Chapter 35 Chapter 34 "Suffocation" of the Atomic Boiler

Aaron Perry has long drawn up a list of outstanding scientists of the "Manhattan Project", and those on the list are not allowed to travel by air, whether it is a civil aircraft or a military aircraft-unless there is a particularly urgent situation, but that Must be approved by the General himself.Therefore, when Aum called from Chicago late at night yesterday, December 24, 1942, saying that he was coming by plane, Ding Jieqiong knew that something more "specially urgent" must have happened. situation", because today is "Christmas Eve"! "Christmas Eve" is the same as New Year's Eve in the Chinese lunar calendar. It is a night of reunion, reunion, celebration and peace.Over the years, it was often the Olmhouse brothers, sometimes with a few other friends, who accompanied Ding Jieqiong to spend the evening.However, everything changed with the war situation: Hull went to China, and Aum and the people around him also devoted themselves to more and more intense work...

Last year's "Christmas Eve" in 1941 was not long after the outbreak of the Pacific War, and the entire United States was united in hatred.Scientists such as Ding Jieqiong have found that although uranium 238 cannot undergo a chain reaction, it can be transformed into plutonium 239 after being bombarded by neutrons, and plutonium 239 can undergo a chain reaction; in addition, The scientists also found a chemical way to strip plutonium-239 from parent uranium.Aum handed over the research results to the "U committee".In the spring of 1941, a group of scientists successfully extracted ultra-trace amounts of plutonium based on this achievement; in December, the "Metallurgical Laboratory" of the University of Chicago began to design and build an experimental plutonium plant.Orm stayed there day and night, spending "Christmas Eve" next to a pile of drawings and models.In the middle of the night he called Joan: "Your theory is becoming reality, but you can't be there to see and share the joy..."

Joan simply replied, "Someday!" The year before last, 1940, was a very tense year.A huge organization was set up, a huge amount of defense funds were used, and the preliminary work for the development of the atomic bomb was fully launched.Starting from November, 16 related plans started to be implemented at the same time, reaching a climax in December.Olmhus is the chief person in charge of one of the projects. He really has no skills at all. He also walked out of the meeting room at midnight to call Joan... That is to say, it is at least the third time that Ding Jieqiong has spent "Christmas Eve" in solitude—ah, she is not alone, and Guanlan wrote again!Every time around Christmas, she always receives letters from Guanlan.Guan Lan doesn't like to use "greeting cards".He would rather write letters, long letters, long letters.Sister Qiong likes to read such letters from him.Apparently, Guanlan was trying to get her the letter just on Christmas day or the day before.But the letters have traveled thousands of miles across the ocean, and they have never been "punctual"; some letters were lost, which she and Guan Lan called "wrecks", probably because the ships and planes carrying the mail were sunk and shot down...

The only exception is the letter in front of me, which was received on the afternoon of December 24th.The female scientist has read it seven or eight times.After answering Aum's phone call at night, I read the letter several times; then, I kissed the letter paper a few times, folded it as it was, put it back in the envelope, and hid it in the study.Ding Jieqiong once imagined: during the war, Su Fengqi's control over her son was greatly weakened, could Guanlan take the opportunity to come to the United States?She dismissed the idea almost immediately.Come to America, how come?It's nothing more than taking a ship or plane.What if that ship or that plane "wrecks"?

I thought of Guanlan, and then I thought of Aum.Ding Jieqiong did the math, and Aum hadn't been to the "Dark Red House" (this is his and her favorite name for this house in the suburbs of Berkeley) for two months, and she seldom even called—— From this we can see that he is unusually nervous and busy; also from this, Ding Jieqiong has realized his deep concern and nostalgia for Aum, as well as his concern for Aum's ongoing career... Chicago is three thousand kilometers from San Francisco.The plane flew 400 kilometers per hour and had to land for refueling halfway.Aum said it took a ten-hour flight to arrive in San Francisco, and it was noon after getting off the plane to do some errands.The sun had already set when we arrived at the "dark red small building" by car.Ding Jieqiong heard the bell, walked through the garden covered with fallen leaves, opened the iron gate, and saw two cars parked beside the avenue under the setting sun.Two identical dark blue stretched Rolls-Royce sedans.

"Hey, such a luxurious car!" Ding Jieqiong stretched out his hand to Aum. "Official car." Orm glanced back. "Two more?" "Oh, one is a Guard car." "Are you going to be Vice President soon?" "No, it's for 'Manhattan.'" Orm walked hurriedly, and looked tired and preoccupied.He stepped up the steps and into the small building, admiring the clear sky on the west coast, and cursing that the winter in the east is terrible... "Aum," Ding Jieqiong corrected, "Chicago is not in the eastern part of the United States, but in the middle."

