Why is it so hard to replicate the bulding of a nuclear bomb and why only a small amount of countires have them?
In: Engineering
Most countries agree that nukes are terrible, and have signed various agreements about not trying to make or sell them.
Making fissile materials is also very difficult. No matter which material you decide to go with, it’s mixed with chemically identical materials that need to be removed. Chemistry alone can’t deal with this. The most reasonable way to do this is by chemically refining the starting materials (which are both toxic and radioactive) as far as possible, chemically converting them into a liquid or gas, and then centrifuging everything. In the centrifuge, you get a tiny gradient of the heavier isotope near the perimeter and the lighter one near the center. So you separate them and centrifuge the fraction you want again. And again, and again, and again. And it never becomes pure, just more enriched. This is the kind of setup you’ll need: [https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-486c0358b869e02f4515073313aabe7c](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-486c0358b869e02f4515073313aabe7c)
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