What are the materials that are in the nuclear bomb?

Answer 1

It varies somewhat for various designs of bombs, but the following list contains typical materials making up a fusion/hydrogen bomb, the primary stage of which is a fission bomb:

• fissile material; Plutonium-239, Uranium-235, and/or Uranium-233.
• conventional explosives to rapidly assemble the fissile material into a supercritical mass from a subcritical mass.
• neutron source to start the fission reaction at the right time for optimal yield. This is usually an electronic high voltage tritium ion fusion accelerator external to the bomb assembly, but early bombs used a beryllium/polonium source at the center of the fissile core.
• tamping material to contain the supercritical fissile material long enough to get a good yield; typically Uranium-238.
• electronics for safeing/arming and detonating the conventional explosives and firing the neutron source.
• fusion fuel; Deuterium, Tritium, Lithium Deuteride.
• structural plastics; e.g. polystyrene, polypropylene.
• tamping material to contain the fusion reaction long enough to get a good yield; any dense material can be used, but typically Uranium-238 in which case fission of the Uranium amplifies the yield by roughly a factor of 10.
• sparkplug to trigger the fusion reaction; typically Plutonium-239.
• hohlraum casing to direct x-rays from fission primary to fusion secondary to compress and heat fusion fuel.
• etc.

Answer 2

A nuclear bomb typically consists of enriched uranium or plutonium as its fissile material and various conventional explosives used to trigger the nuclear chain reaction. The bomb may also include a casing to contain the explosion and radioactive debris.