Design
The usual design is based on a combination of beryllium-9 and polonium-210, separated until activation, then placed in intimate contact by the shock wave. Polonium-208 and actinium-227 were also considered as alpha sources. The isotope used must have strong alpha emissions and weak gamma emissions, as gamma photons can also knock neutrons loose and cannot be so efficiently shielded as alpha particles. Several variants were developed, differing by the dimensions and mechanical configuration of the system ensuring proper mixing of the metals.
Read more about this topic: Modulated Neutron Initiator
Famous quotes containing the word design:
“What but design of darkness to appall?—
If design govern in a thing so small.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“The reason American cars don’t sell anymore is that they have forgotten how to design the American Dream. What does it matter if you buy a car today or six months from now, because cars are not beautiful. That’s why the American auto industry is in trouble: no design, no desire.”
—Karl Lagerfeld (b. 1938)
“If I commit suicide, it will not be to destroy myself but to put myself back together again. Suicide will be for me only one means of violently reconquering myself, of brutally invading my being, of anticipating the unpredictable approaches of God. By suicide, I reintroduce my design in nature, I shall for the first time give things the shape of my will.”
—Antonin Artaud (1896–1948)