Tianqi Lithium Corp ( Chinese : 天齐锂业 ; pinyin : Tiānqí Lǐ Yè ; previously Sichuan Tianqi Lithium Industries, Inc. ) is a Chinese mining and manufacturing company based in Sichuan .
137-580: As of 2018, the company controls more than 46% of the production of lithium worldwide. World production of lithium via spodumene was around 80,000 metric tonnes per annum in 2018, primarily from the Greenbushes pegmatite of Western Australia and from some Chinese and Chilean sources. The Talison mine in Greenbushes, Western Australia , is reported to be the 2nd largest and to have the highest grade of ore at 2.4% Li 2 O (2012 figures). Tianqi has owned
274-410: A hohlraum or radiation case. The "George" shot of Operation Greenhouse of 9 May 1951 tested the basic concept for the first time on a very small scale. As the first successful (uncontrolled) release of nuclear fusion energy, which made up a small fraction of the 225 kt (940 TJ ) total yield, it raised expectations to a near certainty that the concept would work. On 1 November 1952,
411-511: A diagonal relationship with magnesium , an element of similar atomic and ionic radius . Chemical resemblances between the two metals include the formation of a nitride by reaction with N 2 , the formation of an oxide ( Li 2 O ) and peroxide ( Li 2 O 2 ) when burnt in O 2 , salts with similar solubilities , and thermal instability of the carbonates and nitrides. The metal reacts with hydrogen gas at high temperatures to produce lithium hydride (LiH). Lithium forms
548-404: A rhombohedral crystal system (with a nine-layer repeat spacing); at higher temperatures it transforms to face-centered cubic and then body-centered cubic . At liquid-helium temperatures (4 K) the rhombohedral structure is prevalent. Multiple allotropic forms have been identified for lithium at high pressures. Lithium has a mass specific heat capacity of 3.58 kilojoules per kilogram-kelvin,
685-730: A secondary section that consists of fusion fuel . The energy released by the primary compresses the secondary through the process of radiation implosion , at which point it is heated and undergoes nuclear fusion . This process could be continued, with energy from the secondary igniting a third fusion stage; the Soviet Union's AN602 " Tsar Bomba " is thought to have been a three-stage fission-fusion-fusion device. Theoretically by continuing this process thermonuclear weapons with arbitrarily high yield could be constructed. This contrasts with fission weapons, which are limited in yield because only so much fission fuel can be amassed in one place before
822-704: A 51% ownership stake in Talison Lithium , which operates the Greenbushes mine in Australia , since 2009. Tianqi announced in 2018 that it would invest US$ 600 million to construct a lithium processing plant in Kwinana , Western Australia . In 2018, Tianqi acquired a 24% stake in the Chilean mining company Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM) for approximately $ 4.1 billion. Tianqi was to purchase 62.5 million SQM A shares for $ 65 each from Canadian fertilizer company Nutrien . Tianqi
959-467: A combination of these benefits. Characteristics of nuclear fusion reactions make possible the use of non-fissile depleted uranium as the weapon's main fuel, thus allowing more efficient use of scarce fissile material such as uranium-235 ( U ) or plutonium-239 ( Pu ). The first full-scale thermonuclear test ( Ivy Mike ) was carried out by the United States in 1952, and
1096-430: A design could not produce thermonuclear weapons whose explosive yields could be made arbitrarily large (unlike U.S. designs at that time). The fusion layer wrapped around the fission core could only moderately multiply the fission energy (modern Teller–Ulam designs can multiply it 30-fold). Additionally, the whole fusion stage had to be imploded by conventional explosives, along with the fission core, substantially increasing
1233-487: A dozen megatons, which was generally considered enough to destroy even the most hardened practical targets (for example, a control facility such as the Cheyenne Mountain Complex ). Even such large bombs have been replaced by smaller yield nuclear bunker buster bombs. For destruction of cities and non-hardened targets, breaking the mass of a single missile payload down into smaller MIRV bombs in order to spread
1370-589: A fairly large number of both lithium mineral and brine deposits but only comparatively few of them are of actual or potential commercial value. Many are very small, others are too low in grade." Chile is estimated (2020) to have the largest reserves by far (9.2 million tonnes), and Australia the highest annual production (40,000 tonnes). One of the largest reserve bases of lithium is in the Salar de Uyuni area of Bolivia, which has 5.4 million tonnes. Other major suppliers include Australia, Argentina and China. As of 2015,
1507-456: A few specific incidents outlined in a section below. The basic principle of the Teller–Ulam configuration is the idea that different parts of a thermonuclear weapon can be chained together in stages, with the detonation of each stage providing the energy to ignite the next stage. At a minimum, this implies a primary section that consists of an implosion-type fission bomb (a "trigger"), and
SECTION 10
#17332702365661644-407: A flame, lithium compounds give off a striking crimson color, but when the metal burns strongly, the flame becomes a brilliant silver. Lithium will ignite and burn in oxygen when exposed to water or water vapor. In moist air, lithium rapidly tarnishes to form a black coating of lithium hydroxide (LiOH and LiOH·H 2 O), lithium nitride (Li 3 N) and lithium carbonate (Li 2 CO 3 , the result of
1781-453: A high-yield explosion. A W88 warhead manages to yield up to 475 kilotonnes of TNT (1,990 TJ) with a physics package 68.9 inches (1,750 mm) long, with a maximum diameter of 21.8 inches (550 mm), and by different estimates weighing in a range from 175 to 360 kilograms (386 to 794 lb). The smaller warhead allows more of them to fit onto a single missile and improves basic flight properties such as speed and range. The idea of
1918-522: A higher than usual concentration of lithium (such as Centaurus X-4 ) orbit massive objects—neutron stars or black holes—whose gravity evidently pulls heavier lithium to the surface of a hydrogen-helium star, causing more lithium to be observed. On 27 May 2020, astronomers reported that classical nova explosions are galactic producers of lithium-7. Although lithium is widely distributed on Earth, it does not naturally occur in elemental form due to its high reactivity. The total lithium content of seawater
2055-641: A major source of artificial lithium fractionation, with the light isotope Li being retained by industry and military stockpiles to such an extent that it has caused slight but measurable change in the Li to Li ratios in natural sources, such as rivers. This has led to unusual uncertainty in the standardized atomic weight of lithium, since this quantity depends on the natural abundance ratios of these naturally-occurring stable lithium isotopes, as they are available in commercial lithium mineral sources. Both stable isotopes of lithium can be laser cooled and were used to produce
2192-483: A massive effort was mounted to re-invent the process. An impurity crucial to the properties of the old Fogbank was omitted during the new process. Only close analysis of new and old batches revealed the nature of that impurity. The manufacturing process used acetonitrile as a solvent , which led to at least three evacuations of the Fogbank plant in 2006. Widely used in the petroleum and pharmaceutical industries, acetonitrile
2329-564: A possibility. It was first used in thermonuclear weapons with the W76 thermonuclear warhead and produced at a plant in the Y-12 Complex at Oak Ridge, Tennessee , for use in the W76. Production of Fogbank lapsed after the W76 production run ended. The W76 Life Extension Program required more Fogbank to be made. This was complicated by the fact that the original Fogbank's properties were not fully documented, so
