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Chapter 429 Atomic City (Third update, please subscribe)

Atomic City, as its name suggests, is a place where atomic energy is studied.

In fact, it was the place where atomic bombs were studied.

In order to ensure that atomic bomb research would not be leaked, in the past two years, more than 50,000 Japanese prisoners of war built this atomic city in the hinterland of the rainforest of Borneo. It is said to be a city, but in fact it is only a city with only more than 6,000 people. Just a small town.

In addition to the more than 2,000 garrison troops, there are thousands of Nanyang's top physicists, chemists and other experts in various fields gathered here, and new researchers are added every year.

"Three years ago, under your order, we started basic research on atomic energy. In the past three years, great progress has been made..."

Following Li Yi'an, Gustav Hertz, a Nobel Prize winner, is not only the chairman of the physics department of Nanyang University, but also the person in charge of the Nanyang nuclear program.

"Last year, we built Nanyang's and Asia's first uranium-graphite experimental reactor at Nanyang University and put it into operation. The reactor is capable of conducting a controlled nuclear fission spontaneous chain reaction. When starting the reactor, the core of the uranium block needs to be filled with a maximum amount of Dosage of plutonium blocks - 1 to 2 milligal. With the help of the experimental reactor, our researchers found a way to quantitatively monitor uranium and use its physical properties, and used this method to monitor the production of Element Factory No. 94 in the Atomic City. The reactor’s loading and unloading process undergoes quality review.”

The "Element No. 94" in Gustav's mouth is "plutonium". Compared with the production of uranium 235, the production of plutonium is simpler. This is why India, Korea and other countries chose plutonium for their first atomic bombs. . After all, the most difficult thing about nuclear weapons is not the design problem, but how to obtain fuel.

"The delivery date of the Element 94 factory project is set before July next year. Unlike the experimental reactor, the production reactor requires about 7 tons of uranium metal and more than 150 tons of graphite, and also has a forced reactor with a volume of several thousand cubic meters. Cooling system……"

Introducing the progress of Element 94 Factory, Gustav emphasized at the end.

"That's 52 years!"

Before that, under the deterrence of "nuclear peace", the Cold War should not turn into a hot war, but Nanyang also needs to prepare for that uncertain future.

"Before the end of 1952, sir, Dr. Wu's work was very effective. With her help, we made considerable progress. Combined with some of the information we obtained before, we now have basically mastered the theoretical design of the atomic bomb. .”

Li Yi'an was not surprised by this result. Nanyang's nuclear program gathered a group of Germany's best physicists and chemists, plus some intelligence information provided by "Hydra", allowing this work to be carried out Very smooth. The arrival of Wu Jianxiong also accelerated the research progress.

"Perhaps, eventually the schedule will be met, but things are not going that smoothly."

In Yuan Jialiu's restaurant, Yuan Jialiu put down the chopsticks in his hands and said.

"Oh? Uranium? What's the problem?"

Li Yian turned to look at Gustav and asked.

"We have a problem with uranium extraction,"

1952...

Although we have to wait another three years, we can still afford to wait for these three years. After all, the real changes should come in twenty or thirty years. With the development of science and technology, human beings will change in twenty or thirty years. What level of technology has it reached? It is unpredictable, and whether that height will bring any black technology and ruthless work is also unpredictable.

After being introduced by Gustav, Nielas and others, Li Yian spent a day visiting this atomic city. After he had a basic grasp of the progress of nuclear weapons research in Nanyang, he did not return to Chang'an immediately. , but went to a friend's house. Now Yuan Jialiu and his wife are both in Atomic City. Although they are still teaching at Nanyang University, they spend almost one-third of their time here.

"According to our calculations, if everything goes well, we will obtain enough plutonium by the end of May Day."

"In the Nanyang nuclear plan, the atomic bomb is only the first step, followed by atomic energy power stations. In this case, uranium has a wider range of uses, so in terms of raw material extraction, we must put uranium first Bit."

