Some High-Tech Vocabulary
- Fissionable Material: a material whose atoms can be split (fission). Includes all fissile materials, and uranium 238.
Fissile Material: materials that can be split by slow and fast neutrons, aka materials that reliably carry out a chain reaction. Uranium 235 and plutonium 239 are fissile materials.
Fission: Splitting the nucleus of an atom by bombarding it with neutrons, resulting in the release of an extremely high amount of energy per atom
Fusion: Merging two lightweight nuclei into a single nucleus of an atom, which is heavier in weight, and the merging process releases a great deal of energy
Highly enriched uranium (HEU): one of the two materials used for nuclear weapons, HEU is all about the ratio. Naturally occurring uranium has about .7 percent uranium 235 nuclei (remember, uranium 235 is a fissile material). It is spun in very high speeds in reactors to filter out the lighter uranium, and to get more of the 235 uranium, resulting in uranium which is over 20% uranium 235. Weapons grade uranium is even more highly enriched at over 90% uranium 235.
Plutonium: Plutonium 239 is a fissile material that results from uranium’s radioactive decay.
Reactor: heavy water and light water reactors. A reactor that uses “heavy water” to control the chain reaction and slow the neutrons being used against the nuclei. A light water reactor uses normal water to regulate reactor temperature, and the speed of the reaction. Light water reactors use low enriched uranium as fuel.
“Peaceful uses of nuclear energy”: the NPT says that states have the right to nuclear energy as an energy source, but only for peaceful purposes. If they use the reactors to start enriching for the purposes of nuclear weapons, they’ve violated the “peaceful uses of nuclear energy” clause.
Weapons of mass destruction: this is any type of weapon that can kill a large number of people, and/or a great deal of damage to buildings, and includes nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological weaponry.