Introduction
Tritium 3 H is a radioactive superheavy hydrogen radionuclide with a mass number of 3. T 1/2 = 12.35 years. Under normal conditions, tritium is a gas, t pl = -252.52 0 C. In combination with oxygen, tritium forms super-heavy water T 3 O. An isotope indicator, it is part of thermonuclear fuel. Today thermonuclear reactions have only been carried out in hydrogen bomb explosions.
Physical encyclopedia. M. Scientific publishing house “Big Russian Encyclopedia” volume 5 p.168.
State of the problem.
Tritium: Modern science has an idea of any chemical element from the point of view of the presence of a gravitational layer. If the layer potentials are set to zero, the element does not exist.
when filling more than 2 electronic layers with the simultaneous removal of potentials from gravitational lattices, it converts tritium into a non-inertial mass with the possibility of subsequent use as fuel. All radiation octaves are included in the electronic layers.
The outer (gravitational) lattice has an octave of 32.62546258, the next one has an octave of 53.66. If you remove potentials from it, then the combustion of tritium will differ from the combustion of hydrogen and deuterium. Beta minus decay is caused by the decay of the external gravitational lattice and has nothing to do with the electronic layers.
Deuterium:
Zeroing the tritium lattices transfers it to a state that is stable relative to the external environment, with a minimum number of electronic lattices of 2 and, so that it does not spontaneously ignite, external lattices of 3 (octaves 53.66, 51.66, 32.62546258). The outer lattice determines the liquid state of deuterium.
Hydrogen:
the presence of only gravitational layers and a radiation grating (32.62546258 octaves) does not allow the use of hydrogen as fuel (for thermonuclear fusion), since there are no electronic layers, and the external contours of the gravitational gratings are accepted for a running electron and a jumping proton(which can be weighed).
Thus, the basic element is tritium, and deuterium and hydrogen are its isotopes.
Hydrogen cannot be converted into a state of non-inertial mass.
Note that all 3 elements are one element with different properties depending on the state of the lattices.
The number of tritium isotopes = 2 44 – 1 or 17592186044415, one of them is hydrogen. Of this variety, it is necessary to have only 2 isotopes for objects (UFOs), 15 isotopes for movement in Space, and only 1 isotope for the formation of water. The use of other isotopes for the formation of water is excluded due to incompatible frequency boundaries.
Tritium exists in a liquid state at temperatures below -253 0 C.
Solid state unknown. Tritium is a fuel for all types of objects (UFOs). Liquid tritium is used, costs are shown in the table of objects (UFO).
Tritium reserves are not endless; no nature creates it.
To create tritium, there are special installations (generators - objects of the Complexes), which produce tritium with its subsequent dissolution in water, and all objects (UFOs) are located near bodies of water. Any object (UFO) is able to process water and extract tritium from it in the amount necessary to carry out the program.
As tritium is consumed, its reserves are replenished by generators. This maintains the constant operating condition of all objects (UFOs) located on Earth. All satellites of the planets have their own reserves of tritium; many satellites act as tritium warehouses, the reserves of which are such that they can go on any journey.
The minimum rate of tritium in water is 0.00000064%. When the tritium content reaches less than 22% of this value, the generators begin producing tritium. If tritium is completely removed from water, its specific gravity will be 0.77 g/cm 3 .
Science does not know the actual structure of tritium and its properties.
In its pure form, tritium can only be released by the generator of the Complex object.
Tritium lattice
Tritium is unknown to science. What is taken to be tritium is a cubic lattice framing a structure containing octaves up to 96. The lattice itself has a gravitational basis, so the contents can be weighed, that is, the weight and, accordingly, the content in the water of the lattice itself is determined.
The contents have a non-inertial mass and cannot be weighed.
The outer tritium lattice has an octave of 32.62546258. Deuterium and hydrogen have the same lattice.
The radioactivity of tritium is determined by the 53 octave lattice (2nd electronic layer). Norm for this layer = 2%. The structures within the lattice are dodecahedral-icosahedral formations containing octaves from 53 to 96 inclusive. How then does water obtain the necessary density and what is added in connection with oxygen?
When in contact with the tritium structure, oxygen receives an additional gravitational atom, that is, it “becomes heavier,” while this property disappears when the bonds are broken. That is why it is believed that tritium in water is hundredths of a percent.
However, tritium occupies almost 1/3 of the space in the structure and changes the physicochemical properties of oxygen in the binder.
From the popular science film /Volga-Volga/ the population learned that “without water and neither here nor there.”
Why do biological structures need water?
Only to extract high octave compounds (“living water”).
In this case, the brain receives the entire necessary supply of frequencies (non-inertial mass) and uses it for its life activities. Let us note that despite the difference in genotypes, water is “suitable” for everyone.
Everyone receives from water the frequencies at which the brain works. A person cannot live without water for more than 3-5 days; he must constantly be fed from tritium structures.
Sea water also contains tritium, but it does not contain the frequencies that the brain needs.
Water, purified from part of the non-inertial mass, is thrown out of the body in the form of urine and sweat. By the way, by the difference source water - urine urine test can show brain structure– it contains those frequencies that the brain does not use (prospective diagnostics). The Kailash complex does not constantly check the brain (every Tuesday) for compliance.
There they simply apply a mask to the incoming code (the effects of code masking is a separate topic). The operation takes microseconds, and in 4 hours the entire population of the Earth is tested.
Every year a standard of water (“Epiphany water”) is set in accordance with the brain for whom it is primarily intended.
So, if the brain has received a new (higher octave), then in tritium this octave will have a maximum potential, and the potentials of the remaining octaves will be reduced to an effective minimum.
Outwardly, the water remains the same (it can, for example, change color to green), but at its core it will have new frequencies.
This always happens when starting a new Program. The water that existed 100 years ago and the water that exists now are significantly different in the structure of the non-inertial mass.
For archeology lovers. If you drilled a well in Antarctica and came across an “ancient underground lake,” keep in mind that the structure of the non-inertial mass of that water will be the same as above, since the general lattice on Earth is the same.
What then is “dead water”? This water has only tritium gravitational frequencies. If the brain receives such water, it is forced to use up its own reserves in order to throw such a “gift” out of the body.
In critical situations, such reserves may not exist, and then water becomes poison. When urine and sweat are released, the cubic lattice is maintained.
Then why do objects need tritium?
Space has a dodecahedral-icosahedral lattice structure with zero potential, framed by a cubic structure of neutrinos and antineutrinos.
