Manufacturing plutonium ''pits'' for nuclear weapons : technical aspects and considerations for congress / Ryan H. Mason, editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Mason, Ryan H., editor.

Series:

Nuclear Materials and Disaster Research

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nuclear weapons.

Plutonium.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (178 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Nova Publishers, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A ""pit"" is the plutonium ""trigger"" of a thermonuclear weapon. During the Cold War, the Rocky Flats Plant (CO) made up to 2,000 pits per year (ppy), but ceased operations in 1989. Since then, the Department of Energy (DOE) has made at most 11 ppy for the stockpile, yet the Department of Defense stated that it needs DOE to have a capacity of 50 to 80 ppy to extend the life of certain weapons and for other purposes. Pit production involves precisely forming plutonium-a hazardous, radioactive, physically quirky metal. Production requires supporting tasks, such as analytical chemistry (AC), whi

Contents:

""MANUFACTURING PLUTONIUM ''PITS'' FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS: TECHNICAL ASPECTS AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR CONGRESS""; ""MANUFACTURING PLUTONIUM ''PITS'' FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS: TECHNICAL ASPECTS AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR CONGRESS""; ""Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data""; ""CONTENTS""; ""PREFACE""; ""Chapter 1: MANUFACTURING NUCLEAR WEAPON “PITS�: A DECISIONMAKING APPROACH FOR CONGRESS""; ""SUMMARY""; ""BACKGROUND""; ""REQUIREMENTS FOR PIT MANUFACTURING""; ""OPTIONS FOR ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY""; ""DECISIONS REQUIRE DATA""; ""QUESTIONS THAT CAN ONLY BE ANSWEREDWITH DATA""; ""CONCLUSION""

""APPENDIX. PLUTONIUM TASKS IN PF-4""""Chapter 2: U.S. NUCLEAR WEAPON “PIT� PRODUCTION OPTIONS FOR CONGRESS""; ""SUMMARY""; ""INTRODUCTION""; ""BACKGROUND""; ""OPTIONS FOR CONGRESS""; ""GATHERING INFORMATION ON VARIOUS OPTIONS""; ""APPENDIX A. THE REGULATORY STRUCTURE""; ""APPENDIX B. CALCULATION OF DOSE AS A FUNCTION OF MATERIAL AT RISK""; ""APPENDIX C. SECURITY AND HAZARD CATEGORIESFOR PLUTONIUM""; ""APPENDIX D. PRELIMINARY OUTLINE OF POTENTIAL TASKS REQUIRED FOR RLUOB TO EXCEED HAZARD CATEGORY 3 NUCLEAR FACILITY THRESHOLD QUANTITY""

""APPENDIX E. COMPARISON OF SEISMIC RESILIENCY OF CMR AND RLUOB""""APPENDIX F. SPACE REQUIREMENTS FOR ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY TO SUPPORT PRODUCTION OF 80 PITS PER YEAR""; ""APPENDIX G. ABBREVIATIONS""; ""INDEX""; ""Blank Page""

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed January 8, 2015).

ISBN:

1-63463-414-4

OCLC:

914433227