Why do we use Uranium and Plutonium for nukes? Is it possible to use other elements?
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They were used because the idea of creating “hydrogen fusion” was unthinkable at the time. Uranium and plutonium nukes are called “fission” bombs which rely on using very fast neutrons to collide with and split the atoms of uranium/plutonium which then releases more neutrons.
Fast forward ~20 years and the Russians would detonate a Hydrogen Fusion bomb which causes two separate nuclei to merge and release a vastly higher amount of energy. The energy required for this process is supplied by a much “weaker” fission bomb detonation. Hydrogen nukes or “thermonuclear bombs” use a “traditional” fission bomb to supply the energy needed to fuse the nuclei in the second half of the hydrogen bomb.
However, fusion bombs are so much more ridiculously powerful that the entire planet basically agreed to stop testing them. The US detonated the hydrogen bomb “Bravo” which was a complete disaster and blew a massive hole in the ocean floor. The next one was the Tsar Bomba which was 50MT of force and was so devastating that no other Hydrogen bomb that size or larger has been made in the 60 years since to put it in perspective, the uranium/plutonium nukes we dropped would kill a few hundred thousand people in New York City. The hydrogen bomb the Russians tested would have instantly killed every living creature in New York City.
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