"East Central." Ding Jieqiong smiled, and let Aum into the warm living room, and the two sat facing each other as usual.The floor-to-ceiling windows are dotted with golden sunlight.There are refreshments and fruit on the small table. The physics and chemistry departments of famous universities in the United States have been almost wiped out.Famous scientists quietly gathered in the "Manhattan Project" through various channels.It is necessary to build an experimental "atomic boiler" to make the controllable chain reaction from theory to reality and obtain a series of necessary data. "Boiler" is a common equipment in modern industry.As the name suggests, the upper part is the "pot" and the lower part is the "furnace". Once the stove is fired, the pot boils, and there is pressure to drive the machine. The same is true for "atomic boilers": using nuclear fission to generate energy for human use—of course, this kind of "boiler" is far from being as simple as "a pot on top and a furnace on the bottom".

The neutrons that bombard the uranium nucleus are not "fast neutrons" but "slow neutrons".To make "fast neutrons" into "slow neutrons", a moderator must be used.Experiments have proved that graphite is a good moderator, but it must be graphite with extremely high purity, otherwise it will be counterproductive. It can absorb a large number of neutrons and stop the nuclear reaction. Scientists conceived of stacking the material in layers: layers of pure graphite and layers of graphite embedded in uranium blocks piled up on top of each other - hence the name "atomic reactor" or "reactor" or "reactor" for short. heap".Theoretically speaking, this "boiler" must be a giant.If it's too small, the neutrons will escape into the surrounding air before causing a chain reaction. The volume that the "boiler" should have is called the "critical volume".How big this "critical volume" should be is unknown, and it cannot be derived from pure theory; in addition, people do not know its proper shape.Although it has been determined to use uranium as fuel, it is not known whether to use metallic uranium, uranium oxide or enriched uranium, the composition of uranium oxide, and the enrichment degree of enriched uranium. The melting point has not yet been mastered...

In April 1940, a large amount of pure graphite arrived at the Physics Building of Columbia University in New York, and the construction of the world's first atomic boiler began in a laboratory.But it failed because the laboratory was too short to allow the boiler to reach the critical volume; moreover, the air in the pores of the graphite absorbed neutrons, stopping the chain reaction. Obviously, it is necessary to find a larger interior space and build a new "boiler".And it was only at this time that they realized that all important facilities related to the atomic bomb could not be placed by the sea to avoid being attacked by enemy countries.And New York happens to be on the east coast. "Committee U" selected at the end of 1941 to build a new "boiler" in the indoor tennis court under the west stand of the University of Chicago football stadium, code-named "Metallurgical Laboratory".But there wasn't even a metallurgist in there.Meanwhile, the president of the University of Chicago ordered the football field closed.

The "Metallurgical Laboratory" holds a weekly banquet, and every time the same British film "Negligence" is screened at the banquet: a briefcase is inadvertently placed on the floor of a public place, only to be stolen by spies in two or three seconds .British military plans were learned by the enemy.So the bombing, the destruction of towns and villages, and the deaths of thousands of people ensued... Scientists know why the film keeps showing.No one was ever impatient.Everyone consciously shut their mouths tightly and never talked about what happened in the tennis court.

