The Physics of the Manhattan Project

01.01.2010

Englisch

0003642147089, 9783642147081

Springer Berlin

The Physics of the Manhattan Project

Bruce Cameron Reed

170

2

Gebundene Ausgabe

Preface Part 1. Energy Release in Nuclear Reactions, Neutrons, Fission, and Characteristics of Fission 1.1 Notational Conventions for Mass Excess and Q-Values 1.2 Rutherford and the Energy Release in Radium Decay 1.3 Rutherford’s First Artificial Nuclear Transmutation 1.4 Discovery of the Neutron 1.5 Artificially-Induced Radioactivity and the Path to Fission 1.6 Energy Release in Fission 1.7 The Bohr-Wheeler Theory of Fission: The Z2/A Limit Against Spontaneous Fission 1.8 Energy Spectrum of Fission Neutrons 1.9 Leaping the Fission Barrier 1.10 A Semi-Empirical Look at the Fission Barrier Part 2. Critical Mass and Efficiency 2.1 Neutron Mean Free Path 2.2 Critical Mass: Diffusion Theory 2.3 Effect of Tamper 2.4 Estimating Bomb Efficiency - Analytic 2.5 Estimating Bomb Efficiency – Numerical 2.6 Another Look at Untamped Criticality: Just One Number Part 3. Producing Fissile Material 3.1 Reactor Criticality 3.2 Neutron Thermalization 3.3 Plutonium Production 3.4 Electromagnetic Separation of Isotopes 3.5 Gaseous (Barrier) Diffusion Part 4. Complicating Factors 4.1 Boron Contamination in Graphite 4.2 Spontaneous Fission of 240Pu, Predetonation, and Implosion 4.3 Tolerable Limits for Light-Element Impurities Part 5. Miscellaneous Calculations 5.1 How Warm Is It? 5.2 Brightness of the Trinity Explosion 5.3 A Model for Trace Isotope Production in a Reactor Appendix A Selected -Values and Fission Barriers Appendix B Densities, Cross-Sections, and Secondary Neutron Numbers Appendix C Energy and Momentum Conservation in a Two-Body Collision Appendix D Energy and Momentum Conservation in a Two-Body Collision That Produces a Gamma-Ray Appendix E Formal Derivation of the Bohr-Wheeler Spontaneous Fission Limit Appendix F Average Neutron Escape Probability From Within a Sphere Appendix G The Neutron Diffusion Equation Appendix H Questions and Answers Appendix I Further Reading Appendix J Useful Constants and Conversion Factors

235 mm

15.5 cm