How long can strategic nuclear missiles be stored and what to do with them after they expire
Theoretically, nuclear bombs are not expired on the scale of human history. This is because the nuclear fissile material that makes up a nuclear bomb, as well as the nuclear fusion material, has a fairly long half-life.
For example, uranium-235 has a half-life of up to 703,800,000 years, and yes, it is 70.4 billion years. One kilogram of uranium-235 in 7After 0.4 billion years, there will be 500 grams left. On a scale of thousands of years, the loss of uranium-235 decay is much smaller than the loss of machining accuracy for processing this uranium core.
Another important material of the atomic bomb, plutonium-239, although not as exaggerated as uranium-235, also has a half-life of 24,000 years, and the content of plutonium-239 will be halved after reaching the half-life. On the scale of decades or even hundreds of years, the core made of plutonium-239 is also quite stable.
In contrast to the core material of the atomic bomb, the modern hydrogen bomb is filled with lithium deuteride, a stable hydrogen isotope with no half-life. There is no need to think about the expiration of deuterium at all.
In contrast, metals and alloys that we are familiar with and feel indestructible will be affected by oxidation, corrosion and fatigue over a long period of time, gradually losing their original properties and structural stability. Therefore, over a longer period of time, the nuclear material of a nuclear bomb is relatively stable, while the structural material may undergo large changes.
It is important to note that despite the long-term stability of the nuclear material of a nuclear bomb, a nuclear bomb is not a permanent ** system. In addition to the stability of nuclear materials, nuclear bombs include complex electronic, mechanical, and structural components that can be affected by time, wear, corrosion, and technological advancements. For example, the insulation of the circuit board in a nuclear bomb will oxidize and fail during long-term placement. For example, some reactive materials, such as neutron sources, will also lose their due performance in the short term.
Therefore, while the nuclear material of a nuclear bomb may remain relatively stable, the availability and reliability of the nuclear bomb still need to be regularly inspected and maintained. This involves regular inspections, testing, and maintenance of the various components of a nuclear bomb to ensure its proper functioning and reliability. In the process of inspection and maintenance, if some parts are found to fail, in fact, stable parts will be replaced.
Such tests are often carried out on-site at many nuclear bomb storage bases and silos. During the test process, different special tools for dismantling, assembling and testing were also designed according to different nuclear bombs. It's a fairly high-level secrecy process, but the process of getting started is not particularly complicated.
Most of the nuclear bombs are scrapped, not because the nuclear bombs are discarded at the end of their shelf life, but because these nuclear bombs are decommissioned or dismantled.
There are two parts to the dismantling process. The first part is the non-nuclear part:
It is usually dismantled and then crushed for destruction. In general, no reservations are made.
Second, the various cores of the nuclear bomb, such as the uranium and plutonium cores of the atomic bomb or the fusion cores made of lithium deuteide. Most of the radioactive elements are contained in these core materials. It's usually ** and then to make a nuclear bomb. A small portion is also diluted and put into the reactor of a nuclear power plant to be used as nuclear fuel.
For example, the B-61 nuclear bomb has a warhead derived from the W80 nuclear warhead, which was dismantled at the time.
The W80 itself was used on cruise missiles, and later a version was developed for use on air-to-air missiles. However, on the one hand, it was bound by the "Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty," and on the other hand, the US military found that the air-launched air-to-air nuclear missiles seemed to be a bit excessive, and eliminated two air-to-air nuclear missiles, and these high-purity nuclear materials were quickly loaded into the B-61 nuclear bomb.
As for the active materials in the nuclear bomb (such as the neutron source), it is often set aside to maintain the interface, which can be withdrawn after failure and then injected with new material.