256
Index
Reactor
boron contamination, vii
criticality, 119, 146, 237, 238
plutonium production in, 119
trace isotope production in, 183
Reproduction factor, 119, 121, 123, 147
Rutherford, Ernest, 1, 3–6, 170, 176, 193,
196, 247
S
Soddy, Frederick, 3, 4, 170
Spontaneous fission
and implosion, 148
Bohr–Wheeler theory of, 20
half-lives, 148, 193
parameters, 25, 148, 240
Z 2 /A limit against, 20
Stopping power, 163–165, 239
Strassmann, Fritz, 6, 17, 18, 24
Supercriticality, 64
Surface energy (fission), 25, 240
T
Tamper
effect on nuclear weapon, xvi
infinite, 71
tungsten-carbide, 70, 71, 96, 97, 230, 231
Thermalization, neutron, 124, 127, 238
Transmutation, artificial, 1, 193
Trinity test
brightness of, 182
gamma rays, 6
yield, 103, 105, 171
Tungsten-carbide tamper, 70, 96, 97, 230,
231
U
Uranium
bare critical mass, 81
deformation energy curve for fission, 46
discovery of fission, 15, 17
fission characteristics of isotopes, 16
fission cross section for, 32–34, 55, 120
neutron capture cross section for, 183
V
Volume conservation, 41, 201, 205
W
Warmth, bomb core, 176
WC (tungsten carbide), 70
Wheeler, John, 20–22, 25, 34–39, 199, 200,
213
X
X-10 reactor, 146, 170, 249
Y
Yield
analytic model, 52, 81
numerical model, 67
predetonation, 155, 248
tamped core, simplified model, 106
238 U contribution to, 171
Z
Zirconium, deformation energy curve for
fission, 46
Z 2 /A limit against spontaneous fission, 20