Now I am become Death

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Dr. Robert Oppenheimer knew he had created something far more lethal than Frankenstein. The names he chose were rather very benign - Little Boy and Fat Man. A couple of years later, the Little Boy killed 135,000 people and the Fat Man took 64,000 human lives. It has been 70 years since the world first witnessed the egregious power of the nuclear energy. The display of nuclear power in Hiroshima and Nagasaki left the world in awe that still lingers.

Nuclear force is one of the fundamental forces that exist in the universe. Our understanding of the universe and its origins will be utterly wrong if we do not clearly understand this force. It underlies the energy that gives birth to a star and its solar system. All forms of energy that we can harness are essentially derived from the nuclear energy either released from the Sun (Solar, Wind, Tidal, Fossil Fuels) or the extant Supernova remains that lead to the buildup of radioactive materials in the Earth's crust.

The energy density of a nuclear reaction dwarfs that of any chemical reaction (combustion of fossil fuel) which is usually used to generate electricity. The amount of energy released by 1 kg of Uranium is equivalent to burning 22,000 kg coal or 14,000 kg LNG. All this, without releasing any greenhouse gas. The amount of energy produced in a nuclear reactor can be controlled, thereby making it an ideal candidate for a base-load power plant. On the contrary, the amount of energy produced by a wind or a solar power plant depends on the weather. This acts as a major impediment for a renewable energy power plant to be integrated with the power grid.

As the cheap and reliable electricity produced by fossil fuel is debated against its harmful greenhouse gas emission, so is nuclear energy rebuked for its sinister usage as weapon of mass destruction.

With great power comes great responsibility. The immense amount of power in nuclear energy deserves utmost responsibility indeed.

The following report is a prologue to the upcoming reports on Global Proliferation Regime and Iran Nuclear Deal. Prior to delving into such complex topics, it is important to understand the intersecting area between the technologies used in nuclear power plant and nuclear weapon proliferation. Thus, the objective of the report is to elucidate the fundamentals of nuclear physics, nuclear fuel cycle and the technical knowhow of developing a power plant and a nuclear bomb.

History

The history of nuclear energy begins in 1896 with the discovery of energetic rays coming out of Uranium ore by Henri Becquerel. A couple of years later, Marie and Pierre Curie separated the decay products from Uranium – Radium and Polonium and termed the phenomenon as Radioactivity. The amount of energy released during radioactive decay was later quantified by Albert Einstein in 1905 with his famous equation e=mc².

The discovery of neutron by James Chadwick was pertinently followed by the idea of nuclear chain reaction by Leo Szilard in 1934. Since the chemistry of nuclear reaction was still unknown, Szilard could only conclude that once a nuclear reaction was triggered by a neutron, the reaction would produce further neutron, leading to a chain reaction.

The nuclear fission was later discovered by Otto Hahn in1938. This was the watershed moment for nuclear physics. The subsequent advancement in nuclear technology changed the dynamics of the world. As Europe plunged into the Second World War in 1939, US president Franklin Roosevelt realized the amplifying risk. He envisaged that it wouldn’t be too long for US to be mired in the disarrayed global conflict. He commissioned the Manhattan Project which would then be responsible to develop the deadliest weapon human beings had ever created.

What Leo Szilard had only envisaged and Otto Hahn could only produce discretely was amalgamated by Dr. Enrico Fermi. Dr. Fermi and his group had initiated the first man made nuclear fission chain reaction. The task of harnessing the destructive power of the nuclear reaction was then taken over by Dr. Robert Oppenheimer in 1943.

Radiation

There are two types of radiations:

1. Nuclear Radiation - The energy released during a nuclear fusion or fission reaction is accompanied by the release of Nuclear Radiation. There are four common types of nuclear radiation:
   • Alpha – Chemically, a Helium nucleus that is slow moving and bulky, thereby making it highly ionizing but least penetrative. In context of external exposure, it is the least harmful. However, when inhaled, it can cause severe damage.
   • Beta – Chemically, an electron, it is released along with a proton when a neutron splits apart during a nuclear reaction. As they are very small, they can penetrate through clothes and skin and are believed to cause substantial damage.
   • Positron – It is released when a proton mutates to neutron during a nuclear reaction.
   • Gamma – High energy photons that are considered to be the most dangerous of all forms of radiations because of their high penetration power.
      
