diff --git a/technic/items.lua b/technic/items.lua index b974b95..3c00dd9 100644 --- a/technic/items.lua +++ b/technic/items.lua @@ -170,11 +170,42 @@ for p = 0, 35 do inventory_image = "technic_uranium_ingot.png", groups = {uranium_ingot=1, not_in_creative_inventory=nici}, }); + -- Note on radioactivity of blocks: + -- Source: + -- The baseline radioactivity of an isotope is not especially + -- correlated with whether it's fissile (i.e., suitable as + -- reactor fuel). Natural uranium consists mainly of fissile + -- U-235 and non-fissile U-238, and both U-235 and U-238 are + -- significantly radioactive. U-235's massic activity is + -- about 80.0 MBq/kg, and U-238's is about 12.4 MBq/kg, which + -- superficially suggests that 3.5%-fissile uranium should have + -- only 1.19 times the activity of fully-depleted uranium. + -- But a third isotope affects the result hugely: U-234 has + -- massic activity of 231 GBq/kg. Natural uranium has massic + -- composition of 99.2837% U-238, 0.711% U-235, and 0.0053% U-234, + -- so its activity comes roughly 49% each from U-234 and U-238 + -- and only 2% from U-235. During enrichment via centrifuge, + -- the U-234 fraction is concentrated along with the U-235, with + -- the U-234:U-235 ratio remaining close to its original value. + -- (Actually the U-234 gets separated from U-238 slightly more + -- than the U-235 is, so the U-234:U-235 ratio is slightly + -- higher in enriched uranium.) A typical massic composition + -- for 3.5%-fissile uranium is 96.47116% U-238, 3.5% U-235, and + -- 0.02884% U-234. This gives 3.5%-fissile uranium about 6.55 + -- times the activity of fully-depleted uranium. The values we + -- compute here for the "radioactive" group value are based on + -- linear interpolation of activity along that scale, rooted at + -- a natural (0.7%-fissile) uranium block having the activity of + -- 9 uranium ore blocks (due to 9 ingots per block). The group + -- value is proportional to the square root of the activity, + -- and uranium ore has radioactive=1. This yields radioactive=2 + -- for a fully-depleted uranium block and radioactive=5 for a + -- 3.5%-fissile uranium block. (ov or minetest.register_node)(block, { description = string.format(S("%.1f%%-Fissile Uranium Block"), p/10), tiles = {"technic_uranium_block.png"}, is_ground_content = true, - groups = {uranium_block=1, not_in_creative_inventory=nici, cracky=1, level=2, radioactive=math.floor(math.sqrt(p) + 0.5)}, + groups = {uranium_block=1, not_in_creative_inventory=nici, cracky=1, level=2, radioactive=math.floor(math.sqrt((1+5.55*p/35) * 9 / (1+5.55*7/35)) + 0.5)}, sounds = default.node_sound_stone_defaults(), }); if not ov then