When moving in Space, an object (UFO) having magnetic frequencies and electrical potentials is forced to give them away, saturating the lattices of Space. However, it is necessary to give back what is in the same structure, otherwise changing the phasing angle (converting to another type of lattice) will simply lead to thermal death. Any object (UFO) moving independently in Space must have either a magnetic-electric generator to produce tritium, or tritium reserves with octaves up to 96 (the higher the octave, the lower the consumption).
The Cosmos does not need gravitational octaves; they remain on the object (UFO).
Let us pay attention to the fact that a large number of satellites of planets in the Solar System have huge reserves of tritium (see section: Earth Objects).
It's the same in Space. The receiving and sending grids must be identical. But this is all in Space, everything you need can be carried there inside the Moon, for example. But during movement, a cone of movement is formed, into which tritium is dumped.
Why do objects (UFOs) on Earth need tritium?
Only for ascent from the main energy bus of the Earth and return.
The depth reaches 4200 meters. Modern builders use powerful technology to build tunnels. A tunnel up to 4200 meters is capable of digging one object (UFO), with the only tool being tritium.
The lifting and landing complex (index 2(3)), after issuing the command “lift” or “return” from the location point to the surface of the Earth, creates an anti-gravity tube, that is, it removes potentials from the cubic lattice throughout the lifting or landing of the object (UFO) .
This is not done simultaneously, but in sections (usually 200 - 300 meters). Since all materials (periodic tables) have a cubic or close to it lattice, there is no problem in removing the electric potential and removing the magnetic impulse.
The object (UFO) does the rest. Any element has in its structure the same lattice of the Cosmos (dodecahedral-icosahedral), but this lattice has no potentials (they are equal to zero). If you start to saturate it, the chemical element begins to change its properties (platinum can be obtained from granite).
However, if saturation exceeds a certain limit, then the entire structure acquires the properties of a non-inertial mass (similar to the cavity of a working neon tube). Ball lightning - an object (UFO) - slips through this cavity.
Upon reaching the next site, the traversed section is transferred to its original state. It is for the formation of a section with non-inertial mass that tritium is needed.
Deuterium is not suitable here, since the lattices are incompatible and instead of a non-inertial mass we get a cake of unknown origin.
When reaching the Earth's surface, the atmospheric lattice is used for propulsion and the tritium consumption is minimal (tens of thousands of times less than during ascent and landing).
Why doesn't an explosion (of a hydrogen bomb) occur?
Each object has its own thermonuclear fusion generator, operating on the principle of a village stove - the more the damper is open, the more powerful the release of potentials. By the way, you can get the simplest thermonuclear reaction at home if you throw a piece of Na into water. Not only does it burn, it can also explode.
In sea water there will be no combustion or explosion, but the smell of sulfur will appear.
Of course, sea-based facilities are luckier. They move in their native environment, the formation of movement tubes requires a minimum consumption of tritium, they can replenish reserves as they move (Baron Munchausen’s description is about a horse that cannot get drunk because it does not have a second half).
Where does tritium come from?
As noted, the grid of the Cosmos has a certain structure. To move through this structure, you must either scatter electrical potentials around you (and supply them with magnetic impulses) or create a cone of movement. The height of the cone is billions of kilometers.
For navigation, planetary satellites are used (calculation of motion, formation of a cone, correction of orbits). Tritium is discharged only in the cone of motion and therefore there must be reserves of it.
However, all the planets of the Solar System have pyramid complexes, and some of them are intended for processing Space debris.
This debris is first neutralized by communication with an oxidizing agent (beautiful high-altitude clouds), then frequencies are added for shaping and we get water droplets.
However, you cannot drink such water (you can water the plants, but in this case the plants begin to intensively contract the potentials of the atmospheric lattice).
To give water the necessary qualities, there are special generators, the functions of which include saturating tritium with all the necessary frequencies, after which the structure associated with oxygen is used by everyone - people, animals, insects, plants, objects.
Tritium Formation Generators
To form tritium, the following complexes were brought and installed:
|
Center name |
Location |
Number of magnetic pyramids |
Number of electrical pyramids |
Number of gravitational |
|
| Basic complex | Chekhov, Russia | ||||
| Main complex | Suez, Egypt | ||||
| Work complex 01 | Gabon, Africa | ||||
| Work complex 02 | Kenya, Africa | ||||
| Work complex 03 | Kalimantan, Indonesia | ||||
| Work complex 04 | Nauru, Pacific Ocean | ||||
| Work complex 05 | Ecuador, South America | ||||
| Work complex 06 | Brazil, South America | ||||
| Work complex 07 | Tyumen, Russia | ||||
| Work complex 08 | Altai, China (Chinese Wall) | ||||
| Work complex 09 | Solomon islands | ||||
| Work complex 10 | Switzerland, Europe | ||||
| Work complex 11 | Kailash, Tibet | ||||
| Work complex 12 | Kola Peninsula |
Basic complex– control system for magnetic, electric and gravitational pyramids.
Main complex– management of work complexes.
Work complex– storage, control, working release.
Pyramid maintenance.
All complexes are serviced by robots that were specially created.
The management of all processes and the formation of orders is carried out only by those who have the 96th octave of the brain (including all the octaves necessary for life). In addition, it has as many matrices as necessary to execute the Program.
Conclusions.
1. Tritium is the most unknown element on Earth.
2. By changing the gravitational lattices alone, 256 different stable chemical elements can be obtained. By changing the potentials of gravitational lattices within a tolerance (from 2 to 124%), we obtain isotopes with the properties of alpha, beta and gamma decays. By adding at least one electron layer, we will also obtain a chemical element that emits photons, for example, Phosphorus or actinium ( Face-centered cubic lattice, luminous (spontaneous beta decay)).
3. Tritium in Space does not have potentials on gravitational and electronic lattices. In addition, there are no external control grids.
4. Each tritium electron lattice has a dodecahedral-icosahedral structure. Adding a cubic structure to the outer contour does not change the internal structure.
5. Combinations of external cubic lattices (not nested within each other) lead to the formation of various external forms (such as triclinic and others).
6. Any chemical element can be transferred to a state of non-inertial mass by removing potentials from the external gravitational lattice.
7. The tritium standard in the water structure is established once a year by the Greenland Complex.
8. Significant changes in water structure occur from October 21 to January 18 (every year), with the peak of mortality occurring in November.
9. Water obtained by processing Cosmic tritium is sequentially saturated with the necessary octaves before reaching the Earth.
10. The water cycle in nature can only be obtained in a saucepan or in a bathhouse (that is, in a confined space).
11. Evaporation of water from water basins does not lead to the formation of precipitation or at least fog - this pair lacks a significant number of octaves that form generators in the upper layers of the atmosphere. Therefore, the resulting steam simply dissipates, and the rains are a consequence of the intensive work of the generators.