2. Thermal Radiation – According to Kirchhoff's first law of radiation, every object above absolute zero emits radiation at all wavelengths. Wein's Displacement Law describes the relationship between the temperature of the object and the wavelength of the radiation that the object emits the strongest. Higher the temperature of the object, the low wavelength radiations like Gamma and X-Ray emissions will be stronger. Depending on their wavelengths, the thermal radiation could be classified as follows (in the order of increasing wavelength):
   • Gamma
   • X-Ray
   • Ultraviolet
   • Visible
   • Infrared
   • Microwaves
   • Radio waves

Although it is not very clear how radiation affects our cells, it is believed to be due to their ionization effect. As the radiation travels through a medium or hits an atom, it makes them electrically charged. This process of ionization can have adverse biological effects.

Measuring Radiation

There are many units to measure the radiation depending on the aspect of measurement:

The effective dose of radiation is detected using Geiger Counter which uses the amount of sample gas ionized as a measure of radiation in the environment. To have a perspective of the dose of radiation that we continuously experience, here are few numbers:

1. Natural radiation = 0.3 rem per year
2. Acceptable safe dose = 5 rem per year
3. Safety limit = 25 rem per year
4. Fukushima Blowout = 0.8 per hour

However, due to certain events, one may have to encounter high dose on spur of the moment.

1. Chest X-Ray = 0.01 rem per dose
2. Safety limit = 10 rem per dose
3. Radiation Sickness = 100 rem per dose
4. Death = 500 rem per dose

There is no clear consensus on the safe limit of radiation. The biological effect it has is entirely based on probability. 1% of all the reported cancer is due to natural radiation (0.3 rem per year). A small but continuous dose of radiation may be harmful. A high dose of radiation is very likely to create damage. Yet, Tsutomu Yamaguchi is known to survive both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, even after being within 3km from ground zero at both the occasions.

Radioactivity

The nucleus of an atom consists of protons and neutrons. There are two opposing forces acting inside the nucleus – the strong attractive nuclear force and the repulsive electrostatic force amongst positively charged protons. The presence of neutron is to dilute the repulsive force and keep the nucleus stable.The number of neutrons required to serve this purpose depends on the number of protons in the atom (or the Atomic Number). Higher atomic number requires greater neutron-to-proton ratio to keep the nucleus stable.

Isotopes are elements with same Atomic Numbers (number of protons) but different Atomic Mass (number of protons and neutrons). The chemistry of an element is amply characterized by the number of electrons (which is equal to the number of protons or the Atomic Number) in its atoms. Hence, isotopes have similar chemical properties but different physical properties.

An unstable nucleus disintegrates into a more stable one through the process of nuclear fission or decay. During this process, different kinds of radiations are released. The net mass of final products of any nuclear fission reaction is always lesser than that of the original reactant. This difference in mass is converted to energy which is quantified by e=mc² (where c is the speed of light). The released energy is manifested in the form of kinetic energy of the nuclear fission products. As these products collide amongst themselves and the wall of the container, this kinetic energy converts to thermal energy.

There are many unstable (relatively) nucleus found in nature. One of them is U²³⁸. It slowly but continuously undergoes the process of nuclear fission. The half-life of U²³⁸ is 4.5 billion years. This means that if we have 1kg of U²³⁸ today, we will be left with 0.5kg of U²³⁸ after 4.5 billion years. The other half would have undergone nuclear fission. The amount of power produced during natural nuclear fission of U²³⁸ is 0.1 W/ton, too low to experience it in the form of heat.

Natural Fission and Artificial Fission

The difference between natural nuclear fission and artificial nuclear fission lies in the role of neutrons. A naturally radioactive nucleus like U²³⁸ have a very long half-life. They are directly not useful to us to extract energy.

Artificial nuclear fission harnesses the criticality of neutron-to-proton ratio which is essential for the stability of nucleus. A neutron is directed towards the nucleus of a relatively stable isotope, which then fuses with its nucleus and produces a Radioisotope with unstable neutron-to-proton ratio and a shorter half-life. An isotope with shorter half-life will disintegrate rapidly and produce significant amount of energy.

As neutron is electrically neutral and easier to produce, it serves as a better candidate to disrupt the imbalance in the neutron-to-proton ratio.