2466-421: A secondary reaction between LiOH and CO 2 ). Lithium is one of the few metals that react with nitrogen gas. Because of its reactivity with water, and especially nitrogen, lithium metal is usually stored in a hydrocarbon sealant, often petroleum jelly . Although the heavier alkali metals can be stored under mineral oil , lithium is not dense enough to fully submerge itself in these liquids. Lithium has
2603-485: A single valence electron that, in the presence of solvents, is easily released to form Li . Because of this, lithium is a good conductor of heat and electricity as well as a highly reactive element, though it is the least reactive of the alkali metals. Lithium's lower reactivity is due to the proximity of its valence electron to its nucleus (the remaining two electrons are in the 1s orbital , much lower in energy, and do not participate in chemical bonds). Molten lithium
2740-476: A solid mineral, as opposed to potassium, which had been discovered in plant ashes, and sodium, which was known partly for its high abundance in animal blood. He named the new element "lithium". Arfwedson later showed that this same element was present in the minerals spodumene and lepidolite . In 1818, Christian Gmelin was the first to observe that lithium salts give a bright red color to flame. However, both Arfwedson and Gmelin tried and failed to isolate
2877-485: A thermal barrier to keep the fusion fuel filler from becoming too hot, which would spoil the compression. If made of uranium , enriched uranium or plutonium, the tamper captures fast fusion neutrons and undergoes fission itself, increasing the overall explosive yield . Additionally, in most designs the radiation case is also constructed of a material that undergoes fission driven by fast thermonuclear neutrons. Such bombs are classified as two stage weapons. Fast fission of
SECTION 20
#17332702365663014-581: A thermonuclear fusion bomb ignited by a smaller fission bomb was first proposed by Enrico Fermi to his colleague Edward Teller when they were talking at Columbia University in September 1941, at the start of what would become the Manhattan Project . Teller spent much of the Manhattan Project attempting to figure out how to make the design work, preferring it over work on the atomic bomb, and over
3151-489: A variety of binary and ternary materials by direct reaction with the main group elements. These Zintl phases , although highly covalent, can be viewed as salts of polyatomic anions such as Si 4 , P 7 , and Te 5 . With graphite, lithium forms a variety of intercalation compounds . It dissolves in ammonia (and amines) to give [Li(NH 3 ) 4 ] and the solvated electron . Lithium forms salt-like derivatives with all halides and pseudohalides. Some examples include
3288-427: A very low density (0.534 g/cm ), comparable with pine wood . It is the least dense of all elements that are solids at room temperature; the next lightest solid element (potassium, at 0.862 g/cm ) is more than 60% denser. Apart from helium and hydrogen , as a solid it is less dense than any other element as a liquid, being only two-thirds as dense as liquid nitrogen (0.808 g/cm ). Lithium can float on
3425-661: A wide variety of natural processes, including mineral formation (chemical precipitation), metabolism , and ion exchange . Lithium ions substitute for magnesium and iron in octahedral sites in clay minerals, where Li is preferred to Li, resulting in enrichment of the light isotope in processes of hyperfiltration and rock alteration. The exotic Li is known to exhibit a neutron halo , with 2 neutrons orbiting around its nucleus of 3 protons and 6 neutrons. The process known as laser isotope separation can be used to separate lithium isotopes, in particular Li from Li. Nuclear weapons manufacture and other nuclear physics applications are
3562-510: Is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal . Under standard conditions , it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in vacuum, inert atmosphere, or inert liquid such as purified kerosene or mineral oil. It exhibits a metallic luster . It corrodes quickly in air to a dull silvery gray, then black tarnish. It does not occur freely in nature, but occurs mainly as pegmatitic minerals, which were once
3699-564: Is actually [BuLi] 6 and MeLi is actually [MeLi] 4 ) which feature multi-center bonding and increase the coordination number around lithium. These clusters are broken down into smaller or monomeric units in the presence of solvents like dimethoxyethane (DME) or ligands like tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA). As an exception to the duet rule, a two-coordinate lithate complex with four electrons around lithium, [Li(thf) 4 ] [((Me 3 Si) 3 C) 2 Li] , has been characterized crystallographically. Lithium production has greatly increased since
3836-478: Is also found in brown dwarf substellar objects and certain anomalous orange stars. Because lithium is present in cooler, less-massive brown dwarfs, but is destroyed in hotter red dwarf stars, its presence in the stars' spectra can be used in the "lithium test" to differentiate the two, as both are smaller than the Sun. Certain orange stars can also contain a high concentration of lithium. Those orange stars found to have
3973-437: Is apparently caused by the "mixing" of lithium into the interior of stars, where it is destroyed, while lithium is produced in younger stars. Although it transmutes into two atoms of helium due to collision with a proton at temperatures above 2.4 million degrees Celsius (most stars easily attain this temperature in their interiors), lithium is more abundant than computations would predict in later-generation stars. Lithium
4110-609: Is credited with reintroducing and popularizing the use of lithium to treat mania in 1949. Shortly after, throughout the mid 20th century, lithium's mood stabilizing applicability for mania and depression took off in Europe and the United States. The production and use of lithium underwent several drastic changes in history. The first major application of lithium was in high-temperature lithium greases for aircraft engines and similar applications in World War II and shortly after. This use
4247-484: Is currently in a legal dispute with MSP Engineering over the payment for building the lithium hydroxide plant in Kwinana Western Australia. MSP claim that Tianqi have failed to meet scheduled payments totalling over $ 39 million. A WA Supreme Court order handed down an order giving Tianqi seven days to pay MSP almost $ 39 million, something that Tianqi has refused to do, seeking a stay on the judgement. The matter
Tianqi Lithium - Misplaced Pages Continue
4384-467: Is difficult. One reason for this is that most lithium classification schemes are developed for solid ore deposits, whereas brine is a fluid that is problematic to treat with the same classification scheme due to varying concentrations and pumping effects. In 2019, world production of lithium from spodumene was around 80,000t per annum, primarily from the Greenbushes pegmatite and from some Chinese and Chilean sources. The Talison mine in Greenbushes
4521-457: Is flammable and toxic. Y-12 is the sole producer of Fogbank. A simplified summary of the above explanation is: How exactly the energy is "transported" from the primary to the secondary has been the subject of some disagreement in the open press but is thought to be transmitted through the X-rays and gamma rays that are emitted from the fissioning primary . This energy is then used to compress
4658-427: Is found in trace amount in numerous plants, plankton, and invertebrates, at concentrations of 69 to 5,760 parts per billion (ppb). In vertebrates the concentration is slightly lower, and nearly all vertebrate tissue and body fluids contain lithium ranging from 21 to 763 ppb. Marine organisms tend to bioaccumulate lithium more than terrestrial organisms. Whether lithium has a physiological role in any of these organisms