Moreover, when the main tire overheats, it has to be cooled, and steam envelops entire areas in the form of a thick fog. However, for some reason the computers do not work.
12. Since a chemical element without gravitational mass does not exist (it cannot be seen, much less sold), science denies it in every possible way.
“Popular Mechanics” has already written about modern nuclear weapons (“PM” No. 1 “2009) based on fission charges. In this issue there is a story about even more powerful fusion weapons.
Alexander Prishchepenko
In the time since the first test at Alamogordo, thousands of explosions of fission charges have thundered, in each of which precious knowledge was obtained about the peculiarities of their functioning. This knowledge is similar to the elements of a mosaic canvas, and it turned out that this “canvas” is limited by the laws of physics: the reduction in the size of the ammunition and its power is limited by the kinetics of neutron moderation in the assembly, and achieving an energy release significantly exceeding a hundred kilotons is impossible due to nuclear-physical and hydrodynamic restrictions on the permissible dimensions of the subcritical sphere. But it is still possible to make ammunition more powerful if nuclear fusion is made to “work” together with fission.
Heavy isotopes of hydrogen serve as fuel for synthesis. The fusion of deuterium and tritium nuclei produces helium-4 and a neutron, the energy yield is 17.6 MeV, which is several times greater than in the fission reaction (calculated per unit mass of the reagents). In such fuel, under normal conditions, a chain reaction cannot occur, so its quantity is not limited, which means that the energy release of a thermonuclear charge has no upper limit.
However, in order for the fusion reaction to begin, it is necessary to bring the deuterium and tritium nuclei closer together, and this is prevented by the Coulomb repulsion forces. To overcome them, you need to accelerate the nuclei towards each other and push them together. In a neutron tube, during the disruption reaction, a lot of energy is spent on accelerating ions with high voltage. But if you heat the fuel to very high temperatures of millions of degrees and maintain its density for the time required for the reaction, it will release much more energy than that spent on heating. It is thanks to this method of reaction that weapons began to be called thermonuclear (based on the composition of the fuel, such bombs are also called hydrogen).
To heat the fuel in a thermonuclear bomb - as a “fuse” - a nuclear charge is needed. The body of the “fuse” is transparent to soft X-ray radiation, which during the explosion precedes the flying substance of the charge and turns the ampoule containing thermonuclear fuel into plasma. The substance of the ampoule shell is selected so that its plasma expands significantly, compressing the fuel towards the axis of the ampoule (this process is called radiation implosion).
Deuterium is “mixed” with natural hydrogen in approximately five times smaller quantities than “weapon-grade” uranium is mixed with ordinary hydrogen. But the mass difference between protium and deuterium is double, so the processes of their separation in countercurrent columns are more efficient. Tritium, like plutonium-239, does not exist in nature in appreciable quantities; it is mined by exposing the isotope lithium-6 to powerful neutron fluxes in a nuclear reactor, producing lithium-7, which decays into tritium and helium-4.
Both radioactive tritium and stable deuterium turned out to be dangerous substances: experimental animals that were injected with deuterium compounds died with symptoms characteristic of old age (bone brittleness, loss of intelligence, memory). This fact served as the basis for the theory according to which death from old age and under natural conditions occurs when deuterium accumulates: many tons of water and other hydrogen compounds pass through the body during life, and heavier deuterium components gradually accumulate in cells. The theory also explained the longevity of the mountaineers: in the field of gravity, the concentration of deuterium actually decreases slightly with altitude. However, many somatic effects turned out to contradict the “deuterium” theory, and it was eventually rejected.
The isotopes of hydrogen—deuterium (D) and tritium (T)—under normal conditions are gases that are difficult to “assemble” in sufficient quantities in a device of reasonable size. Therefore, their compounds, solid lithium-6 hydrides, are used in charges. As the synthesis of the most “easy-to-ignite” isotopes heats up the fuel, other reactions begin to take place in it, involving both the nuclei contained in the mixture and those formed: the fusion of two deuterium nuclei to form tritium and a proton, helium-3 and a neutron, the fusion two tritium nuclei to form helium-4 and two neutrons, the fusion of helium-3 and deuterium to form helium-4 and a proton, as well as the fusion of lithium-6 and a neutron to form helium-4 and tritium, so lithium turns out to be not quite "ballast".
Although the energy release of a two-phase (fission + fusion) explosion can be arbitrarily large, a significant part of it (for the first of the mentioned reactions - more than 80%) is carried away from the fireball by fast neutrons; their range in the air is many kilometers and therefore they do not contribute to explosive effects.
If an explosive effect is needed, a third phase is also implemented in thermonuclear ammunition, for which the ampoule is surrounded by a heavy shell of uranium-238. The neutrons emitted during the decay of this isotope have too little energy to support a chain reaction, but uranium-238 is fissioned under the influence of “external” high-energy thermonuclear neutrons. Non-chain fission in the uranium shell gives an increase in the energy of the fireball, sometimes even exceeding the contribution of thermonuclear reactions! For every kilogram of weight of three-phase products there are several kilotons of TNT equivalent - they significantly surpass other classes of nuclear weapons in specific characteristics.
However, three-phase ammunition has a very unpleasant feature - an increased yield of fission fragments. Of course, two-phase ammunition also pollutes the area with neutrons, causing nuclear reactions in almost all elements that do not stop many years after the explosion (the so-called induced radioactivity), fission fragments and remnants of “fuses” (only 10-30 % plutonium, the rest scatters around the surrounding area), but three-phase ones are superior to them in this regard. They are so superior that some ammunition was even produced in two versions: “dirty” (three-phase) and less powerful “clean” (two-phase) for use in the territory where friendly troops were expected to operate. For example, the American B53 aerial bomb was produced in two versions identical in appearance: the “dirty” B53Y1 (9 Mt) and the “clean” version B53Y2 (4.5 Mt).
Types of nuclear explosions: 1. Cosmic. It is used at an altitude of more than 65 km to destroy space targets. 2. Ground. It is produced on the surface of the earth or at such a height when the luminous area touches the ground. Used to destroy ground targets. 3. Underground. Produced below ground level. Characterized by severe contamination of the area. 4. High-rise. It is used at altitudes from 10 to 65 km to destroy air targets. For ground objects it is only dangerous due to its impact on electrical and radio devices. 5. Airy. Produced at altitudes from several hundred meters to several kilometers. There is practically no radioactive contamination of the area. 6. Surface. It is performed on the surface of the water or at a height where the light area touches the water. Characterized by a weakening of the effects of light radiation and penetrating radiation. 7. Underwater. Produced underwater. Light radiation and penetrating radiation are practically absent. Causes severe radioactive contamination of water.