Trigger for Nuclear Fission

The probability that a neutron induced fission of a nucleus will take place depends on the Nuclear Cross Section. It could be imagined as a sphere around the nucleus through which the neutron must pass to be captured by the nucleus. It largely depends on two factors:

1. Type of radioisotope - Isotope with odd number of neutrons like U²³⁵ are relatively unstable and thus have a larger nuclear cross section.
2. Type of neutron – As precision to hit the target decreases with the speed, higher speed of the neutron leads to a smaller nuclear cross section.

The energy possessed by the neutron and its probability to hit the nucleus of a radioisotope is crucial for any nuclear fission reaction. Based on these factors, the neutron could fall into either of these categories:

1. Fast Neutrons - The high energy (~2MeV) neutron released just after a radioactive decay. Due to their high speed (10% of the speed of light), the probability of striking a nucleus is low.
2. Thermal Neutrons – The fast neutrons lose their speed (~2 km/s) and energy (~0.025 eV) due to collisions or presence of moderator (like water or graphite). As these neutrons attain the thermal equilibrium with the medium surrounding them, they are called thermal neutrons. The thermal neutrons have higher probability of triggering another fission.

The radioisotopes that can undergo nuclear fission are Fissionable. They are classified as follows based on their ability to sustain chain reaction:

1. Fissile – They can sustain chain fission reaction in the presence of either thermal neutrons or fast neutrons. However, the probability reduces drastically in the case of fast neutrons due to shrunk nuclear cross section. The isotopes with odd number of neutrons are usually fissile. Eg: U²³⁵
2. Fertile – They can undergo fission only after they have been transmuted to a Fissile material. The isotopes with even number of neutrons are usually non-fissile. Eg: U²³⁸, Th²³²

In a nutshell, the combination of the following two triggers is essential to incite any fission reaction:

1. Excitation energy required by the nucleus to undergo fission (fissile or fertile nucleus)
2. The probability of neutron to be captured by the nucleus (fast or thermal neutron)

Nuclear Reaction

Whenever a neutron hits a nucleus, the nucleus excites into a higher energy mode. It can release its energy in either of the two ways:

1. Nuclear Fission – When the excited nucleus releases its energy by breaking itself apart, it is said to undergo fission. Eg:
   
   U²³⁵ + n -> U²³⁶ -> Ba¹⁴⁴ + Kr⁹⁰ + 2n + 200 MeV
   
   Here, U²³⁵ upon capture of neutron converts into excited U236. The nucleus of U²³⁶ being in excited state, disintegrates into Ba¹⁴⁴ and Kr⁹⁰, releasing 200 MeV energy to attain a stable configuration. However, this is only one of the many probable products. The excited U²³⁶ could also undergo the following reaction:
   
   U²³⁵ + n -> U²³⁶ -> Zr⁹⁴ + Te¹³⁹ + 3n + 197 MeV
   
   The primary fission products can undergo secondary fission and this may continue to various levels. 6% of heat generated in a nuclear power plants come from subsequent fission of primary fission products.
    
2. Nuclear Decay – When the excited nucleus returns to a stable state by the release of nuclear radiations without undergoing fission. Eg:
   
   U²³⁵ + n -> U²³⁶ -> U²³⁶ + Gamma
   
   Here, the excited U²³⁶ doesn’t undergo fission. It rather decays into stable U²³⁶ configuration by emitting Gamma radiation. U²³⁶ is non-fissionable and accumulates in the reactor as nuclear waste.
   
   This is also the process by which a fertile nucleus transmutes into a fissile nucleus.
   
   U²³⁸ (fertile) + n-> U²³⁹ -> Np²³⁹ + Beta -> Pu²³⁹ (fissile) + Beta
   
   Here, U²³⁸ upon capture of neutron doesn’t undergo fission. It rather undergoes decay to Pu²³⁹ by the release of two Beta particles. In a Uranium based nuclear reactor, this results in the buildup of Transuranics. Transuranics are actinides heavier than Uranium. Some Transuranics like Pu²³⁹ and Pu²⁴¹ are fissile like U²³⁵, and can undergo fission after a neutron capture. However, some of them do not undergo fission and stay in the reactor as spent fuel.