4795-783: Is less common in the solar system than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements even though its nuclei are very light: it is an exception to the trend that heavier nuclei are less common. For related reasons, lithium has important uses in nuclear physics . The transmutation of lithium atoms to helium in 1932 was the first fully human-made nuclear reaction , and lithium deuteride serves as a fusion fuel in staged thermonuclear weapons . Lithium and its compounds have several industrial applications, including heat-resistant glass and ceramics , lithium grease lubricants, flux additives for iron, steel and aluminium production, lithium metal batteries , and lithium-ion batteries . These uses consume more than three-quarters of lithium production. Lithium
4932-475: Is not understood. Even the exact mechanisms involved in lithium toxicity are not fully understood. Petalite (LiAlSi 4 O 10 ) was discovered in 1800 by the Brazilian chemist and statesman José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva in a mine on the island of Utö , Sweden. However, it was not until 1817 that Johan August Arfwedson , then working in the laboratory of the chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius , detected
5069-487: Is omitted, by replacing the uranium tamper with one made of lead , for example, the overall explosive force is reduced by approximately half but the amount of fallout is relatively low. The neutron bomb is a hydrogen bomb with an intentionally thin tamper, allowing as many of the fast fusion neutrons as possible to escape. Current technical criticisms of the idea of "foam plasma pressure" focus on unclassified analysis from similar high energy physics fields that indicate that
5206-529: Is one order of magnitude greater than the higher proposed plasma pressures and nearly two orders of magnitude greater than calculated radiation pressure. No mechanism to avoid the absorption of energy into the radiation case wall and the secondary tamper has been suggested, making ablation apparently unavoidable. The other mechanisms appear to be unneeded. United States Department of Defense official declassification reports indicate that foamed plastic materials are or may be used in radiation case liners, and despite
5343-464: Is present in biological systems in trace amounts. It has no established metabolic function in humans. Lithium-based drugs are useful as a mood stabilizer and antidepressant in the treatment of mental illness such as bipolar disorder . The alkali metals are also called the lithium family, after its leading element. Like the other alkali metals (which are sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), caesium (Cs), and francium (Fr)), lithium has
5480-406: Is reported to be the largest and to have the highest grade of ore at 2.4% Li 2 O (2012 figures). Teller-Ulam design A thermonuclear weapon , fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb ( H bomb ) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design . Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs , a more compact size, a lower mass, or
5617-424: Is significantly more reactive than its solid form. Lithium metal is soft enough to be cut with a knife. It is silvery-white. In air it oxidizes to lithium oxide . Its melting point of 180.50 °C (453.65 K; 356.90 °F) and its boiling point of 1,342 °C (1,615 K; 2,448 °F) are each the highest of all the alkali metals while its density of 0.534 g/cm is the lowest. Lithium has
Tianqi Lithium - Misplaced Pages Continue
5754-422: Is still before the courts. Tianqi Lithium Corp reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 259 Kt. This Chinese corporation or company article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lithium Lithium (from Ancient Greek λίθος ( líthos ) 'stone') is a chemical element ; it has symbol Li and atomic number 3. It
5891-511: Is the Soviet early Sloika design. In essence, the Teller–Ulam configuration relies on at least two instances of implosion occurring: first, the conventional (chemical) explosives in the primary would compress the fissile core, resulting in a fission explosion many times more powerful than that which chemical explosives could achieve alone (first stage). Second, the radiation from the fissioning of
6028-426: Is the fusion fuel, usually a form of lithium deuteride , which is used because it is easier to weaponize than liquefied tritium/deuterium gas. This dry fuel, when bombarded by neutrons, produces tritium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen that can undergo nuclear fusion, along with the deuterium present in the mixture. (See the article on nuclear fusion for a more detailed technical discussion of fusion reactions.) Inside
6165-446: Is the medium by which the outside pressure (force acting on the surface area of the secondary) is transferred to the mass of fusion fuel. The proposed tamper-pusher ablation mechanism posits that the outer layers of the thermonuclear secondary's tamper-pusher are heated so extremely by the primary's X-ray flux that they expand violently and ablate away (fly off). Because total momentum is conserved, this mass of high velocity ejecta impels
6302-481: Is the only low numbered element that can produce net energy through nuclear fission . The two lithium nuclei have lower binding energies per nucleon than any other stable nuclides other than hydrogen-1 , deuterium and helium-3 . As a result of this, though very light in atomic weight, lithium is less common in the Solar System than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements. Seven radioisotopes have been characterized,
6439-416: Is the primary example). Such processes have resulted in a body of unclassified knowledge about nuclear bombs that is generally consistent with official unclassified information releases and related physics and is thought to be internally consistent, though there are some points of interpretation that are still considered open. The state of public knowledge about the Teller–Ulam design has been mostly shaped from
6576-549: Is thought to be a standard implosion method fission bomb, though likely with a core boosted by small amounts of fusion fuel (usually 1:1 deuterium : tritium gas) for extra efficiency; the fusion fuel releases excess neutrons when heated and compressed, inducing additional fission. When fired, the Pu or U core would be compressed to a smaller sphere by special layers of conventional high explosives arranged around it in an explosive lens pattern, initiating
6713-489: Is thought to have used multiple stages (including more than one tertiary fusion stage) in their 50 Mt (210 PJ) (100 Mt (420 PJ) in intended use) Tsar Bomba. The fissionable jacket could be replaced with lead, as was done with the Tsar Bomba. If any hydrogen bombs have been made from configurations other than those based on the Teller–Ulam design, the fact of it is not publicly known. A possible exception to this
6850-684: Is unknown. Lithium concentrations in human tissue averages about 24 ppb (4 ppb in blood , and 1.3 ppm in bone ). Lithium is easily absorbed by plants and lithium concentration in plant tissue is typically around 1 ppm . Some plant families bioaccumulate more lithium than others. Dry weight lithium concentrations for members of the family Solanaceae (which includes potatoes and tomatoes ), for instance, can be as high as 30 ppm while this can be as low as 0.05 ppb for corn grains . Studies of lithium concentrations in mineral-rich soil give ranges between around 0.1 and 50−100 ppm , with some concentrations as high as 100−400 ppm, although it