From the 202 MeV energy supplied by each fission event, the following are instantly released: the kinetic energy of fission products (168 MeV), the kinetic energy of neutrons (5 MeV), and the energy of gamma radiation (4.6 MeV). Thanks to these factors, nuclear weapons dominate the battlefield. If an explosion occurs in relatively dense air, two-thirds of its energy goes into a shock wave. Almost the entire remainder is taken away by light radiation, leaving only a tenth of the penetrating radiation, and of this minuscule amount only 6% goes to the neutrons that created the explosion. Neutrinos carry away significant energy (11 MeV), but they are so elusive that it has not yet been possible to find practical applications for them and their energy.
With a significant delay after the explosion, the energy of beta radiation from fission products (7 MeV) and the energy of gamma radiation from fission products (6 MeV) are released. These factors are responsible for radioactive contamination of the area - a phenomenon that is very dangerous for both sides.
The effect of a shock wave is understandable, which is why the power of a nuclear explosion began to be assessed by comparing it with the explosion of conventional explosives. The effects caused by a powerful flash of light were not unusual: wooden buildings burned, soldiers were burned. But effects that did not turn the target into firebrands or a trivial, non-disturbing pile of ruins - fast neutrons and hard gamma radiation - were, of course, considered “barbaric”.
The direct action of gamma radiation is inferior in combat effect to both the shock wave and light. Only huge doses of gamma radiation (tens of millions of rads) can cause problems in electronics. At such doses, metals melt, and a shock wave with a much lower energy density will destroy the target without such excesses. If the energy density of gamma radiation is lower, it becomes harmless to steel equipment, and the shock wave can have its say here too.
With “manpower”, not everything is obvious either: firstly, gamma radiation is significantly attenuated, for example, by armor, and secondly, the characteristics of radiation injuries are such that even those who received an absolutely lethal dose of thousands of rem (biological equivalent of an X-ray, a dose of any type of radiation producing the same effect in a biological object as 1 x-ray), tank crews would remain combat-ready for several hours. During this time, mobile and relatively invulnerable machines would have managed to do a lot.
Although direct gamma irradiation does not provide a significant combat effect, it is possible due to secondary reactions. As a result of gamma ray scattering on electrons of air atoms (Compton effect), recoil electrons appear. A current of electrons diverges from the point of explosion: their speed is significantly higher than the speed of ions. The trajectories of charged particles in the Earth's magnetic field twist (and therefore move with acceleration), thereby forming an electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion (EMP).
Any compound containing tritium is unstable, because half of the nuclei of this isotope itself decays into helium-3 and an electron in 12 years, and in order to maintain the readiness of numerous thermonuclear charges for use, it is necessary to continuously produce tritium in reactors. There is little tritium in the neutron tube, and helium-3 is absorbed there by special porous materials, but this decay product must be pumped out of the ampoule, otherwise it will simply be torn apart by gas pressure. Such difficulties led, for example, to the fact that British specialists, having received Polaris missiles from the United States in the 1970s, chose to abandon American thermonuclear combat equipment in favor of less powerful single-phase fission charges developed in their country under the Chevaline program. In the neutron ammunition intended to combat tanks, it was envisaged that ampoules with a significantly reduced amount of tritium would be replaced with “fresh” ones, produced in arsenals during storage. Such ammunition could also be used with “blank” ampoules - like single-phase nuclear projectiles with kiloton power. You can use thermonuclear fuel without tritium, only based on deuterium, but then, other things being equal, the energy release will be significantly reduced. Scheme of operation of a three-phase thermonuclear munition. The explosion of the fission charge (1) turns the ampoule (2) into plasma, compressing the thermonuclear fuel (3). To enhance the explosive effect due to the neutron flux, a shell (4) of uranium-238 is used.
Only 0.6% of the energy of gamma quanta is converted into EMR energy, and yet their share in the balance of explosion energy is itself small. Contributions include dipole radiation, which arises due to changes in air density with height, and disturbance of the Earth's magnetic field by a conducting plasmoid. As a result, a continuous frequency spectrum of nuclear energy electromagnetic radiation is formed - a set of oscillations of a huge number of frequencies. The energy contribution of radiation with frequencies from tens of kilohertz to hundreds of megahertz is significant. These waves behave differently: megahertz and higher-frequency waves are attenuated in the atmosphere, while low-frequency waves “dive” into the natural waveguide formed by the Earth’s surface and the ionosphere, and can circle the globe more than once. True, these “long-livers” remind of their existence only by wheezing in the receivers, similar to the “voices” of lightning discharges, but their higher-frequency relatives announce themselves with powerful “clicks” that are dangerous for equipment.
It would seem that such radiation should generally be indifferent to military electronics - after all, any device most efficiently receives waves in the range in which it emits them. And military electronics receive and emit in much higher frequency ranges than EMR. But EMR radiation does not act on electronics through an antenna. If a rocket 10 m long was “covered” by a long wave with an unamazing electric field strength of 100 V/cm, then a potential difference of 100,000 V was induced on the metal rocket body! Powerful pulse currents “flow” into the circuits through grounding connections, and the grounding points themselves on the case were at significantly different potentials. Current overloads are dangerous for semiconductor elements: in order to “burn out” a high-frequency diode, a pulse of tiny (ten-millionth of a joule) energy is enough. EMP took pride of place as a powerful damaging factor: sometimes it disabled equipment thousands of kilometers from a nuclear explosion - this was beyond the power of either a shock wave or a light pulse.
It is clear that the parameters of the explosions causing EMP have been optimized (mainly the height of the detonation of a charge of a given power). Protection measures were also developed: the equipment was equipped with additional screens and security arresters. Not a single type of military equipment was accepted into service until it was proven by tests - full-scale or on specially created simulators - its resistance to EMP nuclear weapons, at least of such intensity as is typical for not too great distances from the explosion.
However, let's return to two-phase ammunition. Their main damaging factor is fast neutron fluxes. This gave rise to numerous legends about “barbaric weapons” - neutron bombs, which, as Soviet newspapers wrote in the early 1980s, when exploded, destroy all living things, while leaving material assets (buildings, equipment) practically undamaged. A real marauder's weapon - blow it up, and then come and rob! In fact, any objects exposed to significant neutron fluxes are dangerous to life, because neutrons, after interacting with nuclei, initiate various reactions in them, causing secondary (induced) radiation, which is emitted for a long time after the last one has decayed irradiating the substance with neutrons.