Conditions for Chain Reaction

Inciting a fission reaction is an arduous task. However, sustaining a chain fission reaction is even more arduous. The fission of U²³⁵ may release 2 to 7 neutrons, with an average of 2.4 neutrons. These neutrons may have different fates:

1. Leak away from the reactor without interacting with anything
2. Scavenged by neutron poisons like Boron and Hafnium (Control Rods)
3. Absorbed by the moderating medium present (Light Water or Graphite)
4. Captured by a nucleus without resulting in its fission (U²³⁸ to Transuranics)
5. Incite another fission reaction

Neutron economy is essential for sustaining a chain reaction. A moderating medium of Light Water absorbs too many neutrons to incite another reaction. Hence, a Light Water reactor needs enriched Uranium to increase the probability of neutron to hit U²³⁵ nucleus. On the other hand, Heavy Water doesn’t have too much affinity towards neutrons. Hence, Heavy Water doesn’t really need enriched Uranium to sustain chain reaction.

As stated earlier, U²³⁵ produces 2.4 neutrons per fission on an average. The average number of neutrons that can incite another fission reaction is defined as k-effective, which depends on the design of the reactor. The state of the reactor is defined by its k-effective:

1. K-effective = 1 is the critical state where 1 neutron per fission (on an average) incites another fission reaction. The power produced in this state is steady. A minimum amount (Critical Mass) of fissile material is compulsory to attain this state.
2. K-effective < 1 is the subcritical state where chain reaction is about to subside. The power produced in this state is decreasing.
3. K-effective > 1 is the supercritical state. The power produced in this state is increasing.

99% of the neutrons are released by the primary fission reaction. Once they are released, they can incite another fission reaction within microseconds. They are called Prompt Neutrons. However, the fission products may still have the potential to undergo secondary and tertiary fission. The remaining 1% of neutrons are release by these fissions and the time lag depends on the half-life of the fission products. These neutrons are called Delayed Neutrons.

The control on the rate of chain reaction depends on the delayed neutrons. If all the neutrons inciting the subsequent fission reaction in the reactor were prompt neutrons, it would virtually lead to instantaneous and uncontrollable release of energy. The fact that there are delayed neutrons in any nuclear fission enables us to control the rate of the reaction. The emplacement of control rods inside the reactor scavenges the neutrons from the reactor and bring down the state to subcritical. On the other hand, withdrawal of the control rods will revert the system to critical or supercritical state.

Nuclear Fuel Cycle

The extraction of naturally occurring Uranium to the fabrication of fuel rods and its eventual disposal is an intricate process. Since a large part of nuclear fuel cycle for civilian use and proliferation use is common, the process is very sensitive and is monitored by international watchdogs like IAEA.

Enrichment

Enrichment Plants use gaseous UF₆ to enrich natural Uranium from 0.7% U²³⁵ to ~5% U²³⁵ to be used in a Light Water Reactor. Most of the facilities exploit the difference in their mass to separate them. Some of the different types of enrichment plants are:

1. Calutron was the first enrichment facility to be developed. This was used to produce weapon grade Uranium for Hiroshima bombings. It was based on the principle of mass spectrometry – ionizing the Uranium and then utilizing the magnetic field to separate U²³⁵.
2. Gas Diffusion Plant uses Pressurized UF₆ in a Teflon container to pass through Nickel pores. U²³⁵ being lighter, moves faster and can be collected at the low pressure side of the pore. The process is repeated several times to attain the desired level of enrichment. This is a very energy intensive process and is almost obsolete now.
3. Gas Centrifuges uses UF₆ in steel cylinders spinning at high speed in partial vacuum. U²³⁵ being lighter, is separated at the inner walls of the centrifuge. Many centrifuges are connected in cascade and the process is repeated several times to attain the desired level of enrichment. Gas centrifuges are 40 times more energy efficient than similar Gas Diffusion plants. They are the most commonly used facilities for enrichment.
4. Aerodynamic Separator uses high velocity pump with sharp bends to separate lighter U²³⁵.
5. Chemical Exchanger uses the difference in chemical properties of U²³⁵ and U²³⁸. This is not yet ready to be used at a commercial level.

The capacity of Enrichment Plants are defined by the term called Separative Working Units (SWU). It can be defined as the amount of effort required to produce a certain amount of Uranium enriched to a certain level. It depends on the following factors:

1. Desired level of enrichment (5% U²³⁵)
2. Enrichment level of feed Uranium (0.7% U²³⁵)
3. Enrichment level of depleted Uranium (0.3% U²³⁵)

If a facility produces 1 kg of 5% U²³⁵ from 0.7% U²³⁵ feed and leaves behind 0.25% U²³⁵ depleted Uranium, it has the capacity of 8 SWU. An average Gas Centrifuge has the capacity to produce at 1SWU per year. This means that 1 gas centrifuge can produce 1 kg of 5% U²³⁵ enriched Uranium in 1 year. An enrichment plant can have more than 1000 gas centrifuges.

