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To reduce the concentration of Pu-240 in the plutonium produced, weapons program plutonium production reactors (e.g. B Reactor) irradiate the uranium for a far shorter time than is normal for a nuclear power reactor. More precisely, weapons-grade plutonium is obtained from uranium irradiated to a low burnup.
PUREX (plutonium uranium reduction extraction) is a chemical method used to purify fuel for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. [7] PUREX is the de facto standard aqueous nuclear reprocessing method for the recovery of uranium and plutonium from used nuclear fuel ( spent nuclear fuel , or irradiated nuclear fuel).
Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes. The use of the nuclides produced is varied. The largest variety is used in research (e.g. in chemistry where atoms of "marker" nuclide are used to figure out reaction mechanisms).
Less than a formula quantity of strategic special nuclear material but more than 1,000 grams of uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in the U-235 isotope) or more than 500 grams of uranium-233 or plutonium-239, or in a combined quantity of more than 1,000 grams (2.2 pounds) when computed by the equation grams ...
Reprocessing the plutonium into usable fuel increases the energy derived from the original uranium by some 12%, and if the uranium-235 is also recycled by re-enrichment, this becomes about 20%. [6] Plutonium is only reprocessed and used once as MOX fuel; spent MOX fuel, with a high proportion of minor actinides and plutonium isotopes, is stored ...
Watchdogs are raising new concerns about legacy contamination in Los Alamos, the birthplace of the atomic bomb and home to a renewed effort to manufacture key components for nuclear weapons. A ...
Infrared absorption spectra of the two UF 6 isotopes at 300 and 80 K. Schematic of a stage of an isotope separation plant for uranium enrichment with laser. An infrared laser with a wavelength of approx. 16 μm radiates at a high repetition rate onto a UF6 carrier gas mixture, which flows supersonically out of a laval nozzle.
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