The tennis court was thirty feet wide, sixty feet long, and twenty-six feet high—nine, eighteen, and eight meters, respectively.Scientists do it themselves by uncrating, handling and stacking the graphite.Graphite powder was everywhere, the floors and walls were pitch black, and the scientists were all "blacks." Even their overalls and protective glasses were black, making it impossible to distinguish between men and women. Build a small "boiler" first, and build a larger one after gaining experience.Design as you build.The shape is determined to be spherical.The sphere, of course not more than twenty-six feet in diameter, was supported by a square frame of wood.The supports are made of wooden blocks.As each piece of wood is placed, the size and shape of the next piece is calculated.Twenty-six feet is not to accommodate the height of the tennis court.A calculation sheet brought by Dr. Olmhorse indicates that the chain reaction can take place less than ceiling height... Several layers of graphite on the top of the sphere have never been placed on it, forming a platform shape.One morning in early December 1942, six weeks after the placement of the first graphite bricks, a new large "boiler" was completed.Until the beginning of 1941, the total amount of uranium metal possessed by the United States was only 40 grams; however, the "boiler" built at the end of 1942 used a total of 52 tons of uranium metal and uranium oxide !The layers made entirely of graphite overlap with the graphite layers embedded in uranium blocks, totaling fifty-seven layers, and the total weight of the "boiler" reaches 1,400 tons. Chicago is the third largest city in the United States.In a place like this, it is absolutely necessary to be careful with something that is going to be a high bomb in the end.Therefore, three young scientists were ordered to serve as "fire brigades" on the top platform.They were nicknamed "The Suicide Squad".In case the "boiler" got out of control, they immediately poured liquid cadmium in the middle so that it could penetrate every crevice to extinguish it-cadmium absorbs neutrons in large quantities, thus stopping the chain reaction. In addition to the three young men at the top, there is also a young physicist Romul under the "boiler", manipulating a cadmium rod across the pile.Once he received the command, he would pull out the cadmium rod to cause the fission reaction to take place; and if the reaction was too strong, he would retract the cadmium rod into the reactor... The test begins.Except for the "suicide squad" at the top and Romul at the bottom, General Perry and the scientists present all boarded the northern end of the tennis court.Scientists didn't understand how a guy with dark complexion, rough appearance, unshaven beard, who often grinned and laughed, and an engineer colonel who knew nothing about nuclear physics, could become the "chief executive" of this epoch-making scientific project .To this, Perry shrugged his shoulders, smiled, and replied slowly: "Because I'm always right!" Perry whispered to several leading scientists, raised his wrist to look at his watch, then raised his eyes to look around the entire tennis court, and calmly spit out a few syllables: "Start!" Hundreds of vertical cadmium rods are pulled out from the top of the "boiler" slowly.Counters of all kinds rattled.The meter automatically traces a gradually rising curve. Nuclear fission begins in the "boiler".Finally, all the vertical cadmium rods were drawn out, leaving only Romul's horizontal cadmium rod.The furnace is twenty-six feet in diameter.The cadmium rod he controlled was also twenty-six feet long.Perry gave the order.Romul began to draw out the cadmium rods.Foot, foot, foot, until halfway through, thirteen feet... counters of all sorts quickened their clicks.The click gets faster with every extra pull.A pen on the instrument is automatically drawing an "exponential curve" indicating the radiation intensity. The cadmium rod held by Romul was finally completely drawn out. The "exponential curve" is high rather than flat. The "boiler" output power is greater than the input power.The multiplication factor is one.Everything proves that controlled nuclear fission begins automatically... The three young men in the "suicide team" hold liquid cadmium infusion equipment, hold their breath, and wait for the battle.The cadmium rod held by Romul is no exception, ready to be put back into the "boiler" at any time... The scientists present and General Perry all held their breath and watched the various monitoring instruments without saying a word.The beating of dozens of hearts can be heard. However, nothing unexpected happened. Time passed minute by minute.Dr. Olmhorse raised his wrist and looked at his watch, ho!The first artificially controlled chain reaction on earth has been going on for a full twenty-eight minutes... He extended his right hand to Perry with a smile on his face: "Please accept my congratulations, General, because you are 'right' again !" "Please also accept my congratulations!" Perry shook hands with the doctor, handed over a bottle of brandy with his left hand, and grinned with a big bearded mouth: "However, congratulations or gratitude must be placed on the battlefield. After the victory. Right now, it's too early to say anything." The general snapped his fingers.A young man stepped forward immediately, and as if by magic, he held out a stack of paper cups, distributed one to each person, and poured the amber wine juice.Then the general walked up to everyone, shook hands and clinked glasses.The tennis court was filled with low-pitched laughter and the smell of wine... Everyone present signed the bottle's label.General Perry exclaimed: "It will be sent to the museum as a witness to the human being's