I saw a comment the other day that “steel forged before the nuclear age is very valuable.” and talked about the lengths they go to salvage old battleships etc. for steel made “before the Manhattan project.” What does this mean? How did nuclear testing permanently affect steel worldwide?

Question

I saw a comment the other day that “steel forged before the nuclear age is very valuable.” and talked about the lengths they go to salvage old battleships etc. for steel made “before the Manhattan project.” What does this mean? How did nuclear testing permanently affect steel worldwide?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Also, keep in mind, since this is explain like i’m five. Many here have missed a detail. Steel and Cast Iron are very similar in elemental makeup. Steel is iron with less than 2% carbon. If that same iron has 2.1% or greater it becomes classified as Cast Iron. This doesn’t directly answer the question, it’s just a detail that shouldn’t be looked over.