6987-766: Is unlikely that all of it is available for uptake by plants . Lithium accumulation does not appear to affect the essential nutrient composition of plants. Tolerance to lithium varies by plant species and typically parallels sodium tolerance ; maize and Rhodes grass , for example, are highly tolerant to lithium injury while avocado and soybean are very sensitive. Similarly, lithium at concentrations of 5 ppm reduces seed germination in some species (e.g. Asian rice and chickpea ) but not in others (e.g. barley and wheat ). Many of lithium's major biological effects can be explained by its competition with other ions. The monovalent lithium ion Li competes with other ions such as sodium (immediately below lithium on
SECTION 50
#17332702365667124-468: Is very large and is estimated as 230 billion tonnes, where the element exists at a relatively constant concentration of 0.14 to 0.25 parts per million (ppm), or 25 micromolar ; higher concentrations approaching 7 ppm are found near hydrothermal vents . Estimates for the Earth's crustal content range from 20 to 70 ppm by weight. In keeping with its name, lithium forms a minor part of igneous rocks , with
7261-409: Is widely assumed to be beryllium , which fits that description and would also moderate the neutron flux from the primary. Some material to absorb and re-radiate the X-rays in a particular manner may also be used. Candidates for the "special material" are polystyrene and a substance called " Fogbank ", an unclassified codename. Fogbank's composition is classified, though aerogel has been suggested as
7398-821: The Czech Geological Survey considered the entire Ore Mountains in the Czech Republic as lithium province. Five deposits are registered, one near Cínovec [ cs ] is considered as a potentially economical deposit, with 160 000 tonnes of lithium. In December 2019, Finnish mining company Keliber Oy reported its Rapasaari lithium deposit has estimated proven and probable ore reserves of 5.280 million tonnes. In June 2010, The New York Times reported that American geologists were conducting ground surveys on dry salt lakes in western Afghanistan believing that large deposits of lithium are located there. These estimates are "based principally on old data, which
7535-559: The Trident II SLBM, had a prolate primary (code-named Komodo ) and a spherical secondary (code-named Cursa ) inside a specially shaped radiation case (known as the "peanut" for its shape). The value of an egg-shaped primary lies apparently in the fact that a MIRV warhead is limited by the diameter of the primary: if an egg-shaped primary can be made to work properly, then the MIRV warhead can be made considerably smaller yet still deliver
7672-599: The W-80 the gas expansion velocity is roughly 410 km/s (41 cm/μs) and the implosion velocity 570 km/s (57 cm/μs). The pressure due to the ablating material is calculated to be 5.3 billion bars (530 trillion pascals ) in the Ivy Mike device and 64 billion bars (6.4 quadrillion pascals) in the W-80 device. Comparing the three mechanisms proposed, it can be seen that: The calculated ablation pressure
7809-544: The W47 warhead deployed on Polaris ballistic missile submarines , megaton-class warheads were as small as 18 inches (0.46 m) in diameter and 720 pounds (330 kg) in weight. Further innovation in miniaturizing warheads was accomplished by the mid-1970s, when versions of the Teller–Ulam design were created that could fit ten or more warheads on the end of a small MIRVed missile. The first Soviet fusion design, developed by Andrei Sakharov and Vitaly Ginzburg in 1949 (before
7946-523: The coordination complex [Li(H 2 O) 4 ] predominates for many lithium salts. Related complexes are known with amines and ethers. Organolithium compounds are numerous and useful. They are defined by the presence of a bond between carbon and lithium. They serve as metal-stabilized carbanions , although their solution and solid-state structures are more complex than this simplistic view. Thus, these are extremely powerful bases and nucleophiles . They have also been applied in asymmetric synthesis in
8083-552: The neutron flux from the primary to prematurely begin heating the secondary, weakening the compression enough to prevent any fusion. There is very little detailed information in the open literature about the mechanism of the interstage. One of the best sources is a simplified diagram of a British thermonuclear weapon similar to the American W80 warhead. It was released by Greenpeace in a report titled "Dual Use Nuclear Technology" . The major components and their arrangement are in
8220-408: The nuclear chain reaction that powers the conventional "atomic bomb". The secondary is usually shown as a column of fusion fuel and other components wrapped in many layers. Around the column is first a "pusher- tamper ", a heavy layer of uranium-238 ( U ) or lead that helps compress the fusion fuel (and, in the case of uranium, may eventually undergo fission itself). Inside this
8357-1087: The periodic table ), which like lithium is also a monovalent alkali metal . Lithium also competes with bivalent magnesium ions, whose ionic radius (86 pm ) is approximately that of the lithium ion (90 pm). Mechanisms that transport sodium across cellular membranes also transport lithium. For instance, sodium channels (both voltage-gated and epithelial ) are particularly major pathways of entry for lithium. Lithium ions can also permeate through ligand-gated ion channels as well as cross both nuclear and mitochondrial membranes . Like sodium, lithium can enter and partially block (although not permeate ) potassium channels and calcium channels . The biological effects of lithium are many and varied but its mechanisms of action are only partially understood. For instance, studies of lithium-treated patients with bipolar disorder show that, among many other effects, lithium partially reverses telomere shortening in these patients and also increases mitochondrial function, although how lithium produces these pharmacological effects
SECTION 60
#17332702365668494-460: The secondary . The crucial detail of how the X-rays create the pressure is the main remaining disputed point in the unclassified press. There are three proposed theories: The radiation pressure exerted by the large quantity of X-ray photons inside the closed casing might be enough to compress the secondary. Electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays or light carries momentum and exerts a force on any surface it strikes. The pressure of radiation at
8631-563: The British fusion bomb, with Sir William Penney in charge of the project. British knowledge on how to make a thermonuclear fusion bomb was rudimentary, and at the time the United States was not exchanging any nuclear knowledge because of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 . The United Kingdom had worked closely with the Americans on the Manhattan Project. British access to nuclear weapons information
8768-516: The Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France, China and India. The thermonuclear Tsar Bomba was the most powerful bomb ever detonated. As thermonuclear weapons represent the most efficient design for weapon energy yield in weapons with yields above 50 kilotons of TNT (210 TJ), virtually all the nuclear weapons of this size deployed by the five nuclear-weapon states under the Non-Proliferation Treaty today are thermonuclear weapons using
8905-521: The Soviets had a working fission bomb), was dubbed the Sloika , after a Russian layer cake , and was not of the Teller–Ulam configuration. It used alternating layers of fissile material and lithium deuteride fusion fuel spiked with tritium (this was later dubbed Sakharov's "First Idea"). Though nuclear fusion might have been technically achievable, it did not have the scaling property of a "staged" weapon. Thus, such
9042-493: The Soviets searched for an alternative design. The "Second Idea", as Sakharov referred to it in his memoirs, was a previous proposal by Ginzburg in November 1948 to use lithium deuteride in the bomb, which would, in the course of being bombarded by neutrons, produce tritium and free deuterium. In late 1953 physicist Viktor Davidenko achieved the first breakthrough of staging the reactions. The next breakthrough of radiation implosion
