How do you shoot a neutron into highly enriched uranium in a nuclear bomb as it detonates?
455666
basically uranium is a material with both neutrons and protons which that are packed in high explosive shape charged spheres the shape charge blows force inward  collasping on the sphere of uranium and causes the neutrons and protons to collide resulting in the mushroom
1019920
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enriched_uranium\n\nEnriched uranium is uranium whose uranium-235 content has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium consists mostly of the 238U isotope, with about 0.72 % by weight as 235U, the only isotope existing in nature in any appreciable amount that is fissionable by thermal neutrons.\n\nEnriched uranium is a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency attempts to monitor and control enriched uranium supplies and processes in its efforts to ensure nuclear power generation safety and curb nuclear weapons proliferation.\n\nDuring the Manhattan Project enriched uranium was given the codename oralloy, a shortened version of Oak Ridge alloy, after the plant where the uranium was enriched. The term oralloy is still occasionally used to refer to enriched uranium.\n\nThe 238U remaining after enrichment is known as depleted uranium (DU), and is considerably less radioactive than even natural uranium, though still extremely dense. It is useful for armor, armor penetrating weapons and other material density applications.
794130
Do you mean enrichment?\n\nIf so \n\nNE is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes, for example separating natural uranium into enriched uranium and depleted uranium. This is the crucial process in the creation of a nuclear weapon.\n\nWhile in general chemical elements can be purified through chemical processes, isotopes of the same element have nearly identical chemical properties, which makes this type of separation impractical, except for separation of deuterium.
664082
No way (and it's a good thing too).\n\nFirst you need the fissiles which are hard to get (sure, you can dig up Uranium but the stuff you dig out of the ground is useless in a domb).  Either you produce weapons grade Plutonium in a reactor (which requires refueling every few months and would be very noticable if the existance of the reactor is known) or you enrich Uranium to weapons grade which requires enrichment facilities that aren't that easy to hide.\n\nGetting the materials to build the bomb is the hardest part.  The only real market for weapons grade nuclear materials is to law enforcement agencies setting up sting operations.\n\nAssuming you have the neccessary nuclear materials you then have two choices of design.  Either a gun type device or an implosion device.\n\nGun Type devices are very easy to do but they don't work with Plutonium (only with Uranium) but since you asked if it was easy if you have the Plutonium I won't discuss that any further.\n\nThese are harder to make because you have to have the explosives around the bomb go off at pretty much the exact same time to compress the material and make a mushroom cloud.\n\nAs for the actual details, those are classified for good reason although postgrads have been asked to design nuclear weapons using only publically available material and they seem to be able design things that are workable so a good physicsist could probably come up with something.
1170603
okay. well, in a nuclear reactor, uranium or plutonium is bombarded with neutrons in order to force it to split and release huge amounts of energy. elements with 92 protons and up will nearly always absorb a neutron and split without hesitating.\n\nin a nuclear reactor, the uranium is highly enriched, which means it contains certain uranium isotopes that are less stable than others, therefore making it easier to split (and it IS weapon grade). it is kept at what's called the critical mass level. subcritcal mass wont sustain a chain reaction, and supercritical mass will cause a runaway chain reaction, like in an atomic bomb. the control rods in the reactor can be pushed in and out of the core, which contains the uranium (U) or plutonium (Pu). when the rods are all the way in, the reaction comes to a halt, when they are all the way out (they never are) the reaction reaches supercritical levels and escapes control. (this happened at chernobyl). there are other ways for a reactor to reach the supercritical level, the control rod material plays a part, the coolant, and of course those controlling the reaction. control rod material is very important, because if the material the rods are made of do not absorb enough neutrons, they will allow the reaction to continue (this happened at chernobyl, the material actually caused an increase in reaction speed and power). the coolant must have a very low void coefficient, (the void coefficient tells how much of the liquid is gas pockets at any given time. water has a high void coefficient) or else the gas pockets will allow extra heat to build up, therefore allowing the reaction to escape control, and possibly melt the core, as what happened at Three Mile Island. \n\nin short, a nuclear reactor cannot cause a thermonuclear explosion, because all current nuclear reactors are fission reactors, and thermonukes are fusion. however, the fission reactors in operation CAN cause an explosion (and it IS a nuclear explosion. nuclear particles and waste material are ejected from the reactor when it explodes. this can cause acute radiation poisoning in surrounding area), if they are not very carefully, precisely, and intelligently monitored.
