Eden, Main Laboratory.
Richard walked in, sat in front of the circular experimental table, and glanced at a simple calendar placed on the table.
The so-called simple calendar is a scroll divided into twelve large grids from top to bottom, representing the twelve months of the year. There are almost thirty small cells in the large grid of each month, with different numbers such as one, two, three, four, and five written in them, representing each specific day in each month.
At this time, more than half of the cells on the scroll have been circled with a quill pen, which means that the date has passed.
Under normal circumstances, this was done casually in his spare time. Occasionally, Pandora would draw a few strokes with great interest. The old man Lich had tried it, but after one painting, he said it was boring and gave up.
The difference between the circles can be clearly seen on the scroll: most of the circles are very standard - these were drawn by him; a few circles are extremely standard, as if drawn with a compass - these were drawn by Pandora. Since Pandora studied mathematics in depth Later, he showed an amazing talent for image painting, and his hand-made drawings can almost reach the accuracy of drawing with tools. In addition, there is a lone circle that is flat - this is the handiwork of the Lich Old Man.
At this time, he saw that the latest circle had been drawn to the end of the eighth grid. But that circle was different from all the previous circles. It couldn't even be called a circle because it was square.
square
Richard looked at it and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. The thought flashed through him: This square pattern was definitely not drawn by him, and it was impossible for Pandora, because the twists and turns were not standard at all. In this case, only the lich old man Afu is possible. It seems that the other party has been a little idle recently.
A little free.
The thought passed away in a flash. After Richard was sure it was the old lich, he didn't think much about it and just kept the date in his mind.
September 1st.
"Today is September 1st, the first day of Liangyue and the beginning of autumn." After confirming the date, Richard said silently in his heart with some emotion.
If I remember correctly, the nuclear weapons research and manufacturing plan also started in the autumn - the autumn of last year.
To be precise, it was October - the Frost Moon - last autumn.
At that time, Joseph from the Deland branch of the Truth Society met with him and gave him the crystal ball used for the Truth Society's communication. It was during the meeting that he felt the corrosive energy on the other person's body, which turned out to be the remains of nuclear radiation. Step by step, he found the source of the nuclear radiation - the uranium mine outside the small town of Shambhala.
Then we acquired mines, built equipment, mined, refined and purified, and we got to where we are now step by step.
This long process took almost eleven months, almost a year.
This nearly year-long expenditure was completely worth it so far, because he obtained a sufficient amount of weapons-grade nuclear material - uranium 235, and completed the most critical step in the nuclear weapons research and manufacturing plan.
This is no exaggeration. Obtaining raw materials is extremely important and the most difficult in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. As long as this step is completed, the next manufacturing process will be extremely easy.
So far, his plan can actually be declared successful in advance, because as long as he has enough nuclear materials, he can produce a nuclear explosion by stacking them together - this is the principle of the first generation of nuclear weapons.
The principle of the first generation of nuclear weapons is extremely simple. You only need to understand three terms: continuous nuclear chain reaction, critical mass, and mass-energy equation.
Generally speaking, in the real world, heavy elements such as uranium and plutonium will undergo spontaneous fission due to radioactive decay, and they will also trigger nuclear reactions due to external neutrons. They are called "fissionable substances."
These "fissionable substances" will release part of their structure - free neutrons - during spontaneous fission. The half-life of a free neutron is about 15 minutes, which means that after 15 minutes, half of it will decay into protons and beta particles.
However, under some special circumstances, free neutrons can hit other atoms before their half-life is reached, causing nuclear fission of other atoms, thereby releasing more free neutrons. If these more free neutrons can hit the atom again, further nuclear fission will occur.
When there are enough nuclear materials in a narrow space, once nuclear fission occurs, it will continue to proceed, forming a continuous nuclear chain reaction.
The amount of nuclear material that can sustain continued nuclear fission is called critical mass.
The critical mass is very important. Once the nuclear material reaches the critical mass, as long as one atom in the nuclear material undergoes nuclear fission and releases a neutron, or an external neutron source gives a neutron, a nuclear explosion can occur.
In a nuclear explosion, a large number of atoms break apart and their mass is damaged. The damaged mass is converted into shocking energy and released. According to the mass-energy equation E=mc2, the loss of just one kilogram of material can release 8,9875,5178,7368,1764 (more than eight billion) joules of energy, which is equivalent to the detonation of 20 million tons of TNT explosives.
In one sentence, the principle of the first generation of nuclear weapons, namely the atomic bomb, is to allow nuclear materials to reach a critical state and produce a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Based on the mass-energy equation, the loss of mass is converted into terrifying energy and released, producing devastating effects.
It is for this reason that he said that the nuclear weapons research and manufacturing plan can be declared successful in advance. As long as he wants, he can create a nuclear explosion at any time by piling up nuclear materials.
However, he was unwilling to do so.
The principle of the first generation of nuclear weapons is very simple, but it is still slightly difficult to actually make them.
The key is that nuclear materials cannot be piled up casually to cause a nuclear explosion. Because the utilization rate of nuclear raw materials is extremely low, in the end result, only one percent or even less than one thousandth of the atoms of all nuclear raw materials may successfully fission and release destructive energy, and the rest of the nuclear raw materials will be exploded. Fly, turning into radioactive dust and scattering into the air.
To put it simply, triggering a nuclear explosion in the most direct and brutal way is easy, but it is a huge waste of nuclear materials.
Waste is shameful, waste makes him feel bad.
It took him almost a year to obtain a sufficient amount of nuclear raw materials. He wanted to make the best use of them and worked hard to squeeze out all the value of these nuclear raw materials. He was definitely not satisfied with just hearing a sound.
Therefore, in order to achieve his goal, he has to do something next. Specifically speaking, it is to allow the nuclear raw materials in hand to reach critical mass in a better way through special nuclear devices, and to produce nuclear explosions and release energy with higher utilization rate.
To do this, we need to make use of some uncommon knowledge.
After all, not everyone knows how to make a real atomic bomb, and even if they do, they don’t think about it every day or talk about it.
"I have to go to that place again." Richard thought and whispered to himself.
…