What was this “barbaric weapon” intended for? The warheads of Lance missiles and 203-mm howitzer shells were equipped with two-phase thermonuclear charges. The choice of carriers and their reach (tens of kilometers) indicate that these weapons were created to solve operational-tactical problems. Neutron ammunition (in American terminology, “with increased radiation yield”) was intended to destroy armored vehicles, the number of which of the Warsaw Pact exceeded NATO several times. The tank is quite resistant to the effects of a shock wave, therefore, after calculating the use of nuclear weapons of various classes against armored vehicles, taking into account the consequences of contamination of the area with fission products and destruction from powerful shock waves, it was decided to make neutrons the main damaging factor.
In an effort to obtain such a thermonuclear charge, they tried to abandon the nuclear “fuse”, replacing fission with ultra-high-speed cumulation: the head element of the jet, consisting of thermonuclear fuel, was accelerated to hundreds of kilometers per second (at the moment of collision, the temperature and density increase significantly). But against the background of the explosion of a kilogram shaped charge, the “thermonuclear” increase turned out to be negligible, and the effect was recorded only indirectly - by the yield of neutrons. A report on these experiments carried out in the USA was published in 1961 in the collection “Atom and Weapons”, which, given the paranoid secrecy of that time, in itself indicated a failure.
In the seventies, in “non-nuclear” Poland, Sylvester Kaliski theoretically examined the compression of thermonuclear fuel by spherical implosion and received very favorable assessments. But experimental testing has shown that, although the neutron yield, in comparison with the “jet version,” has increased by many orders of magnitude, the instabilities of the front do not allow reaching the required temperature at the point of convergence of the wave and only those fuel particles react, the speed of which, due to the statistical scatter , significantly exceeds the average value. So it was not possible to create a completely “clean” charge.
Hoping to stop the onslaught of “armor,” NATO headquarters developed the concept of “fighting the second echelons,” trying to move further away the line of using neutron weapons against the enemy. The main task of armored forces is to develop success to operational depth, after they are thrown into a gap in the defense, made, for example, by a high-power nuclear strike. At this point, it is already too late to use radiation ammunition: although 14-MeV neutrons are slightly absorbed by armor, radiation damage to crews does not immediately affect combat effectiveness. Therefore, such attacks were planned in wait-and-see areas, where the bulk of the armored vehicles were being prepared for introduction into the breakthrough: during the march to the front line, the effects of radiation exposure would appear on the crews.
Another use of neutron munitions was the interception of nuclear warheads. It is necessary to intercept the enemy's warhead at a high altitude, so that even if it is detonated, the objects it is aimed at will not be damaged. But the absence of air around deprives the missile defense of the ability to hit the target with a shock wave. True, during a nuclear explosion in airless space, the conversion of its energy into a light pulse increases, but this helps little, since the warhead is designed to overcome the thermal barrier upon entry into the atmosphere and is equipped with an effective burning (ablative) heat-protective coating. Neutrons freely “slip” through such coatings, and having slipped through, they strike the “heart” of the warhead - the assembly containing the fissile material. A nuclear explosion is impossible in this case - the assembly is subcritical, but neutrons generate many decaying fission chains in plutonium. Plutonium, which even under normal conditions, due to spontaneously occurring nuclear reactions, has a noticeable elevated temperature when touched, melts and deforms with powerful internal heating, which means it will no longer be able to turn into a supercritical assembly at the right moment.
American Sprint anti-missile missiles guarding intercontinental ballistic missile silos are equipped with such two-phase thermonuclear charges. The conical shape of the rockets allows them to withstand enormous overloads that occur during launch and during subsequent maneuvering.
TRITIUM (superheavy hydrogen), one of the isotopes of hydrogen, the nucleus of which contains one proton and two neutrons. Radioactive, half-life 12.26 years; during beta decay it turns into helium-3. Melting point 252.2° C, boiling point 248.1° C.In pursuit of tritium. Almost immediately after the discovery of deuterium ( cm. DEUTERIUM AND HEAVY WATER) a search began in nature for tritium, the third superheavy isotope of hydrogen, in the nucleus of which, in addition to one proton, there are two neutrons. It was obvious to physicists that if tritium was present in ordinary hydrogen, it would concentrate together with deuterium. Therefore, several groups of researchers who had established the production of heavy water or had access to it began the pursuit of a new isotope, using different methods for searching. Subsequently, it was discovered that almost all methods fundamentally could not give positive results, since they did not have the required sensitivity.Already in the first work of G. Urey, in which deuterium was discovered, an attempt was made to detect tritium in exactly the same way, according to the position of the spectral lines predicted in advance by the theory. However, there was not even a hint of these lines in the spectrograms, which, in general, did not surprise the researchers. If there is only hundredths of a percent of deuterium in ordinary hydrogen, then it is likely that there is much less tritium. The conclusion was clear: it is necessary to increase both the sensitivity of the analysis and the degree of enrichment of hydrogen with its heavy isotopes.
