Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 504

Most of the time, inventions and creations are not accompanied by excited cheers or flashes of inspiration. Especially after the 20th century, as engineering technology becomes more and more complex, inventions and creations have long become team work. It is full of twists and turns and sweat.

As a scientist, Yuan Jialiu naturally has a deep understanding of this. Like many experts in atomic science, he spends half of his time in Atomic City and half of his time in Chang'an University every month.

As usual, after finishing his lecture at Chang'an University, Yuan Jialiu left the school by car. Dozens of minutes later, the car drove into a nearby military airport, and then Yuan Jialiu boarded a DC4 that he had been waiting for for a long time. airplane.

After he boarded the plane, the plane took off soon, and Yuan Jialiu was obviously the last passenger on the plane.

Although there were several other passengers sitting in the cabin, they did not speak to each other. According to confidentiality regulations, even people who also work in Atomic City are prohibited from communicating in non-work situations.

Like everyone else, after getting on the plane, Yuan Jialiu took out a magazine. The cover of the magazine was a mushroom cloud - this was a photo of the Soviet Union's atomic bomb test.

The seemingly ordinary photos made Yuan Jialiu feel unprecedented pressure. After all, this was the second country to possess an atomic bomb!

……

More than an hour later, the DC4 plane landed at the airport deep in the rainforest. The pilot parked the plane at the end of the runway. When the plane's engine stopped rotating, the cabin door opened.

Despite what he said, Yuan Jialiu still took the bus to the research center.

After getting off the plane, Yuan Jialiu just walked onto the concrete floor of the airport. A man ran towards him and they talked softly.

"Yes, Professor, according to Professor Hertz's plan, the first test will be conducted in three days. Professor, you came back just in time. They are still discussing the finalization."

"The principle has basically been established. What else is there to discuss? Just make steady progress."

"The driving device is also called the explosive lens. To achieve good detonation compression effect, we must carefully calculate each process and parameter... We can make the reflective layer into a cone and arrange it evenly on the spherical surface. In the explosive, the detonation The bombing wave uses an electronic detonator as a point detonator... In order to convert the spherical wave into the plane wave we need and evenly project it onto the surface of the main explosive, we can imitate the principle of optical refraction and use two types of high and low explosion velocity explosives to form an explosive. The lens, that is, the plane wave generator...the interface between the two is processed into a smooth hyperboloid with a cone angle of 53°. In order to maintain symmetry on the sphere, we installed 32 polygonal explosive lenses symmetrically on the surface of the main explosive...and this This is also the focus of this test - to conduct detonation tests and further improve the current design through detonation."

"After calculation, in our design, the core material is plutonium 239, the reflective layer is beryllium 9, and the core is composed of several layers of spherical metal shells. The center is a neutron source, that is, a beryllium projectile; Part 239 In order to fill the honeycomb paper structure, the third part is the plutonium-239 fuel spherical layer fragments, and then the beryllium layer is arranged close to the plutonium- surface; then the fourth part is the explosive detonation driving mechanism, which is the explosive lens; the outermost layer The fifth part is made of beryllium..."

"So the test time has been determined?"

Nodding slightly, Yuan Jialiu said.

When the commentator finished speaking, Hertz took a puff of his cigarette and turned his attention to Yuan Jialiu. Seeing that he was also smoking, the two looked at each other silently without speaking.

A few hours later, in the conference room of the Atomic City Research Center, the heads of nineteen project teams gathered together. They had different expressions. Many of them were smoking there, and the conference room was filled with smoke.

As the testers explained in the conference room, drawings were opened one by one. As the project leader, Gustav Hertz held a pipe in his hand and smoked from time to time. Four months ago, they finally completed the project. The drawing design of the atomic bomb is an extremely critical step. But turning drawings into products requires experimentation.

This detonation test seems to be just a detonation test, but there are many problems that have to be overcome. For example, the detonation wave generated by the explosive must be accurately designed to ensure detonation, which requires processing high-energy solid explosives into different shapes. Original dynamite. These explosives are not plasticine. They must be processed very accurately, and they are also very dangerous: the outer surface of the explosive directly determines the shape of the detonation wave. For example, some explosives need to be poured, some need to be pressed with a hydraulic press, and some need Carved by human hands...

After solving the explosive components, the next problem is the detonation signal: how to make all the explosive components detonate at the same time. This requires inserting more than 200 detonators on the missile body, and each detonator is connected to a signal wire. As the last key link in the detonation of an atomic bomb, the position of the detonator, the length of the wire, and the frequency of the signal pulse all have to undergo repeated demonstrations and tests.

In the past few months, dozens of project teams in Atomic City have been conducting research in this area. Now it is time to test the entire atomic bomb through detonation tests. After the meeting was over, Hertz deliberately stayed with Yuan Jialiu and asked.

"How is the situation in Factory 94?"

Factory No. 94 is not in Atomic City. This is to ensure the safety of Atomic City. After all, it was a factory that produced extracted plutonium.

"The first fuel rod was loaded three days ago, and the factory will soon produce the first batch of plutonium. The only problem is that the output is limited. With the current charge, it will not be available until the end of next year at the earliest. Get enough fill.”

Yuan Jialiu took a puff of cigarette and said with some boredom.

"Last month, the Russians tested their atomic bomb, and there's no telling how many countries will have it next."

"Yes, Britain, France, and possibly other countries all have their own atomic bomb plans. In the next ten years, the atomic bomb is likely to become a very common weapon. If a country cannot possess it, then all The threats we face will far exceed those at any time in history."

Hertz said after taking a drag on his cigarette.

"After all, the atomic bomb destroys everything."

His words made Yuan Jialiu frown even more tightly. After thinking about it, he said.

"What if the design of the bullet core is further optimized?"

"what?"

“Can we reduce the amount of plutonium used by further optimizing the design?”

After proposing this idea, Yuan Jialiu recalled the confirmed plutonium core design in his mind. Dozens of hexagonal pieces of plutonium made of plutonium-90 with an abundance of more than 239% are arranged in a form similar to the outer skin of a football. After the lens is detonated, the multiple pieces of fuel are compressed into a critical state and simultaneously squeeze the central projectile, releasing a large amount of free energy. neutron!

"Theoretically, the critical value of weapons-grade plutonium 239 is 16.45 kilograms. In practice, using a neutron reflector and implosion compression, the plutonium required is significantly less than this number. The current design uses 6.2 kilograms of plutonium. If By further improving the design of the bullet core, I think it should be controlled at about 4 kilograms, so that we can obtain enough plutonium in advance."

Yuan Jialiu's suggestion made Hertz fall into deep thought. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said.

"Yuan, the plutonium bomb must use a complex implosion design. Now our design is still theoretical. For now, I think we should adopt a conservative plan first, conduct a test, and then based on the test data obtained, The bullet core needs to be further optimized and designed, what do you think?"

There is no doubt that Hertz's suggestion is extremely sound, and re-inventing the design means that a lot of work has to be started from scratch. The final plan still chooses the old plan. After all, the source of the old plan can be traced back to the "Manhattan Project". The probability of success Very big.

A few days later, according to the plan, the first unloaded detonation test was carried out at the Atomic City test site. In the following days, many more detonation experiments were carried out, and the implosion nuclear bomb explosives were basically understood. Detailed parameters of the part.

At the same time, plutonium production at Element 94 Factory is also progressing in an orderly manner. As the new year is approaching, Nanyang's atomic bomb plan has finally made substantial progress...

(End of this chapter)