Re:Fusion reactors: Not what they’re cracked up to be
by vilhelm_s on Wednesday April 26, 2017 @02:22PM
(#14205591)
You can build a bomb with plutonium but no tritium, so if you want to prevent countries from going nuclear that's what you need to stop.
Also, the plutonium production is the bottleneck. E.g. this article about the Pakistan nuclear weapons program[0] estimated that the 50 MW nuclear reactor in Kushab could be used to produce 10kg of plutonium and 100g of tritium per year. The plutonium would be enough for about 2 bombs, while the tritium would be enough for 20.
Also, the plutonium production is the bottleneck. E.g. this article about the Pakistan nuclear weapons program[0] estimated that the 50 MW nuclear reactor in Kushab could be used to produce 10kg of plutonium and 100g of tritium per year. The plutonium would be enough for about 2 bombs, while the tritium would be enough for 20.
[0] http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Pakistan/PakArsenal.html