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Estimating the photo-fission yield of the Trinity Test
1Department of Physics, Govt. Degree College Pulwama, Higher Education Department, Srinagar, 190009, J & K, India. 29firdous11@gmail.com.
Abstract:
In the Trinity Test, the energy was released not only from the fission of Pu-239 core but also from the fast neutron fission of tamper surrounding it. The high energy photons produced from the fissioning core can also induce fission in U-238 tamper. In this work, an effort has been made, for the first time, to develop an approach to investigate the possibility of photon-induced fission in U-238 tamper used in Trinity Test nuclear weapon. GEF nuclear reaction code, version 2018/1.1 is used to calculate the prompt γ-spectrum from the fast fission of Pu-239 core of the device. It is estimated that 14.5 ton (t) of TNT of the total 21 kT yield of the Trinity nuclear device is contributed by the photo-fission of U-238 tamper.
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