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  1. 19147

    I am concerned about this article. It addresses the mass of fissile materials needed to “make a bomb,” yet it’s clear that the critical masses given–10 kilograms for plutonium-239, 50 kg for uranium-235, and 60 kg for neptunium-237–are for bare spheres with no neutron moderation, reflection, or other factors contributing to going critical. Consider that […]

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  2. Physics

    Neptunium Nukes? Little-studied metal goes critical

    Researchers have measured with far greater accuracy than ever before how much neptunium it would take to make a bomb.

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  3. Physics

    Magnetic snap gives ions extra pop

    Magnetic fields pump heat into ions when field lines of opposite orientation snap and reconnect.