Laser based plasma studies of nuclear fireball chemistry
Abstract
One of the most striking features of a nuclear weapon detonation is the characteristic fireball and resulting "mushroom cloud" that accompanies it. This fireball is composed of a huge number of reactive and highly charged particulates that are created by the extreme high levels of thermal and ionizing radiation, which can be as high as 1,000,000 Kelvin depending on the bomb yield. As the fireball expands, the reactive plasma cools and new compounds are formed which are in turn dispersed over a wide area as dust and debris, commonly known as nuclear fall out. Modern techniques in nuclear forensics use chemical assays to identify these compounds, which may fall many hundreds of kilometers from the detonation site. However, virtually nothing is known about how these compounds are formed. This crucial information would enable new techniques of nuclear forensics to be developed and would be instrumental in helping to predict signatures from the fallout and damage from a nuclear detonation. This proposal seeks to expand this area of knowledge by directly studying the chemistry of actinide plasmas produced from materials used in nuclear fuels or expected in fallout. We propose to produce these plasmas using a range of laser ablation sources to simulate the conditions in the expanding fireball. To this end, we will synthesize a number of specific actinide compounds to be used as targets to systematically investigate and characterize the chemistry and composition of actinide plasma. These studies will be carried out using a state-of-the-art multi-mass imaging spectrometer, which provides highly differential information regarding the numerous species formed in the plasma. Further studies will also be performed using chirped pulsed microwave spectroscopy to investigate the structure of these small species. Finally, through the use of x-ray diffraction and optical and scanning electron microscopy, we will investigate the size, structure and composition of the larger macroscopic particles produced by the laser ablation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 10, 2017
- Source ID
- HDTRA11710033
Entities
People
- Justin R Walensky
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- University of Missouri