At the beginning of 1933, the famous American physical chemist, author of the theory of electron pairs, Gilbert Lewis, together with the chemist Frank Spedding, repeated Urey's experiment. This time, the researchers had at their disposal a highly enriched sample containing 67% deuterium. Such a sample, even after a 2-minute exposure in the spectrograph, gave clear lines of deuterium on the photographic plate. But even after 40 hours of exposure, the place on the plate where, according to theory, the tritium lines should have appeared, remained completely clean. This meant that the tritium content of ordinary hydrogen was at least less than 1:6
· 10 6 , i.e. less than one atom 3 H at 6 million atoms 1 H. From here the following conclusion was made: it is necessary to take even more concentrated samples, that is, subject no longer ordinary water to electrolysis to accumulate D 2 O, and heavy water to accumulate T 2 O (or at least DTO). In practice, this meant that it was necessary to take as much initial heavy water as previously used ordinary water to obtain heavy water!After the failures of spectroscopists, mass spectrometry specialists joined the search. This extremely sensitive method allows the analysis of minute amounts of a substance in the form of ions. For experiments, water was concentrated 225 thousand times. The researchers hoped to find (DT) ions in the sample
+ with a mass of 5. Ions with this mass were discovered, but it turned out that they belong to triatomic particles (HDD)+ , without any participation of tritium. It became obvious that tritium, if present in nature, is much less than previously thought: no more than 1:5· 10 8 , that is, already 1 T atom per 500 million H atoms!Tritium synthesis. While spectroscopists and mass spectrometrists published one after another about tritium, which all turned out to be false, tritium was produced artificially. This happened in the laboratory of the patriarch of nuclear physics Ernst Rutherford. In March 1934, a small note signed by M.L. Oliphant, P. Harteck and Rutherford was published in the English magazine “Nature” (Lord Rutherford’s surname did not require initials when publishing!). Despite the modest title of the note: Transmutation effect obtained with heavy hydrogen, she informed the world about an important achievement - obtaining the third isotope of hydrogen. The co-authors of the work were the young Australian Mark Lawrence Oliphant and the Austrian Paul Harteck. And if Oliphant later became an academician and director of the Institute of Physics at the University of Canberra, then Harteck’s fate turned out differently. Understanding his duty to German science in a peculiar way, in 1934 he decided to return to Germany and work for the Nazi regime. In 1939, he wrote a letter to the highest military authorities in Germany about the possibility of creating atomic weapons, and then tried to build a uranium boiler - fortunately, without success.In 1933, the laboratory in Cambridge was visited by G. Lewis from Berkeley, who presented Rutherford with three tiny glass ampoules of almost pure heavy water. Their total volume was only 0.5 ml. Oliphant obtained from this water some pure deuterium, which served to produce beams of D ions
+ , accelerated in the discharge tube to high energies. And Harteck synthesized compounds in which the hydrogen atoms were partially replaced by deuterium atoms. Thus, negligible amounts of “heavy” ammonium chloride were obtained through NH exchange reactions 4 Cl + D 2 O NH 3 DCl + HDO, NH 3 DCl + D 2 O NH2D2 Cl + HDO, etc. When bombarding deuterated ammonium chloride with accelerated D ions+ a very intense flow of new particles was observed. As it turned out, these were the nuclei of a new isotope of hydrogen - tritium (they were called tritons). It also became apparent that for the first time in history, it was possible to observe nuclear fusion: two deuterium atoms fused together to form an unstable helium-4 nucleus, which then decayed to form tritium and a proton: 4 He ® 3 H + 1 H. In the same year, Rutherford was already demonstrating new nuclear transformations at his lectures: a particle counter was connected through an amplifier to a loudspeaker, so that loud clicks were heard in the audience, which became more frequent as the voltage on the discharge tube increased. At the same time, for every million deuterium “shells” hitting the target, one tritium atom was obtained - this is a lot for nuclear reactions of this type.So, the first tritium was obtained artificially, as a result of nuclear reactions. The question of its existence in nature remained open. The artificial synthesis of tritium at Cambridge only spurred researchers to concentrate heavy water on larger and larger scales in the hope of finding tritium in a natural source. Thus, physicists and chemists from Princeton University, having joined forces, in 1935 already subjected 75 tons to electrolysis
water almost two railway tanks! As a result of titanic efforts, a tiny ampoule with a remainder of enriched water with a volume of only 0.5 ml was obtained. This was a record concentration of 150 million times! Mass spectral analysis of this residue did not yield anything new; the spectrum still contained a peak corresponding to mass 5, which was attributed to (DT) ions+ , and the assessment of the tritium content in nature, taking into account the huge concentration, gave the ratio T:H~ 7:10 10 , that is, no more than one T atom per 70 billion H atoms.Thus, to detect tritium it was necessary to further increase the degree of water concentration. But this required enormous costs. Rutherford himself was involved in solving the problem. Using his enormous authority, he made a personal request to the Norwegians to conduct an experiment on an unprecedented scale: they would obtain heavy water by concentrating ordinary water a billion times! First, 13,000 tons of ordinary water were electrolyzed, from which 43.4 kg of heavy water containing D was obtained
2 O 99.2%. This amount was then reduced to 11 ml through almost 10 months of electrolysis. Electrolysis conditions were chosen to promote concentration of the putative tritium. Thus, from 13 thousand tons of water (which is 5 trains with 50 tanks each!), only one test tube of enriched water was obtained. The world has never known such grandiose experiments!The problem arose as to how best to deal with this precious specimen. Probably the only person in the world capable of directly distinguishing ions of very close mass (DT) in a mass spectrometer
+ and ions “masquerading” as them (DDH)+ , was Nobel laureate F.W. Aston an outstanding specialist in the field of mass spectrometric analysis. It was decided to give the sample to him for analysis. The result was discouraging: there was no trace of the presence of DT ions+ ! Accordingly, the T:H ratio estimate was reduced to 1:10 12 . It became obvious that if tritium is present in natural sources, it is in such insignificant quantities that its isolation from them is associated with incredible, if not surmountable, difficulties.Detection of natural tritium. Can tritium be radioactive? Already Rutherford, after the failure of his grandiose experiment, did not exclude such a possibility. Calculations also suggested that the tritium nucleus must be unstable and, therefore, it must be radioactive. It was the radioactivity of tritium with a relatively short lifetime that could explain its insignificant amounts in nature. Indeed, radioactivity in tritium was soon discovered experimentally. Of course, it was artificially produced tritium. There was no noticeable decrease in radioactivity for 5 months. It followed from this, taking into account the accuracy of the experiments, that the half-life of tritium was no less than 10 years. Modern measurements give the half-life of tritium 12.262 years.When tritium decays, it emits beta particles, turning into helium-3. The energy of tritium radiation is so low that it cannot even pass through the thin wall of a Geiger counter. Therefore, the gas analyzed for the presence of tritium must be run inside the counter. On the other hand, low radiation energy has its advantages: it is not dangerous to work with tritium compounds (if they are non-volatile): emitted
their beta rays travel only a few millimeters in the air.To develop methods for analyzing tritium, significant amounts of it were required. Therefore, new methods for its synthesis began to appear, for example,
9 Be + 2 H ® 8 Be + 3 H, 6 Li + 1 n ® 4 He + 3 H et al. And the accuracy of the analysis has increased enormously. It became possible, for example, to analyze samples in which only one tritium atom decayed per second; such a tritium sample contained less than 10 15 moth! Now in the hands of physicists there was an extremely sensitive method of analysis; in the pre-war years it was about a million times more sensitive than mass spectrometry. It is time to return to the search for tritium in natural sources.Tritium in nature. In 1946, a well-known authority in the field of nuclear physics, Nobel Prize laureate W. F. Libby suggested that tritium was continuously formed as a result of nuclear reactions occurring in the atmosphere. The first measurements of the radioactivity of natural hydrogen, although unsuccessful, showed that the H:T ratio is 5 orders of magnitude less than previously thought and is no more than 1:10 17 . It became obvious that it was impossible to detect tritium by mass spectrometry even at the highest enrichments: by the beginning of the 50s, mass spectrometers made it possible to determine the concentration of impurities when their content was at least 10 4%. In 1951, a group of American physicists from the University of Chicago, with the participation of W. Libby, took out a stored “Rutherford” ampoule with 11 ml of super-enriched heavy water, in which Aston once tried to detect tritium by mass spectrometry. And although a decade and a half had passed since the isolation of this sample from natural water and less than half of the tritium contained in it remained, the result was not long in coming: the heavy water was radioactive! Measured activity taking into account enrichmentupon receipt of the sample corresponded to the natural tritium content of 1:10 18 . To insure against a possible mistake, we decided to repeat everything from the very beginning, carefully monitoring every step of this decisive experiment. The authors asked the Norwegian company to prepare several more samples of enriched water. Water was taken from a mountain lake in northern Norway in January 1948. From it, 15 ml of heavy water was obtained by electrolytic concentration. It was distilled and reacted with calcium oxide: CaO + D 2 O ® Ca(OD) 2 . Deuterium was obtained by reduction with zinc at red heat from calcium deuteroxide: Ca(OD) 2 + Zn ® CaZnO 2 + D 2 . Mass spectrometric analysis showed that the purest deuterium was obtained, which was put into a Geiger counter to measure its radioactivity. The gas turned out to be radioactive, which meant that the water from which the deuterium was isolated contained tritium. Several more samples were prepared and analyzed in the same way to clarify how much tritium is actually contained in natural hydrogen.The exceptional thoroughness of the work left no doubt about the results obtained. But a year before the completion of this work, an article by F. Faltings and the same P. Harteck from the Physicochemical Institute at the University of Hamburg was published, which reported the discovery of tritium in atmospheric hydrogen. Thus, Harteck participated in the discovery of tritium twice: first, artificial, and 16 years later, natural.
