The Story of the Devil’s Core and the Sacrificial Scientists

The bloodiest period the world has ever seen. 2. World Warleft a huge mess behind. By the end of the war, the United States was a hit with an unprecedented destructive power to make Japan surrender, which was still at war. nuclear bomb had used. First, he wiped the city of Hiroshima from the map with the bomb named “Litte Boy”, then the city of Nagasaki with Fat Man.

This new power in the hands of the USA was powered by nuclear and nuclear was an extremely dangerous field of work as you can imagine. After these two bombs, Japan realized that it could not stand against the USA and surrendered. It was at this moment that US scientists were trying to make another nuclear bomb. At the heart of this third atomic bomb, also called “Project Y” 6.2 kilograms of refined plutonium and gallium there was a sphere. The war is over, this energized ball was no longer needed, but it would continue to kill. over time name “devil core” The story of the orb that came to be known as and the victims it left behind:

Scientists began to use the core of the atomic bomb, which was no longer needed in the war, for scientific experiments.

If the war had continued, this seed would probably have been thrown into a city in Japan that we know well today, causing the death of tens of thousands of people. But Japan gave up and that didn’t happen. When this happens “Rufus” this core, codenamed it, has been kept in facilities in Los Alamos for further testing.

The first accident occurred immediately after the war.

After that devil core This orb of plutonium and gallium, known as Japan, received its first victim shortly after Japan’s surrender. If Japan had not surrendered, this core was planned to be detonated two days before this date.

In fact, the Los Amalos scientists knew well the threshold at which plutonium would become supercritical, forming a chain reaction, emitting deadly radiation. Experiments were carried out with these risks in mind. They even gave it a name because they knew there was a risk of awakening this angry beast. “Tickle the dragon’s tail“As a result of these tests, our core took its first victim on the night of August 21, 1945.

A surprise awaited Harry Daghlian, who was tickling the dragon’s tail alone.

Returning to the laboratory after eating on August 21, 1945 Harry Daghliansurrounded the plutonium sphere with bricks made of tungsten carbide. He was alone while doing this (there were only security guards) and therefore he was actually was violating security protocols.

Daghlian, if it gets to a certain level will make plutonium supercritical laid these reflective bricks. He then made a move to pull one of the bricks, but at that moment he accidentally dropped the brick on the top of the sphere. This blow caused supercriticality and A flash of blue light and heat wave spread. Daghlian immediately picked up the brick, but felt a tingling in his hand as he did so.

It was too late for everything, especially for Daghlian.

Daghlian’s burnt, blistered hand – Delicate sight!

This tiny moment of error in Daghlian’s life had caused him to receive a lethal dose of radiation. In a short time, his burned hand swelled and watered. During this period, he suffered from constant nausea and pain. Finally, he fell into a coma. For Daghlian, this moment of accident was a harbinger of an irreversible death. anyway He died just 25 days after the accident. The security guard received a non-lethal dose of radiation.

The demon core would not be satisfied with one sacrifice.

First nuclear bomb assembly, left by Louis Slotin

After Daghlian’s death, security procedures were revised, but it would not be enough. The physicist, who was one of Daghlian’s colleagues 9 months after the first event, Louis Slotinlowering a beryllium dome over the core, creating a similar state of supercriticality.

Slotin was careful, but that attention wasn’t enough.

Like kungsten carbide bricks beryllium dome It also pushed the plutonium into supercriticality by reflecting neutrons back to the center. For this not to happen, the dome had to never be completely closed. Slotin is a screwdriver was using. He was putting a screwdriver under the dome and creating a void space.

This method was due to a single minor mistake. In the end it was what was supposed to happen and the screwdriver slipped. As a result, the dome completely covered the core. The demon core, trapped in the beryllium bubble, started scattering too many neutrons. Another scientist in the room Raemer SchreiberUpon the sound of the dome falling, he felt a heat and saw a blue glow.

Slotin knew the end that awaited him at the moment of the accident.

Louis Slotin’s hands shortly after he was admitted to the Los Amalos hospital

Schreiber, this says the blue light stops for a tenth of a second, however, this time was enough for Slotin. As a result of this incident, 7 people in the room, including the photographer and security guard, were exposed to radiation, but Slotin was the only person who received lethal radiation. Slotin was more or less aware of the dose he had taken after this accident. He knew all too well what his friend Daghlian had gone through. Schreiber, Slotin’s first words after the screwdriver accident were: “Yeah, that works.”

Slotin experienced bouts of nausea and vomiting following this event. Then Slotin, who seemed to have briefly recovered in the hospital, did not actually recover. He lost weight in just days and suffered from stomachaches. Slotin, who experienced the symptoms of mental confusion along with all this, only He died 9 days later.

With these events, the devil core came to an end.

After these two events, scientists stopped calling this plutonium core “Rufus” and They began to say the phrase “devil core”. This core was originally to be used in Operation Crossroads, the US nuclear weapons testing program, but this plan was abandoned after Slotin’s accident due to increased radiation levels. Instead, it’s called the devil core. plutonium melted and integrated into the US nuclear stockpile to be converted to other cores as needed.

Whether you call it Rufus or the demon core, this plutonium ball has the power to kill thousands of people. That’s why it’s good news that it’s not detonated in a nuclear warhead (even for testing). However, nuclear scientists at the time were aware of such risks, but they intervened. with not-so-acceptable safety measures, such as tightening a screwdriver. They risked their lives.