Home > categories > Minerals & Metallurgy > Ceramic Fiber Blanket > How different is the process to make nuclear fuel for power plants vsweapons grade nuclear material?
Question:

How different is the process to make nuclear fuel for power plants vsweapons grade nuclear material?

Does having a nuclear power plant automatically mean you have a nuclear weapon capability? If not why, and what must happen before said material becomes 'weapons grade'?I'd like to see literature on the subject to if possibleThanks!

Answer:

I think you can wear them with more colors than navy blue and greenCorduroy pants can be hot any very stylishI think very thin cords look goodSometimes a matching blazer can look cool with itYou can wear it with long sleeve button ups, polos, short sleeve button ups, sweater pullover vest and (yuck) a tshirtYou can wear it (brown) many different colorsCheck out some designer sights or ads in magazines every once in a whileYou'll see some cords.
Naturally occurring Uranium is mostly (99%) U-238 which is not fissile, less than 1% is U-235, which will fission with thermal neutronsMost commercial reactors use enriched Uranium which is up to 5% U-235To enrich the Uranium it is dissolved and spun in a centrifuge, the heavier U-238 is spun out and the lighter U-235 is kept, this process is difficult and takes some time to increase the % of U-235, the left over Uranium is known as Depleted UraniumThe enriched Uranuim is formed into ceramic pellets to be used in fuel assembliesWeapons grade Uranium is over 90% U-235 which takes much more processingAnother way is to make a Plutonium weapon, when U-238 is bombarded by neutrons some will become Pu-239 which will fissionUsing a similar process the heavier Pu-239 can be seperated out for use in weaponsSee the links for more detail

Share to: