Nuclear Weapons Are A Threat To All

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a chain
reaction, a certain amount of material is needed. This amount is known as
the critical mass. If the amount is too small it is known as a
subcritical mass. The critical mass of a material depends on its purity.
The materials used in making fission weapons are uranium and plutonium.
They are the only elements able to be used in making a fission weapon.
There are two different ways to make a fission weapon: the gun-type
method and the implosion method. In the gun-type method, two pieces of
material, each having a subcritical mass, are placed at opposite ends of a
metal cylinder. One of the pieces has a powerful, nonnuclear explosive
behind it that explodes on impact and drives the piece into the one at the
other end. The atoms in the material the collide and start a chain
reaction. In the implosion method a ball of either uranium or plutonium is
surrounded by a large amount of nonnuclear explosive. When triggered it
compresses the nuclear material, which also causes a ...

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