Chapter 891: Chapter 889: Feeding the Abyss: Demon Yellow Cake
Eden.
Richard completed the first step of the preliminary extraction of the uranium element, obtaining a solution with relatively few impurities.
After finishing this, Richard left the laboratory and began the first break he had taken in a long time.
“Splash!”
He took off the heavy protective suit, thoroughly washed, ate some food and salt water, and took a short nap.
About an hour later, Richard opened his eyes on the bed in a room in the underground laboratory.
“Swish!”
He quickly got up, put on a new protective suit, replaced the oxygen tank, and started the second step of refining the uranium element.
This time, Richard took out from the warehouse the pale yellow translucent liquid he had previously prepared.
The function of this liquid is for specialized extraction.
Extraction, also known as solvent extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, or extraction, is based on the principle that components in the system have different solubilities in the solvent to separate mixtures.
Simply put, because the solubility of substances in two mutually insoluble solvents has certain differences, this characteristic can be used to transfer substances from one solvent to another.
Afterward, by separating the liquid, the two mutually insoluble liquids can be separated, thereby separating a certain component in the mixture.
Richard had fully considered these before the experiment, so he didn’t hesitate at this time, took the container with the extraction liquid, entered the laboratory, and then opened the lid to pour it into the reaction tank.
You could see that after pouring in the extraction liquid, it formed two extremely distinct liquid surfaces with the original liquid in the reaction tank, one above the other.
The specific substances in the original liquid of the reaction tank, under the action of surfactants, moved toward the extraction liquid, and were removed before long.
Without pause, Richard continued to work, using other methods to continually operate the reaction tank, continuing to remove the remaining impurities, making the types of elements contained in the original liquid fewer and fewer.
After half a day like this, besides the uranium element, there were few other elements left in the reaction tank.
At this point, the uranium element was present in the TBP, that is, the tri-n-butyl phosphate solvent.
This is a colorless transparent liquid, insoluble in water, with some toxicity, capable of inhibiting human plasma to a certain extent. When the intake exceeds the limit, it can cause respiratory difficulties, convulsions, paralysis, and drowsiness.
Additionally, this substance has an irritating effect on the skin; its vapor and smoke can damage the eyes, mucous membranes, and upper respiratory tract.
However, Richard, fully armed in his protective suit, had no worries, continuing to operate confidently and boldly.
At this moment, what he needed to do was back-extraction.
As the name implies, back-extraction and extraction are opposed to each other.
The principles are the same: a substance has different solubility in two mutually insoluble solvents, allowing the substance to transfer between two solvents.
However, extraction generally transfers the substance from the aqueous phase to the organic phase.
For example, transferring a substance from salt acid (aqueous phase) to oil (organic phase).
Conversely, back-extraction transfers the substance from the organic phase to the aqueous phase.
TBP, or tri-n-butyl phosphate solvent, is the organic phase, and at this time, Richard was prepared to transfer the uranium element from it, using a back-extracting agent, which was dilute nitric acid.
“Splash splash!”
He opened the container and poured a large amount of dilute nitric acid into the reaction tank. The reaction quickly took place, with the uranium element constantly leaving the tri-n-butyl phosphate solvent and entering the dilute nitric acid.
After a while, the transfer of the uranium element was completed, the organic phase tri-n-butyl phosphate solvent was cleaned up, leaving only the aqueous phase uranium nitric acid solution.
However, this was far from over.
Next, Richard added the final substance to the reaction tank – magnesium oxide.
Magnesium oxide (MgO) is an oxide of magnesium, appearing as a white solid at room temperature.
Since this substance exists in nature as magnesium oxide, it is relatively easy to obtain, and at this moment, Richard had a considerable reserve.
Considering that magnesium oxide exposed to air easily absorbs moisture and carbon dioxide, gradually becoming basic magnesium carbonate and thus degenerating, Richard carefully stored the ground magnesium oxide powder in dry, barrel-shaped glass containers.
At this time, Richard took out the magnesium oxide powder encased in glass containers from the warehouse, quickly opened the container lid, and added it to the reaction tank.
Magnesium oxide entered the liquid and reacted quickly with the nitric acid it contained, also affecting the uranium element it contained.
With the passage of time, nan eye visible precipitate began to form.
Looking carefully, it was a kind of golden precipitate, like gold.
Shining and sparkling, seeming to emit a dazzling gleam, carrying an aura of preciousness.
Its composition is heavy uranium magnesium, and another name for it is… Yellow Cake.
Yellow Cake!
Yes, Yellow Cake!
The second step of refining the uranium element is complete!
…
After the second step was completed, Richard didn’t stop and continued with many cumbersome finishing tasks.
A few hours later, the finishing was completely finished, and all the precipitate in the reaction tank had been extracted and successfully passed a test, then everything was concluded.
The final result was about half a barrel of Yellow Cake was produced in a specially made metal bucket – the product of the second refinement step of the uranium element – and to obtain this half barrel of product, about five hundred barrels of ore powder were successively投入到反应池内.
Thus, the ratio of raw material to final product was almost 1000:1.
Considering the other substances added during the process, this number is even more exaggerated.
The difficulty in preparing Yellow Cake is thus evident.
But anyway, it was successfully prepared.
…
“Whoosh—”
In the protective suit, Richard slowly exhaled. Through the protective gloves, he touched the Yellow Cake in the metal barrel with his hands, his eyes somewhat bright. He knew very well in his heart that the successful preparation of Yellow Cake greatly accelerated his nuclear weapon research and manufacturing plan.
After all, this is Yellow Cake.
This is the real product of the nuclear industry.
Only having this can be considered a start in the nuclear field.
Conversely, having this already counts as a successful start in the nuclear field.
Continuing to develop could gradually lead to the power to influence the entire world.
This is a qualification, but also a threat.
Therefore, the circulation of Yellow Cake on Earth is closely monitored by major countries. In some movies, Yellow Cake often becomes a key item vying among terrorist organizations.
Richard pursed his lips.
The preparation of Yellow Cake mainly signifies a small stage of success for him.
After testing, he already determined the uranium content in Yellow Cake to be about 60%.
This figure is lower; generally, normal Yellow Cake uranium content is 75%.
However, considering many unavoidable errors in the first experiment, this figure is acceptable; with the experiment process constantly repeating and fine-tuning, this figure will definitely gradually increase, ultimately reaching the ideal 75%.
Then he could proceed to the third step and the fourth step.
The road is still long, but he is confident to walk to the end.
He looks forward to that day coming.
“Looking forward to it…” Richard murmured in the protective suit.
At this moment, he felt as if he was holding not just a simple chemical raw material, but more like the food feeding the demon in the abyss. As he constantly prepares and feeds, ultimately a terrifying great demon will crawl out from the abyss, roaring loudly, capable of destruction.
Of course, he believes, no matter what, the chains around this terrifying great demon’s neck are firmly in his hands.
Because this terrifying great demon was created by him little by little.
In a sense, this terrifying great demon is actually him, it’s the beastliness he’s always kept within.
Ultimately, whether this great demon is used for destruction or creation all depends on his choice.
And at this moment he hopes that things will not be too bad, hoping this world will retain a bit of beauty for him.
Hope…