440969
It’s actually not that easy and I disagree that a student can make a nuclear bomb, dirty bomb, maybe, nuclear bomb, no. There is an isotope of uranium that is required. An isotope is an element with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons. Common uranium is known as U238. Uranium used for making bombs is the rare U235. Once enough U235 is gathered, it must go through an enrichment process. Various equipment and technology is needed. Yes, the United States has been able to this for more than 60 years, but the technology is heavily guarded by the civilized world. Iran has had to start from the beginning to develop the technology which is not trivial.
282322
Alpha radiation-ejected nucleus-heavy very short range\nBeta-ejected electrons- lighter short range\nGamma-electromagnetic-very long range\nShockwave-a wave of sonic energy generated by the expanding detonation\nwind-from the detonation\nwind-from the suction of the rising hot gases\nFallout-radioactive materials that were thrown high into the atmosphere and are returning to earth.\n\nPhysics- in a fission device a uranium 235 core is compressed to a critical mass by explosives around it then proton are fired into the core. Some of the nuclei fall apart and release 2 high energy neutrons which collide with other nuclei causing a chain reaction that grows at an exponential rate (2^2).\n\nin a fusion device the fision reaction is used to compress a hydrogen pellet until the hydrogen atoms fuse into helium atoms. 2 hydrogen atoms become neutrons while 2 remain as electron proton pairs. The 2 that fuse into neutrons give up the energy of the orbiting electron.
1105990
a neutron bomb,\n\nit explodes about 10,000 feet in the air is will kill all living flesh with in a hundredf miles of ground zero there is no escape. It takes like 20 of solid concrete wall or 6-10 feet of solid lead on all side to stop the rays.  The rays cook flesh as if it was put in a microwave oven.  It is not radioactive like the atomic bomb within hours after the blast the area is inhabitable again.  Just clean up the cooked bodies.  Its very wicked weapon and yes we have it.
172050
A "dirty bomb" is one that spreads radiation through a conventional (chemical) explosion, not a nuclear one.  In a dirty bomb, a conventional explosive and fusing mechanism are surrounded by highly radioactive material of some sort.\nIt is difficult, and requires a very high degree of mechanical/electrical skill, to construct a nuclear explosive device.  A nuclear (fission) bomb uses conventional explosives fired all at the exact same time to bring together units of fissile material (usually uranium-235 or some isotope of plutonium; there are others), resulting in a "critical mass," or more correctly "prompt criticality" which results in the almost instantaneous release of large amounts of energy.  Fusion bombs (commonly known as H-bombs) use a fission reaction to create the high temperature necessary to start a fusion chain reaction.\nSo, basically, the difference between a "dirty bomb" and a true nuclear bomb is the reaction that creates the explosion.
216157
The highly radioactive form of uranium is a very very slightly more dense isotope than the primary isotope, thus you can purify it by any means which separates atoms based on mass.  This can be done by injecting a gaseous form of uranium into a machine which collects different fractions based on mass/charge, or crudely using an ultra-high speed centrifuge.  This info is available in a million places on the internet and taught in college physics.  The machines required to do this are extremely expensive and difficult to design, and a great deal of uranium is required-those are the limiting steps.
526111
Yes, one it is enriched and now radioactive because an atom has been split. I don't know the science. Two people still need to go in and get more uranium. There is a plan to bury it all in an abandoned mine, of limestone I believe to limit the leakage. The problem with burying it all in one place and setting up a perimmiter in this dead zone is that a) it will still spread/ leak. b) shipping stuff from all over the US to one place in the southwest is very risky. Now it is all required to stay on site at each nuclear plant in the special barrels. The plan for transport is very thourough but still not a pleasing idea. If a truck crashes/ terrorist/ whatever goes wrong you will severly contaminate a large area, 50 mile radius or more. \n\nWould you like to know the plan for shipment? Well here it is. First we've got super buckets to carry it in. Big red plastic looking capsules. We ran them over with a train. Didn't break. Was funny to see a huge red thing fly through the air though. Geographers used computer mapping to find routes that were the quickest but also went through the least populated areas. The final decision was based mainly on the least population and it doesn't travel through major cities. Many objected about going through suburban areas but in some cases there just wasn't enough farm land to pass through without having to make such a detour that it would take a long time and effect more population. The highways and streets it must pass through will be closed to traffic and the trucks will be escorted by military. If your local highway is closed for somereason chances are it's passing through your neighborhood.