9179-661: The Teller–Ulam configuration was tested at full scale in the "Ivy Mike" shot at an island in the Enewetak Atoll , with a yield of 10.4 Mt (44 PJ ) (over 450 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Nagasaki during World War II ). The device, dubbed the Sausage , used an extra-large fission bomb as a "trigger" and liquid deuterium—kept in its liquid state by 20 short tons (18 t ) of cryogenic equipment—as its fusion fuel, and weighed around 80 short tons (73 t ) altogether. The liquid deuterium fuel of Ivy Mike
9316-429: The Teller–Ulam design. Detailed knowledge of fission and fusion weapons is classified to some degree in virtually every industrialized country . In the United States, such knowledge can by default be classified as " Restricted Data ", even if it is created by persons who are not government employees or associated with weapons programs, in a legal doctrine known as " born secret " (though the constitutional standing of
9453-435: The U.S. and Soviets, achieving only approximately 300 kt (1,300 TJ). The second test Orange Herald was the modified fission bomb and produced 720 kt (3,000 TJ)—making it the largest fission explosion ever. At the time almost everyone (including the pilots of the plane that dropped it) thought that this was a fusion bomb. This bomb was put into service in 1958. A second prototype fusion bomb, Purple Granite ,
9590-486: The U.S. government has attempted to censor weapons information in the public press , with limited success. According to the New York Times , physicist Kenneth W. Ford defied government orders to remove classified information from his book Building the H Bomb: A Personal History . Ford claims he used only pre-existing information and even submitted a manuscript to the government, which wanted to remove entire sections of
9727-490: The X-ray energy impinging on its pusher/ tamper. This compresses the entire secondary stage and drives up the density of the plutonium spark plug. The density of the plutonium fuel rises to such an extent that the spark plug is driven into a supercritical state, and it begins a nuclear fission chain reaction . The fission products of this chain reaction heat the highly compressed (and thus super dense) thermonuclear fuel surrounding
9864-411: The amount of chemical explosives needed. The first Sloika design test, RDS-6s , was detonated in 1953 with a yield equivalent to 400 kt (1,700 TJ) ( 15%- 20% from fusion). Attempts to use a Sloika design to achieve megaton-range results proved unfeasible. After the United States tested the "Ivy Mike" thermonuclear device in November 1952, proving that a multimegaton bomb could be created,
10001-458: The atomic weight of lithium in some "natural sources" of lithium ion which had been "contaminated" by lithium salts discharged from isotope separation facilities, which had found its way into ground water. Lithium is used to decrease the melting temperature of glass and to improve the melting behavior of aluminium oxide in the Hall-Héroult process . These two uses dominated the market until
10138-547: The atomic weight of lithium to be around 9.8 g/mol (modern value ~6.94 g/mol). In 1855, larger quantities of lithium were produced through the electrolysis of lithium chloride by Robert Bunsen and Augustus Matthiessen . The discovery of this procedure led to commercial production of lithium in 1923 by the German company Metallgesellschaft AG , which performed an electrolysis of a liquid mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride . Australian psychiatrist John Cade
10275-446: The book for concern that foreign states could use the information. Though large quantities of vague data have been officially released—and larger quantities of vague data have been unofficially leaked by former bomb designers—most public descriptions of nuclear weapon design details rely to some degree on speculation, reverse engineering from known information, or comparison with similar fields of physics ( inertial confinement fusion
10412-472: The casing to a plasma, which then re-radiated radiation into the secondary's pusher, causing its surface to ablate and driving it inwards, compressing the secondary, igniting the sparkplug, and causing the fusion reaction. The general applicability of this principle is unclear. In 1999 a reporter for the San Jose Mercury News reported that the U.S. W88 nuclear warhead, a small MIRVed warhead used on
10549-440: The casing's circumference. The neutron guns are tilted so the neutron emitting end of each gun end is pointed towards the central axis of the bomb. Neutrons from each neutron gun pass through and are focused by the neutron focus lens towards the centre of primary in order to boost the initial fissioning of the plutonium. A " polystyrene Polarizer/Plasma Source" is also shown (see below). The first U.S. government document to mention
10686-401: The concept has since been employed by most of the world's nuclear powers in the design of their weapons. Modern fusion weapons essentially consist of two main components: a nuclear fission primary stage (fueled by U or Pu ) and a separate nuclear fusion secondary stage containing thermonuclear fuel: heavy isotopes of hydrogen ( deuterium and tritium ) as
10823-412: The conditions needed for fusion, and the idea of staging or placing a separate thermonuclear component outside a fission primary component, and somehow using the primary to compress the secondary. Teller then realized that the gamma and X-ray radiation produced in the primary could transfer enough energy into the secondary to create a successful implosion and fusion burn, if the whole assembly was wrapped in
10960-523: The danger of its accidentally becoming supercritical becomes too great. Surrounding the other components is a hohlraum or radiation case , a container that traps the first stage or primary's energy inside temporarily. The outside of this radiation case, which is also normally the outside casing of the bomb, is the only direct visual evidence publicly available of any thermonuclear bomb component's configuration. Numerous photographs of various thermonuclear bomb exteriors have been declassified. The primary
11097-416: The decision to go forward with the development of the new weapon. Teller and other U.S. physicists struggled to find a workable design. Stanislaw Ulam , a co-worker of Teller, made the first key conceptual leaps towards a workable fusion design. Ulam's two innovations that rendered the fusion bomb practical were that compression of the thermonuclear fuel before extreme heating was a practical path towards
11234-424: The diagram, though details are almost absent; what scattered details it does include likely have intentional omissions or inaccuracies. They are labeled "End-cap and Neutron Focus Lens" and "Reflector Wrap"; the former channels neutrons to the U / Pu Spark Plug while the latter refers to an X-ray reflector; typically a cylinder made of an X-ray opaque material such as uranium with
11371-469: The doctrine has been at times called into question; see United States v. Progressive, Inc. ). Born secret is rarely invoked for cases of private speculation. The official policy of the United States Department of Energy has been not to acknowledge the leaking of design information, as such acknowledgment would potentially validate the information as accurate. In a small number of prior cases,
11508-414: The effects of that absorbed energy led to the third mechanism: ablation . The outer casing of the secondary assembly is called the "tamper-pusher". The purpose of a tamper in an implosion bomb is to delay the expansion of the reacting fuel supply (which is very hot dense plasma) until the fuel is fully consumed and the explosion runs to completion. The same tamper material serves also as a pusher in that it
