Abstract
All of the theories and calculations underlying nuclear weapons would be of no value unless one can devise ways of obtaining sufficient fissile material: uranium-235 and plutonium-239. This chapter analyses some of the methods that were used for securing these materials during the Manhattan Project: the development of reactors to synthesize plutonium, and the use of electromagnetic and gaseous enrichment methods for uranium.
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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Reed, B.C. (2011). Producing Fissile Material. In: The Physics of the Manhattan Project. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14709-8_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14709-8_3
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