MadSci Network: Physics |
Mine uranium? In MA we have radon gas due to uranium in the bedrock. What stops someone from chemically separating the uranium, then separating out the u-235? The first bomb was built with a mass spectrometer. Assuming someone could get the chemicals to separate a few hundred pounds of uranium, is it really impossible to rig up a simple electron beam in a vacuum to ionize the uranium, some charged plates to accelerate the ions, magnetic field to focus the beam and magnetic deflection coils to perform the separation.(Sounds scary in its ease because I've pretty much described a television set, well within the capability of a physicist with a meager lab to build.) Should we worry?
Re: Is it possible for someone to build a nuclear weapon in their garage?
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