Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: Sorcerer on 09/02/2010 06:40:21
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Hello. I would ask you can a powerful laser beam increase probability of nuclear alpha-decay of uranium. And can we light chain reaction of nuclear alpha-decay of enriched uranium with a mass much less then critical mass by a laser?
Mod edit - please could you make the subject a question in future? This makes it much easier to navigate the forum, and makes it more likely that you will get answers!
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There seeems to some confusion here between radioactivity, fusion ,and fission
Elements emit Alpha particles due to their radioactivity which is very low in Uranium and there is little evidence that it can be influenced in any way.
Multiple focused laser beams of great power have been used to cause the compression of Hydrogen and Tritium samples in an attempt to produce fusion but although experiments are approaching this degree of compression it has not been achieved as yet.
A similar technique could no doubt be used to compress Uranium samples to produce fission but I do not know if such experiments have been carried out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay
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Very nice explanation syhprum. I have to admit to getting slightly confounded to what a laser beam would have to do with radioactivity, but with your explanation I think I can see how Sorcerer thought.
Was It this way you thought Sorcerer?
That using the beams as a way to compress the radioactive source?
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That using the beams as a way to compress the radioactive source?
Yes. I want to know can laser beam increase number of nuclear fission per second? Did somebody carry out these experiments? And can we launch nuclear fission by beam of laser? I beg your pardon if my last post was unintelligible.
I have idea. We can unite fission and fusion like in thermonuclear bomb. We launch nuclear fission by laser beam. Then nuclear chain reaction launches fusion reaction of hydrogen. What you say about it?
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There are much easier and well tried methods of extracting energy from Uranium using nuclear reactors the laser implosion experiments are directed towards producing energy from the fusion of Hydrogen for which no other methods have been as yet demonstrated.
As for bomb development which we certainly don't need the present methods work 'well' and implosion via laser beams would be quite impractical.