HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
← Back to search

Meaning of Christy pit | Babel Free

Noun CEFR B2

Definitions

An early design of pit (core of an implosion-type nuclear weapon), used in the detonation over Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945.

Examples

“The principal insight behind the Christy pit was that a solid, subcritical core of plutonium could be compressed to criticality.”
“2017, Demon core, entry in Benjamin C. Garrett, Historical Dictionary of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Warfare, Bowman & Littlefield, 2nd Edition, page 90, Nickname given to the Christy pit because of its association with two fatalities during hands-on Dragon Experiments; it replaced “Rufus,” an earlier nickname. The Christy pit, a solid sphere of plutonium-239, was initially fabricated as two hemispheres of an alloy of plutonium and gallium.”

CEFR level

B2
Upper Intermediate
This word is part of the CEFR B2 vocabulary — upper intermediate level.
See all B2 English words →

See also

Learn this word in context

See Christy pit used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course

Know this word better than we do? Language is a living thing — help us keep it growing. Collaborate with Babel Free