However, the charged fragments’ high electric charge causes many inelastic collisions with nearby nuclei, and thus these fragments remain trapped inside the bomb’s uranium pit. Here, their motion is converted into X-ray heat, a process which takes about a millionth of a second. By this time, the material in the core and tamper of the bomb is several meters in diameter and has been converted to plasma at a temperature of tens of millions of degrees. This X-ray energy produces the blast and fire which are normally the purpose of a nuclear explosion.