359891
Enriched uranium is uranium whose uranium-235 content has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium consists mostly of the 238U isotope, with about 0.72 % by weight as 235U, the only isotope existing in nature in any appreciable amount that is fissionable by thermal neutrons.
548164
Your question is a very good one and everyone here is trying to help. Let me wade in with what I hope is a clear answer or two.\n\nCommercial reactors do not have the configuration to do what a nuclear bomb does: go promptly critical and thus have a large-scale supercritical nuclear explosion. Even Chernobyl (may the 40 or so people who died from it rest in peace) was mostly a steam explosion with a burning of the graphite core. The RBMK reactors like Chernobyl have mostly been shut down now - folks in the former Soviet Union may chime in now as to their status. \n\nModern commercial nuclear reactors (unlike the RBMK design) have large concrete domes called containments over them. The containment structures are designed to hold large amounts of pressure to guard against an accidental release of radiation. Even if the reactor core (part with the nuclear fuel) should become uncovered and thus lose its cooling, the containment will hold most of the radioactive material inside. That is precisely what happened at Three Mile Island. Most of the fuel and fission products were in the containment basement and plated out on the walls.\n\nThe most credible accidents are practiced for often at every power plant. Drills exercise the staff from the control room to the folks who go out into the field to survey for radiation. Those drills are graded not just by the plant, not just by the NRC, but by the county and state. \n\nNuclear reactors do not become nuclear bombs. If you were to take used fuel from nuclear reactors and chemically reprocess it - separating out the plutonium that is made in small amounts in the fuel - you could eventually make a bomb. We do not do reprocessing of commercial nuclear fuel in the US. There is a worry that some countries may do that. Of course, that is precisely what the military does do.\n\nMy job? I am a Health Physicist. I teach radiation protection, nuclear physics, and radiation chemistry. In the event of an accident, I read remote monitors and figure out what the pathway the radionuclides are taking out, how much, and what dose might be delivered to the population downwind. My predictions are used to advise the county about evacuation of persons living in a 20 mile radius of the power plant. I have a Bachelors of Science in biology from Baylor University, Masters in Applied Nuclear Science from Georgia Tech, and my PhD work was in leukemia research at Baylor Col. of Medicine. I was part of the Three Mile Island Recovery Team.
324432
Quick summery:\n\nFusion produces energy by taking very light elements, like hydorgen, and combining them together to form heavier ones like helium.  4H -> 1He.  If you take a look at the mass of 4 hydrogen atoms you will find that they have more mass than 1 helium atom.  This extra mass is converted into energy in fusion (E = mc^2).\n\nNow this produces a ton of energy (it is what powers the sun), but you need extream conditions (high temperature and pressure) to do it.  In order to make a hydrogen bomb, that is a bomb that uses fusion to generate the energy to do its dirty work, we need a source of intense heat.\n\nThat is why typically we trigger our hydrogen bombs with a small atomic bomb.  An atomic bomb generates energy through breaking large elements (uranium) into lighter ones.  Just like fusion, there is a mass difference between what you start with, and what you end with.  That missing mass goes into eneregy.  Fission is easy to strat, just get enough fissionable material together and presto.\n\nSo, you use the energy/heat produced by the little atomic bomb to super-heat your fusion fuel (hydrogen isotopes), and bang -> hydrogen bomb.\n\nTo be specific it is actually a three-stage detonation.  You use a conventional bomb to set off the fission (atomic) bomb, which in turn sets off the fusion (hydrogen) bomb.
