Chapter 137 Discovery of Fission

"General Cyric, the direction you specified is indeed correct!" At this time, in an office at the University of Berlin, several people were in high spirits. They wore glasses and looked like full scholars!

Now, it's Hahn, one of Germany's most famous chemists, who is in his fifties this year, his hair is starting to turn gray, and his spirits are fine at this time.

As a scientist, what he wants most is to win a Nobel Prize, and now, Hahn seems to have seen the Nobel Prize beckoning to him!

Of course, not only Hahn, but also his assistant, Strassman, also contributed greatly to this discovery!

What to find? The most important discovery of the twentieth century! The fission of the nucleus!

Historically, this was an accidental discovery.

In the history of 1938, the scientific community has already made such a discovery that some beta radionuclides are produced after uranium is irradiated with neutrons, but many scientists believe that these are transuranic elements.

Only Hahn and Strassman, after careful identification of the nuclear reaction products, are sure that one of them is radioactive barium. What does this mean? The uranium nucleus was fissioned and turned into a new nucleus!

In Einstein's theory, the fission of the atomic nucleus will be accompanied by the loss of mass and the release of energy!

For this contribution, Hahn was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry!

And now, two years earlier than in history, they have made this discovery! This is thanks to a meeting that Cyric gave to these scientists half a year ago!

At the meeting, Cyric explained his emphasis on nuclear physics and pointed out some directions.

However, many people disagreed with Cyric's words.

When did a soldier come to intervene in the scientific world, young man, do you know how atomic nuclei are formed?

Many people have a prejudice against Cyric, after all, Cyric has no prestige in the scientific community.

Only Hahn listened, took his assistant, and did a lot of experiments. Finally, he affirmed that Cyric's statement was correct. Bombarding the uranium nucleus with slow neutrons can fission!

This is a discovery that is enough to shock the entire scientific community!

Cyric was called out late at night for this reason. At this time, almost all the experts in nuclear physics in Germany came over!

"First of all, I would like to congratulate the two of you on your amazing discovery." Cyric rubbed his eyes and said to Hahn and his assistant, who were elated: "At the same time, for the sake of Germany, I hope you can keep this discovery of your own for the time being. , has not been published publicly.”

"Why?" Suddenly, Hahn was stunned.

"For Germany," Cyric said, "I believe everyone knows what this discovery means. Nuclei can be fissioned and can release a lot of energy. If the energy is released smoothly, then It will bring convenience to our life, for example, it can be a source of electricity, and if it is released violently in a short time, it is a weapon."

In later generations, how did the United States begin to study nuclear weapons? At first, it was found that all the academic papers on nuclear physics disappeared. As a result, the guys like Einstein couldn't sit still. They realized that Germany may be studying nuclear weapons!

So, they wrote to Roosevelt asking to study the nuclear bomb secretly, and as a result, Germany gave up and the United States succeeded.

And now is the first moment. For example, even the fission of the atomic nucleus has not been discovered yet. If this secret is kept from now on, then Einstein and others will not notice anything.

Germany, from now on, will be secretly developing it!

"We have endured for more than ten years, and we will never continue to endure." Cyric said: "Perhaps, you are not interested in politics, but I would say that only with the strength of Germany will we have a future. , If other countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, succeed in creating this atomic weapon, then it will be our doom."

Cyric, who came from later generations, of course knows a lot of things. There are many reasons for Germany's failure to develop an atomic bomb. The sabotage of these scientists in front of them must be regarded as one aspect, and the wrong direction of research is another aspect. .

And now, they must not be allowed to continue on the old path!

"Our current research has two goals. In peacetime, nuclear energy can be released smoothly to serve our country and people. In wartime, let it become a Spartacus sword hanging over the enemy's head! Cyric continued: "Everyone present is a hero of Germany. Although you have to be unknown now, your deeds will be written into our textbooks in the future and become a household name."

"I have always believed that it is not politicians but scientists who change history!" Cyric continued: "Science is the driving force for the development of this world, and we have opened the door to the utilization of atomic energy!"

With agitation and instigation, Cyric hoped that his painstaking efforts would bear fruit.

"General Cyric, don't be too optimistic." At this moment, the well-known scientist Heisenberg, the veteran of the German scientific community, spoke: "Now, only the fission of uranium nuclei is observed in the laboratory. There is still a long way to go before practical application.”

At this time, Heisenberg had put away his previous contempt, and solemnly explained to Cyric: "First of all, we need a lot of uranium raw materials. In nature, in uranium ore, the content of uranium 238 is the highest, and uranium 235 is not enough. To one percent, and we did experiments to prove that only uranium-235 can split."

If it was before, Heisenberg would definitely not talk nonsense with Cyric, but now, since Cyric has been confirmed correct, Heisenberg will also communicate with Cyric as a person in the scientific community.

Whether you want to build a nuclear reactor or a nuclear bomb, you need the purity of the nuclear raw materials to be high enough, and it is not so easy to enrich uranium 235 in uranium ore.

In later generations, if you want to use uranium for nuclear bombs, you need a centrifuge, which is to enrich uranium-235. This method is a huge investment, and the effect is very poor.

"Yes, this is a problem, but this problem is actually very easy to solve." Cyric picked up a piece of chalk, and on the small blackboard beside him, he swishly wrote that a later high school student would write The nuclear reaction equation: "Uranium-238 cannot split, but when it captures neutrons, it can become plutonium-239, plutonium-239, which is easily fissionable."

In contrast, making plutonium bombs is much easier than uranium bombs! Because this method no longer needs a centrifuge, it only needs to continuously burn in the reactor to burn uranium into plutonium, and that's it!