11645-451: The end of World War II . The main sources of lithium are brines and ores . Lithium metal is produced through electrolysis applied to a mixture of fused 55% lithium chloride and 45% potassium chloride at about 450 °C. The small ionic size makes it difficult for lithium to be included in early stages of mineral crystallization. As a result, lithium remains in the molten phases, where it gets enriched, until it gets solidified in
11782-505: The energy of the explosions into a "pancake" area is far more efficient in terms of area-destruction per unit of bomb energy. This also applies to single bombs deliverable by cruise missile or other system, such as a bomber, resulting in most operational warheads in the U.S. program having yields of less than 500 kt (2,100 TJ). In his 1995 book Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb , author Richard Rhodes describes in detail
11919-508: The far more powerful Super. The debate covered matters that were alternatively strategic, pragmatic, and moral. In their Report of the General Advisory Committee, Robert Oppenheimer and colleagues concluded that "[t]he extreme danger to mankind inherent in the proposal [to develop thermonuclear weapons] wholly outweighs any military advantage." Despite the objections raised, on 31 January 1950, President Harry S. Truman made
12056-575: The final stages. Such lithium enrichment is responsible for all commercially promising lithium ore deposits. Brines (and dry salt) are another important source of Li . Although the number of known lithium-containing deposits and brines is large, most of them are either small or have too low Li concentrations. Thus, only a few appear to be of commercial value. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated worldwide identified lithium reserves in 2020 and 2021 to be 17 million and 21 million tonnes , respectively. An accurate estimate of world lithium reserves
12193-518: The first quantum degenerate Bose – Fermi mixture. Although it was synthesized in the Big Bang , lithium (together with beryllium and boron) is markedly less abundant in the universe than other elements. This is a result of the comparatively low stellar temperatures necessary to destroy lithium, along with a lack of common processes to produce it. According to modern cosmological theory, lithium—in both stable isotopes (lithium-6 and lithium-7)—was one of
12330-436: The fissioning of the final natural uranium tamper, something that could not normally be achieved without the neutron flux provided by the fusion reactions in secondary or tertiary stages. Such designs are suggested to be capable of being scaled up to an arbitrary large yield (with apparently as many fusion stages as desired), potentially to the level of a " doomsday device ." However, usually such weapons were not more than
12467-496: The gap between the Neutron Focus Lens (in the center) and the outer casing near the primary. It separates the primary from the secondary and performs the same function as the previous reflector. There are about six neutron guns (seen here from Sandia National Laboratories ) each protruding through the outer edge of the reflector with one end in each section; all are clamped to the carriage and arranged more or less evenly around
12604-582: The halides LiF , LiCl , LiBr , LiI , as well as the pseudohalides and related anions. Lithium carbonate has been described as the most important compound of lithium. This white solid is the principal product of beneficiation of lithium ores. It is a precursor to other salts including ceramics and materials for lithium batteries. The compounds LiBH 4 and LiAlH 4 are useful reagents . These salts and many other lithium salts exhibit distinctively high solubility in ethers, in contrast with salts of heavier alkali metals. In aqueous solution,
12741-448: The highest of all solids. Because of this, lithium metal is often used in coolants for heat transfer applications. Naturally occurring lithium is composed of two stable isotopes , Li and Li, the latter being the more abundant (95.15% natural abundance ). Both natural isotopes have anomalously low nuclear binding energy per nucleon (compared to the neighboring elements on the periodic table , helium and beryllium ); lithium
12878-458: The intensities seen in everyday life, such as sunlight striking a surface, is usually imperceptible, but at the extreme intensities found in a thermonuclear bomb the pressure is enormous. For two thermonuclear bombs for which the general size and primary characteristics are well understood, the Ivy Mike test bomb and the modern W-80 cruise missile warhead variant of the W-61 design, the radiation pressure
13015-420: The internal components of the "Ivy Mike" Sausage device, based on information obtained from extensive interviews with the scientists and engineers who assembled it. According to Rhodes, the actual mechanism for the compression of the secondary was a combination of the radiation pressure, foam plasma pressure, and tamper-pusher ablation theories; the radiation from the primary heated the polyethylene foam lining of
13152-492: The interstage was only recently released to the public promoting the 2004 initiation of the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) Program. A graphic includes blurbs describing the potential advantage of a RRW on a part-by-part level, with the interstage blurb saying a new design would replace "toxic, brittle material" and "expensive 'special' material... [that require] unique facilities". The "toxic, brittle material"
13289-400: The largest concentrations in granites . Granitic pegmatites also provide the greatest abundance of lithium-containing minerals, with spodumene and petalite being the most commercially viable sources. Another significant mineral of lithium is lepidolite which is now an obsolete name for a series formed by polylithionite and trilithionite. Another source for lithium is hectorite clay,
13426-573: The last year of the project he was assigned exclusively to the task. However once World War II ended, there was little impetus to devote many resources to the Super , as it was then known. The first atomic bomb test by the Soviet Union in August 1949 came earlier than expected by Americans, and over the next several months there was an intense debate within the U.S. government, military, and scientific communities regarding whether to proceed with development of
13563-415: The layer of fuel is the " spark plug ", a hollow column of fissile material ( Pu or U ) often boosted by deuterium gas. The spark plug, when compressed, can undergo nuclear fission (because of the shape, it is not a critical mass without compression). The tertiary, if one is present, would be set below the secondary and probably be made of the same materials. Separating
13700-516: The lightest hydrocarbon oils and is one of only three metals that can float on water, the other two being sodium and potassium . Lithium's coefficient of thermal expansion is twice that of aluminium and almost four times that of iron . Lithium is superconductive below 400 μK at standard pressure and at higher temperatures (more than 9 K) at very high pressures (>20 GPa). At temperatures below 70 K, lithium, like sodium, undergoes diffusionless phase change transformations . At 4.2 K it has
13837-432: The low direct plasma pressure they may be of use in delaying the ablation until energy has distributed evenly and a sufficient fraction has reached the secondary's tamper/pusher. Richard Rhodes ' book Dark Sun stated that a 1-inch-thick (25 mm) layer of plastic foam was fixed to the lead liner of the inside of the Ivy Mike steel casing using copper nails. Rhodes quotes several designers of that bomb explaining that