transhuman atomic age!" "I'm so happy for you!" Ding Jieqiong has been listening carefully.Now, she said, "Congratulations, Om." "Congratulations to you too, Joan, only I know your credit for this." "Really?" The female scientist smiled. "The calculation table for the actual critical volume of the boiler height was given to me by you." "Has the data started?" "Yes, it keeps coming!" "How about equivalence measurement?" "Using a controlled reaction, one gram of uranium can produce the energy equivalent to three tons of high-quality coal, or two hundred kilograms of aviation gasoline..." "What about uncontrollable reactions?" "Used to make atomic bombs, each gram of uranium is equivalent to twenty tons of TNT." "It's impressive, but it's a pity that it's far from Einstein's prediction." Ding Jieqiong said, getting up and walking to the corner wine cabinet: "You know, according to his formula, the nuclear energy in one gram of matter is released, and one hundred Tons of weight pushed up six miles." There are dozens of bottles of various wines in glass cases.Ding Jieqiong took out a few of the bottles and placed them on a silver shaker, ice cubes, lemon juice, orange juice, soft white sugar, milk, orange peel, etc., as well as two exquisite tall crystal glasses.Seen from behind, she moved cautiously, apparently pouring and mixing wine.After a while, she turned around with a smile, holding two goblets in both hands, and handed one of them to Aum.The wine liquid in the crystal glass is divided into three layers: the lower layer is almost colorless and transparent light green, the middle layer is orange, and the upper layer is deep red, soaked in a red cherry pierced with a toothpick, floating two or three petals of yellowish white petals inserted into the glass. Straw... "Joan, when did you learn to make cocktails?" Aum also stood up, "I never knew." "Women always have their own secrets." Ding Jieqiong actually wants to be a housewife, or at least be a housewife at the same time.She often imagines that after marrying Guanlan, for their birthdays, for the full moon and one year old of the child, for the visits of relatives and friends, for any reason imaginable, there will be family dinners or picnics several times a year, with the delicacies and delicacies made by herself. It is also the variety of cocktails she personally prepared to entertain the guests... "I'll say it again," Ding Jieqiong clinked glasses with Aum, "Aum, congratulations." "Thank you, Joan!" Aum took a sip of the wine, tasted it carefully, and was full of praise. "The taste is very mellow, very unique, much better than the wine we drank by the 'boiler'." "What bottle of wine is that?" "Chiantini." "How can it be the same!" Ding Jieqiong laughed, pointing to the crystal clear wine glass, "Here, the top is 'Ding's', the middle is 'Martini', and the bottom is 'Manhattan'." "Manhattan?" Orm responded sharply to the word. "That's right. The whiskey cocktail is called a 'Manhattan'—I'm using it specifically to congratulate you and your great cause." "Thanks, Joan!" Orm listened, deeply moved. "What about 'Ding', did you invent it?" "Yes! I made it with the Corsican Lilleros red wine that has been cellared for half a century-in China, red symbolizes good luck." "It's expensive, isn't it?" Orm opened his eyes wide. "A bottle of wine costs me half a month's salary! The key is not the money, but the fact that I went to all the big shopping malls in San Francisco three days ago to buy it." "You don't usually drink at all, Joan." "No, I tend to drink alone as much as I like to dance alone—but it's not for me to buy such expensive wine, but for you, Om." "You knew I was coming three days ago?" "Yes, I know you will succeed. I know you will come to tell me the good news. I also know—" Ding Jieqiong fell silent after thinking.After a while, she folded her arms on her chest and leaned back to make herself more comfortable: "Tell me, Aum, what happens after success?" "After success..." "Yes, after the successful operation of the 'atomic boiler'?" "Joan, you, you mean—" "I'm asking," the female scientist looked directly at Orm, "whether an automatic 'shutdown' phenomenon has occurred." "Joan, what, you," Aum looked surprised, "How did you guess that?" "Don't guess, it's bound to happen." "Indeed, indeed..." Orm murmured.In fact, he came here just for this, to solve the problem of the automatic shutdown of the "atomic boiler".But he didn't expect to be "pointed out" by Joan.He stared blankly at Joan.Didn't you just talk about the "equivalent" of one gram of uranium in controllable and uncontrollable reactions?Joan had already talked to him about this countless times, and the calculations were consistent with the data measured from the operation of the "boiler".Orm also knew that Joan had been working on the "boiler" and the accelerator theoretically for a long time; now, these two devices have been manufactured and put into operation in Chicago and Berkeley respectively, directly serving the "Manhattan Project".Among them, the principle, structure, spherical shape and critical volume of the "boiler" are all in line with Joan's prediction.The experiment also proved Joan's point of view: as long as the "ball" is close to the critical volume, the air remaining in the graphite pores is not enough to stop the reaction.In addition, following the "proportional counting tube", Joan created a highly sensitive detection instrument "spark chamber"; all these "Ding's" instruments were widely and massively used in the whole process of "boiler" installation, start-up and operation , plays a huge role.But, strangely, none of those present seemed to realize and talk about it... Aum felt that the United States was unfair to Joan.Joan, it is true, had much admiration and admiration; but