"Why are you looking so serious?" Nightingale laughed suddenly, "Actually, no matter what you say, I will believe it. But you have to give other people some time to accept it, otherwise you can slap something bigger than a thousand. Wan's devil turned into ashes, no one can imagine immediately, especially after seeing the real thing separated by Lucia."
"Is there?" Roland touched his cheek, probably considering that humanity was facing a life-and-death race for time, which made him unconsciously feel a sense of crisis, "But what you said is also, after all, before I saw it with my own eyes, I don't even believe it myself."
He turned around and pinched the inconspicuous "stone flake" in his hand.
This is the purified metallic uranium at the beginning of the road to fire.
Just relying on a few words, it is indeed difficult for people to associate it with "things that compete for glory". The silver-white surface has become dull due to oxidation, and the cold touch has nothing to do with light or heat, but Roland Know that as long as the conditions are right, nature will show its magical scene.
In order to collect it, after the meeting, Lucia and Speer worked on the North Slope Mine for almost a week, breaking down the broken granite around the mine. For this reason, the countess also complained quite a bit, believing that it would be unethical to let her rummage among the rubble, and for this reason, took five more apprentices from the city hall.
The result is such a small piece.
Compared with the uranium block originally used as a sample, this thumb-sized metal uranium is more than 90% pure and divided into two layers under Lucia's adjustment. One surface is uranium-235, and the rest is uranium-238. , the ingredient ratio is: 99, which is also the natural ratio of the two in nature.
In other words, the uranium element that is less than a hair thick on the surface of the stone flakes can already be called "weapon grade".
As a stable nuclide, whether it is 238, which accounts for the vast majority, but is useless, or 235, which can be used to make the ultimate weapon, its half-life is measured in billions of years. Such a long decay period, coupled with the main release of alpha particles during decay, has a range of only tens of microns in human tissue, and even the epidermis cannot penetrate, so even if it is held in the hand, it will not be fatally exposed to external sources. Photo damage.
Of course, this does not mean that direct contact with highly concentrated uranium is absolutely safe.
After all, some of the alpha nuclides produced by decay may be highly toxic, and it would be troublesome if they stick to the hands and then eat them into the stomach.
Therefore, Roland asked Soraya to wrap a transparent film on the "stone flakes", not only to prevent it from further oxidation, but also to avoid chemical poisoning accidents.
You must know that most people in this world have not developed the habit of washing their hands frequently.
He looked at the thing in his hand, and he couldn't help feeling a little emotional. This piece of metal uranium with great energy just lays quietly in the palm of your hand. Before it reaches the critical point, it looks so peaceful and harmless, almost no different from ordinary iron. No wonder Pasha and the others are unbelievable. .
Now that this step has been taken, the first task is to collect all the raw materials required for Qi Ding's radiation.
Akima was able to find samples of much poorer purity through high-concentration uranium coins, at least proving that it is feasible to use it for prospecting. Although Lucia decomposes and aggregates in the mine day after day, she can get enough uranium-235, but that goes against the original intention of running multiple projects in parallel.
In the field of high-end metal smelting, she still has an irreplaceable role.
What's more, weapon-grade uranium alone can't make a really usable live ammunition. To keep it from becoming a dirty bomb, Roland needs a really rare element. It is usually associated with uranium ore, and its content is only 1/10 millionth of the former. Even with the help of Lucia, a large amount of raw ore is needed to solve it.
In short, the next step is to see Akima.
Roland put the small piece of metal uranium back into the box, locked it in the drawer again, and then took out an unfinished internal combustion engine design drawing from the file on the side and spread it out on the table.
Although most Neverwinter people go to bed early on snowy nights with cold winds, there is still a lot of work to be done for him.
"Are you going to sleep late again today?" Nightingale tilted her head.
He moved his neck and picked up the quill, "Everyone finally sees hope, so you can't give up all your work because I'm lazy. For the sake of fame, it's nothing to sleep less."
"Is that so... But at least half of what I heard was wrong."
"Cough, don't you believe everything I say?"
"But using your abilities to confirm your true intentions is also your own request." Nightingale stuck out her tongue.
"Okay, okay, I want to do this myself, okay?" he said helplessly, "I don't want to lose to the devil, and that so-called divine will."
"Well, I'm telling the truth this time. Then I'll go make you a cup of hot tea, and get some supper by the way," Nightingale smiled slightly, "Spiced barbecued meat, honey mushrooms, fried shrimp with salt and pepper, and refreshing Chaos drink, How about having one from the kitchen?"
Hey, you want to eat it yourself!
Roland shook his head dumbfoundedly, "As you like."
"Yes, my lord," she said slyly.
…
The next day, Akima took the high-purity uranium sheet and embarked on a journey to find the source. Roland also received another good news from the city hall.
The petroleum fractionation tower project jointly participated by the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Chemical Industry has completed the construction of the No. 1 tower.
To show the importance, Roland personally attended the launching ceremony.
This high tower is located on the banks of the Chishui River and in the Neverwinter Industrial Zone. The tower body is nearly 25 meters away. It is also a masterpiece integrating new technologies and new ideas. The different boiling points of oil vapor are used to separate different products. The specific temperature measurement and evaporation control have been completed in the laboratory, and Anna's welding technology can fully meet the requirements of simple fractionation.
In fact... The quality of the distillate product has little to do with the tower itself, so small that in some places, even building a boiler with bricks can fractionate oil. This reminded him of the geography book when he was a child, which said that the motherland is vast and rich, and there are everything. However, when he grew up, he realized that there are some... But the quality is generally not very good, adding countless problems to the refiners.
He found that resources are almost the same as appearance, and there are inherent differences. The gap between high-grade minerals and low-quality minerals is like an abyss, which can only be filled by acquired efforts. So is oil. Crude oil rich in wax, sulphur and inorganic salts is viscous like mud, which cannot be ignited by fire, and cannot be used without deep processing, while some light oils, such as oil fields in Borneo, are basically easy to touch and can be extracted immediately. Can be used directly as fuel for burning.
Heihe, which spreads over half of the extreme south, belongs to the latter.
After learning that there was a self-spray phenomenon, Roland became interested in this desert land, and it turned out that the oil collected from the Endless Cape was indeed not bad, and after fractionation, it could basically meet the current usage requirements. Although it is far inferior to the refined products of later generations, he does not have to pursue one step.
The real advanced point of this project lies more in the supporting system and system design.