Significant Quantity (SQ) is the measure of the quantity of weapon grade Uranium. If a facility has to produce 27 kg of 90% U²³⁵ with similar feed and depleted Uranium, it would require the capacity of 5000 SWU. Hence, 1 SQ requires 5000 SWU capacity of enrichment facilities. If a country has 1000 gas centrifuges, each producing at 1 SWU per year, the net capacity of the country would be 1000 SWU per year. That country would take 5 years to have the capacity of 5000 SWU, good enough to produce 1 SQ or 1 nuclear bomb. The amount of time required by a country to develop 1 SQ is also called the Breakout Time. The breakout time is an important parameter in the ongoing Iran Nuclear Deal.

Nuclear Power Plants

A nuclear power plant comprises of the following:

1. Moderator is required to generate thermal neutrons necessary for inciting and sustaining the nuclear chain reaction. Examples: Water, Graphite
2. Control Rods are used to control the neutron economy and thereby the power output in the reactor. Examples: Boron, Hafnium
3. Coolant is used to transfer the heat from the reactor to an appropriate channel. Examples: Water
4. Turbine converts the mechanical energy from steam to electrical energy.

The nuclear reactor for commercial use are designed to have negative temperature coefficient. This implies a decreasing rate of reaction with increasing temperature. The Chernobyl nuclear plant which experienced a blowout in 1986 had a positive temperature coefficient. As this plays an important role in the safety of the plant, there are international mandates on adhering to strict temperature coefficient.

The common types of nuclear power plants are discussed below:

1. Light Water Reactor (LWR) – It uses light water as the moderator to produce thermal neutrons. Since light water has slight affinity towards neutrons, it disrupts the neutron economy in the reactor. To increase the probability of the neutron to hit a fissile nucleus, the concentration of U²³⁵ has to be increase to 5%. Once the chain reaction is initiated, the heat produced from the reaction is used to convert water to steam which in turn is used to run the turbines. LWR can be of two types:
   • Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) – The coolant water is kept at normal pressure and since it is in direct contact with the reactor core, it converts to steam. This steam is directly used to run the turbines.
   • Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) – The coolant water in the primary circuit is kept at high pressure and although it is in direct contact with the reactor core, it is prevented from converting to steam. The heat exchanger transfers the heat from the primary circuit to the secondary circuit containing stream of water. The water in secondary circuit converts to steam which is used to run the turbines.
2. Heavy Water Reactor (HWR) – It uses heavy water as the moderator to produce thermal neutrons. Since heavy water has low affinity towards neutron, the neutrons released in fission has higher probability of hitting another fissile nucleus rather than being absorbed by the moderator. Hence, HWR can use Natural Uranium with 0.7% U²³⁵ as its fuel. The design of HWR permits its refueling even while the power plant is online. On the other hand, it produces pure form of Pu²³⁹ that can be have proliferation consequences.
3. Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) – It uses fast neutrons to incite the nuclear fission and hence does not need any moderator. Tit uses Helium or Liquid Sodium as coolant because they have minimal moderating attributes. The nuclear fuel in both HWR and FBR comprises mostly of fertile material. The average number of fissile nuclei created per fission event is called conversion ratio. This ratio is always less than 1 for HWR or LWR. For FBR, the ratio can be greater than 1. Hence, their performance is much more efficient than a similar HWR or LWR. The reason for this is the absence of moderator and the role of Pu²³⁹ as primary fissile material (which produces 25% more neutrons than U²³⁵). They also have a strong negative temperature coefficient. Another great advantage of FBR is its capability to burn Transuranics which are usually treated as Spent Fuel and sent for disposal.
4. Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) - There is a growing interest in the use of Thorium (Th²³²) as nuclear fuel. Thorium is more abundant than Uranium but Th²³² is just 10% as fertile as U²³⁸. This restricts its usage in LWR, HWR or FBR. Albeit, the MSR is in design phase to harness the fissionability of Th²³². The concept is based on the usage of molten mixture of Uranium and Thorium Fluoride salts, which acts both as the fuel and coolant.