400521
A neutron bomb is a type of nuclear weapon invented by Samuel Cohen specifically designed to release a relatively large portion of its energy as energetic neutron radiation.\n\nNeutron radiation consists of free neutrons. Neutrons may be emitted during nuclear fission (either spontaneous or triggered), nuclear fusion, very high energy reactions such as in a Spallation Neutron Source, or from certain other reactions, most famously the (α,n) reaction, for example when a beryllium nucleus absorbs an alpha particle and emits a neutron.\n\nCold, thermal and hot neutron radiation is most commonly used for scattering and diffraction experiments in order to access the properties and the structure of materials in condensed matter physics, biology, solid state chemistry, materials science, geology, mineralogy and related sciences.\n\nNeutron radiation is often called indirectly ionizing radiation. It does not ionize atoms in the same way protons, photons, and electrons do (exciting an electron) because neutrons have no charge. However, neutron interactions are largely ionizing, for example when neutron absorption results in gamma emission and the gamma subsequently removes an electron from an atom, or a nucleus recoiling from a neutron interaction is ionized and causes more traditional subsequent ionization in other atoms. Because neutrons are uncharged, they are more penetrating than alpha radiation or beta radiation. In some cases they are more penetrating than gamma radiation, which is impeded in materials of high atomic number, in hydrogen, a low energy neutron may not be as penetrating as a high energy gamma. In health physics neutron radiation is considered a fourth radiation hazard alongside these other types of radiation. Another, sometimes more severe, hazard of neutron radiation is neutron activation, the ability of neutron radiation to induce radioactivity in most substances it encounters, including the body tissues of the workers themselves. This occurs through the capture of neutrons by atomic nuclei, which are transformed to another nuclide, frequently a radionuclide. This process accounts for much of the radioactive material released by the detonation of a nuclear weapon. It is also a problem in nuclear fission and nuclear fusion installations, as it gradually renders the equipment radioactive; eventually the hardware must be replaced and disposed of as low-level radioactive waste. Neutrons also degrade materials; intense bombardment with neutrons creates dislocations in the materials, leading to embrittlement of metals and other materials, and to swelling of some of them. This poses a problem for nuclear reactor vessels, and significantly limits their lifetime (which can be somewhat prolonged by controlled annealing of the vessel, reducing the number of the built-up dislocations).\n\nThe neutrons in reactors are generally categorized as slow (thermal) neutrons or fast neutrons depending on their energy. Thermal neutrons are similar to a gas in thermodynamic equilibrium but are easily captured by atomic nuclei and are the primary means by which elements undergo atomic transmutation.\n\nIn order to achieve an effective fission chain reaction, the neutrons produced during fission must be captured by fissionable nuclei, which then split, releasing more neutrons. In most fission reactor designs, the nuclear fuel is not sufficiently refined to be able to absorb enough fast neutrons to carry on the fission chain reaction, due to the lower cross section for higher-energy neutrons, so a neutron moderator must be introduced to slow the fast neutrons down to thermal velocities to permit sufficient absorption. Common neutron moderators include graphite, light water and heavy water. A few reactors (fast neutron reactors) and all nuclear weapons rely on fast neutrons. This requires certain changes in the design and in the required nuclear fuel. The element beryllium is particularly useful due to its ability to act as a neutron reflec
270030
Atomic energy states that if we can "break" the energy bonds that keep one atom´s parts together, we would create a chain reaction in surrounding atoms.  This is achieved when we have what is called "critical mass", meaning that we have enough radioactive material for the chain reaction to occur.  Nuclear bombs can be fusion or fision bombs.  In a fision bomb, an atom´s nucleous is bombarded with neutrons and becomes so heavy that it splits as the result of a force (detonation of a small explosive charge), creating th chain reaction already described.  On a fusion bomb, the energy of the detonation combines together two or more radiactive elements to for another.  Each kind of bomb has its pros and cons. Both are very destructive.  Upon detonation a nuclear bomb creates an explosion that is so powerfull that can disipate a huge volume of atmospheric air and so much heat that burns everything on a several miles radius.  A few seconds after the explosion, the weight of the atmosphere pushes the air back to the void, creating an implosion, so you have two kind of destructive forces working in opposite directions with a difference of only seconds.  Then, radiation affects all organisms in the nearby areas and makes impossible to live in them for decades.
700264
atomic bombs and Hydrogen bombs are types of nuclear bombs. in plan atom bombs there is an outer layer of high explosives and an inner layer of unstable isotopes like plutonium or uranium. the unstable isotopes and and their atoms react in fission from the pressure caused by the explosives the atoms burst and particles from that collide and burst other atoms creating a chain reaction. the H bomb uses fusion reaction with Hydrogen were the atoms are fused together due to the reacting high explosives and often isotopes surrounding the hydrogen fusing them into helium and other atoms.\n\nsimply the atom bomb uses fission with isotopes\nand the H bomb uses the fusion of hydrogen to increases the power