Calutron

A Calutron was a mass spectrometer used for separating the isotopes of uranium developed by Ernest O. Lawrence during the Manhattan Project. Its name is a concatenation of Cal. U.-tron, in tribute to the University of California, Lawrence's institution and the contractor of the Los Alamos laboratory. They were implemented for industrial scale uranium enrichment at the Oak Ridge, Tennessee Y-12 plant established during the war and provided much of the uranium used for the "Little Boy" nuclear weapon, which was dropped onto Hiroshima in 1945.

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In a mass spectrometer, a vaporised quantity of a sample is bombarded with high energy electrons which causes them to become positively charged ions. They are then accelerated and subsequently deflected by magnetic fields. They then collide with a plate, producing a measurable electric current. The mass of the ions can be calculated according to the strength of the field and the charge of the ions.

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To maximize the separation and the use of the large electromagnet required, multiple Calutrons were arranged around the magnet in a massive oval, which resembled (and were called) race tracks. Two types of Calutrons were created, known as Alpha and Beta, as the technology was improved. Magnetic separation was later abandoned in favor of the more complicated, but more effective, gaseous diffusion method.

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Up to the time of a war over the occupation of Kuwait in 1990-1991, Iraq under president Saddam Hussein had been clandestinely trying to develop an atomic bomb. After the war, United Nations inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) found that Iraq secretly had dozens of calutrons, apparently for uranium enrichment for the development of the atomic bomb. This nuclear weapons development program was apparently thwarted due to the efforts of the United Nations team, although the WMD status did not become clear until the United States and some other allies invaded and occupied Iraq years later.

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Mass spectrometer: REDIRECT Mass spectrometry...

Isotopes: REDIRECT Isotope...

Uranium: Uranium is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol U and atomic number 92. Heavy, silvery-white, toxic, metallic, and naturally-radioactive, uranium belongs to the actinide series and its isotope 235U is used as the fuel for nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. Uranium is commo...