13974-486: The main source of lithium. Due to its solubility as an ion, it is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines . Lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride . The nucleus of the lithium atom verges on instability, since the two stable lithium isotopes found in nature have among the lowest binding energies per nucleon of all stable nuclides . Because of its relative nuclear instability, lithium
14111-427: The middle of the 1990s. After the end of the nuclear arms race , the demand for lithium decreased and the sale of department of energy stockpiles on the open market further reduced prices. In the mid-1990s, several companies started to isolate lithium from brine which proved to be a less expensive option than underground or open-pit mining. Most of the mines closed or shifted their focus to other materials because only
14248-437: The most stable being Li with a half-life of 838 ms and Li with a half-life of 178 ms. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are shorter than 8.6 ms. The shortest-lived isotope of lithium is Li, which decays through proton emission and has a half-life of 7.6 × 10 s. The Li isotope is one of only five stable nuclides to have both an odd number of protons and an odd number of neutrons,
14385-519: The only active development of which is through the Western Lithium Corporation in the United States. At 20 mg lithium per kg of Earth's crust, lithium is the 31st most abundant element. According to the Handbook of Lithium and Natural Calcium , "Lithium is a comparatively rare element, although it is found in many rocks and some brines, but always in very low concentrations. There are
14522-462: The ore from zoned pegmatites could be mined for a competitive price. For example, the US mines near Kings Mountain , North Carolina, closed before the beginning of the 21st century. The development of lithium-ion batteries increased the demand for lithium and became the dominant use in 2007. With the surge of lithium demand in batteries in the 2000s, new companies have expanded brine isolation efforts to meet
14659-647: The other four stable odd-odd nuclides being hydrogen-2 , boron-10 , nitrogen-14 , and tantalum-180m . Li is one of the primordial elements (or, more properly, primordial nuclides ) produced in Big Bang nucleosynthesis . A small amount of both Li and Li are produced in stars during stellar nucleosynthesis , but it is further " burned " as fast as produced. Li can also be generated in carbon stars . Additional small amounts of both Li and Li may be generated from solar wind, cosmic rays hitting heavier atoms, and from early solar system Be radioactive decay. Lithium isotopes fractionate substantially during
14796-424: The outer radiation case, with the components coming to a thermal equilibrium , and the effects of that thermal energy are then analyzed. The energy is mostly deposited within about one X-ray optical thickness of the tamper/pusher outer surface, and the temperature of that layer can then be calculated. The velocity at which the surface then expands outwards is calculated and, from a basic Newtonian momentum balance,
14933-506: The pharmaceutical industry. For laboratory organic synthesis, many organolithium reagents are commercially available in solution form. These reagents are highly reactive, and are sometimes pyrophoric . Like its inorganic compounds, almost all organic compounds of lithium formally follow the duet rule (e.g., BuLi , MeLi ). However, it is important to note that in the absence of coordinating solvents or ligands, organolithium compounds form dimeric, tetrameric, and hexameric clusters (e.g., BuLi
15070-438: The plastic foam layer inside the outer case is to delay ablation and thus recoil of the outer case: if the foam were not there, metal would ablate from the inside of the outer case with a large impulse, causing the casing to recoil outwards rapidly. The purpose of the casing is to contain the explosion for as long as possible, allowing as much X-ray ablation of the metallic surface of the secondary stage as possible, so it compresses
15207-449: The presence of a new element while analyzing petalite ore. This element formed compounds similar to those of sodium and potassium , though its carbonate and hydroxide were less soluble in water and less alkaline . Berzelius gave the alkaline material the name " lithion / lithina ", from the Greek word λιθoς (transliterated as lithos , meaning "stone"), to reflect its discovery in
15344-413: The pressure produced by such a plasma would only be a small multiplier of the basic photon pressure within the radiation case, and also that the known foam materials intrinsically have a very low absorption efficiency of the gamma ray and X-ray radiation from the primary. Most of the energy produced would be absorbed by either the walls of the radiation case or the tamper around the secondary. Analyzing
15481-519: The primary and secondary assemblies placed within an enclosure called a radiation case, which confines the X-ray energy and resists its outward pressure. The distance separating the two assemblies ensures that debris fragments from the fission primary (which move much more slowly than X-ray photons ) cannot disassemble the secondary before the fusion explosion runs to completion. The secondary fusion stage—consisting of outer pusher/ tamper , fusion fuel filler and central plutonium spark plug—is imploded by
15618-442: The primary and secondary at either end. It does not reflect like a mirror; instead, it gets heated to a high temperature by the X-ray flux from the primary, then it emits more evenly spread X-rays that travel to the secondary, causing what is known as radiation implosion . In Ivy Mike , gold was used as a coating over the uranium to enhance the blackbody effect. Next comes the "Reflector/Neutron Gun Carriage". The reflector seals
15755-425: The primary would be used to compress and ignite the secondary fusion stage, resulting in a fusion explosion many times more powerful than the fission explosion alone. This chain of compression could conceivably be continued with an arbitrary number of tertiary fusion stages, each igniting more fusion fuel in the next stage although this is debated. Finally, efficient bombs (but not so-called neutron bombs ) end with
15892-474: The production of tritium by itself, as well as a form of solid fusion fuel used inside hydrogen bombs in the form of lithium deuteride . The US became the prime producer of lithium between the late 1950s and the mid-1980s. At the end, the stockpile of lithium was roughly 42,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide. The stockpiled lithium was depleted in lithium-6 by 75%, which was enough to affect the measured atomic weight of lithium in many standardized chemicals, and even
16029-435: The pure element from its salts. It was not isolated until 1821, when William Thomas Brande obtained it by electrolysis of lithium oxide , a process that had previously been employed by the chemist Sir Humphry Davy to isolate the alkali metals potassium and sodium. Brande also described some pure salts of lithium, such as the chloride, and, estimating that lithia ( lithium oxide ) contained about 55% metal, estimated
16166-448: The pure element or in modern weapons lithium deuteride . For this reason, thermonuclear weapons are often colloquially called hydrogen bombs or H-bombs . A fusion explosion begins with the detonation of the fission primary stage. Its temperature soars past 100 million kelvin , causing it to glow intensely with thermal ("soft") X-rays . These X-rays flood the void (the "radiation channel" often filled with polystyrene foam ) between
16303-418: The rest of the tamper-pusher to recoil inwards with tremendous force, crushing the fusion fuel and the spark plug. The tamper-pusher is built robustly enough to insulate the fusion fuel from the extreme heat outside; otherwise, the compression would be spoiled. Rough calculations for the basic ablation effect are relatively simple: the energy from the primary is distributed evenly onto all of the surfaces within
