Nuclear FusionChemical Explanation

David Olson – Pat Lee

Types of Fusion Reactions:Boosted Fission

• Boosted Fission is the earliest application of fusion weapons.

The center of the fissile core includes small amounts of deuterium and tritium gas.

These gases react with the core producing a faster fission reaction of the nuclear material producing more energy than the standard fission reaction.

Boosted Fission Continued

Tested on May 24, 1951, the Greenhouse Item was the first test of boosted fission technology

The reaction utilized cryogenic liquid deuterium-tritium instead of gas.

The use of boosted fission technology increased the energy yield of the weapon by over 200% compared to the regular fission reaction.

Boosted Fission

Types of Fusion Reactions: Staged Radiation Implosion

Otherwise known as “Teller-Ulam” weapons, this type of fusion reaction involves the usage of lighter elements such as hydrogen and lithium.

The use of the lighter elements removes the yield limits of fission technology and reduces the cost of producing the weapon.

Staged Radiation Implosion Continued

This weapon is a two-stage process including the fission trigger which starts the reaction in a compartment separate from the fusion material.

This type of reaction releases a larger amount of energy due to the fusion reaction and the fissioning of the trigger mechanism at a fast pace due to the neutrons generated in the fusion process.

Staged Radiation Implosion Continued

The first test of a staged fusion weapon was codenamed Ivy Mike and was conducted on October 31, 1952.

Fission-Fusion-Fission weapons can either be considered “clean” or “dirty” weapons: Clean: produce more than 50% of the yield

from fusion. Enriched Uranium is used. Dirty: They generate a large amount of fission

fallout during the reaction due to relatively cheap materials used for the jacketing of the weapon.

Staged Radiation Implosion

Types of Fusion Reactions:The Alarm Clock/Sloika (Layer Cake) Design

The idea of a an ‘alarm clock’ style weapon predates that of a staged fusion device.

This system uses a spherical assembly of concentric shells using primarily Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239.

The amount of fusion that can be achieved is only 15-20% of the yield and cannot increase beyond this amount making this reaction inefficient in comparison.

The Alarm Clock Design Continued Due to its comparative inefficiency in

terms of destructive power, the United States did not consider it a viable option for the arsenal and therefore did not pursue the development of the design.

The first test, RDS-6s, was conducted on August 12, 1953 by the Soviet Union

The Alarm Clock/Sloika (Layer Cake) Design

Chemical Equation

6Li + Neutron = 3H + 3He + Energy› The equation above is a general

representation of a fusion reaction› The components:

6Li can be thought of as the combination of the alpha particle (4He) and deuteron (2H)

When the 6Li is struck with Neutrons, it deteriorates into a triton (3H) and an alpha particle along with excess energy producing a nuclear explosion.

SourcesPike, John. "Hydrogen Bomb / Fusion

Weapons." Blog. 8 Mar. 2005. Web. 30 May 2010. <http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/intro/h-bomb.htm>.

Sublette, Carey. "Section 1.0 Types of Nuclear Weapons." The Nuclear Weapon Archive - A Guide to Nuclear Weapons. 1 May 1998. Web. 30 May 2010. <http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq1.html#nfaq1.5>.