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fission is the nuclear reaction that makes both bombs and reactors possible.

  • if a mass of fissile material is subcritical, its neutron multiplication factor is less than 1 and any chain reaction started in it will die out with only a small release of heat and radiation.
  • if a mass of fissile material is exactly critical, its neutron multiplication factor is exactly 1 and a chain reaction started in it will be sustained at a constant rate. this can be used as a nuclear reactor.
  • if a mass of fissile material is supercritical, its neutron multiplication factor is greater than 1 and a chain reaction started in it will accelerate out of control until it either melts (a fizzle) or explodes (a detonation). this can be used as a bomb.

to make a nuclear bomb you also need 2 other things:

  1. a rapid assembly system using chemical explosives to convert a subcritical mass to a supercritical mass fast enough to prevent a fizzle caused by either stray neutrons or spontaneous fission.
  2. a neutron source to fire neutrons into the resulting supercritical mass at the optimal time to get an explosion of the desired yield. advancing or retarding the firing of the neutron source will reduce yield from the maximum possible with a given design.
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