Chapter 28 Super Bomb

Ding Yidong is an internationally renowned nuclear physicist and missile scientist. He is a well-known expert. He designed the famous FAA intercontinental missile and DA pocket atomic bomb. Ding Yidong can also be said to be a weapons expert.

But in this peaceful era, the possibility of war is very small. Due to policy needs, governments are more inclined to invest funds in the lunar base, so the amount of military funding is getting smaller and smaller, and his skills are gradually no longer useful.

In this case, Ding Yidong resolutely came to the lunar base to participate in the construction here. Here he can play a greater role. For example, he participated in the design of several nuclear power plants in the surrounding area, and he also designed the anti-asteroid missiles in the base.

But the main reason is that there is an experimental material here that is not available on Earth - helium-3!

Normally, a most common helium atom consists of two neutrons and two protons. Helium-3, as an isotope gas of helium, has an atomic weight of 3 and only one neutron.

It is a good material for nuclear fusion. Because there are no neutrons in the thermonuclear reaction using helium-3, it will not produce radiation when using helium-3 as energy, and it will not harm the environment. It is a clean energy.

However, the reserves of helium-3 on Earth are scarce and cannot be used as energy in large quantities. This kind of thing that does not exist on Earth is abundant on the moon. According to the results of lunar exploration, the content of helium-3 on the moon is estimated to be more than 1 million tons!

So Ding Yidong wanted to use helium-3 to design a weapon unprecedented on Earth-helium-3 nuclear bomb!

"Yu Yifeng, we can use helium-3 to develop nuclear weapons!" Ding Yidong said seriously, "After 30 years of development, the base has stored at least 1,000 tons of helium-3. Why not use these ready-made raw materials?"

Helium-3 is hidden in the lunar soil. When the lunar soil is heated to more than 700 degrees Celsius, helium gas will appear. Since the establishment of the lunar base, billions of tons of mines have been dug, and there are indeed one or two thousand tons of helium-3 reserves.

Yu Yifeng sighed. He had understood Ding Yidong's idea. "Then, Professor Ding, why was your plan rejected?"

"Alas, it's because the helium-3 nuclear bomb has never appeared..."

Ding Yidong showed a bitter expression. "They pursue conservative nuclear bomb technology to maximize human safety. I can understand this."

"I also know that a weapon, from design, production to final equipment, needs to be constantly tested and modified, which takes at least five or six years. However, although my plan has some risks, it can free up more energy!"

"The materials needed for hydrogen bombs are deuterium and tritium. Deuterium can be directly extracted from water without any particular difficulty. But tritium is more troublesome and must be produced through industry. The cost of one gram of tritium is about 30,000 US dollars! If converted into energy, do you know how much this is?" Ding Yidong said sadly.

"If we free up this energy, we can do more! The construction period alone can be reduced by more than two months!"

"Yu Yifeng, believe me once, I will definitely make a helium-3 nuclear bomb! I designed it a long time ago and have simulated it countless times on the computer. Due to funding issues, I have never put it into practice. But my plan is really fine!"

Yu Yifeng moved his butt. He really didn't know how to refuse these famous and stubborn scientists. In fact, Ding Yidong's plan was a huge gamble. If it succeeded, it would free up a lot of energy and save a lot of time, and humans could develop better. If it failed, they might be wiped out here.

He carefully considered the pursuit of the most stable plan, but in the end it might not be stable. In fact, people don't have enough time. Six months is too little. It takes at least seven or eight months to leave the moon safely... One more day of delay will increase the danger!

The most time-consuming thing is the problem of propulsion. It does take a lot of energy and time to make a nuclear bomb in the traditional sense. But even so, scientists still dare not gamble, they can not afford the responsibility of failure.

The faster solution is not safe, but it saves time. The safe solution is more consuming, slightly safer, and not completely safe in the end. This is a dilemma.

As the leader of the base, he has no way to escape and must make a decision.

After a long time, Yu Yifeng let out a long breath, and finally said slowly, "Alas, you have to know that the resources I have..."

"One atomic bomb, a small atomic bomb will do!" Ding Yidong said, "Like a hydrogen bomb, a helium-3 nuclear bomb must be ignited with an atomic bomb. In three months... no, within two months, I will definitely be able to produce a small equivalent helium-3 nuclear bomb! I promise!"

Seeing that Ding Yidong had issued a military order, Yu Yifeng had secretly made up his mind, "I can allocate manpower to you. But I only have one small atomic bomb. If it fails, there will be no more..."

"Don't worry, I understand!" After understanding Yu Yifeng's subtext, Ding Yidong was in a good mood and shouted at the top of his voice.

"By the way, what do you mean by a billion-ton nuclear bomb? Did you write that plan?" Yu Yifeng asked in confusion. He recalled the plan he had seen... It was really crazy. It can be said that the bolder the person, the more productive the land.

"Yes, I wrote that plan!" Ding Yidong straightened his back, with a little fanaticism in his tone, "If my helium-3 nuclear bomb is successful, I can use it to make a billion-ton ultimate nuclear bomb!"

"Thermonuclear weapons have almost no upper limit. According to my calculations, a billion-ton ultimate nuclear bomb can generate extremely powerful propulsion. One can directly blow our spacecraft into the sky!" He folded his hands and gestured.

"My plan is more convenient. After the spacecraft has an initial velocity, we will use conventional rockets to fine-tune the direction."

"In my plan, the ignition temperature of helium-3 is 100 million degrees, but the atomic bomb explosion can only reach about 50 million degrees, which is a little bit off. So I plan to let the atomic bomb ignite a hydrogen bomb first, and then let the hydrogen bomb ignite the helium-3 nuclear bomb!"

"I will first design a small helium-3 nuclear bomb with a million-ton equivalent. If the experiment succeeds..." Ding Yidong stared at Yu Yifeng.

Yu Yifeng slammed the table, "If you succeed, I will definitely let them consider your plan again!"

Use a hydrogen bomb to ignite another ultimate nuclear bomb! What a crazy idea, Yu Yifeng was a little shocked. But as a man, a soldier, he still likes this violent and wild weapon from the bottom of his heart.

The most important thing is that although Ding Yidong's plan is hugely risky, it saves too much time. As long as there is an ultimate bomb with a billion-ton equivalent, the energy freed up can be used for other things.

What is the concept of a billion-ton nuclear bomb? I don't know, it has never appeared in history.

The 50 million ton "Big Ivan" bomb has such huge energy that it can produce an 8.1 magnitude earthquake, shatter windows 900 kilometers away, and the earthquake shock wave can circle the earth three times.

What about a billion tons? It is 20 times that of Big Ivan!

One ton of helium-3 can generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity, and the destructive power caused by an instantaneous detonation is equivalent to 1.5 times that of the "Big Ivan" bomb, which is 75 million tons of equivalent. In other words, theoretically, only 13.3 tons of helium-3 can be used to make a billion-ton ultimate nuclear bomb.

This is the power of nuclear fusion, the power of the sun, and the infinite power of nature.

Yu Yifeng fell silent, whether to gamble or not. He couldn't make up his mind for a while, so he could only see whether Professor Ding Yidong's experiment would succeed.