16440-476: The rising demand. It has been argued that lithium will be one of the main objects of geopolitical competition in a world running on renewable energy and dependent on batteries, but this perspective has also been criticised for underestimating the power of economic incentives for expanded production. Lithium reacts with water easily, but with noticeably less vigor than other alkali metals. The reaction forms hydrogen gas and lithium hydroxide . When placed over
16577-450: The secondary efficiently, maximizing the fusion yield. Plastic foam has a low density, so causes a smaller impulse when it ablates than metal does. Possible variations to the weapon design have been proposed: Most bombs do not apparently have tertiary "stages"—that is, third compression stage(s), which are additional fusion stages compressed by a previous fusion stage. The fissioning of the last blanket of uranium, which provides about half
16714-422: The secondary from the primary is the interstage . The fissioning primary produces four types of energy: 1) expanding hot gases from high explosive charges that implode the primary; 2) superheated plasma that was originally the bomb's fissile material and its tamper; 3) the electromagnetic radiation ; and 4) the neutrons from the primary's nuclear detonation. The interstage is responsible for accurately modulating
16851-580: The secondary stages by radiation implosion. Because of these difficulties, in 1955 Prime Minister Anthony Eden agreed to a secret plan, whereby if the Aldermaston scientists failed or were greatly delayed in developing the fusion bomb, it would be replaced by an extremely large fission bomb. In 1957 the Operation Grapple tests were carried out. The first test, Green Granite, was a prototype fusion bomb that failed to produce equivalent yields compared to
16988-418: The spark plug to around 300 million kelvin, igniting fusion reactions between fusion fuel nuclei. In modern weapons fueled by lithium deuteride, the fissioning plutonium spark plug also emits free neutrons that collide with lithium nuclei and supply the tritium component of the thermonuclear fuel. The secondary's relatively massive tamper (which resists outward expansion as the explosion proceeds) also serves as
17125-407: The tamper and radiation case is the main contribution to the total yield and is the dominant process that produces radioactive fission product fallout . Before Ivy Mike, Operation Greenhouse in 1951 was the first American nuclear test series to test principles that led to the development of thermonuclear weapons. Sufficient fission was achieved to boost the associated fusion device, and enough
17262-485: The three elements synthesized in the Big Bang. Though the amount of lithium generated in Big Bang nucleosynthesis is dependent upon the number of photons per baryon , for accepted values the lithium abundance can be calculated, and there is a " cosmological lithium discrepancy " in the universe: older stars seem to have less lithium than they should, and some younger stars have much more. The lack of lithium in older stars
17399-404: The transfer of energy from the primary to the secondary. It must direct the hot gases, plasma, electromagnetic radiation and neutrons toward the right place at the right time. Less than optimal interstage designs have resulted in the secondary failing to work entirely on multiple shots, known as a " fissile fizzle ". The Castle Koon shot of Operation Castle is a good example; a small flaw allowed
17536-412: The velocity at which the rest of the tamper implodes inwards. Applying the more detailed form of those calculations to the Ivy Mike device yields vaporized pusher gas expansion velocity of 290 kilometres per second (29 cm/μs) and an implosion velocity of perhaps 400 km/s (40 cm/μs) if + 3 ⁄ 4 of the total tamper/pusher mass is ablated off, the most energy efficient proportion. For
17673-404: The weapon (with the foam) would be as follows: This would complete the fission-fusion-fission sequence. Fusion, unlike fission, is relatively "clean"—it releases energy but no harmful radioactive products or large amounts of nuclear fallout . The fission reactions though, especially the last fission reactions, release a tremendous amount of fission products and fallout. If the last fission stage
17810-500: The yield in large bombs, does not count as a "stage" in this terminology. The U.S. tested three-stage bombs in several explosions during Operation Redwing but is thought to have fielded only one such tertiary model, i.e., a bomb in which a fission stage, followed by a fusion stage, finally compresses yet another fusion stage. This U.S. design was the heavy but highly efficient (i.e., nuclear weapon yield per unit bomb weight) 25 Mt (100 PJ) B41 nuclear bomb . The Soviet Union
17947-480: Was calculated to be 73 × 10 ^ bar (7.3 TPa ) for the Ivy Mike design and 1,400 × 10 ^ bar (140 TPa ) for the W-80. Foam plasma pressure is the concept that Chuck Hansen introduced during the Progressive case, based on research that located declassified documents listing special foams as liner components within the radiation case of thermonuclear weapons. The sequence of firing
18084-415: Was cut off by the United States at one point due to concerns about Soviet espionage. Full cooperation was not reestablished until an agreement governing the handling of secret information and other issues was signed. However, the British were allowed to observe the U.S. Castle tests and used sampling aircraft in the mushroom clouds , providing them with clear, direct evidence of the compression produced in
18221-595: Was discovered and developed by Sakharov and Yakov Zel'dovich in early 1954. Sakharov's "Third Idea", as the Teller–Ulam design was known in the USSR, was tested in the shot " RDS-37 " in November 1955 with a yield of 1.6 Mt (6.7 PJ). The Soviets demonstrated the power of the staging concept in October 1961, when they detonated the massive and unwieldy Tsar Bomba. It was the largest nuclear weapon developed and tested by any country. In 1954 work began at Aldermaston to develop
18358-650: Was gathered mainly by the Soviets during their occupation of Afghanistan from 1979–1989". The Department of Defense estimated the lithium reserves in Afghanistan to amount to the ones in Bolivia and dubbed it as a potential "Saudi-Arabia of lithium". In Cornwall , England, the presence of brine rich in lithium was well known due to the region's historic mining industry , and private investors have conducted tests to investigate potential lithium extraction in this area. Lithium
18495-509: Was impractical for a deployable weapon, and the next advance was to use a solid lithium deuteride fusion fuel instead. In 1954 this was tested in the " Castle Bravo " shot (the device was code-named Shrimp ), which had a yield of 15 Mt (63 PJ ) (2.5 times expected) and is the largest U.S. bomb ever tested. Efforts shifted towards developing miniaturized Teller–Ulam weapons that could fit into intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles . By 1960, with
18632-463: Was learned to achieve a full-scale device within a year. The design of all modern thermonuclear weapons in the United States is known as the Teller–Ulam configuration for its two chief contributors, Edward Teller and Stanisław Ulam , who developed it in 1951 for the United States, with certain concepts developed with the contribution of physicist John von Neumann . Similar devices were developed by
18769-548: Was supported by the fact that lithium-based soaps have a higher melting point than other alkali soaps, and are less corrosive than calcium based soaps. The small demand for lithium soaps and lubricating greases was supported by several small mining operations, mostly in the US. The demand for lithium increased dramatically during the Cold War with the production of nuclear fusion weapons . Both lithium-6 and lithium-7 produce tritium when irradiated by neutrons, and are thus useful for
#565434