Why do we use Uranium and Plutonium for nukes? Is it possible to use other elements?
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We do, it’s Lithium Deuteride, which is Lithium Hydride, where a high percentage of the hydrogen atoms are actually deuterium, that is, a hydrogen atom which a neutron, and an atomic weight of 2 (1 for the proton, 1 for the neutron). The natural abundance (on Earth) of deuterium is one atom for about every 6,420 regular hydrogen atoms.
This substance is the active ingredient in the [Teller-Ulam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Teller%E2%80%93Ulam_design) design of thermonuclear bomb, and is *likely* the basis for all modern nuclear weapons in the arsenals the major nuclear powers. I say ‘likely’ because these designs are, of course, top-secret.
The first occasion of the testing of Lithium Deuteride led to one of the biggest nuclear accidents in American history, [Castle Bravo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo). Operation Castle was a testing mission on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and shot Bravo was the new experimental bomb design. The planned yield of the bomb was 6 megatons, but it turned out that the bomb exploded at approximately 15 megatons, destroying the testing facility and pulverizing a large portion of the coral atoll into radioactive fallout, which, among other victims, severely burned the crew of the Japanese fishing vessel, 第五福龍丸 (Daigo Fukuryū Maru). All of the crew were afflicted with acute radiation sickness, and one of them, Kuboyama Aikichi (sorry, I don’t know the hiragana/kanji for his name) died less than seven months later.
If you’re interested in the surreal and honestly pants-shittingly insane history of nuclear weapons development and testing, I heartily recommend watching [Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114728/), narrated by none other than William Shatner. It is the most fascinating and terrifying documentaries I’ve ever seen, and would not hestiate to recommend it to anyone.
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