Chapter 1664 Killing Little Superman

"It seems that the plutonium-239 plan proposed by President Cyric was really a shortcut!" Heisenberg said to Hahn as they walked.

When it came to the choice of nuclear weapons, Cyric first decided on the plutonium-239 plan. At the time, he didn't seem to have much feeling, but now he realizes Cyric's wisdom.

Compared with direct combustion to obtain plutonium, the centrifuge method is really expensive!

How much does it cost? The nearby power station is enough for almost all the people in Germany. Now, just supplying these centrifuges is actually just right! Consuming the country's electricity to enrich the nuclear raw materials is the reason why few countries in later generations can cross the nuclear threshold.

If it is used as a raw material for a nuclear reactor, it only needs to be enriched to 50 to 60 percent. Therefore, some countries can obtain the raw material for a nuclear reactor. However, nuclear weapons must be enriched to 99 percent, almost All are uranium-235, and the difficulty of this is exponentially increasing.

It is conservatively estimated that relying on our own centrifuges, it will take at least two years to work before we can produce the raw materials for a nuclear weapon.

While communicating, the two walked out of the underground centrifuge separation factory here.

"Yeah, we have enough plutonium-239 to produce. Now, our last problem is to determine the critical mass."

Hahn said.

This is a professional content. The interior of an atom is quite empty. If the nucleus of an atom is compared to a football, the space of an atom is definitely much larger than the entire football field.

Fission occurs under the impact of neutrons. At the same time, there will be neutrons in the products of the impact. Moreover, one fission will generate three or four neutrons, which means that once the fission starts, It can proceed spontaneously, because the neutrons of the product will hit other nuclei and continue to induce nuclear reactions.

In this way, one neutron hits the nucleus, forming a fission reaction, releasing four neutrons, four neutrons hitting four nuclei again, generating four nuclear reactions, and sixteen neutrons will be hit, so the exponential increase, In a short period of time, a large number of atomic nuclei are fissioned, and a huge amount of energy is released.

This is the atomic bomb.

However, the interior of the atom is quite empty. If the volume of the atom is not large enough, there will be a result that the neutron has not yet hit the nucleus, and as a result, it will fly out from the inside.

The volume of the entire nuclear material that can continue to react is called the critical volume, and the corresponding mass is called the critical mass.

This thing is not enough through theoretical calculation, it must be measured in experiments.

Heisenberg nodded: "Yeah, the measurement of critical mass is urgent, have you found someone?"

There is no doubt that this kind of experiment is quite dangerous, and the candidates for the experiment must be carefully selected.

Hahn nodded: "We have selected seven people from the volunteers to form a measurement team. Among them, the operator is borne by Slotin. His reaction is the fastest, and he also has excellent psychological quality."

Heisenberg carefully took the information handed over by Hahn. The topmost was the code name of the entire test project, scratching the dragon's tail.

The name alone is enough to reflect the danger of this project. It is like scratching the tail of an evil dragon. Once the dragon is angered, a slap will kill you.

Slotin, nicknamed by people, is a dead little superman.

He died many times, and he did not die many times, so he got such a title.

Slotin, a Canadian, was an amateur boxing champion at school. Before he finished college, he took the friendship of revolutionary comrades and traveled thousands of miles to Spain and participated in the Spanish Civil War. As a result, like George Orwell, he saw the ideal he pursued, which is simply too ridiculous. .

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal. This is absolutely the best irony. The fruits of the revolution were ultimately usurped.

Slotin woke up. Like Orwell and others, he was captured in the final battle and then started a new life in Germany.

He quickly settled into his new life, he had a great time in Germany, he became a test pilot for the German company Henschel, he had a lot of fun, all the dangerous subjects, he could fall at any time The dead subjects were all tested by him.

As a result, he also gained the trust of Germany. If he is a spy, there is no need to risk so many deaths to engage in intelligence. After all, it depends on the cost.

He has experienced the risk of death. In the test flight alone, there were more than 20 times, and each time he saved the danger. Therefore, he finally won the title of a deadly superman, and he was extremely satisfied with this title.

He likes to explore, and just before coming to the secret base, he planned to climb the Alps with his bare hands. As a result, after layers of screening, two years ago, he was recruited to participate in this top-secret project in Germany.

Slotin's resume was in Heisenberg's hands. Heisenberg saw the last page and said, "Let him try it. If the experiment is successfully completed, I will ask the Führer to get him the Holy Aryan's favor. Honorary title."

base, central area.

The entire nuclear program is too huge, so, like the Manhattan Project in the United States, it is divided into two areas, the inner and outer areas, with different levels of secrecy. Some technicians on the periphery do not know what projects they are engaged in.

For example, in a power station, they think they are the technicians of the power plant.

Internally, they only know one aspect of the content they are in charge of, but they don't know everything.

If there is a traitor, at most only one detail is known, and only Heisenberg and Hahn are in control of the entire project.

Slotin was very interested in this task. In a laboratory in the central area, after intensive preparations, the experiment was about to begin.

"This is the devil's core." Slotin looked at the experimental device in front of him, and the fire of his love came out of his eyes. To him, this thing was too magical!

In front of him are two hemispheres. The outside of these two hemispheres is made of beryllium, and the inside has a core of plutonium. Also two halves, inlaid on the two outer hemispheres.

If you use a metaphor, it is like an egg, cut in half, the outer beryllium is the egg skin, and the inner plutonium is the egg yolk.

The plutonium inside is all that has been burned in the nuclear reactor so far, a full 6.2 kilograms! Now, it is used to carry out a series of nuclear tests. If it is installed directly according to the design plan, it may be an atomic bomb directly.

In fact, the steps of the experiment are very simple. Gradually approach and approach the two hemispheres, insert a screwdriver into it, pry it open, and insert shims of different specifications to find the distance relationship between them. is very easy.