Difference between revisions of "Plutonium Bomb"
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| − | The plutonium bomb, or "fat man", was the second and largest atomic bomb to be dropped during [[World War II]]. | + | The plutonium bomb, or "fat man", was the second and largest [[atomic bomb]] to be dropped during [[World War II]]. Because it isn't found abundantly in nature, the isotope used in making atomic bombs, Plutonium-239, is made in laboratories. It is made from uranium-238 using a [[breeder reactor]]. There are two laboratories in the United States that manufacture Pu-239; they are located in Savannah River Plant, South Carolina, and Hanford, Washington. This bomb was first made after the United States discovered that Germany was trying to build atomic weapons, and started research of their own. This bomb consists of a small sphere of Pu-239 surounded by "conventional explosives", and surounding these conventional explosives was a tamper. a tamper is a dense material, in this case U-238, that keeps the neutrons and atoms from escaping until the explosion occurs. |
Revision as of 23:16, March 31, 2007
The plutonium bomb, or "fat man", was the second and largest atomic bomb to be dropped during World War II. Because it isn't found abundantly in nature, the isotope used in making atomic bombs, Plutonium-239, is made in laboratories. It is made from uranium-238 using a breeder reactor. There are two laboratories in the United States that manufacture Pu-239; they are located in Savannah River Plant, South Carolina, and Hanford, Washington. This bomb was first made after the United States discovered that Germany was trying to build atomic weapons, and started research of their own. This bomb consists of a small sphere of Pu-239 surounded by "conventional explosives", and surounding these conventional explosives was a tamper. a tamper is a dense material, in this case U-238, that keeps the neutrons and atoms from escaping until the explosion occurs.