Then Yuan Jialiu continued to explain,

"Because the content of uranium-235 in natural uranium metal is only 0.711%, in order to increase the uranium-235 content to more than 90%, uranium hexafluoride must be repeatedly passed through the porous separator thousands of times. To obtain 1 kilogram of highly enriched uranium, it is necessary It consumes 175 to 220 kilograms of pure natural uranium and about 60 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy to provide the power required by the compressor motor." That is, the gas diffusion method, and building a plant that uses the gas diffusion method to enrich uranium is a Extremely complex engineering and technical problems. When solving this complex problem, mistakes or difficulties are bound to be made in the development of technical equipment, especially porous separators.

"Although the tubular filter projects developed under the leadership of Hertz have achieved great success. However, according to calculations, the concentration of enriched uranium obtained through gas diffusion method does not exceed 75%, but the uranium concentration rate required for uranium bombs should not be low. At 90%. In order to enrich uranium to the concentration required for nuclear charges, we also need to build a special electromagnetic device. Just copper alone requires at least six to seven thousand tons. Such an expensive cost is economically important to Nanyang. It’s definitely a very heavy burden.”

Li Yian was surprised by Yuan Jialiu's judgment. He did not expect that he would consider this matter from an economic perspective first.

"Sir, you have mentioned to the outside world more than once that the most important thing for Nanyang now is the economy. Jialiu has calculated that just the gas diffusion plant and the electromagnetic refinery will require an investment of at least 200 million yuan. Economically speaking, In terms of cost, it is very expensive. It may even drag down the economic development of Nanyang."

Wu Jianxiong also said on the side. The experience of the United States tells them that all scientific research is based on the economy. After all, scientific research requires a large amount of funds to support it.

Economy is the foundation of scientific research!

"Yes, your concerns are right."

Li Yian nodded and said.

"Is there any good way?"

"Now the project team I lead is studying the centrifugal method. We have made some progress so far, but the entire project will still take time to complete. If this method is used, the cost of obtaining uranium 235 will be lower."

"The centrifugal method you mentioned was introduced by Hertz. He mentioned that Americans don't seem to be optimistic about this method."

"The Americans are not optimistic about it because there is a problem with their thinking."

Mrs. Yuan, who participated in the Manhattan Project, further explained on the sidelines.

"They thought it was too difficult to make a large centrifuge, so they finally turned to the gas diffusion method to obtain U-235. This method took up a lot of space, was complicated, and was costly. Jialiu studied the centrifuge method seriously, and he It is believed that there is no need to build a large uranium centrifuge. Small centrifuges can be used, but the same effect can be achieved by using hundreds or thousands of them working together. It only needs to be invested in sufficient quantities. In this way, each machine can add a small amount The production of U-235 is concentrated and the content of U-235 is slowly increased. Moreover, these machines must be continuously operated for several years, which is not only economically cost-effective, but also technically difficult."

After listening to Mrs. Yuan's explanation, Li Yian finally came to his senses.

Isn't this the uranium centrifuge that is often referred to in later generations? In another world, there is always news about Iran restarting uranium centrifuges. This method is indeed the most cost-effective method.

"Jialiu's idea is very good. You can definitely try it."

Li Yian asked after thinking that Hertz had not mentioned this method before.

"Jialiu, do you need me to do something?"

In fact, what needs to be done is very simple, which is to stop the construction of the gas diffusion plant. After all, it is an investment of hundreds of millions of yuan. Once the uranium centrifuge is successful, all the factories worth hundreds of millions of yuan will be wasted.

"Zhiyuan, Nanyang is not a big country like the United States or Russia. We don't need to take two paths at the same time. With plutonium bombs, we can first solve the problem of having or not having them, and then we can take our time with uranium bombs. After all, Nanyang is a small country. Many things must first consider the economy!”

Yuan Jialiu's suggestion was very tactful. In fact, it was to remind him that Nanyang is a small country and there is no need to read the big picture.

Indeed, uranium bombs are atomic bombs, and plutonium bombs are also atomic bombs. There is no need to pursue both paths simultaneously;

After thinking for a while, Li Yian nodded and said.

"I know how to do it!"

(End of this chapter)