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To reduce the concentration of Pu-240 in the plutonium produced, weapons program plutonium production reactors (e.g. B Reactor) irradiate the uranium for a far shorter time than is normal for a nuclear power reactor. More precisely, weapons-grade plutonium is obtained from uranium irradiated to a low burnup.
PUREX (plutonium uranium reduction extraction) is a chemical method used to purify fuel for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. [7] PUREX is the de facto standard aqueous nuclear reprocessing method for the recovery of uranium and plutonium from used nuclear fuel ( spent nuclear fuel , or irradiated nuclear fuel).
Infrared absorption spectra of the two UF 6 isotopes at 300 and 80 K. Schematic of a stage of an isotope separation plant for uranium enrichment with laser. An infrared laser with a wavelength of approx. 16 μm radiates at a high repetition rate onto a UF6 carrier gas mixture, which flows supersonically out of a laval nozzle.
Plutonium hexafluoride is the highest fluoride of plutonium, and is of interest for laser enrichment of plutonium, in particular for the production of pure plutonium-239 from irradiated uranium. This isotope of plutonium is needed to avoid premature ignition of low-mass nuclear weapon designs by neutrons produced by spontaneous fission of ...
Plutonium(IV) oxide, or plutonia, is a chemical compound with the formula Pu O 2. This high melting-point solid is a principal compound of plutonium . It can vary in color from yellow to olive green, depending on the particle size, temperature and method of production.
Reprocessing the plutonium into usable fuel increases the energy derived from the original uranium by some 12%, and if the uranium-235 is also recycled by re-enrichment, this becomes about 20%. [6] Plutonium is only reprocessed and used once as MOX fuel; spent MOX fuel, with a high proportion of minor actinides and plutonium isotopes, is stored ...
The core tested in Ray used uranium low enriched in U 235, and in both shots deuterium acted as the neutron moderator. [18]: 260 The predicted yield was 1.5 to 3 kt for Ruth (with a maximum potential yield of 20 kt [19]: 96 ) and 0.5-1 kt for Ray. The tests produced yields of 200 tons of TNT each; both tests were considered to be fizzles. [12] [13]
Slightly enriched product from the S-50 thermal diffusion plant was fed into the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant. Its product in turn was fed into the Y-12 electromagnetic plant. The enriched uranium was used in the Little Boy atomic bomb used in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. In 1946, the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant became capable of producing ...