Air is not the richest source of hydrogen; it contains only 0.00005% (at sea level). Therefore, at the request of German physicists, the Linde company processed one hundred thousand cubic meters of air, from which hydrogen was separated by liquefaction and rectification, and from it 80 g of water was obtained by oxidation on copper oxide. Using electrolysis this
water was concentrated several tens of times, then calcium carbide was “quenched” with it: CaC 2 + 2H 2 O ® Ca(OH) 2 + C 2 H 2 , and acetylene is hydrogenated with the remaining hydrogen to ethane: C 2H 2 + 2H 2 ® C 2 H 6 . The resulting ethane, into which all the initial tritium passed, was then analyzed for radioactivity. Calculations showed that there is extremely little tritium in the air (in the form of NT molecules): 20 cubic meters. cm of air contains one molecule of tritium, i.e. in the entire atmosphere there should be only... 1 mole or 3 g. However, if we take into account that there is extremely little hydrogen in the air, it turns out that atmospheric molecular hydrogen is enriched with tritium 10,000 times more than the hydrogen in rainwater. It followed that free and bound hydrogen in the atmosphere had different origins. Calculations also showed that all water bodies on Earth contain only 100 kg of tritium.Value obtained in Chicago for tritium content in water (H:T = 1:10
18 ), has become generally accepted. This content of tritium atoms even received a special name - “tritium unit” (TE). 1 liter of water contains on average 3.2· 10 10 g tritium, in 1 liter of air 1.6· 10 14 g (at absolute humidity 10 mg/l). Tritium is formed in the upper layers of the atmosphere with the participation of cosmic radiation at a speed of 1200 atoms per second per 1 m 2 earth's surface. Thus, for thousands of years, the content of tritium in nature was almost constant; its continuous formation in the atmosphere was compensated by natural decay. However, since 1954 (the start of thermonuclear bomb testing), the situation has changed dramatically and the tritium content in rainwater has increased thousands of times. And this is not surprising: the explosion of a hydrogen bomb with a yield of 1 megaton (Mt) results in the release of 0.7 to 2 kg of tritium. The total power of air explosions was for 1945 1962. 406 Mt, and onshore 104 Mt. Moreover, the total amount of tritium released into the biosphere as a result of the tests amounted to hundreds of kilograms! After ground testing ceased, tritium levels began to decline. In recent years, the main source of man-made tritium in the environment has become nuclear power plants, which annually release several tens of kilograms of tritium.Modern radiochemical methods make it possible to accurately determine the tritium content in a relatively small amount of water taken from a particular source. What is it for? It turns out that radioactive tritium, with a very convenient lifetime of just over 10 years, can provide a lot of valuable information. W. Libby called tritium “radiohydrogen”, by analogy with radiocarbon. Tritium can serve as an excellent tracer for studying various natural processes. It can be used to determine the age of plant products, for example, wines (if they are no more than 30 years old), since grapes absorb tritium from soil waters, and after harvesting, the tritium content in grape juice begins to decrease at a known rate. Libby himself carried out many of these analyses, processing hundreds of liters of different wines supplied to him by winemakers in different areas. Analysis of atmospheric tritium provides valuable information about cosmic rays. And tritium in sedimentary rocks may indicate movements of air and moisture on Earth.
The richest natural sources of tritium are rain and snow, since almost all tritium produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere goes into water. The intensity of cosmic radiation varies with latitude, so precipitation, for example, in central Russia carries several times more tritium than tropical showers. And absolutely
There is little tritium in the rains that fall over the ocean, since their source is mainly the same ocean water, and there is little tritium in it. It is clear that the deep ice of Greenland or Antarctica does not contain tritium at all; it has long since completely disintegrated there. Knowing the rate of tritium formation in the atmosphere, it is possible to calculate how long moisture remains in the air from the moment it evaporates from the surface until it falls as rain or snow. It turned out that, for example, in the air over the ocean this period averages 9 days.Reserves of natural tritium are negligible. Therefore, all tritium used for various purposes is obtained artificially by irradiating lithium with neutrons. As a result, it became possible to obtain significant quantities of pure tritium and study its properties, as well as the properties of its compounds. So, superheavy water T
2 O has a density of 1.21459 g/cm 3 . Synthesized tritium is relatively cheap and has applications in scientific research and industry. Tritium luminous paints are widely used and are applied to instrument dials. From a radiation point of view, these light compounds are less dangerous than traditional radium ones. For example, zinc sulfide containing a small amount of tritium compounds (approximately 0.03 mg per 1 g of light composition) continuously emits green light. Such permanent light compositions are used for the manufacture of indicators, instrument scales, etc. Hundreds of grams of tritium are consumed annually in their production.Tritium is also present in the human body. It enters it with food, with inhaled air and through the skin (12%). Interestingly, gaseous T
2 500 times less toxic than super-heavy water T 2 A. This is explained by the fact that molecular tritium, entering the lungs with air, is then quickly (in about 3 minutes) released from the body, while tritium in water lingers in it for 10 days and manages to transfer a significant dose of radiation to it during this time . On average, the human body contains 5· 10 12 g of tritium, which contributes 0.13 mrem to the total annual radiation dose (this is hundreds of times less than radiation from other radiation sources). Interestingly, people wearing watches with hands and numbers coated with tritium phosphor have levels of tritium in their bodies that are 5 times higher than average.Tritium is also one of the main components of the explosive of thermonuclear (hydrogen) bombs, and is also very promising for conducting a controlled thermonuclear reaction according to the D + T scheme >
4 He + n. Ilya Leenson LITERATURE Evans E. Tritium and its compounds. M., Atomizdat, 1970Any chemical element has natural or artificial varieties called isotopes. The difference between them lies in the unequal number of neutrons in the nuclei and, therefore, in atomic weight, as well as in the degree of stability. As for the number of protons, it is the same, due to which the element, in fact, remains itself. In this article we will look at the isotopes of hydrogen, the lightest and most abundant element in the Universe. We have to consider their properties, role in nature and scope of practical application.
