> Nuclear power experts have warned that advanced reactors could have higher risks than conventional ones. Fuel for many advanced reactors would have to be enriched at a much higher rate than conventional fuel, meaning the fuel supply chain could be an attractive target for militants looking to create a crude nuclear weapon, a recent report said.
Natrium is enriched to 20% [1] This is far short of the necessary percentage for an actual weapon unless you are making a low yield "Dirty Bomb." In which case you would find it much easier to just make one using nuclear waste from a traditional reactor or a medical radiation source. Little boy required 80% U-235 which is about the minimum for an initiator in modern fusion weapons.
However 20% Uranium would be a boon to a weapons program because it would make it orders of magnitude easier to refine weapons grade uranium. Especially in power reactor quantities.
1 comment
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 10.2 ms ] threadNatrium is enriched to 20% [1] This is far short of the necessary percentage for an actual weapon unless you are making a low yield "Dirty Bomb." In which case you would find it much easier to just make one using nuclear waste from a traditional reactor or a medical radiation source. Little boy required 80% U-235 which is about the minimum for an initiator in modern fusion weapons.
However 20% Uranium would be a boon to a weapons program because it would make it orders of magnitude easier to refine weapons grade uranium. Especially in power reactor quantities.
[1] - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/department-energy-pi...