Demon core: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:AbleLarge.jpg|thumb|right|Crossroads ''Able'', a 23-kiloton air-deployed nuclear weapon detonated on 1 July 1946 using the ''Demon Core''.]] |
[[Image:AbleLarge.jpg|thumb|right|Crossroads ''Able'', a 23-kiloton air-deployed nuclear weapon detonated on 1 July 1946 using the ''Demon Core''.]] |
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The '''Demon core''' was the nickname given to a 6.2 kg spherical [[Critical mass|subcritical mass]] of [[plutonium]] that [[Criticality accident|accidentally]] went [[Critical mass| critical]] on two separate instances at the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos laboratory]], in 1945 and 1946. Each incident resulted in the acute radiation poisoning and subsequent death of a scientist. After these incidents, the core was referred to as the Demon core. |
The '''Demon core''' was the nickname given to a 6.2 kg spherical [[Critical mass|subcritical mass]] of [[plutonium]] that [[Criticality accident|accidentally]] went [[Critical mass| critical]] on two separate instances at the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos laboratory]], in 1945 and 1946. Each incident resulted in the acute radiation poisoning and subsequent death of a scientist. After these incidents, the core was referred to as the Demon core. |
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==First incident== |
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On [[August 21]] [[1945]], the plutonium core produced a burst of [[ionizing radiation]] that irradiated [[Harry K. Daghlian, Jr.|Harry Daghlian]], a physicist who made a mistake while working alone doing neutron reflection experiments on the core. The core was placed within a stack of neutron-reflective bricks, moving the assembly closer to criticality. Harry Daghlian, while attempting to stack another brick around the assembly, accidentally dropped one of the bricks onto the core causing the assembly to go supercritical. Despite moving the brick off the assembly quickly, Daghlian received a fatal dose of radiation. |
On [[August 21]] [[1945]], the plutonium core produced a burst of [[ionizing radiation]] that irradiated [[Harry K. Daghlian, Jr.|Harry Daghlian]], a physicist who made a mistake while working alone doing neutron reflection experiments on the core. The core was placed within a stack of neutron-reflective bricks, moving the assembly closer to criticality. Harry Daghlian, while attempting to stack another brick around the assembly, accidentally dropped one of the bricks onto the core causing the assembly to go supercritical. Despite moving the brick off the assembly quickly, Daghlian received a fatal dose of radiation. |
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==Second incident== |
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Then on [[May 21]] [[1946]], physicist [[Louis Slotin]] and other scientists were in a Los Alamos laboratory conducting an experiment that involved creating a fission reaction by placing two half-spheres of [[beryllium]] (a neutron reflector) around the same plutonium core. Slotin's hand holding a screwdriver separating the hemispheres slipped, the beryllium neutron reflector hemispheres closed, and the core went [[critical mass|supercritical]], releasing a very high dose of radiation. He quickly pulled the two halves apart, stopping the chain reaction and hence saving the lives of the others in the laboratory. Louis Slotin died 9 days later from acute radiation poisoning. |
Then on [[May 21]] [[1946]], physicist [[Louis Slotin]] and other scientists were in a Los Alamos laboratory conducting an experiment that involved creating a fission reaction by placing two half-spheres of [[beryllium]] (a neutron reflector) around the same plutonium core. Slotin's hand holding a screwdriver separating the hemispheres slipped, the beryllium neutron reflector hemispheres closed, and the core went [[critical mass|supercritical]], releasing a very high dose of radiation. He quickly pulled the two halves apart, stopping the chain reaction and hence saving the lives of the others in the laboratory. Louis Slotin died 9 days later from acute radiation poisoning. |
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==The core in use== |
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The Demon core was most likely intended to be used in another nuclear weapon against Japan{{Fact|date=December 2007}}. The core was instead used in the ABLE test of the [[Operation Crossroads|Crossroads]] series, demonstrating that the criticality experiments of Daghlian and Slotin increased the efficiency of the weapon.<ref name="Millerp69">{{cite book | last=Miller | first=Richard L. | title=Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing | publisher= Two Sixty Press | location=[[The Woodlands, Texas|The Woodlands]], [[Texas]] | year = 1991|isbn=0029216206 | pages=69, 77 }}</ref> |
The Demon core was most likely intended to be used in another nuclear weapon against Japan{{Fact|date=December 2007}}. The core was instead used in the ABLE test of the [[Operation Crossroads|Crossroads]] series, demonstrating that the criticality experiments of Daghlian and Slotin increased the efficiency of the weapon.<ref name="Millerp69">{{cite book | last=Miller | first=Richard L. | title=Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing | publisher= Two Sixty Press | location=[[The Woodlands, Texas|The Woodlands]], [[Texas]] | year = 1991|isbn=0029216206 | pages=69, 77 }}</ref> |
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Revision as of 16:44, 9 September 2008
The Demon core was the nickname given to a 6.2 kg spherical subcritical mass of plutonium that accidentally went critical on two separate instances at the Los Alamos laboratory, in 1945 and 1946. Each incident resulted in the acute radiation poisoning and subsequent death of a scientist. After these incidents, the core was referred to as the Demon core.
First incident
On August 21 1945, the plutonium core produced a burst of ionizing radiation that irradiated Harry Daghlian, a physicist who made a mistake while working alone doing neutron reflection experiments on the core. The core was placed within a stack of neutron-reflective bricks, moving the assembly closer to criticality. Harry Daghlian, while attempting to stack another brick around the assembly, accidentally dropped one of the bricks onto the core causing the assembly to go supercritical. Despite moving the brick off the assembly quickly, Daghlian received a fatal dose of radiation.
Second incident
Then on May 21 1946, physicist Louis Slotin and other scientists were in a Los Alamos laboratory conducting an experiment that involved creating a fission reaction by placing two half-spheres of beryllium (a neutron reflector) around the same plutonium core. Slotin's hand holding a screwdriver separating the hemispheres slipped, the beryllium neutron reflector hemispheres closed, and the core went supercritical, releasing a very high dose of radiation. He quickly pulled the two halves apart, stopping the chain reaction and hence saving the lives of the others in the laboratory. Louis Slotin died 9 days later from acute radiation poisoning.
The core in use
The Demon core was most likely intended to be used in another nuclear weapon against Japan[citation needed]. The core was instead used in the ABLE test of the Crossroads series, demonstrating that the criticality experiments of Daghlian and Slotin increased the efficiency of the weapon.[1]
See also
- Radiation poisoning
- Critical mass
- Nuclear fission
- List of nuclear accidents
- Nuclear Criticality Safety
- Criticality accident
References
- ^ Miller, Richard L. (1991). Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing. The Woodlands, Texas: Two Sixty Press. pp. 69, 77. ISBN 0029216206.