, it can actually be done.

Speaking of nuclear weapons, the production process of nuclear weapons has actually been very clear in later generations. But for Australasia now, because it is an explorer and pioneer in nuclear weapons, what it has to go through is actually more difficult and complicated.

More importantly, the development of nuclear weapons in the United States began after World War I. The development of nuclear weapons in Australasia began.

The era of research and development is different, and the difficulties are also different.

When the United States was developing nuclear weapons, the relevant nuclear theories were already mature. Competing with the United States in developing nuclear weapons was Germany.

But now, the theories related to nuclear weapons have not yet matured, and other countries have not even considered nuclear weapons-related concepts.

People still don't know that certain uranium elements in uranium mines can bring huge power and bring huge benefits to people.

The development of nuclear weapons requires two very important steps.

The first is to extract the real raw material for making nuclear weapons from a large amount of uranium ore, which is the famous uranium-235.

But don't think it's easy to do this. You know, the uranium-235 content in general uranium ores is only 7%, which is a very low level number.

That's it, the remaining 3% of uranium ore is almost all uranium-238, an element very similar to uranium-235.

The difference between the two is really not big. The same difference is that uranium 238 has a few more neutrons.

But the key to whether nuclear weapons can be made lies in these neutrons.

The reason why uranium-235 can release huge energy is that after uranium-235 absorbs low-energy neutrons, it also releases two neutrons during the fission process. The released neutrons are absorbed by other uranium-235, causing New fission releases new neutrons.

Such a cycle forms a complete "chain reaction", and the energy generated by each fission continues to accumulate. This is why nuclear weapons are so powerful.

Uranium 238 is different from uranium 235. After absorbing neutrons, uranium 238 will form uranium 23 material or energy with 147 neutrons. In this way, it silently swallows the neutrons and stays with the uranium 235. The neutrons aside Go out and go in at the same time, thus forming a kind of balance.

How to distinguish two very similar elements and extract a small amount of uranium-235 from a large amount of uranium ore is the first task for the nuclear weapons research project team.

The method currently used by Australasia's nuclear weapons research project team is gas separation.

Simply put, because of the difference in neutrons, the masses of uranium-235 and uranium-238 are also different.

After these two substances of different masses are converted into gases, the gases of different masses will slowly separate, with the heavier ones sinking and the lighter ones floating.

In this way, it will be easier to distinguish uranium 235 from uranium 238, and extract the uranium element that is truly suitable for making nuclear weapons.

But this is just a theory put forward by Einstein and Oppenheimer. There are still many difficulties in actual practice.

The first is how to gasify uranium ore.

This cannot be vaporized by simply heating. Uranium ore gasification requires a high temperature of 4131 degrees Celsius. How to achieve such a high temperature is a serious problem.

In addition, it is necessary to find a container that can withstand such high temperatures so that the gas after vaporization of the uranium ore can be preserved instead of letting it escape.

The high temperature is not a problem, but the research team has been looking for high-temperature-resistant materials for nearly a year.

In the end, Oppenheimer, who was new to the project team, proposed a plan to synthesize uranium compounds with a lower boiling point after research and discussions with Einstein.

This can be regarded as a trick in disguise. Since it is impossible to find a material that can withstand a high temperature of 4100 degrees Celsius, it is better to lower the temperature of uranium gasification to solve this problem in disguise.

Finally, after more than a year of searching by the nuclear weapons research team led by Oppenheimer and Einstein, they finally discovered that uranium hexafluoride, a compound synthesized from fluorine and uranium, not only has fewer isotopes but also has a low boiling point. It is theoretically a A substance that can easily separate two kinds of uranium.

But then, the problems that troubled Einstein and Oppenheimer came again. How to synthesize uranium hexafluoride?

You know, it is very difficult to synthesize pure uranium hexafluoride, and your life may be in danger if you are not careful.

This kind of experiment is no ordinary play house. The God of Death will not joke with these scientists, nor will there be any accidents just because of the importance of the project.

Uranium hexafluoride is very reactive and can easily react with hydrogen in the air to explode.

Even if it encounters a little water vapor, uranium hexafluoride can form hydrofluoric acid, a highly corrosive and toxic substance.

From this stage on, the development of nuclear weapons becomes extremely dangerous and deadly.

Previous research on uranium ore was only radioactive, and if the radiation protection was appropriate, it would not cause much harm to the scientists' health.

But things are different now. Once any mistakes are made in the experiment, it is likely to cause a large number of experimental personnel casualties, which is also a huge loss for Australasia.

In order to protect national secrets from being leaked, these technical experts who study nuclear weapons live alone in a small, confidential city, surrounded by military protection.

These experts are selected to ensure that they are scientists who are loyal to the country and the royal family. They faced such severe danger without any flinching, and Arthur was very satisfied with their performance.

Naturally, Arthur would not be stingy with the loyal ministers of these countries. The first is the salary of these scientists. Their income is more than twice that of ordinary scientists. Plus bonuses, their income is definitely among the best in the entire country.

Secondly, the state also has corresponding policies to subsidize and protect their families.

For all children of scientists, their education from primary school to university is free. Not only are various book fees waived, but even tuition and miscellaneous fees are directly waived.

This can also be regarded as showing these scientists that Arthur values ​​them. For these scientists who are willing to sacrifice everything for the country, Arthur will protect the interests and safety of them and their families at all costs.

After more than ten years, when Arthur came to the city where the nuclear weapons research team was located again, the development of nuclear weapons had reached the final stage.

At present, the research team has successfully synthesized uranium hexafluoride and is trying to separate as much uranium-235 as possible.

This actually means that the nuclear weapons that Arthur is obsessed with will soon be born. After possessing a sufficient amount of uranium-235, the research team can use this uranium-235 to create powerful nuclear weapons.

However, it is also a huge problem to separate enough uranium-235.

The current nuclear weapons research and development team has tried two methods, which are also the centrifugation method and the diffusion method that are more commonly used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons in later generations.

The centrifugation method uses the high-speed rotation of a centrifuge to separate gases of different qualities into different locations.

However, the centrifuge used to produce nuclear weapons needs to be able to generate a centrifugal force of one million times the gravity, and at the same time, it must be as corrosion-resistant as possible. This puts great demands on the centrifuge, and the centrifuge currently manufactured by the research team cannot fully meet the requirements. Requirements for producing large quantities of uranium-235.

Another method is the diffusion method.

The name is very appropriate. It actually allows the gas to diffuse quickly. Depending on its mass, the speed of gas diffusion will also be different.

Put uranium hexafluoride into a low-pressure container, the light gas will diffuse first, collect it, and then repeat this process to purify enough uranium-235.

Although this method does not require too advanced equipment, the efficiency of purifying uranium-235 is very slow.

Moreover, according to the calculations of Einstein and Oppenheimer, in order to produce reliable nuclear weapons, the purity of uranium-235 must be at least 80%. This also means that the two methods currently mastered by Australasia are actually both Not very reliable.

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