that was not so much for her gifts and services as for her grace.She was not allowed to go to the lecture hall, was not allowed to be promoted to a full professor, and she was not allowed to participate in the atomic bomb-related experimental project at the University of California, Berkeley, but it was not because of her charm, but because of Her...race, gender and nationality. Yes, that's what happened!Since the first Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in May 1882, the United States has been discriminating against and excluding Chinese in terms of immigration and naturalization for half a century.The United States mobilized 150,000 scientists and engineers for the "Manhattan Project", but it just couldn't tolerate the most outstanding Chinese woman... Discrimination against women seems to be a chronic human disease, even for very prominent women.Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize twice, but she was not elected as a member of the French Academy of Sciences until her death.In 1911, the chairman of the Academician Assembly openly declared: "Open the door of the Academy of Sciences and let everyone in, except women!" A similar fate fell in different forms from Kovalevskaya to Maite Na and many other outstanding female scientists.This has not changed since the nineteenth century.Aum felt that this kind of shadow had actually been hanging over Joan, but now it was more intense... "Aum." Joan's voice was soft. "Oh." Aum was confused. "It's getting late." Ding Jieqiong reminded. "Yes, yes!" Aum seemed to wake up from his reverie. "I originally wanted to invite you to dinner, but considering your entourage has been in the car..." "My entourage?" "There are two Rolls-Royces parked outside." "Oh, that's right!" Aum hurriedly looked at his watch, "How about it, Joan, let's go out and find a Chinese restaurant..." "No. You go. I want to be alone." "But……" "But the automatic 'shutdown' of the atomic boilers has not been solved." "Yes," said Orm, looking eagerly at Joan, "that's right." "Then let's solve this problem first." The female scientist looked directly at Aum, "What do people in Chicago think about this problem?" "There are a hundred theories, a hundred explanations, and there is no consensus." Aum looked up at the ceiling, "Of course, it will be resolved in the end. However, dozens of scientists may be mobilized to conduct hundreds of experiments; It may take a lot of detours and cost tens of millions of dollars; especially it is estimated that it will take more than half a year-it is a trivial matter for a large number of people to go into battle, and it is also a trivial matter to spend a lot of money, but it delays the "project", prolongs the war, and many deaths Tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of American soldiers are a big deal!" The female scientist still stared at each other. "Joan, you guessed my reason for coming, and even knew in advance that I would come-this shows that you have mastered the methods and means to solve the problem." "That's right." Ding Jieqiong nodded. "I know you have suffered too much injustice..." "There is also a lot of justice." Ding Jieqiong smiled lightly. "Anyway, Joan, in order to win the war, today, I hope you will help us and America." "I will, Orm." "Joan, dear Joan," said Orm excitedly, "I told them before we left that you could solve this problem!" "You are the person who knows me best in North America." The female scientist smiled again, "I have been aware of this problem for a long time, and I have studied and solved it long ago. I call it the 'suffocation effect' of the atomic boiler. I also wrote a paper, which has been in the study for more than a year." "Suffocation... effect?" "As an analogy... what happens if you put a thin rubber bag over the head of a mammal?" "After a long time, it will... yes, suffocate." "What is the mechanism of the so-called 'suffocation'?" "It's because of carbon dioxide..." "Where does this carbon dioxide come from?" "It's produced by animals through breathing—" Aum slapped his head, suddenly realizing. "Radium releases radon as it disintegrates. So, is there a similar phenomenon with uranium and other radioactive elements? What happens when there is too much of this gas?" "They will absorb neutrons, causing the reaction to stop..." Orm shouted, "yes, 'suffocation' occurred!" "If you understand the mechanism of 'suffocation', you will have a method to eliminate 'suffocation'. All of these are in my thesis. But, Aum," Ding Jieqiong leaned back, her tone and demeanor were calm Busy, "Unless Aaron Perry himself comes forward, no one can see this paper, let alone take it away." "why?" "Excuse me, you seem to have forgotten the confidentiality regulations during wartime." Ding Jieqiong's legs were straight and slender.Now, she folded her left leg on top of her right leg, pressed her hands on her left knee, pursed her lips, and said softly: "I haven't watched the British movie "Negligence". But I know what things can't be 'neglected'." "Dearest Joan," Orm almost stretched out his arms to hug the female scientist, but he dared not do anything wrong.He stood still in front of Joan, with tears in his eyes, "Quick, change your clothes, let's go together!" "No, Aum. As I said, I want to be alone." Joan looked up at the wall clock. "Yo, it's midnight! I wanted to make some supper and we'd eat together, but thinking of your entourage... …Otherwise, why don’t you invite them in to eat together?” "Don't eat anything, let's find General Perry immediately!" "It's so late, flying to Chicago?" Ding Jieqiong looked up.Outside the large floor-to-ceiling windows, the night is as dark as ink. "No, General Perry is outside..." "Outside?" "Outside your garden, that Rolls-Royce in the back!"