The buildup of fission products and Transuranics in the reactor cause lead to additional neutron absorption. The fuel life can be extended by the use if poisons like Gadolinium which compensates for the absorbed neutrons. After two to three years of operation, the disruption in neutron economy dictates the replacement of the fuel. The reactor core is then dismantled and replenished with fresh fuel.

The used fuel have long half-life and are very radioactive. As the used fuel comprises primarily of Uranium and Plutonium, it is reprocessed to form Mixed Oxide which can again be used as fuel.

Nuclear Weapons

The most important aspect of Nuclear Weapon Design is the state of Prompt Criticality. In a nutshell, it is the state where 1 neutron on an average from primary fission (prompt neutrons) of U²³⁵ or Pu²³⁹ incites the next fission in the chain reaction. If the design led the state of the bomb to be in supercritical, the rate of reaction would grow exponentially. In a matter of milliseconds, the core would disintegrate into smaller fragments by weak and short chain reaction known as Fizzle. This would not allow the core to be integrated within one chain reaction which is compulsory to produce very high temperature required to do the damage.

The preliminary task in building a nuclear bomb is to acquire the fissile materials which can be used as the fuel. There are two approaches:

1. Weapon Grade Uranium (HEU), 90% U²³⁵ – This can be obtained from an enrichment facility.
2. Weapon Grade Plutonium, 90% Pu²³⁹ – In a thermal reactor core (LWR or HWR), U²³⁸ transmutes to Pu²³⁹. During early days of operation, this Plutonium is not contaminated with Pu²⁴⁰, which when used in nuclear bomb can lead to fizzle. HWR produces a purer form of Pu²³⁹ than a LWR. Hence, the reactor can be brought offline after two months of operation, and Pu²³⁹ can be retrieved for developing the bomb.

The second task is to keep the fuel in sub-critical state prior to detonation.

The Manhattan Project came up with three nuclear bombs, all different in the technology they used:

1. Little Boy – It used 85% Enriched U²³⁵ as the fuel. It was based on the Gun Assembly design. The idea in the Gun Assembly design is to keep several sub-critical masses of fuel separated. A detonation is used to fuse the masses together to form a single mass greater than the critical mass required to sustain chain reaction. A jet of neutron would immediately incite a chain reaction and lead to near-instantaneous release of huge amount of heat.
2. Thin Man – It used the same design as Little Boy, but proposed the use of Pu²³⁹ as fuel. Its development was aborted after it was deduced that the design may lead to fizzle.
3. Fat Man – As Pu²³⁹ is more fissile than U²³⁵, it cannot be used in the same design as U²³⁵. It rather used an Implosion Assembly where chemical explosives are used to create shock waves which compress the fuel to super-criticality. Once the super-critical mass is available, a jet of neutron would be sufficient to do the damage.

85% of the energy released by the fission reaction in the bomb is released instantaneously as thermal energy. The remaining 15% is in the form of radiations – both thermal and nuclear. As the temperature exceeds 1000°C, the thermal radiation may be strong near X-Rays and Gamma rays. The nuclear radiation in the form of alpha, beta and gamma particles have widespread consequences. The radioactive decay of the fission products with long half-lives have long lasting repercussions.

The Grey Area

The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is built upon three pillars:

1. Right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purpose
2. Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons
3. Disarmament by nuclear weapon equipped countries

However, there is always an area of intersection between the technology used to harness nuclear energy for peaceful civilian use and the technology used to create nuclear weapon. In past, the facilities which were supposed to generate electricity from nuclear energy has been used clandestinely to accumulate weapon grade fissile material.

The below flowchart demonstrates the grey area in the nuclear fuel cycle:

Summary

The objective of this report is to provide a basic overview of nuclear fuel cycle and the grey area in the technology used to develop a nuclear power plant and the technology used to develop a nuclear weapon.

It started with the history of nuclear physics and examined the phenomenon of radioactivity and its risk. It moved on to explain the nuclear fission reaction, chain reaction and the conditions necessary to attain them. With the understanding of basic nuclear physics, it elucidated the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons design.

This report will be used as a reference in the series of upcoming articles on nuclear energy policy – NPT Regime, Iran Nuclear Deal and the Indian nuclear policy.


Bibliography

1. World Nuclear Association
2. Vanderbilt University
3. Council on Foreign Relations
4. Foreign Policy
5. Depleted Cranium
6. Areva
7. Live Science
8. Princeton University