The answer to this question depends on which isotopes of hydrogen are meant.
Three natural isotopic forms have been established for this element: protium - light hydrogen, heavy deuterium and super-heavy tritium. All of them were found in natural form.
In addition to them, there are four artificially synthesized isotopes: quadium, pentium, hexium and septium. These varieties are characterized by extreme instability, the lifetime of their nuclei is expressed in values of the order of 10-22 - 10-23 seconds.
Thus, today there are seven known isotopic varieties of hydrogen. We will focus our attention on three of them that are of practical importance.
This is the most simply structured atom. The hydrogen isotope protium with an atomic mass of 1.0078 a. e.m. has a nucleus, which includes only one particle - the proton. Since it is stable (theoretically, the lifetime of a proton is estimated at no less than 2.9 × 1029 years), the protium atom is also stable. When writing nuclear reactions, it is designated as 1H1 (the lower index is the atomic number, that is, the number of protons, the upper index is the total number of nucleons in the nucleus), sometimes simply p - “proton”.
The light isotope is almost 99.99% of all hydrogen; only a little more than one hundredth of a percent accounts for the remaining forms. It is protium that makes a decisive contribution to the abundance of hydrogen in nature: in the Universe as a whole - about 75% of the mass of baryonic matter and approximately 90% of atoms; on Earth - 1% of the mass and as much as 17% of the atoms of all the elements that make up our planet. In general, protium (more precisely, the proton as one of the main components of the Universe) can safely be called the most important element. It provides the possibility of thermonuclear fusion in the depths of stars, including the Sun, and due to it other elements are formed. In addition, light hydrogen plays an important role in the construction and functioning of living matter.
In its molecular form, hydrogen enters into chemical interactions at high temperatures because it takes a lot of energy to split its fairly strong molecule. Atomic hydrogen is characterized by very high chemical activity.
The heavy isotope of hydrogen has a more complex nucleus, consisting of a proton and a neutron. Accordingly, the atomic mass of deuterium is twice as large – 2.0141. The accepted designation is 2H1 or D. This isotopic form is also stable, since in the processes of strong interaction in the nucleus, the proton and neutron constantly transform into each other, and the latter does not have time to undergo decay.
On Earth, hydrogen contains between 0.011% and 0.016% deuterium. Its concentration varies depending on the environment: in sea water there is more of this isotope, but in the composition of, for example, natural gas it is significantly less. On other bodies of the Solar System, the ratio of deuterium to light hydrogen may be different: for example, the ice of some comets contains a larger amount of the heavy isotope.
Deuterium melts at 18.6 K (light hydrogen at 14 K) and boils at 23.6 K (the corresponding point for protium is 20.3 K). Heavy hydrogen exhibits, in general, the same chemical properties as protium, forming all types of compounds characteristic of this element, but it also has some features associated with a serious difference in atomic mass - after all, deuterium is 2 times heavier. It should be noted that for this reason, the isotopic forms of hydrogen exhibit the greatest chemical differences of all elements. In general, deuterium is characterized by lower (5-10 times) reaction rates.
Heavy hydrogen nuclei take part in the intermediate stages of the thermonuclear cycle. The sun shines thanks to this process, at one stage of which the resulting hydrogen isotope, deuterium, merges with a proton to give birth to helium-3.
Water, which contains, in addition to protium, one atom of deuterium, is called semi-heavy and has the formula HDO. In the heavy water molecule D2O, deuterium completely replaces light hydrogen.
Heavy water is characterized by a slow course of chemical reactions, as a result of which in high concentrations it is harmful to living organisms, especially higher ones, such as mammals and including humans. If a quarter of the hydrogen in water is replaced by deuterium, long-term use of it is fraught with the development of infertility, anemia and other diseases. When replacing 50% of hydrogen, mammals die after a week of drinking such water. As for short-term increases in the concentration of heavy hydrogen in water, it is practically harmless.
It is most convenient to obtain this isotope in water. There are several ways to enrich water with deuterium:
The superheavy isotope of hydrogen, which has a proton and two neutrons in its nucleus, has an atomic mass of 3.016 - about three times that of protium. Tritium is designated by the symbol T or 3H1. It melts and boils at even higher temperatures: 20.6 K and 25 K, respectively.
It is a radioactive unstable isotope with a half-life of 12.32 years. It is formed when the nuclei of atmospheric gases, such as nitrogen, are bombarded by cosmic ray particles. The decay of an isotope involves the emission of an electron (called beta decay), whereby one neutron in the nucleus undergoes a transformation into a proton, and the chemical element increases its atomic number by one, becoming helium-3. In nature, tritium is present in trace amounts—very little of it.
Superheavy hydrogen is formed in heavy water nuclear reactors when deuterium captures slow (thermal) neutrons. Part of it is available for extraction and serves as a source of tritium. In addition, it is obtained as a decay product of lithium when the latter is irradiated with thermal neutrons.
Tritium has low decay energy and poses some radiation hazard only when it enters the body through air or food. To protect the skin from beta radiation, rubber gloves are sufficient.
Light hydrogen is used in many industries: in the chemical industry, where it is used to produce ammonia, methanol, hydrochloric acid and other substances, in oil refining and metallurgy, where it is necessary for the recovery of refractory metals from oxides. It is also used at some stages of the production cycle (in the production of solid fats) in the food and cosmetics industries. Hydrogen serves as a type of rocket fuel and is used in laboratory practice in science and industry.
Deuterium is indispensable in nuclear energy as an excellent neutron moderator. It is used in this capacity, and also as a coolant in heavy water reactors, which allow the use of natural uranium, which reduces enrichment costs. It is also, along with tritium, a component of the working mixture in thermonuclear weapons.
The chemical properties of heavy hydrogen make it possible to use it in the production of medications to slow down their elimination from the body. And finally, deuterium (like tritium) has promise as a fuel in thermonuclear energy.
So, we see that all hydrogen isotopes are in one way or another “in use” both in traditional and in high-tech, future-oriented branches of engineering, technology and scientific research.
