Suppose that we managed to heat a some gas Xenon so that it contains 63 TJ of energy in the form of superheated plasma. What would happen if it is released abruptly of their contention chamber? Is of intuition that it likely would explode like a atomic bomb, but it would leave radiation in the explosion zone?
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2 Answers
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It depends on the unspecified mass of xenon, which will determine the initial energy density of the plasma. The energy specified is similar to the yield of the Little Boy nuclear bomb (probably intentionally). Consequently the explosion itself would be similar, starting with intense X-rays from the plasma generating a fireball. However, the temperature may or may not be sufficient to cause nuclear reactions in the xenon and surrounding material. The absence fission means that the resulting material is likely to be far less radioactive than a nuclear bomb, though. After all, nuclear fallout is primarily due to neutron activation and fission products, which would be absent in the plasma case.
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Yes probably because 63TJ internal energy means the plasma is very hot and has a lot of pressure ,much more than 1atm so it will violently expand.
